Can you work as a civilian, such as dental hygienist, in the armed forces without having to actually enlist?

Obviously the military services provied medical and dental care for their men and women but I was curious if the doctors and various staff members that provide the services are actually part of military or if they can be civilians who can come on base and work. I am very intrested to know so if anyone who is in the military can possibly answer this, I would appreciate it!

If you get the right connections, yes. DoD can be very specific hiring civilians... other times they're not. Connections definitely help though.
The majority of my current base is made up of civilians. Close to 70% I'd say. They do a wide range of jobs. It helps if you have prior military experience, but not needed.

Dental hygenist, I'm not sure but they do hire civilians for the base hospitals. You can check into the reserves to see if they have any hygenist positions. Also, you can go to www.usajobs.gov and see if there are any openings for the VA hospitals.

side note: My husband used to have to go to the VA hospital to get his regular cleanings because we were at a remote location where a military dental clinic was not available.

In my experience military hospitals, clinics, etc. staff both military and civilian doctors and nurses. It will probably depend on the base but yes you might be able to get a job at a military facility.

Yes you can. Every major post hires civilians to do all sorts of things to include dentists, dental hygienist, dental assistance's, etc...

it depends on the base, there are lots of DOD jobs, you should check with your nearest base and ask about employment opportunities

VA Hospitals treat active Military and are staffed by mostly civilians.

They are all military enlisted personnel.

no you cant!