Hi, I'm an Army behavioral health officer. I can answer some of your questions.

AIT for a 68X is at Ft Sam Houston and is predominately conducted in a classroom or clinical setting. Your classes are taught by senior 68X's, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrist, psychiatric nurses, and psychiatric nurse practitioners.  New 68X's learn about mental health disorders and how to assist licensed providers in assessing and treating these disorders. I can't really go into the pro's and con's of being a 68X, but I depend on my 68X's to provide a good psychosocial history of the patient before I begin treatment. I also depend on my 68X to handle the majority of the office administration so I can focus on the behavioral medicine aspect of patient care. I don't know what a reserve 68X does in a non deployed setting, but all 68Xs do the same thing once deployed. 68X's go where the behavioral health officers go which can be an inpatient clinic, an outpatient clinic, a brigade combat team, a military prison, a combat aviation brigade, a combat support hospital, etc. Anywhere Soldiers require medical treatment, there will be a 68X somewhere in the medical chain.

Hopefully that answers some of your questions, or maybe it just created new ones. The Army has a program where Soldiers who have a behavioral science undergrad can compete to earn a master of social work, become a 2LT and a behavioral health officer. This might suit you better.

http://www.uncfsu.edu/sw/fortsam/fortsam.htm

The link is down right now, but check back later.

Best of luck!

- Dr. G

FYI, I'm a male. 68X AIT isn't just an introduction to mental health, it’s an introduction to military mental health. An undergrad in Psychology usually covers the history and some theories of Psychology, but not treatment. This is where you will have a chance to practice and hone your skills before you begin to treat Soldiers. Yes, you will spend time in the classroom with lots of tests and hands on training. I can't speculate on how much of the 68X course you'll have to complete, but some of the training overlaps with the master of social work program. I recommend maximizing your time in this training. You need to learn as much as you can so you can assist the mental health officer in treating these patients.

I’m unable to articulate what a reserve 68X does on a drill weekend. A mental health tech’s job in the military is a hybrid of administration and clinical duties. The tech’s I’ve encountered in the civilian population mostly gather relevant demographics and chief complaint information from the patient. Unless they are licensed to practice or they practice under another provider’s license, by law, a mental health tech can’t provide therapy, only assist. 68X’s aren’t licensed, but trained to assist. In the military the 68X’s are limited by the comfort level of the cosigning provider. I’ve had my 68X’s conduct group therapy for anger management because I was confident in their skills. They would just provide me with an AAR of the session and I would cosign their notes. Words of wisdom? It’s a low density MOS, which means E-7’s are rare and E-8 is next to impossible. I’m not a 68X. I can only tell you how I utilize my 68X’s and what I allow them to do in regards to practicing mental health.  If you’re truly passionate about mental health, I would apply to the Army’s MSW Program. You meet the academic requirements.

Best of luck with your new career field!

- Dr. G

I'm a graduate of the Army's Social Work Program. Once you have an undergrad degree, you are eligible to apply to the AMEDD's accelerated master of social work program. It's a two year masters program condensed into one year. Once you graduate you must complete a two year clinical internship. I completed my doctorate in clinical psychology during the two year internship.

Here is the link: http://www.uncfsu.edu/sw/academic-programs/army-fsu-msw-program

It was the hardest degree I’ve earned. The MSW program is accredited THROUGH FSU, but you attend the program at Ft Sam.

Pros:

• -          You complete a years worth of didactic and a years worth of clinicals in 14 months.
• -          Free MSW
• -          Free Internship

Cons:

• -          The outside world doesn’t exist until you graduate
• -          It’s an “academic deployment”
• -          Highly competitive (The majority of the people in my class, including myself already had a masters in another discipline)

Yes, the Army MSW Program is intense. The website I provided has all the info needed to begin the application process. At some point you’re going to have to decide if you want to become a 68X or a mental health officer. Decide what is best for your lifestyle. You can become a 68X and apply to the social work program at a later date if need.

Good luck on your decision.

-Dr. G