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.