I got the linguist job!

Due to some kind of mysterious and awesome recruiter magic that I think may have involved minor ritual sacrifice, my recruiter gave my air traffic control job to somebody else, and got me a linguist job! I leave for basic on February 23! Which is actually pretty much perfect, since I was hoping to do basic (in Texas) during the winter. Then it's 8.5 weeks of basic training and then off to Monterey, California by late April or early May. Very, very excited. I don't have any idea yet what language I'll get; I should find that out sometime during basic, probably late-ish. From what I understand, my say in what language I get will be pretty minimal. I'll get to fill out a "dream sheet" of languages I'd like to have, and if one of those happens to match up with one of the ones they need, then that's great, but the needs of the military definitely come first here. Though honestly, while I think it'd be super cool to learn Greek or Hebrew, I'm really not very picky on what language I get, as long as I get to learn one. So yay!

Samson

Listen before reading.

I've been listening to my iPod a lot lately, and the song "Samson" by Regina Spektor keeps coming up. This is probably one of my top ten favorite songs ever, so I really don't mind, but what with my new, shall we say, military mindset, I've started to hear a different meaning behind it.

(I'm not sure that this song actually pertains to the military at all, but I really wanted to share it, so I'm going to make it relevant. I knew that creative writing degree would be useful someday.)

The song is a pretty obvious reference to the biblical story of Samson and Delilah. In the story, Samson is a warrior chosen by God. He possesses enormous strength, but only as long as he never cuts his hair. He falls in love with a woman, Delilah, who is bribed by Philistines to find out the source of Samson's power. After many false answers, he tells her that it lies in his hair, and she has it cut off while he sleeps. God forsakes Samson for cutting his hair, and he loses his strength. The Philistines chain him in his weakness to the pillars of their temple to sacrifice to their god, but by then Samson's hair has grown long again, and he regains his strength. He pulls down the pillars, killing himself and the Philistines.

Ta-da, the original story of Samson and Delilah. Just in case you missed Sunday School. Now to the song.

On first listen, it just sounds like a sweet, simple love song. Spektor's voice is beautiful with a tinge of heartbreak when she sings lines like
You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first , I loved you first
Beneath the stars came falling on our heads
But they're just old light
They're just old light
Your hair was long when we first met

I have to admit, at first I was kind of confused by the song, especially the line, "And the Bible didn't mention us, not even once." Because it did. There's a whole story about it. I've read some theories about what the song means, and most people seem to think that it's just saying that they actually loved each other, which the Bible doesn't mention. Though some also think it's not about Delilah at all. I doubt that.

But I think it's a bit more than just "Yes, they loved each other," though that's part of it. After many listens, I've come to the conclusion that it's Delilah saying how she wished the story had gone. How she loved Samson (ignoring the bribery and chains and such), and how she knew that while he had all this power, he could never really be hers. He would always be a hero first.

Samson came to my bed
Told me that my hair was red
Told me I was beautiful and came into my bed
I cut his hair myself one night
A pair of dull scissors and the yellow light
He told me that I'd done alright
and kissed me till the morning light the morning light
and he kissed me till the morning light

This is such an intimate, beautiful scene, in which he's clearly choosing her, forsaking his strength, his destiny, and God, leaving him free to "kiss [her] till the morning light."

Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
Ate a slice of wonder bread
and went right back to bed
He couldn't break the columns down
No, he couldn't destroy a single one
and the history books forgot about us
and the Bible didnt mention us
not even once

He didn't pull the pillars down on himself, and he didn't die in that temple. He simply went home to Delilah, living out their lives together and not being heroic at all, and so they were forgotten by history. That's what seems so heartbreaking about the last line, the way Spektor sings, "I loved you first." It sounds like such an aching plea, Delilah telling Samson that she loved him before he was chosen by God, before he became strong and brought the Philistines down on him. She loved him first, and now she just wants him to choose her.

(And now for the tie-in.)

I've been thinking a lot lately, for obvious reasons, about servicemen and women and the people they leave behind. I had mostly been thinking about it from the perspective of the people who leave (again, duh), but especially while keeping up with Amber's blog, I've been considering more the side of the people left behind; husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, parents, children, friends. I wonder, is this how these people sometimes feel too? I'm sure they're all very proud and grateful for their loved one's service, but I imagine there's also a strong feeling of simply wanting to tell them, "Choose me. Leave all these big things behind, and just come home to me. I loved you first."

Complete lyrics:

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth
I have to go, I have to go
Your hair was long when we first met

Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
He ate a slice of wonder bread and went right back to bed
And history books forgot about us and the bible didn't mention us
And the bible didn't mention us, not even once

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
Beneath the stars came fallin' on our heads
But they're just old light, they're just old light
Your hair was long when we first met

Samson came to my bed
Told me that my hair was red
Told me I was beautiful and came into my bed
Oh I cut his hair myself one night
A pair of dull scissors in the yellow light
And he told me that I'd done alright
And kissed me 'til the mornin' light, the mornin' light
And he kissed me 'til the mornin' light

Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
Ate a slice of wonderbread and went right back to bed
Oh, we couldn't bring the columns down
Yeah we couldn't destroy a single one
And history books forgot about us
And the bible didn't mention us, not even once

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first

A hitch, or a possible opportunity

Well, I just got my first taste of the concept of "the needs of the military." That didn't take long.

About three weeks ago, I went to my first DEP meeting with all the other Air Force people waiting to ship out. Going in, I really wasn't thinking anything of it. Until he said he'd found me a job. At first I was just surprised, since I way wasn't expecting one so quickly. Then I was nervous, because I hadn't expected to leave so soon, and just general early nerves about leaving, boot camp, etc. And then I was excited, because I've been feeling ready and anxious to start my life, as it were, and head out to Cali and start learning a language.

And then he told me that my job was not as a linguist, but as an air traffic controller. And I could just feel my face fall.

I knew going in that this was a risk, and that I might get picked for a different job. At MEPS, they had had me pick five jobs, and I had agreed that I'd be able and willing to do any of them. Of course, everyone kept saying that with my high DLAB score and the military's need for linguists, I'd almost definitely get that job, so I didn't need to worry too much about the other ones on my list. Wrong. But, I had agreed to it, and it was a risk I accepted, so I really couldn't be mad about it. That didn't mean that I wasn't really disappointed and a bit confused, though.

So, after a few minutes of me sitting very very still while he tried to sell me on air traffic control by telling me how much money they make (I did manage to tell him that that really wasn't one of my concerns), I recovered enough to start processing, and then to start looking at options.

I know that the needs of the Air Force came first, but I'm also pretty certain that I'd be able to serve them and myself much better by being a linguist rather than an ATC, due in no small part to the fact that historically, I'm not the greatest with the being-under-pressure. And ATC is a super stressful job. As in, you make a mistake and 300 people die. No wonder it has such a high suicide rate (also a problem).

But, that's the job they've assigned to me. So, there we are.

And, to make matters more frustrating, there's another kid who had just sworn in that day who actually wants to do ATC. My recruiter called his superior to see if they could just switch us and make everybody happy, but apparently the paperwork had already gone too far for that. Boo.

BUT, if a linguist job happens to come up before I leave for basic for ATC, and as long as no one else wants it, then to fill all the job openings, they can move me to linguist and move this other kid into my ATC spot. That would be super sweet.

