A Soldier's Perspective

Joining the Army (Murphy's Law at work)

We have all heard the saying, "If something can go wrong, it will."? Well, the last month or so has been a prime example of that statement in action when it comes to my joining the Army. I like my recruiter on a personal level, but he leaves a bit to be desired on getting me enlisted in the Army. In some areas he has done done enough, and in others, to much. So, for the last 2 months I have been playing this waiting game and hoping that the next week, I will get to sign my paperwork and take my Oath. I am beginning to get a little frustrated!

I am not sure that ya'll know what all it take to join the military, but it is more than just walking into the office and your in. For someone younger, who has not lived as much life as us 'older folks', there is not as much to do. So it is a bit easier. But when you have lived in several different states as well as overseas, worked out of a few more, and driven in all lower 48 and parts of Canada, it can be a loooong drawn out process. Police checks have to be run in all the states you have lived and/or worked in the last 3 years. You have to have your high school transcript, and any college or trade school transcripts. Names, addresses, and phone numbers of all family members (parents, brothers, sisters, & kids) have to be gathered. You need an official copy of you birth certificate, and your ssn card. If you have been divorced, then you also need that same information on them as well as their ssn, marriage and divorce dates. If there are children, you have to show if you have legal custody of them in they are minors. If you have any minor infractions on the police reports, you have to get a waiver. To get that waiver, you have to write out a statement, it has to go to this person and that person to get approved.

Of course, you have to take the ASVAB test. You want to do well on this because the scores you make on this will determine what jobs you qualify for and what jobs the military will offer you. There are several scores that come from this test. You have your overall score, the GT score and several others. It is all very confusing and I can't explain it all because I don't really understand it all.

Then there is the physical. If you are 40 and over, then you have extra stuff to do. You get an EKG, blood work to test your triglycerides, HDL & LDL,  and glaucoma test. I don't know what other things a man has to go do, but women need a pap test and mammogram. If any of that comes back abnormal or a bit high, then, you get to apply for a waiver.

Once you have all this, then you can pick you get to talk to a career councilor to pick your job and choose you ship date, and take the Oath. THEN, you are in the military……well sort of. You are contracted to the military, but you are not truly 'in' the military till you finish boot/basic camp and AIT.

As ya'll know, I have taken my ASVAB and did well. I have been to MEPS and done my physical. That is where one of my waivers came in. My triglycerides were a little high, but not to high. So I got that waiver easy. I didn't know that I needed all the paperwork for my 3 divorces, much less all that information on them. And, I didn't want to have to contact them when I found this out YESTERDAY! My dad, who lives in Mississippi, had my birth certificate and I had him mail that last week. My recruiters boss called the recruiters in the 3 cities that I got my divorces in and asked them to get copies for us. He got those today. One of the police checks came back with some minor infractions that are around 10 to 15 years olds. It isn't a big deal, other then that means that I have to get a waiver on it.

Getting that waiver is not as easy as getting the medical waiver. I have to write out what happened and have an interview with the Commander. Then it goes to Battalion to be approved. That isn't so bad, except that this is the week before Christmas, and everyone is going on vacation. The Commander was not in yesterday and is going on Christmas vacation tomorrow. I couldn't interview with him today, because we didn't have all this other paperwork on the divorces in.

MEPS closes Thursday, and will not be open again till the 27th, but only for 3 days. Then they are closed again till January 3rd. I am told, that they should have everything done so that I can see the career councilor, pick my job, sign my paperwork and take the Oath, in the 3 days they are open next week. The problem there, is that I am going to be in Louisiana for Christmas till the 27th.

The frustration that I am having has been going on for a while. It was 2 months ago that I started all this. Everything that I have told ya'll that I have had to do or get done has come in, in bits and pieces, a week here and a week there.I have told them to let me know when they have this all done. THEN, the next time I am in the Nashville area, we will get this finished. I get to the Nashville area often, so I am in hopes that it will be next week, but it may not happen till January.