In return for this assistance, students must serve as active-duty officers for a specified number of years, ranging from three to seven. For example, one scholarship will pay a monthly stipend for the final two years of nursing education for a student enrolled in a nursing school affiliated with an Air Force ROTC unit. The student then must serve four years of active duty. Bonuses may be available for recently graduated nurses and nurse anesthetists who enlist. The Naval Reserve is a force of highly trained individuals who are available in a national emergency when the regular Navy needs additional personnel.
Most reservists serve part-time two days a month and two weeks a year.
The Reserve offers programs to help finance training or to fulfill reserve requirements and earn reserve pay while working at naval hospitals or clinics in certain health professions. These programs are described below. This program gives financial assistance, drill pay, and a monthly stipend to commissioned officers in the Selected Reserve who are enrolled in a civilian training program for general surgery, anesthesiology, nursing, advanced nursing, operating room nursing, or nurse anesthesiology. For each year of assistance, a two-year drilling obligation is incurred. These programs are open to all nurses, physicians, oral surgeons, and operating room technicians.