I've also started considering an option I'd pretty much written off a while ago, of becoming an officer. I think I'd become so single-minded about being a linguist that I hadn't really considered any other jobs, and since there are no linguist officers, I'd didn't really look into it. And I still say that leading people isn't my favoritest thing in the world, but there are certainly perks. The substantially better pay and housing, for one. And the opportunity to travel more than I would have gotten as a linguist. And while there isn't a linguist officer, there is an intelligence officer, which is pretty much who linguists report to, so that could be pretty cool. I still think I'd rather be a linguist, but I do definitely think it's worth considering.

Regardless, the whole thing has at least made me take a serious look at why I want to join the military, what I want out of my time there, and ultimately the general path I see my life taking in the relatively near future. At first, I just started looking into it because I couldn't find a "real job." I wanted to learn a language, and I figured the Air Force would be a pretty sweet way to do it, but up until then I had had no military aspirations whatsoever. It was mostly just a means to an end.

So whenever my recruiter first said that it looked like I couldn't be a linguist, it was like watching that entire future I'd been so excited about just crumble away. No California, no learning a language, no getting paid to translate things.

So then I thought, now what?

But when I thought about going back into the job-hunting foray, that made me even more depressed than air traffic control. Mostly, it all came together (as many things seem to do) when I was talking to my mom about it. She asked me a question that I hadn't thought to ask myself. She said, "What's more important to you, joining the Air Force or being a linguist?"

And I realized, much to my surprise, that the answer was joining the Air Force. After all, even if I do end up doing ATC, I can always try to retrain into linguist later. They still need linguists. And I'd still be significantly more secure financially, and still have many more options open to me in the Air Force than I would as a civilian, regardless of the job. And I could always teach myself a language later, or get Rosetta Stone, or use some of that money that military personnel get for school to go take more language classes. And even if I got out after four or six years, I'd still be able to call myself a veteran and still have the personal pride of having served my country and done something so entirely outside my comfort zone.

So, surprisingly enough, even if it ends up that I can't be an Air Force linguist, I'd still like to be an Airman. Very interesting. And pretty nice to know.

Of course, if they'd just let me be a linguist, that'd be pretty awesome too.

Happy Independence Day!

I realize I'm a little late on this, but oh well. I tend to celebrate holidays when it's more convenient, anyway. Mostly I just wanted to say that I <3 this country, whether I'm in the military or not. I feel very lucky to live in a country where at least we know our votes get counted, whether the person we voted for wins or not; where we have the luxury to worry about things like carbon emissions; where if a political figure goes missing, it's not because he was kidnapped, tortured, and killed for dissention; and where his Argentine sex-capades and the death of a singer with only one glove are apparently the biggest things we have to worry about.

I also wanted to shamelessly steal my friend Amber's lovely video that she made for the occasion to celebrate and honor the people who fought to win us this independence, and the people to continue to fight for it. And this is her blog about working with Soldiers' Angels, where this video is also posted.

And now for something completely different

(AKA introspection) (AKA mushy emotional crap, because I can)

Because I'm sure the entire Internet is waiting, breathless with anticipation, to know how I'm feeling about waiting and doing nothing. Truly, this is a blessed day.

But honestly, I mostly just wanted to record so I can look back at it later with mild interest. Also, in case someone in my same situation happens to stumble randomly across my blog and think, "I wonder if she's feeling the same way I am? She is? That's comforting." Also, in case my family's reading and were wondering. Also, because I'm a little egotistical and there's something very satisfying about updating your blog.

On with the show...

So right now, I'm pretty much in limbo. I've passed all my tests, which is vastly comforting, and I've sworn in, which means I'm more or less committed and I get to put a sticker on my car. I know I'm signed up to be a "cryptologic linguist" (1N3XX), and since this is a "critically manned" field (which basically means that they don't have enough people for this job since a) the school is super hard-core, and b) people tend to not reenlist so they can make three times as much working for the CIA), I'd say my odds are pretty good that they'll follow through and let me do that.

The hard part is waiting for an open spot, which is where I am right now. They don't seem to have too much trouble filling the school (DLI) ; they just have a hard time graduating people from it and then keeping them enlisted. So it's really hard to say right now when I'll actually get to ship out, since the recruiters never know when they'll get a spot, and linguist spots don't seem to come up very often. But the most frustrating part isn't so much the waiting; it's the not knowing how long I'm going to wait. I'm pretty comfy in my holding pattern right now: go to work, hang out with people, take occasional trips, work out. I don't feel as worried about money, cause I know that at some point pretty soon, I'm going to have a steady paycheck (which looks like it will go up to almost $1700 a month as an E-3, not including my lump-sum bonus and monthly bonus for being a linguist; and $1700 is way more than I make monthly now, not including the $500 I take out for rent), which means that I just pretty much have to make my money stretch till I ship out, which shouldn't be a problem at all since I'm still working.

The problem is that since I don't have any idea when I'm leaving, I can't really start planning. And I like planning. Even though I know it's way early, I want to start figuring out what to do with all my stuff, what to do with my car, what will the weather be like when I get to California, and all kinds of mundane details. Not that not having a date has stopped me from starting the planning process. I've already started looking into military discounts on portable storage containers and considering what kind of car I might want to get when I get to Cali. Not having a date just makes planning harder and more frustrating. At least I know that I'll be ready when the time comes.

Anyway, back to positivity. That's pretty much where I like to be anyway. Regardless of the waiting, I am very excited to be doing this. I realize that I could get there and figure out I've made a terrible mistake and that this isn't for me at all, but honestly, I don't think that's going to happen. Okay, after basic, I don't think that will happen. I expect to feel entirely befuddled and out of my depth and disheartened and generally cry-y while I'm at basic. Also, exhausted and in pain. But I also think that as long as I know that going in, I'll probably be okay. And I just think of that as the price to get to all the rest of it. Not to mention that basic is the primary source of all that badassery I'm looking forward to possessing. I know from years of experience that just sitting in a classroom does not, in any way, make you feel hardcore. Ever. Crawling under barbed wire at 5 in the morning and learning how to calculate the trajectory of an airborne missile, however, probably do. I'm guessing.

I'm also still feeling very confident in my decision to join, actually more confident than I think I've ever felt about a decision before. Again, I do recognize that I'm saying all this on this side of basic, but right now, joining feels very...right? It seems very much like the correct thing for me to do. I always loved all the language classes I took, and I did better in those classes than in any others, including my English classes. Though I've also realized that even if I had studied languages in college and gotten my degree, the odds are that I'd still be in the same position I'm in now with my English degree, unable to find a job that doesn't involve teaching. And what better way to use languages than helping to protect my country? With a super-cool top-secret security clearance? And then whenever I did so well on my tests at MEPS, that just felt like a confirmation, that yes, I am where I'm supposed to be.

