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• Air Force Social Worker Internship

I am applying to become a Social Worker in the Air Force. I have applied as a clinical social worker and am waiting for an reply. What should I accept in OCT? Does anyone know anything about the social work internship program?

Are either hard? Will I be deployed? What happens during deployment? What advice would. I am applying to become a Social Worker in the Air Force.

I have applied as a clinical social worker and am waiting for an reply. What should I accept in OCT? Does anyone know anything about the social work internship program? Are either hard? Will I be deployed? What happens during deployment?

Average salaries for US Air Force Social Worker: $57852. US Air Force salary trends based on salaries posted anonymously by US Air Force employees. Provide social work services in various settings, including mental health, in clinical social work Completion of Air Force Social Work Internship Program may nbspUpon.

What advice would you give me about the Air Force. Best Answer: I'm going to assume you've completed your MSW already. A LCSW in the USAF is going to be very similar to a civilian LCSW. You'll do outpatient counseling mostly.

There isn't much need for public assistance referrals that civilian social workers do because everything, medical, mental health, pay, housing, is taken care of my the military. So it's not like you'd be referring an Airman to a job bank or free clinic. The internship program is on par with civilian programs, it's not 'militant' if that's what you mean by hard. You can deploy, you would do the nearly the same thing as when not deployed; combat stress control, counseling, smoking cessation, etc. Tell us some more.

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By Kaitlin Louie About Jaclyn Fischer-Urmey, LCSW: Jaclyn Fischer-Urmey is the Director of Psychological Health (DPH) for the 514th Air Mobility Wing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. Prior to her position as the Director of Psychological Health, Ms. Fischer-Urmey was Head of the Social Work Department at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, as well as Assistant Officer-in-Charge on the Navy Mobile Care Team FIVE for Navy Central Command in Afghanistan. She also worked as an Advocacy Clinical Counselor for Fleet and Family Support Center in Yokosuka, Japan, and as an Inpatient and Outpatient Clinical Social Worker and Head of the Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Program at the Naval Hospital in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Fischer-Urmey is an Adjunct Professor of Social Work at Monmouth University, where she will be teaching a seminar in June of 2015, titled The Happy Warrior: Social Workers In and Out of Uniform.

This seminar will tell the stories of social workers, in and out of uniform, who work to support military service members and their families. Fischer-Urmey has earned numerous awards for her services in military settings, including several Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals for such achievements as developing regional family advocacy initiatives and providing clinical support on an isolated overseas base. She also earned an Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Gold Star in 2012 for leadership in Afghanistan. Fischer-Urmey is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New Jersey, and received her Diplomate in Clinical Social Work (DCSW) in 2010. She is also a Certified Clinical Social Work Supervisor.

Fischer-Urmey earned her Bachelor of Social Work from Monmouth University in 2003, and her Master’s of Social work in 2004 from the same institution. OnlineMSWPrograms.com Could you please give us an overview of your career path in military social work, including how you arrived at your current role? Jaclyn Fischer-Urmey, LCSW I earned my MSW from Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey in 2004. Following the conferral of my degree and shortly after obtaining my license to provide supervised clinical care (or LSW), I provided supervised clinical mental health services to incarcerated juveniles at the New Jersey Training School for Boys in Monroe Township, New Jersey, for 2.5 years, when I received my independent clinical license, or LSCW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker).

During the final year of my employment in Monroe Township, I began my application to the United States Navy for a Direct Commission into the Medical Service Corps, and was hired in 2007 as a uniformed social worker in the United States Navy. Each employment I held with the U.S.

Navy provided increased leadership and challenges for professional and personal development. My first 21-month assignment serving concurrently as an Inpatient and Outpatient Clinical Social Worker and Head of the Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Program (SARP) in the Behavioral Health Unit at Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was my first solo mental health provider assignment and administrative leadership role. I was the only uniformed LCSW on the isolated installation with 9,000 residents, and despite my lack of military experience at the time, the leadership and staff of the hospital respected me as a subject matter expert on mental health matters. My second Navy assignment was 28 months as a Clinical Advocacy Counselor for the Fleet and Family Support Program in Yokosuka, Japan. I selected this tour based on the type of position (working with domestic violence), as I was simply curious as to my skill set with that population, and location, as I was single and eager to travel.

