russwest413
New Member
Hey everyone, I'm currently a HM2 in the Navy Reserve and also a GS-11 for the Veteran health Administration. However, I am very much interested in pursuing a commission in the Navy Reserves as a MSC Healthcare Administrator . I have currently, 9 years in the Navy Reserve and 5 years working in the VHA System starting as a GS-5. I really like healthcare operations and I feel like becoming a HCA in the Navy Reserve is a perfect fit for myself! As I want to finish my last 10 years as an Naval Officer. Now, after looking into the requirements I've noticed my MHA isn't CAHME accredited which means I cant direct commission into the field (Also my undergrad GPA isn't good). So with that being said, I have enrolled in MPH online program that is CEPH accredited which will only take me a 1 year to finish. In conjunction with the second Masters it should bump my cumulative GPA to 3.6 which hopefully make me pretty competitive going forward. After doing much research, I can not find any info on Reserve HCA MSC Officers / What is the Quota ? How many do they select each year from the Reserve side ? I found a lot of info from the active side but nothing from the Reserve side. I would love to be a Reserve HCA, as I love healthcare operations but it seems like from the Reserve side its very slim picking. I have heard from the grapevine that they reserve these spots for people transferring out from ACTIVE duty. I'm not sure how true that is..... I did think about going ACTIVE, but I'm having pretty good career progression and could reach GS-15 by 35 years old if I keep the same momentum. So I don't think going ACTIVE is a good option right now.
As previously stated, I would love to finish out my last 10 years as a MSC HCA Officer. However, due to the nature of MSC HCA having a low quota margin. Would it be best to pursue another commission in field or just hold out. I'm pretty sure by next year I can make GS-12 which will put me at 28 years old. I still have a lot of time before my cut off age which is 40. Nevertheless, I do wanna retire from the military at 38 which is personal goal for myself as I joined at 17 1/2. So with the competitiveness and uncertainty nature of the MSC HCA numbers, should I just pursue either Supply or Line Officer going forward in the Navy Reserve.
As previously stated, I would love to finish out my last 10 years as a MSC HCA Officer. However, due to the nature of MSC HCA having a low quota margin. Would it be best to pursue another commission in field or just hold out. I'm pretty sure by next year I can make GS-12 which will put me at 28 years old. I still have a lot of time before my cut off age which is 40. Nevertheless, I do wanna retire from the military at 38 which is personal goal for myself as I joined at 17 1/2. So with the competitiveness and uncertainty nature of the MSC HCA numbers, should I just pursue either Supply or Line Officer going forward in the Navy Reserve.