And actually, my job-searching is what gave me the idea to enlist in the first place, something I had never considered doing before. I remember one morning on my way to work, I was thinking about my job-hunting and how generally unsuccessful it had been, even though I felt like I was doing nothing but applying for jobs. I had been thinking a little about the military, but not in any serious way. So while I was feeling generally disheartened by my lack of career prospects, I did something that I admit, I don't do very often. I prayed. I asked for some kind of guidance on at least what direction I should be heading. Yes, I even asked for a sign. And then I forgot about it. Later, I was browsing Monster.com, which by then I hated doing. I started by looking at editing positions. I looked at every available editing position in the country (not an exaggeration), and I applied for seven of them. This was not unusual. Then I looked up photography jobs, something that I would prefer doing over editing, even though I don't have the skill, training, or equipment for it. I clicked the search button, and (again, not exaggerating) up popped 100 entries (literally) for the US Navy. This, too, wasn't terribly unusual. Except that the site wouldn't let me load the next page, even though it said there were more pages to be looked at. So I tried the search again. Again, I could only see 100 Navy positions, and it wouldn't load the next page. I tried it one more time, and again, the same thing. So, for argument's sake, I tried searching for jobs in translation, something I knew I'd love to do, but I way didn't have the training for. And again, when I hit search, up came 100 jobs with the Navy, and I couldn't get to any other entries. Three times. Also, this was the first time I'd been on Monster since my little plea to God for a road map. Now, do I think God was speaking to me through a job site? I honestly don't know. Not necessarily, but I also don't see any reason why he shouldn't, and you have to admit, that's a little weird. So regardless of whether it was a deity or a bug in the Internets and I'm just superstitious, that was when I really started seriously considering the military, and since then, I've only gotten more excited and more resolved that it was the correct thing for me.

So now, I'm pretty much excited and ready to go. It will suck to leave family and friends and Chris, but I also know that part is gonna happen, regardless. Not to sound like propaganda, but I do feel like this is me starting my life, at least my life as an independent adult, and since that's what I've been trying to do for the last year, I'm pretty much ready to get on that. Not to mention that I'm genuinely excited about what I'm going to be doing. If I weren't, I wouldn't be doing this. But I've been realizing that the only classes from college that I miss (besides the darkroom) are my language classes, and I really do miss them. So I'm ready to see what language I'll be learning, and I'm ready to start learning it.

My mom recently asked me if I had any reservations about joining. Well, what she actually said was, "You don't have any reservations at all, do you?" The way she said it surprised me, because I hadn't realized I was coming across quite that confidently. I do have reservations. I'm scared that I won't be able to handle basic. I'm scared that I won't be able to handle tech school. I'm scared that I'll get in there and end up hating it. I'm scared that I won't be able to handle the military lifestyle. I'm scared they will end up sending me into the middle of the desert with the ginormous spiders, and I'm scared that something will happen to me there. And I imagine I'm going to become even more scared of these things the closer I get to leaving. I am legitimately concerned about all of these things, but a) I have thoroughly researched every one of these concerns, and I truly don't believe they'll end up coming true, and b) more importantly, I don't want to let my fear of what's unfamiliar keep me from doing something that could end up being really great. I was nervous before I started college, too, and that ended up being wonderful. So, while I do have worries, mostly I think it could be pretty great, and I'm excited to see what happens.

I'm In!

As of Friday, I am officially sworn into the United States Air Force.

You might say that MEPS went pretty well. I got to the recruiter's office at 9 a.m. (0900) on Thursday to sign some last-minute paperwork. A pair of twins, both also joining the Air Force after they graduate high school next year to become MPs, were already there, and were coming up with me. They were very nice, and ended up being the only other girls taking the physical at MEPS besides me, so we ended up hanging out quite a bit.

At 10:00 a.m. (1000) our ride to Louisville showed up, a man named John driving a van. He was nice enough, but very very talkative. He loved to tell stories about his fighting days, his time in the Army, his very short wife, his financial stability (he's worth about $3 million and lives in a double-wide), the reason why we're in Iraq, the reason why turning Iraq into a democracy will bring peace to the Middle East, WWII, big guns, big planes, and how he knocked out a biker. John was really entertaining on the way up, though slightly less entertaining on the way back after I'd had two hours of sleep, two major tests, and kind of wanted to nap.

We had one other guy, a kid going into the Army who just really wanted to blow stuff up, to pick up before we went to Louisville. He lived in a town right outside of Fort Knox, so we got to drive through Fort Knox, which was really cool. For the most part, it just looked like more forest, but the occasional 20 tanks on the side of the road or the very large, slow-flying planes definitely hinted that we were going by something big. And the military housing that we saw was absolutely gorgeous. Though I imagine those houses were for officers, but still. And we went by the gold depository. John was telling us about how most of it was underground, and that all the fence and ground around it is rigged so that they can pinpoint exactly where anyone or anything is, on the lawn or the fence. I was definitely glad we got to go through Fort Knox on the way to MEPS. It kind of drove home the sense of being part of something, and the badassery, of what I was about to sign up for.

When we finally got to Louisville, the twins and the Army guy had already taken their ASVAB, so they got dropped off at the hotel, and John took me on to the MEPS building, somewhere in downtown Louisville. Not entirely sure where. John brought me through the metal detectors and showed me where to go, which was probably good, since I most likely would have gotten lost otherwise. Then I got all registered in their system, with my picture and digital fingerprint and everything, and then they sent me on to take the ASVAB.

The ASVAB was pretty much like the SAT, except without the fun analogies. Seriously. I really did kind of like the analogies. But they had sections for word definitions and paragraph comprehension, and then basic arithmetic and slightly more advanced algebra, and then they also had sections for science knowledge about chemistry and geology and physics, and mechanics knowledge where you had to know what part of the car did this or what this tool did, and then there was a spacial reasoning section where you were shown a bunch of fragmented pieces and you had to determine how they went together. Fortunately for me, only the English and math parts went into my final score that determines if I could get in; all the other parts would factor into whether I was eligible for certain jobs, like scientist or mechanic. My final qualifying score ended up being 99, which is out of 99. I had a hard time figuring out what exactly that number meant. At first, I thought it meant that I scored better than 99% of the people who take it. Then someone told me that no, that 99 was my actual score that I got right. But then, I looked it up on Wikipedia (the font of all knowledge and all that is good), and it says I was right the first time, that I scored better than 99% of the people who take it. Though either way, I guess I did pretty well. Though it made it really hard not to sound smug when people asked me what I got. What a heavy burden I bear.

And so I passed the ASVAB. One down, two to go.

After I got my score, it was back to the hotel, where they gave me my room key and a meal ticket to the restaurant in the hotel. When I got to my room, there was no one else there, so I figured I had the room to myself. So after I got settled, I went and grabbed some supper, and on the way back, I saw the twins I rode up with, who waved me over to where they were hanging out with some other military guys. Three of them were about to ship out to basic in the Navy, and the other one was an Army guy who had already been through basic and was about to leave for his tech school. We ended up just hanging out and talking for four or five hours. We talked a little about MEPS and the military, but for the most part, we just relaxed and told jokes. I had expected to be kind of lonely during my night at the hotel, but I ended up having a lot of fun.

Around 9:00 (2100) I gave up and headed to bed, since I knew I would have to be up before the crack of dawn the next morning (breakfast started at 4:15, and we had to be on the bus by 5:30), and I wanted to take a shower beforehand. But when I got back to my room, I discovered I did have a roommate, a girl who was going into the Navy to be a linguist, and who was actually supposed to be shipping out to basic that weekend. She was shy at first, and never really opened up too much, but she seemed sweet. Although, understandably, she was less than pleased when I accidentally set our clock an hour early while I was trying to set the alarm, so while we meant to wake up at 4:00, we got up at around 3:00, thinking it was 4:00. Of course, with the time difference, I was actually getting up at 2:00. That was fun. And yet, I still managed to pass my DLAB.