I discovered that no matter the work, I had the ability to apply myself and be successful in that area, and I also enjoyed various travel opportunities within Japan and surrounding countries. My third Navy assignment (29 months) was selected based on location, close to my home state of New Jersey, and increased my responsibilities, as I was Head of the Social Work Department at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. My work there was enhanced significantly by the experience I gained during a 7-month concurrent combat deployment to Afghanistan, as the Assistant Officer-in-Charge of a 5-person Navy unit called Mobile Care Team FIVE. It was in Afghanistan that I learned that true leadership starts with taking care of one’s team and ensuring the safety of all, which assisted me in successfully guiding my team once back in Virginia to increase productivity so much that we won an award for it. Marriage was the main factor in my decision to leave active duty for the Individual Ready Reserves and to come back home to New Jersey, where I was honored to be selected as the first Director of Psychological Health for the 514th Air Mobility Wing, Air Force Reserve Command, at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. This federal position is the convergence of all my prior employments, which makes me a very blessed person.

In addition to my LCSW, I am a Diplomate in Clinical Social Work (DCSW) and a member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). My previous awards include the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Gold Star, four Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, and one Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. I look forward to my U.S. Navy Reserve promotion to Lieutenant Commander in August 2015.

OnlineMSWPrograms.com Can you give an overview of your core responsibilities as the Director of Psychological Health for the 514th Air Mobility Wing? What types of challenges do the individuals in the Air Force face, and how do you help them manage these challenges? Jaclyn Fischer-Urmey, LCSW In my current role as Director of Psychological Health for the 514th Air Mobility Wing, Air Force Reserve Command, I serve as the sole mental health consultant for the 2,200 reservists and civilians attached to the wing.

This position is a general schedule (GS) civil servant position. My responsibilities include serving as the Air Force Reserve liaison with military and non-military agencies to promote timely information exchange, coordinate collaborative prevention efforts, and establish and maintain an extensive array of resources, associations, and community partnerships. The role also includes designing, developing, coordinating, and implementing prevention and community outreach and prevention efforts. I’m responsible for marketing and marketing evaluation activities for my program. I provide professional consultation, advice, education, and training to other military and non-military healthcare professionals, medical personnel, military commanders/senior leaders, wing personnel and their family members.

Lastly, I provide psycho-diagnostic assessments and short-term, brief solution-focused counseling services to military and civilian personnel. Air Force Reserve personnel face many challenges that are common among most people, but what sets their difficulty at a higher level is their constant shift between civilian and military statuses on a monthly basis. This constant transitioning requires mental fitness and resilience in order to maintain the separate requirements of each lifestyle and perform required duties sufficiently and satisfactorily. This is very different from the active duty requirement, which is a full-time commitment with no shift between civilian and military statuses. In order to understand the reserve culture, I’ll provide a brief explanation of reserve requirements, which is the same for the Air and Army National Guard. Reservists are assigned to a position within a unit, where they serve one weekend a month and two weeks a year.

For each day of military duty, reservists earn points, and in order to remain in good standing with the military, they are required to maintain a certain amount of points each year. Military reserve units have a fiscal year schedule, requiring certain units to report on specific days throughout the year; however, members may reschedule their duty days if civilian and military schedules conflict.

This flexibility assists with retention of members. The guard and reserve are attractive to people who desire to serve their country, but cannot commit to full-time status, or active duty. Reservists are also not necessarily from the state where they drill. Depending on where the duty assignment is located in conjunction with the rank they are, some travel across country from their homes to their units. Working with reservists requires a knowledge base of general life and psychosocial stressors, in addition to understanding military culture, deployment cycle, and civilian-military life issues. Reservists are called upon to deploy worldwide when and as often as needed, so they and their families must always be ready.

A large part of my role is assisting members and/or family members with developing resilience and navigating life stressors in order to “meet the mission,” or be deployment-ready, as well as be satisfied in their civilian life and military career. Reservist backgrounds vary widely–some are prior active duty and transitioned to the reserves in order to have more stability in life, whereas some have no prior military background. They can be employed or unemployed. Some are successful civilian professionals who make six-figure salaries, and enlisted to serve their country. Others are struggling paycheck to paycheck. Others are homeless.

