Kathryn
It was on fire when I laid down on it.
The US Army offers education benefits in exchange for active duty military service. From what I can piece together, Hasan received medical training and a degree from the Uniformed Services University. In other words, he agreed to obtain a medical degree and become a doctor in exchange for a certain number of years of active duty service. This requirement is 7 years of active duty service after internship and residency.
The facts below are from a website that seemed pretty factual:
Pros and Cons of military service to pay for medical / professional school- HPSP (the health professional scholarship program)
USUHS
I. What is USUHS?
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is a medical school that was created by congress for the purpose of educating miltary personal to become physicians in the Army, Navy (supports Marines), Air Force, and Public Health Agency. USUHS is located just outside of Washing to n D.C., next to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda MD.
II. Payback
- 7 year commitment, NOT INCLUDING internship + residency.
All in all: 4-years at USUHS + 1-year internship + 3-year (minimum) residency + 7-years payback = 15+ years in the military.
- USUHS = military career.
III. Benefits
- Rank of 0-1 with all entitlements while in med school. ~45,000$ per year, ~1500 of which is tax free. There is no rank progression while in school, but you are automatically promoted 0-3 upon graduation. For more info on pay as a military doc go to HPSP FAQ sticky
- The school has 0$ tuition, and most med school related expenses are covered Lab fees, travel, books etc
IV. Requirements as a student
- You are in uniform from day 1, no more civilian life.
- Strict rules of conduct, behavior, and physical fitness standards.
- School is all year around, no extended summer break. You start officer training over the summer before your first year of medical school.
V. Admission Criteria
(stats taken from US News and World Report)
- Avg GPA = 3.53
- Avg MCAT = 9.4 O composite
- Acceptance rate 15.5%
- Must pass physical standards exam
- Must pass National security inquiry
- 50% of all acceptances are people with prior/current military experience
Hasan is an American citizen who was 22 years old when the first Gulf War took place. He joined the military in June 1997 at age 26 or 27 as a First Lt with a degree as a biochemist. He enrolled in the medical program at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences School of Medicine and graduated from that program in 2004.
Picture begins to emerge of Fort Hood suspect - CNN.com
Though he was receiving full military officer pay and benefits for the past 12 years, he has never deployed. Extraordinary good luck for an Army officer. Army personnel have probably the most rigorous deployment schedule of all the US armed forces. All three of my active duty military kids have already deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan. They didn't much care for it, but it certainly wasn't unexpected.
He was a grown man during the first Gulf War, and joined the military voluntarily after that war, and voluntarily remained in the medical corps programs during and after September 11, while not paying one cent of his own toward his medical career costs. He entered into a contract with the US military for a set amount of service in exchange for education benefits. Surely he was aware of Middle East tensions and war possibilities, and realized that part of Army service, ESPECIALLY AS A DOCTOR, will almost CERTAINLY eventually involved deployment to a war zone!
My question is this - why should he have considered himself to be exempt from combat zones???
Seems to me that he was perfectly happy when he was GETTING benefits FROM the United States military - but when it came to actual active duty service in a war zone (hello - there's a real life reason for all those big boy toys, uniforms, weapons of mass destruction, and combat fatigues you put on every day), he wasn't up for all that.
Personally, as a former military brat, military wife, and the mother of three active duty military soldiers and airmen, his actions absolutely sicken me.
Even if he HADN'T killed 13 people and wounded 30 more, his attempts to avoid deployment are pathetic and indicative of his cowardice and true motives.
The horrible end to his inglorious military career is a tragedy for the Fort Hood military community and the United States, and his actions are despicable.
If you don't want to deploy to a war zone, I've got some advice for you - don't join the military in exchange for education benefits.
The facts below are from a website that seemed pretty factual:
Pros and Cons of military service to pay for medical / professional school- HPSP (the health professional scholarship program)
USUHS
I. What is USUHS?
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is a medical school that was created by congress for the purpose of educating miltary personal to become physicians in the Army, Navy (supports Marines), Air Force, and Public Health Agency. USUHS is located just outside of Washing to n D.C., next to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda MD.
II. Payback
- 7 year commitment, NOT INCLUDING internship + residency.
All in all: 4-years at USUHS + 1-year internship + 3-year (minimum) residency + 7-years payback = 15+ years in the military.
- USUHS = military career.
III. Benefits
- Rank of 0-1 with all entitlements while in med school. ~45,000$ per year, ~1500 of which is tax free. There is no rank progression while in school, but you are automatically promoted 0-3 upon graduation. For more info on pay as a military doc go to HPSP FAQ sticky
- The school has 0$ tuition, and most med school related expenses are covered Lab fees, travel, books etc
IV. Requirements as a student
- You are in uniform from day 1, no more civilian life.
- Strict rules of conduct, behavior, and physical fitness standards.
- School is all year around, no extended summer break. You start officer training over the summer before your first year of medical school.
V. Admission Criteria
(stats taken from US News and World Report)
- Avg GPA = 3.53
- Avg MCAT = 9.4 O composite
- Acceptance rate 15.5%
- Must pass physical standards exam
- Must pass National security inquiry
- 50% of all acceptances are people with prior/current military experience
Hasan is an American citizen who was 22 years old when the first Gulf War took place. He joined the military in June 1997 at age 26 or 27 as a First Lt with a degree as a biochemist. He enrolled in the medical program at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences School of Medicine and graduated from that program in 2004.
Picture begins to emerge of Fort Hood suspect - CNN.com
Though he was receiving full military officer pay and benefits for the past 12 years, he has never deployed. Extraordinary good luck for an Army officer. Army personnel have probably the most rigorous deployment schedule of all the US armed forces. All three of my active duty military kids have already deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan. They didn't much care for it, but it certainly wasn't unexpected.
He was a grown man during the first Gulf War, and joined the military voluntarily after that war, and voluntarily remained in the medical corps programs during and after September 11, while not paying one cent of his own toward his medical career costs. He entered into a contract with the US military for a set amount of service in exchange for education benefits. Surely he was aware of Middle East tensions and war possibilities, and realized that part of Army service, ESPECIALLY AS A DOCTOR, will almost CERTAINLY eventually involved deployment to a war zone!
My question is this - why should he have considered himself to be exempt from combat zones???
Seems to me that he was perfectly happy when he was GETTING benefits FROM the United States military - but when it came to actual active duty service in a war zone (hello - there's a real life reason for all those big boy toys, uniforms, weapons of mass destruction, and combat fatigues you put on every day), he wasn't up for all that.
Personally, as a former military brat, military wife, and the mother of three active duty military soldiers and airmen, his actions absolutely sicken me.
Even if he HADN'T killed 13 people and wounded 30 more, his attempts to avoid deployment are pathetic and indicative of his cowardice and true motives.
The horrible end to his inglorious military career is a tragedy for the Fort Hood military community and the United States, and his actions are despicable.
If you don't want to deploy to a war zone, I've got some advice for you - don't join the military in exchange for education benefits.