So after we very grumpily woke up, waited for breakfast to open since we were up so early, and ate, me and my roommate and the twins and a bunch of dudes all got on a bus and headed back to MEPS. By the time we got there, it was just starting to get light outside. Just a little. A Marine was there giving instructions, and he divides us into three lines: those three guys who were leaving for basic, another line for the people like my roommate who had already been through the physical and everything, and everyone else like me and the twins, who still had a very full day to look forward to. Though I realized while I was standing in that line, even though we weren't even recruits yet, that I had never seen a real line of people before. Always before, it was more of a squiggle. I guess something about a Marine makes you want to stand in a straight line. And then, of course, there was the one guy who wanted to try to bring a knife into a government building. He seemed very confused when the Marine told him to put it in the garbage. He seemed even more confused when the Marine didn't seem to care when he'd get it back.

So then we all filed upstairs to where I had taken the ASVAB, and while the poor guys shipping out got to look forward to a long day of nothing, me and all the others taking the physical got sent along pretty quickly. There, it was just a series of physical tests (shocking, I know). They tested my eyes, my depth perception, my hearing, they took my blood and blood pressure (the twins had to have their blood pressure taken three times, because they were always so nervous that it ended up high), asked me a bunch of questions about my medical history and drug use, and then, since the twins and I were the only girls taking the physical that day, the three of us went back to another room where we got to strip to our underwear and do a bunch of silly exercises so they could make sure all our joints worked, then we got to strip down to nothing but a gown and go into a separate room individually with two women who worked there, where one felt up my boobs while the other peeked at my va-jay-jay, I guess to make sure I had one. Then we all got dressed again, and then came the hardest part: we had to pee into a cup. The stall doors had to be open, and one of the ladies was standing in front of us to make sure we didn't do anything to our samples. We all three failed miserably the first time, but about 10 cups of water later, we were finally able to fulfill our mission.

But they finally told me that I passed my physical. Two tests down, one left. (The twins passed, too.)

So then I was on to the DLAB, the language test, which to me was the most important test of all, and the one I was least sure about. I'm not actually allowed to say much about the test (already getting into the super-secret confidential stuff), but there's some stuff about it online, so I figure I can talk about that stuff. The test was pretty much just how well you could learn their made-up language. They set a bunch of rules, like all nouns end in -at, all verbs end in -isi, the subject of the sentence starts with lo-, the direct object starts with li-, and so on (just so you know, I made all those up, so you can't use those to study). They teach you these rules one at a time, then you have to put all of them together at the end to form complete sentences. It actually would have been pretty fun, except that all the answers were read aloud, and they were only repeated once. For the second part, you had a series of four pictures labelled in a different made-up language, and you had to try to figure out what the words meant from the pictures, and then apply them to another set of pictures. That part was a little more fun since I could study it more and didn't feel so rushed. Anyway, I finished the test, and I ended up getting a 141. 176 is the highest, and the Air Force requires 100 minimum to be a linguist. Both the test moderator and my job counsellor said it was the highest score they'd ever seen. :) :) :)

And so, I passed my linguist test (!!!). I am eligible to learn any language they have.

Then, I went to talk to the Air Force job counsellor, who said that I will get to be a linguist. Though we were talking about whether I wanted to be an airborne linguist (translate in planes) or a ground linguist (translate on the ground, probably in an office). I didn't have a strong preference, but he told me I was too short to fly, so the Air Force made my decision on that one. But if I decide I want to be airborne once I get in, I can apply for a waiver. It's just really hard to do before I actually get in. He also confirmed that with my degree, I get to go in as an E-3, three ranks up from the bottom, which makes me an Airman First Class, gets me higher pay, and means I get to wear this snazzy little insignia:
After some more paperwork, it was time to officially swear in and take the Oath of Enlistment. Take the plunge, so to speak. Me and a few other guys were led into a nice ceremony room, where we were lined up and taught how to stand at attention and at ease, so that we could properly greet the lieutenant (or sergeant? I'm not sure what he was) who would be administering the Oath of Enlistment. No saluting yet, though. We all raised our right hand, and said in unison:

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

And so, I am now sworn into the US Air Force.

I'm in the inactive reserves in the Delayed Entry Program (DEP) until they can find me a linguist opening, and then it will be off to basic. My recruiter said the waiting process usually takes about six months.

So now, I wait. And walk around feeling like a badass.

A little more about MEPS, pre-MEPS

So I leave for MEPS on Thursday morning, in three days. I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited. Also a little nervous, but mostly I'm afraid that I won't be able to join, for some hidden disqualification, or I suddenly lose all my test-taking ability and fail the ASVAB, or something like that. Yay, paranoia. But it will be really nice to know for sure that I can join and everything.

Though I talked to my recruiter again today, and it turns out I may not get to leave knowing as much as I thought I would. While I'm there, I will talk to a job counselor, and I'll fill out a list of jobs that I would like, but I won't know if I've gotten that job or when I ship out or anything until later. After MEPS, I have to wait for one of the jobs on my list to open up. The recruiter said the more open I am about jobs and the more I put down, the more quickly I'll get one, but to be honest, I'm in no great hurry, so I feel comfortable waiting for a linguist job to open up. Though linguists are in demand, so hopefully I won't have much of a problem.

I also found out that I am supposed to sign a contract that day (Friday, in my case), and swear in and everything. BUT, this will just be a very basic contract that will put me into the DEP (Delayed Entry Program), which is pretty much a holding pattern until I leave for basic. I will then be in the inactive reserves, so I will technically be in the Air Force, but with no pay or training or really anything at all, and I read online that never once has someone been called out of the DEP program early. Also, it is possible to back out at this stage, though they obviously discourage it. I have read the contract online, and it's a really short 4-page contract, so since I'll already have read what it's supposed to say, I'll know if anything's amiss at MEPS. But while you don't have to sign anything at MEPS, I know I personally have made my decision and have done my research, and I know I want to do it, so I see no reason not to go ahead and sign on Friday (unless, again, something seems amiss). Especially since they won't start looking for my job until they know I'm committed and actually in the Air Force. So, that's where that stands right now.

Also, I found a little seven-minute educational video on YouTube that shows exactly what happens at MEPS, so if anybody's interested, here you go.

So far, so good

Yesterday I turned in my initial application to the Air Force and officially started the process of enlistment. Of course, not before I accidentally walked into the Marines office, where they immediately started trying to recruit me. They seemed a little more desperate than the Air Force. Also, I think my mom would have a coronary if I joined the Marines, and since I like my mom, the Marines is pretty much out. Shoot.

Anyway, my trip to MEPS is scheduled for next Thursday and Friday, the 11th and 12th. I corrected it in the post below, but Air Force actually does MEPS in Louisville instead of Indy, like I had originally thought. But that works for me, since Louisville is closer anyway. Me and a bunch of other candidates from different services are going to be bussed up there at the military's expense, and since it's so far, they're going to put us all up in a hotel on Thursday night.