Helping members through struggles in life is possible with the variety of resources available to the military, including but not limited to Military OneSource, Psychological Health Advocacy Program, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the Defense Center of Excellence. In my role, I help the member identify the problem(s), find a solution, and navigate local and national resources that ultimately lead to a solution, if needed. I also offer psychoeducational classes and trainings on a regular basis to groups of military, civilian, and family members across the installation that target psychological health (i.e. Resilience-, relationship-, and reintegration-oriented). A large part of what I provide is based on what needs I’m seeing and what I’m hearing from others and my efforts to reach out to and assist others have been well-received at all levels of leadership in my current position. I continue to fight the stigma of seeking help; however, my work here has been very rewarding thus far due to developing solid working relationships with a variety of military and civilian leaders who truly care about the well-being of their people.

OnlineMSWPrograms.com You have worked in numerous countries, including Cuba, Afghanistan, and Japan. Is it common for military social workers to have to relocate? How did you handle the challenges that came with these frequent relocations?

Jaclyn Fischer-Urmey, LCSW The opportunity to travel is one of the most significant factors as to why people join the armed forces. When one joins the military, they volunteer to be sent anywhere in the world where they are most needed. Anyone who joins should expect to travel, whether it’s within the continental United States or outside thereof. Even if one is ultimately assigned to an area close to their home, odds are that they had to travel to where their enlisted or officer training or trade school was located within the United States.

The amount of travel is dependent upon the unit and duty to which the member is assigned. For instance, some military duties are attached to expeditionary teams, where the purpose of the team is to travel and support operations away from the home base. Other duties are situated at a base where there is minimal work-related travel.

But regardless of where the assignment is, travel opportunities abound outside of the duty hours; the decision to take advantage of such opportunities is dependent upon the individual. Active duty and civilian military social workers are needed all over the world in a variety of capacities in every branch of service and government organization. It is not uncommon for civilian military social workers to voluntarily relocate to different countries in order to take advantage of promotion opportunities or to experience a new culture.

For active duty social workers, relocation is an expectation and requirement for flexibility in order to meet the needs of the branch of service to which one is assigned. Civilian and active duty social workers all serve the same population: military members and their families, no matter where they are assigned. Active duty and civilian responsibilities can differ depending on the branch and mission of the unit with which they work. Active duty social workers are often preferred in leadership positions to assist with the relationship between the social work service and external military personnel; this also assists with dispelling stigma, as a military mental health representative can be viewed as “one of us” by other military personnel.

Often times, active duty social workers will seek out opportunities in different states and countries to expand their experience and will feel comfortable doing so being that they know there is security in being associated with the military. For civilian social workers, there are more risks in moving nationally or internationally. For instance, active duty social workers have job security, will rotate positions eventually regardless of whether or not they enjoy their current position, have unlimited access to free dental and health care, receive a monthly stipend that usually covers rent, receive incentive or special pays for additional credentials, and receive an increase in pay if they are simply married.

Traditional civilian social workers may have to prepare more in order to have a successful transition to a new state or country and although connected through their military counterparts, have more responsibility in order to get settled. Regardless of these trials faced by civilian social workers, few times are they persuaded from the challenge of a new opportunity in a new place. My experiences with relocation to Cuba, Japan, and Afghanistan were relatively stress-free, as I prepared myself to hold as few expectations as possible about the new location to which I was moving. Although well-intentioned, many people offered pros and cons about wherever I was going, and as much as I expressed gratitude for them sharing, I was cautious in allowing it to shape my expectations. When one has expectations, there is an open door for disappointment, which is difficult to overcome when in a new country without a local support system in place.

Many times when I counseled people for acclimation issues, it usually surrounded an unfulfilled expectation: “I expected my relationship to get better once we got here”, “I thought it was going to be different” or “Everyone told me this place was great” That unfulfilled expectation, and, ultimately, disappointment, becomes the foundation for a person’s experience in a new place. I chose to create my own expectations based upon my experiences. Each experience lent to a bout of personal growth and I was more prepared with each move. Being active duty offered me a free move, so besides scheduling the household goods packers and pick up date, there was minimal effort outside of simply organizing my belongings for packing.