Now that this is my plan, I've been a little afraid that they're going to find something drastically wrong with me that I didn't know about and tell me I can't join. That would definitely put a damper on my plans, especially since now, I think going back into the job market seems way scarier than 8.5 weeks of basic. At least in basic, I know that it will end, I know when it will end, and I know that all my hard work is actually accomplishing something, which is way more than I can say about my last year and a half of job searching. I think they will probably let me into the Air Force, but I'll still feel better once I know for sure.

My other big concern about MEPS is the DLAB, the language aptitude test. My mom sent me an article about the test, and while I'd read it before, I thought it'd be good to post on here.

Studying for the DLAB

Many people ask if one can study for the DLAB, or if there are any study guides available. The answers are "yes" and "no." There are no commercial study guides available for the DLAB, and one cannot study for the DLAB in the traditional way, as the DLAB is designed to measure language-learning potential, not current knowledge. While one cannot study specific practice questions for the DLAB, one can study grammar and English text books to ensure they have a solid grasp of English grammar before taking the test.

As a current Army Linguist puts it: "...in preparation for the DLAB one can help themselves greatly by ensuring that they have a solid grasp of grammar and syntax in general. One who doesn't know what an adjective is will have serious problems with the DLAB."

According to individuals who have taken (and passed) the DLAB, one can improve their scores by:

• Having a very clear understanding of English grammar. You will need to know all parts of speech and how they work. You may wish to get your hands on a good college level grammar text book and study that for awhile before taking the test. Understand how English sentences are constructed (i.e. Subject-Verb-Object). Fooling around with this construction will help you on the DLAB.
• Be able to recognize accentuation and stress patterns in words. Know where syllable breaks are in words.
• Have some experience with a foreign language. If you want to be a Russian linguist, it is not necessary that you have experience with Russian. However, if you have some experience with a foreign language, it will help you to understand that different languages use sentence structures differently than English.
• Be prepared to interpret instructions based on pictures. For example, a picture of a red car is presented with the word "ZEEZOOM". Next, a picture of a blue car is presented with the word "KEEZOOM". Next, a picture of a red bus is presented with the word "ZEEBOOM". You must be able to give the foreign word for a "blue bus".
• You should also know that on the audio portion of the exam there is no repetition of the questions. Once an item is given there is a brief pause for you to answer and then the next question. Be prepared for this; if you think you can think your way into an answer on any given question you will miss the beginning of the next. This effect can snowball and probably leads to some people with good chances going south due to nerves. Listen carefully and go with your gut. Be ready for the next question.

GIUJOE, a member of our Message Forum, took the DLAB and scored a 146. He offers the following advice:

Contrary to popular belief, you can study for the DLAB. I took the information that About.com gave me, some books from the library, and one good night of studying and I pulled off a 146. The problem is that most native English speakers don't know and don't care much about English grammar. If you have a strong understanding of english grammar, how verbs work, how objects work, how adjectives and possessives work, you'll do fine.

You also need to be open to manipulating those rules. If I tell you that from now on, adjectives follow nouns, then it's not a 'blue dog' no matter how many times I say it, it's a 'dog blue.'

Another hard part for English speakers if finding stress in words. English usually has multiple stresses. Here's an easy tip to find stress. Remember in elementary school when you were studying syllables and the teacher had you knock on a desk for every syllable? Do that!

Let's do the word 'aptitude.' Say the word and knock on the desk. You should get three knocks: ap-ti-tude. Now, do it again and make the strength of your knock correspond to the strength of your voice. You'll find that the stress falls on the first syllable: AP-ti-tude. Do that on the test while the speaker speaks. If you're in a room with multiple people, don't do it on the desk just for politeness sake. Use your leg.

Fred, another individual who has taken the DLAB, offers the following advice:

DLAB is more than having a good understanding of the english language. It also helps if you can understand the dialic of other people. A good help is knowing letters pronounced in other languages. Even better is knowing other languages (Russian, German, Farsee, ect.)

Another point to learn before taking the test is that word order is a major factor. There will be parts of the test where they will say that there will be an ending for the noun(car(se)) and an ending for a adverb(yesterday(e)) but the noun has to come before the adverb and only in that order to be correct. The best way to come to the test is over prepaired and and relaxed.

Qualifying Scores

The DLAB consists of 126 multiple choice questions. Applicable service policies require that each candidate for attendance at the Defense Language Institute be a high school graduate. For admission to a Basic Language Program, the following minimum DLAB scores are required:

• 85 for a Category I language (Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish)
• 90 for a Category II language (German)
• 95 for a Category III language (Belorussian, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Persian, Polish, Russian, Serbian/Croatian, Slovak, Tagalog [Filipino], Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese)
• 100 for a Category IV language (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean)

Individual services or agencies may demand higher qualifying scores, at their discretion. For example, the Air Force and Marine Corps require a minimum score of 100 on the DLAB for all languages, although the Marine Corps will waiver it to a 90 for Cat I and II languages. The Air Force is not currently approving waivers.

The highest possible score on the DLAB is 176.

Re-Tests

Individuals who fail to achieve a qualifying score on the DLAB can apply to re-test after six months. Requests for re-tests by individuals who have already made a minimum qualifying score are approved only based on documented military necessity, and must be approved by the appropriate commander (ie, recruiting squadron commander).

Taking the Test

The test is divided into two major segments (one audio and one visual).

Audio Segment: The first part of the audio segment tests your ability to recognize stress patterns in words. The narrator on the audio tape will pronounce four words. One of the words pronounced will have a different different stress pattern. Your task is to indicate (on your answer sheet) the word which is stressed differently from the rest.

For example, the narrator would state "A - Navy......B - Army.......C - Burger......D - Replace, stressing the second syllable in the word, "Replace").

The next part of the audio segment begins to introduce rules to a modified English language (created for the sole purpose of the test). You may be told that the rules of this language consist of all nouns preceded by verbs, and nouns and verbs will always end in the same vowel sound. You would then translate a given English phrase into a phrase compatible with the modified language.

For example, you may be shown the phrase "The dog Runs," followed by four choices: A-"Runsie, The dogie;" B-"The dogie runsie;" C-"Runie the dogo;" D-"The dogo runa." Of course, "A" would be the correct answer because the verb precedes the noun and both end in the same vowel sound.

The test will then proceed over several sections, in each section adding a few more made-up rules, covering areas such as how to express possession, or how to express a noun acting on another noun with a verb.

The audio Segment finally climaxes by combining all of the introduced rules and presenting entire sentences or long phrases for your deciphering pleasure.

Jake took the DLAB and score a 138. He offers the following advice concerning the audio portion of the test:

A few times when the speaker was giving the answers I would hear theright one, but by the time he finished, I had forgotten which letterit was. It helped to put a little dot inside theone I thought was right as he was speaking. It also helped to close my eyes while he was reading and listen for keywords.

Visual Segment: The tape is turned off, and all of the rules you studied so hard for on the Audio Segment are no longer applicable. In the visual segment, you will be presented (in your test booklet) pictures combined with words or phrases that (hopefully) will give you -- after some contemplation -- a basic understanding of this gibberish on the test page.

For instance, on one page might have a picture of a parachute at the top. Underneath the parachute there might be something like "paca." Then there might be a picture of a man. The man might be labeled "tanner." Then there might be a picture of a man parachuting which would read "tannerpaca." Then a picture of a man flying in an airplane which might read "tannerpaci."

From that, one can deduct a number of rules of the gibberish language, which you would then apply to the additional pictures on that page of the test booklet.

Unlike the first segment (audio), however, you will then turn the page on your test booklet to see a set of completely unrelated pictures, words and rules.

This same pattern will be completed until the end of the test, at which time you may take a deep sigh of relief, then go home and punch your recruiter in the nose for telling you that the test was "easy."

(Disclaimer. Please do not really punch your recruiter in the nose, as -- in many cases -- this will delay your enlistment.)

I think it will be hard, especially since you don't really have time to process all the information, but I think I'll be able to do it. I've got a strong grasp of English grammar and I know my parts of speech (I would hope so; at least maybe then I've gotten something out of this English degree). I even found this nifty little practice test on the Navy web site. When I took it, I got 10/10. I know the real DLAB will be way way harder, but to be honest, despite my nerves about it determining if I get the job I want and everything, the test itself kind of sounds like fun.

I think maybe I'm also supposed to sign my initial contract at MEPS. I'm pretty sure most people do, but my recruiter said the Air Force has people sign them in the recruiting office after MEPS, so I'll ask him about that again the next time I see him, which will be before I go. Though I also found a copy of the general contract online. Mine will obviously have information about me specifically, including my pay grade going in and stuff like that (which I'll post more details about when I know more definitely what it will be), and any enlistment bonuses and such. Though this first contract, while it will be a real one, will not be the one that "matters." I will technically be in the inactive reserves in the Delayed Enlistment Program (DEP) until I ship out for basic, which I have a year to do from the time I sign this first contract. And if for whatever reason I decide I need to back out before then, I still can while I'm in the DEP. I would get a ton of flak for it, understandably, but it can be done. Right before I leave for basic, I'll go back to MEPS and sign another contract, and that'll be the one that really matters and will enlist me as an active duty airman.

I'm glad to be going to MEPS because then, at least I'll know for sure that a) I can get into the Air Force, b) when I'm leaving, and c) if I'm even eligible to be a linguist. I really hate having stuff that important up in the air like it is right now, so all of these things will be very comforting to know for sure.

What comes next: MEPS

So now that I've decided to go for it, the first step to actually joining is going to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station), the testing facility to make sure I qualify.

Well, first I have to go back to my recruiter and give him a filled-out application, and he'll prequalify me, just to make sure I'm under the weight limit and not, like, an amputee or anything. I'm gonna go ahead and be optimistic that I can pass the prequalifier, so after I do that, my recruiter will set me up with a date to go to MEPS.

The one for Evansville is in Louisville, and my recruiter will make sure I get up there on the day of my testing. It will most likely be an overnight, but they will put me up in a hotel room and feed me and everything. While I'm there, I'll take the ASVAB, which is kind of like the SAT for the military. It just shows where your general aptitudes are. They'll also put me through a bunch of medical tests to make sure I'm healthy and able-bodied and a girl, and hopefully while I'm there I'll also take the DLAB (Defense Language Aptitude Battery), which tests how well I'd be able to pick up a language.

But I found an article on that about.com page that goes more in-depth about what exactly happens at MEPS. Most all of the about.com military articles are written by Rod Powers. "Rod Powers is a retired Air Force First Sergeant, and military author. His informative articles about joining the military have appeared in numerous military and civilian publications. He is the author of ASVAB for Dummies, published by Wiley, Barron's Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests, and Veteran Benefits for Dummies, also published by Wiley, which will hit the book shelves in February 2009."

Joining the Military Requires two (or more) trips to the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS). At a very minimum, you make a trip to MEPS for initial processing, then a second trip to MEPS for final processing on the day you ship out to basic training. This article will focus on the average "first trip" to MEPS.

MEPS is a Department of Defense joint-service organization staffed with military and civilians. Their job is to determine an applicant's physical qualifications, aptitude and moral standards as set by each branch of military service, the Department of Defense, and federal law. There are 65 MEPS facilities located throughout the United States.

Prescreening

Your trip to MEPS begins before you actually leave, with a medical "prescreening" performed by your recruiter. In performing this medical prescreening, your recruiter will help you complete DD (Department of Defense) Form 2807-2, Medical Prescreen of Medical History Report.

The recruiter sends the results of this screening to MEPS, in advance, to be reviewed by MEPS medical personnel. If the prescreening shows a medical condition which is obviously disqualifying, with no chance of a waiver (example, you are blind, or missing a limb), then your processing stops at that point. Some medical conditions require additional medical records. The prescreening is designed to identify those conditions so that your recruiter can help you obtain required medical records BEFORE your trip to MEPS. This saves you from being "temporarily disqualified," requiring that you return later with the necessary records for full qualification.

Getting Ready for the Trip

Once MEPS has given the recruiter the "okay" on the prescreening, the recruiter will schedule your visit to MEPS. Here are some general rules to remember that apply to your visit:

1. Discuss any childhood medical problems with your parents and bring documentation with you.
2. Bring your Social Security card, birth certificate and driver's license.
3. Remove earrings (they obstruct the headset used for the hearing test).
4. Profanity and offensive wording or pictures on clothing is not tolerated.
5. Hats are not permitted inside the MEPS.
6. If you wear either eyeglasses or contacts, bring them along with your prescription and lens case.
7. Bathe or shower the night before your examination.
8. Wear underclothes.
9. Get a good night's sleep before taking the CAT-ASVAB.
10. Wear neat, moderate, comfortable clothing.
11. Don't bring stereo headphones, watches, jewelry, excessive cash or any other valuables.
12. Processing starts early at the MEPS - You must report on time

Arrival at MEPS

For most applicants, the initial trip to MEPS is a two-day process. On the afternoon of arrival, the applicant takes the Computerized ASVAB Test. If you've already taken the ASVAB before your MEPS trip, and received qualifying scores, and the ASVAB test is less than 24 months old, you won't be required to retest.

If you do test at MEPS, exactly when you'll see your ASVAB scores is dependent upon the MEPS. When my daughters processed at the Omaha MEPS, they received their scores immediately after the test. I've been told that other MEPS don't give access to the scores until the next day, after medical processing.

Once you've completed the ASVAB, if you do not live in the same local area where your MEPS is located, you will be taken to a contract hotel. Generally, you will be assigned a roommate. The lodging accommodations and meals are paid for by MEPS. You will pay only for extras, such as telephone calls, in-room movies, in-room Internet access, etc. (if available).

MEPS arranges contracts with motel/hotels which are in the immediate vicinity of the MEPS. This means accommodations vary from location to location. I've visited some facilities where the motel accommodations were not the best (discount, motel-6 type), and other MEPS where the accommodations are truly outstanding (4-star rating).

When you check into the motel/hotel, you will generally be instructed to sign receipt of a list of rules. While this varies location-to-location, the rules include prohibitions for use of alcohol/drugs, curfew provisions, noise restrictions, etc. In general, it shouldn't be anything you can't live with (you'll have much tougher restrictions in boot camp). You should know that if you get caught violating any of these rules, it could terminate your processing in the military.

Your wake up call the next morning will come very early (usually about 0445). You'll have scant time to, dress, eat, and be at the designated location for the shuttle back to MEPS.