The same went for delivery; I selected the delivery date and the movers unpacked all the crates and boxes. It’s not uncommon for members to arrive at their next duty station, or assignment, weeks to months before their household goods arrive. Depending on the location, the host command may have furniture rental or household goods services available to assist until the members’ household goods arrive.

In addition to physical comforts, most military branches have sponsorship programs, which are designed for newly arriving members to be paired with a military member in a close pay grade to assist with assimilation to the new assignment. I was blessed with very supportive and helpful sponsors. In Guantanamo Bay, my sponsor was a co-located nurse officer, married to an active duty physician’s assistant, with two small children. In Japan, my sponsor was a single female operations officer. Both picked me up from the airport (with family in tow, if applicable), took me to lodging, fed me, assisted me with obtaining needed household goods, showed me where work was, and (Japan only) went apartment and car shopping with me until I found the right one. My transition to Virginia required less involvement due to my familiarity with the US, but nonetheless, my sponsor, a single male psychologist officer, met with me several times to share about the local area and took me sightseeing.

If unfamiliar with a location and no prior established relationships exists, sponsors are amazing help and a valuable resource in helping an outsider feel like they belong to a community relatively quickly. In addition to sponsors, having supportive friends and family to contact regularly assisted with the transition as it offered some stability during a period of instability and acclimation. Knowing I could pick up the phone and call my best friend or my mother, no matter the time of day or night (depending on the time zone), and they’d be happy to hear from me helped me feel connected to my loved ones. OnlineMSWPrograms.com Since you have worked as a social worker in both the Navy and in the Air Force, could you speak to how the differences in culture and structure between Navy and the Air Force impacted the role of the military social worker in these settings? Jaclyn Fischer-Urmey, LCSW Each branch of military service has its own distinct history and culture. Each branch was founded at a specific time in American history depending on the needs of the United States. Despite the uniqueness of each branch, there are overwhelming similarities that create a strong bond between each one.

For instance, each branch, whether the Army (est. June 14, 1775), Navy (est. October 13, 1775), Marine Corps (est. November 10, 1775), Coast Guard (est. August 4, 1790), and the Air Force (est. September 18, 1947), and all reserve and guard components, respectively, have a code of conduct and core values.

Air Force Social Worker Internship

Codes of conduct dictate the appropriate behavior of men and women wearing the uniform of a particular branch, and core values represent the foundational principles on which all decisions are made. Having worked directly for the Navy and Air Force, and with all branches of service, the codes of conduct and core values are similar and complement one another. The differences that are the greatest and most noticeable among branches of service are in the type of missions that each branch provides to support and defend the United States. For the purpose of this interview, my focus will be mainly on the Navy and Air Force and Air Force Reserve. The Navy’s primary purpose is to accomplish missions by sea, air, and land; the Navy maintains constant vigil over the seas and oceans around the world to ensure a stable environment for trade and travel. The Air Force and Air Force Reserve flies planes, helicopters, and satellites in order to provide security and air and space power.

Each branch has military personnel in administrative, technical, maintenance, and support positions to assist with the successful execution of the mission, and operation of all equipment. With the variety of mission requirements and supports needed to make the mission happen, service members face challenges specific to those requirements (job stressors such as frequent moves, relocations, training requirements, transitions, family separations, work-family life balance issues, family conflicts, promotions) along with every day personal struggles of daily life involving relationships, parenting, stress management, personal development, family of origin, and countless other stressors. However, despite the differences in missions between the Navy (mainly ships and shore duty) and Air Force (mainly aircraft and landlocked locations), some challenges appear to be relatively similar. Other challenges are very different, especially between active duty and the reserves.

Active duty personnel have a variety of services, free of charge, available to them 24/7. Reservists have limited services, free of charge or at coast, available to them only on the days that they are on orders, or drilling, which is 2 weeks per year and one weekend a month. The services available to reservists are mostly provided by active duty, who usually do not offer services on weekends, leaving reservists with a gap in services when they are on duty, unless they are on orders for their 2 weeks a year during weekdays.

The Air Force Reserve Command began hiring DPHs in 2014 for this exact purpose – to fill the gap in services for the reservists.