The entire morning is usually scheduled for medical examination. This is a "hurry up & wait," situation. You'll spend a lot of time "waiting your turn." I suggest bringing a book or magazine.

The Evaluation

The primary job of MEPS is to determine, under military regulations, policies, and federal law, whether or not you are qualified to serve in the United States Armed Forces, and -- if so, what jobs you may qualify for, under individual service regulations. The first step in that process, of course, is obviously the ASVAB. The ASVAB indicates whether or not you meet the basic general aptitude standards to join the military (see Minimum ASVAB Scores), and -- if so, what jobs you qualify for, under the standards set by the specific branch you're joining (see Enlisted Job Qualifications).

MEPS personnel also determine whether you are medically qualified to serve. Additionally, representatives of the service branch you're joining will be at MEPS to determine your job qualification and security qualifications. While these individuals "work" at the MEPS location, they are not actually part of MEPS. They are actually assigned to the indivdual service recruiting activities. So, while the person giving you your ASVAB Test and medical physical are assigned to MEPS, and work jointly for all the services, the people doing your enlistment contracts, job selections, and security qualifications are not assigned to MEPS, and are representing only their individual services.

It's very important that you are completely honest during your visit to MEPS. If anyone (including your recruiter) has advised you to lie, or withhold required information, and you heed that advise, it can have dire consequences later. See I Cannot Tell a Lie for complete information about this.

At most MEPS locations, one of the very first things you'll do when you arrive in the morning is take a breathalizer test to ensure that you are not currently under the influence of alcohol. Any trace of alcohol in your system, at all, will stop your processing, on-the-spot.

The Medical Evaluation

The physical begins with the completion of the Medical Questionaire, DD Form 2807-1, Report of Medical History. This is an abbreviated form of the Medical Prescreening Form that you completed in the recruiter's office. You're required to answer "Yes" or "No" in answer to questions about whether you have ever had any of the medical condtions listed. Note that there is no "I Don't Know" on this form. You've either had the conditon (i.e., diagnosed by a medical professional), or you haven't had the condition. Every item marked "YES" must be fully explained in the remarks section of the form. If there are descrepancies between answers on this form and the answers you gave on the Medical Prescreening Form, your enlistment process will most likely stop, and you'll be returned to your recruiter to obtain additional medical records and information. This is why it is very important to make sure that you're completely honest on both forms.

After completing the Medical Questionaire, you'll start the "process."

You will take a blood and urine test (including a test for drugs). Females will be tested for pregnancy.

Your blood will be tested for HIV, Hemoglobin, Hematocrit, RPR, and Alcohol. There are also two different urine tests, one is the legal drug urine and the other tests for pH, blood, protein, and specific gravity.

You'll take a hearing test, and an eye exam, including depth perception and color vision. (Note: Lack of depth perception & color vision is not a disqualifying factor for military service, but many military jobs require normal depth perception and color vision). Air Force personnel will take a strength test (required for job qualification). You'll undergo a weight check.

At one point in the examination, you will be required to strip down to your underwear (aren't you glad you wore those) along with the other recruits (Sorry, guys, but male recruits & female recruits are separated). You'll then be instructed (as a group) to perform a bunch of funny exercises. [He lists them all, but it's pretty long. If you want to read them, click on the link to the article.]

As part of the medical examination, you will also be personally interviewed by a physician. If, based on your medical history, the physician requires a rectal, or pelvic examination, it will be done at this time, in private.

Expect the above medical examination process to take up most (if not all) of the morning.

Job Selection

At this stage, you work with your Service counselor/liaison to select a “military job.” Depending on the needs and wants of the Service and your desires, this can be a very short or long process.

Keep in mind that not everyone gets a "guaranteed job" at this point. It depends upon the needs, and general policies of the service. For details on the job selection process, see Part 3 of What the Recruiter Never Told You.

Pre-Enlistment Interview

Once you have "selected a job," the Service counselor will complete their required paperwork and bring you, (and your paperwork) to the MEPS Control Desk to initiate the enlistment processing.

At this time, you will undergo a Pre-Enlistment Interview (PEI). During the PEI, the MEPS Military Processing Clerk (MPC) sits with you, “one-on-one” and in private. The MPC will fingerprint you and ask you questions concerning possible law violations, drug/alcohol abuse, and other issues that may affect your entry into the Armed Forces. Also, the MPC will brief you on the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) Fraudulent Enlistment Policy, and Restrictions on Personal Conduct while in the Delayed Enlistment Program (DEP).

During the PEI, if you have an additional disclosure (a potentially disqualifying item not already reported), it must be resolved before further processing continues. Once the PEI is completed, the MPC prepares your enlistment contract for you to review and sign with your Service counselor.

If you need any additional testing for your job choice (example, the Defense Language Appitude Battery), it will normally be done at this time. (Special Note: Some MEPS only give the DLAB on certain day(s) of the week. If you are primarily interested in a language appitude job, you may wish to check with your recruiter to ensure he/she schedules your MEPS trip for one of these days. This may save you from having to make an extra trip to MEPS.)

Enlistment Oath Ceremony

After you and your Service counselor sign the contract, you will return with the contract to the MEPS Control Desk for the Oath of Enlistment Ceremony.

At designated times throughout the day, control desk personnel or a MPC will take applicants with completed contracts to the MEPS Ceremony Room to prepare them for the Oath of Enlistment Ceremony. MEPS personnel will teach you to stand at “Attention” and review with you the Oath of Enlistment. Also, they will ask you if you have any questions pertaining to the UCMJ, Fraudulent Enlistment Policy, and the DoD Separation Policy.

Once you've been prepared, a commissioned officer will be notified to report to the Ceremony Room to conduct the Oath of Enlistment. During this time, the officer may ask you some questions (how you perceived the service and meals he/she received at the MEPS noon meal facility or at the hotel, whether you've been briefed on the UCMJ, etc.). Once the officer has determined that the applicant is ready to “swear-in,” he/she will administer the Oath of Enlistment and sign, with you, in the appropriate blocks of the enlistment contract (contract signing will be performed in another room from the Ceremony Room). This signifies your entry into the DEP. If you have family, friends, or your recruiter present at the ceremony, they will be allowed to take pictures. If don't want the ceremony interrupted by picture-taking, there is usually no objection to staging a mock ceremony at a later time for picture-taking purposes.

After the ceremony, the MEPS control desk will check-out the applicant to his/her Service who will check-out the applicant for the day.

Your first trip to MEPs will be a long day. So, make sure you get lots of sleep, and eat right. Bring a book or magazine, and understand that there will be much "hurry up & wait." There is no other way to process the number of applicants that a MEPS must process each day.

Uniforms

I've had some people ask me what the Air Force uniforms look like, so I found a few pictures.

This is what the dress uniforms looks like, though I'm not sure who wears what uniform. But I do know I won't necessarily have to wear a skirt. There is also a dress uniform with pants for women. Though I'm also not sure when I'm supposed to wear a skirt versus pants. I'm sure there are rules about that. Though I think they look pretty snazzy.


And here is the normal camo work uniform. No skirt with this one. Just pants and large combat boots.










Here's a pdf of all the official uniforms for different ranks and events. They don't show all the women's uniforms, and it's from 2006, so I don't know if it's still completely accurate, but it gives a pretty good idea of what I'll be wearing.

I do need to figure out what to do with my hair. In the Air Force, they don't make you cut your hair, but it can't touch your collar. If I keep it long, it has to be up in a bun like the girl in the battle uniform on the right. But while I really like my long(er) hair, it would also be way easier to cut it short, especially in basic when I'll have about three minutes to shower. No blow-drying and straightening in basic. So we'll see about that.

The Air Force

Okay, my mother has been told, and the decision has been made.

I plan on joining the U.S. Air Force, hopefully as a linguist.

I intend to go to MEPS (the testing facility) and sign the paperwork sometime this summer, and if all goes well, leave for basic in January of next year. AF basic is in San Antonio, and Katie, my best friend and a Dallas native, says the dead of winter is the best time to go there. That way, I can be around for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and go to basic while the weather is in the 50-degree range. Which I hear it will be in January. Crazy Texans.

After that, I go to technical school, where they train me for my job. Hopefully, I'll be heading out to Monterey, California, where the Defense Language Institute (DLI) is located. I could be there for six months to two years, depending on what language they want me to learn. More will come on that after I, you know, join.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep doing my research and talking to people, but nervous as I am, I still feel confident that this is a good decision for me.

Navy vs. Air Force

After reviewing my previous list and talking to a lot of people and doing more research than I did for my senior thesis, I have decided to join the military.

Oh lord. Now I'm a little scared.

But I stand by my decision, and to make sure that I go through with it, I've been announcing it to everyone. That way, I can't back out without a whole lot of embarrassment.

So now that I've decided to sign my life away, I have to decide who gets to be the recipient. At first I was thinking Navy, though I didn't really have a good reason. It mostly just seemed more "military" and hard-core, and I would feel more like a badass. And I like the ocean. But my grandfather was Air Corps, the granddaddy of the Air Force, and Chris's parents were Air Force. Not to mention that I've heard pretty much universally that Air Force standard of living is pretty much the best you can get.

So, as is apparently my way now, I made a list of the benefits of the Navy versus the Air Force.

Navy:

1. More "military"/badass
2. Greater sense of tradition and history, since it's significantly older
3. I would get to travel more

I had initially put down that I could also learn to be a diver if linguistics didn't pan out, but after I thought about that and talked to some people about it, I realized I was way romanticizing that. It would be less gliding just under the surface playing with fish and whale sharks, and more underwater welding where you can't see your hand in front of you or recovering bodies from downed planes and ships. So, not so much on the diving.

Air Force:

1. Better food and housing
2. Better access to planes for traveling or coming home to visit
3. Less travel required, so greater potential for a stable environment for my eventual family
4. Personal history, with my grandfather and Chris's parents
5. They also have a photojournalism job, even though it's hard to get
6. Chris, if he decided to join later, could work on planes
   
7. Not stuck on a ship
8. Better uniforms
9. Not called a "seaman"

And the winner is....

Pros and Cons

So like a responsible and very old person, I wrote out a list of pros and cons to joining.

First, the cons:

1. Potential of going into danger, though the likelihood of that (as a linguist in the Air Force, toward which I'm leaning) is super slim, and I hear about way more people getting hurt from driving while texting than from doing anything in the military.
2. I would be at the mercy and command of the military, for them to send me where they want me. Although as long as they feed me, house me, and pay me, I'm pretty much okay with that.
3. I might not get the job I like. This is a possibility. But it's also a huge possibility, and very likely, if I don't join the military and just keep looking for a job.
4. It is a very serious commitment, and even if I end up hating it, I can't back out. Or if I do, it's a felony. But again, as long as they let me out when they say they will (and stop-loss isn't really big right now, and pretty much never happens in the Air Force), I'm okay with that, too.
5. I would be away from my family, friends, and boyfriend. And while I get 30 days of leave a year, this will still be true.
6. They could order me to do something I disagree with morally. Again, unlikely, but again, if I say no, it's a felony.
7. The physical challenge of basic. I am a pretty small girl. It will be really super crazy hard, even though I'm planning on working out a lot before I leave.
8. The prejudice against women. I don't think it's as bad as it used to be, nor is it as bad in the Air Force as in, say, the Marines or the Navy Seals, but from what I can gather, it's still a reality.
9. Along with that, you hear a lot of horror stories about women getting raped and molested by fellow soldiers/airmen/etc. and by superior officers. But I think that mostly happens in combat areas. And while I'm sure it happens elsewhere, the same can be said in civilian life, as well.

And now for the pros:

1. A sense of personal pride and self-worth.
2. Gaining the respect of others.
3. Doing something that matters and is important.
4. Being part of something bigger than myself.
   
5. Learning a trade (whether I get to be a linguist or not).
6. Job security.
7. Medical benefits.
8. Getting to travel, both with work and for free by hopping rides on military craft or for cheap with a military discount.
9. I would probably get a job I like.
10. Free housing or housing allowance.
11. Veteran benefits.
12. Constant pay with annual raises, no matter what.
13. Good chance for upward mobility.
14. Thirty paid days of leave a year, in addition to weekends off (after basic).
15. Two weeks off for Christmas (unless deployed to Iraq or somewhere dangerous).
16. If I stay in for ten years, I can give my G.I. Bill benefits to my kids (new policy).

So that's 9 on the con side and 16 on the pro side. And most of the things on the con side are things that might happen, while a majority of the benefits are guaranteed.

I have yet to find evidence that this is not a good idea.

So I'm thinking about joining the military

And I'm getting pretty serious about it.

I graduated a year ago with a BA in English, hoping to find a job as an editor. Unfortunately, most of those jobs are in New York, and I simply don't want to go there. Nor do I want to teach or write. Truth be told, I'm not even sure I want to edit anymore.

While I was in college, I took a couple photography classes and a few different languages, dabbling in Spanish, Latin, Greek, and a very little bit of Japanese. I really loved being in all those classes, more than I enjoyed my English classes, and I was usually better at them. That really should have been a tip-off.

Since graduation, I've been doing the same thing everyone else is doing right now: looking for a "real" job. And so far, I'm coming up empty. I have found two jobs, one as a secretary for my dad and the other at a department store, and while those have allowed me to live on my own, I can't say they're exactly fulfilling my career goals. There are pretty much no jobs here in Indiana for English majors, and very few anywhere else, and I simply don't have the training for a photography or linguistics job.

But every time I looked on job sites for jobs in publishing, photography, or linguistics, the Navy came up with a bunch of listings. At first I just ignored them. I've always been more what you might call the academic type. I did well in school without having to put a huge amount of effort into it, but while I played a little bit of softball in elementary school, that's about where my physical prowess ended. So while I've always admired people in the military and supported it, I never really considered it for myself.

Until one day I did. I'm not really sure what changed. One day on my way to work, I was thinking about my employment predicament, and I thought, "Maybe I could join the military. No, of course not. But maybe." I started looking into the jobs they offered, especially the linguistics jobs. From there, it's snowballed from "don't be silly, I can't join the military" to "Navy or Air Force?" I've talked to recruiters and done more research than I did for most of my college papers. I've read pretty much the entire, very extensive, article at usmilitary.about.com and scores of message boards at military.com (both extremely helpful resources, by the way). The more research I do, the more confident I feel that this would be a really good move for me.

So I will keep thinking and researching and talking to people about it, and I guess we'll see.