Back from MEPS - Yes, I left my pistol at home! Glad I did!

[Tally XD]

Well, I am back from Montgomery Alabama MEPS Station at Maxwell AFB. I got home last night around 9pm. I was tired as heck.


Anyway, glad I did leave the XD45 at home. I would have been in deep shooshoo if I had taken it.

As far as my physical at MEPS. . . . I am disheartened now.

I was there for my "Over 40" physical and it all came to a stop at 9:00am. I made it fine through every step of the physical. All the way through. Same physical the 19 year olds were taking.

- My Body Fat percent was good for my height and weight.

- Was able to perform all of the physical moves, duck walk, hell walk, tip toe walk. No problems.

- Blood pressure good.

- Vision good but I failed color blind test. I passed Red/Green recognition but I failed the color vision assessment.

- Passed hearing test

- Passed all drug/alcohol screenings (I don't do either)

Basically I made it through every step and was ready to start my "Cardio"evaluation which is the "Over 40" extra steps. My enlistment counselor told me that I had been disqualified.

I declared that I had previously had kidney stones. I had two episodes in my entire life. I passed both myself and was not hospitalized.

I was told that two or more kidney stones was disqualifying.

So, now I have to wait to see if I can get a waiver, then go see a doc for a medical evaluation and then continue the exam at MEPS.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Jason Storm]

Don't let it discourage you. This can be frustrating to both the recruit and recruiter. I was a Navy recruiter myself before and dealt with the issues of our MEPS, which was in Ft. Lee at Petersburg, VA. It's not over till the fat lady sings.

[soonershoote]

Agree, let's see if a waiver comes through for you. If not, maybe going into another branch of service (if they approve a waiver) would be OK? What Navy rating were you interested in applying towards??

[Tally XD]

Agree, let's see if a waiver comes through for you. If not, maybe going into another branch of service (if they approve a waiver) would be OK? What Navy rating were you interested in applying towards??

Yeah, if the National Guard will not waiver me I will check US Army Active. Not interested in any Navy duty at all.

[Daddy Warcrimes]

Good luck. This is definitely not an easy time to enlist.

[Moga]

Good luck. This is definitely not an easy time to enlist.

I'm curious about why. Any one care to briefly embellish?

[SIGguy229]

I'm curious about why. Any one care to briefly embellish?

Given the job market is not what it used to be, more people are staying in the military--less are separating...thus, the military can be selective on who they take in....and who they will waiver to (re-)enter military service.

[limatunes]

I'm curious about why. Any one care to briefly embellish?

This is a HORRIBLE time to try to enlist. ALL branches of the military are cracking down HARD. As stated, because of the economy people are flooding to the military for job security and benefits and the military in general can afford to be VERY picky. The Marine Corps and Navy have stopped approving weight waivers for any reason. The Marine Corps is no longer taking anyone with more than two dependents (a spouse and one child, max). They also do not take ANYONE with a GED. The Air Force is closing down recruiting stations and discharging people for the smallest of reasons.

Even though 35 is the "official" minimum for the ASVAB score, the Marine Corps was told not to even send anyone to MEPS who didn't get a 50 or higher on the practice test.

And lately the Marine Corps has told recruiting offices that if poolees cannot pass the IST (the 1.5 mile run, pullups and crunches) at least TWICE within 30 days of shipping to boot camp they are not to be shipped at all.

So far the only branch that is still being a little flexible is the Army. They will still take GEDs and are still processing some waivers as far as I have heard.

It's getting very tough to join the military in general and once you are DQ'd they have really no incentive to try to push you through because they are making quota and then some. Waivers are getting harder and harder to come by.

I really hope that they will approve you for one, though. I know what it's like to be disqualified from serving your country and it's a disappointment I hope you don't have to go through.

Good luck!

[dukalmighty]

35 to qualify,I think I had an 86

[grady]

I hope you can get the waiver, if you still want to enlist.

I didn't see your other thread until it was closed, but I agree it was a good thing to leave your weapon at home. Years ago, I coughcough knew of an individual who didn't leave his weapon at home. Hey, he was going to the big city, so he needed his weapon, right?

Imagine his surprise when he didn't get a locking locker at the MEPS station to place his valuables in for the duration of the physical. And he had taken a military bus from the hotel, so no chance of placing the gun in his car. So his loaded weapon was unattended in an unlocked locker for hours, with a hundred or more people all around... Fortunately, no one noticed it.

Or so I was told. coughcough

I'm pretty sure he would make better decisions nowadays.

Good luck with the military. I never heard of someone being disqualified for a couple kidney stones. I guess they are getting stricter.

[Glock Block]

Hey trust me worse things can happen!!!! I am now 21 years old living in South Florida. When I was 18 I enlisted to join the Florida National Guard and everything went fine and according to plan during my MEPS physical. At the time, I enlisted in Nov of 2007 and was slated to leave for Basic Training May 2008 through the delayed entry program they offered. This allowed me to continue my college classes and then go to Basic once my semester was over. Because I wanted a flight spot I looked into and had the Lasik Eye Surgery done which corrected my vision 100%. Before having the procedure done, I went to MEPS, asked the medical director if it was okay to do and he said the Army pays for soldiers to get it done and I should do it if I ever wanted to consider aviation which I did. I went ahead and got it done and no problems came up from it. During my drills in the RSP program everything was fine and before I knew it I was 2 days away from leaving for Basic when I got the phone call from my recruiter that I was disqualified because of the Lasik. To make the 11 month appeal process short, I in the end was discharged but without ever getting an explanation. I was really upset about the whole thing but now I am on my way to finishing the police academy and will be working for a department down in my area within the next 5 weeks. I do wish the best of luck to you and wish that I could be doing the same. Luckily for me, I have recently been approved of to re enlist if I please so it will be some consideration for me to do in the next few months.

[Moga]

I really hope that they will approve you for one, though. I know what it's like to be disqualified from serving your country and it's a disappointment I hope you don't have to go through.

Good luck!

Thanks for the kind words but the information isn't for me. The husband of my newly married niece wants a particular IT job in the Navy. About a month after MEPS, he went to be officially sworn in and was told that that job wasn't available and probably wouldn't be for a while. The fella was pretty disappointed because apparently his recruiter paved a road of gold awaiting him in USN when he was being recruited. That transpired a few days before I asked for clarification. Thanks to all that responded btw.

[Moga]

I know that he "scored" very high in MEPS. In the low 90s in fact. The candidate also told me some stories about people that were DQ because of weight. The BMI index limit is very low. Single digits I think he told me.

[OldVet]

Sorry to hear that. I've had 2 instances of kidney stones, but fortunately for my career, they happened after retirement. They will definitely bring you to a halt!

Someone mentioned going into the LEO field instead. In great hindsight, I wish I'd done that (joined the HWP)when I retired from the AF and was still in decent shape. I'd be a couple of years away from a second retirement check. One military retirement check won't pay the bills.

[soonershoote]

Although I retired in 2006, I still know a few people on active duty, and everything that they have said lately echo's limatunes comments, the military is in one of those era's when they can be super picky. Nowadays Uncle Sugar lets me monkey around with DoD logistics, and all indicators are that the DoD budget will be a flat line for a few years...Obama & Gates want a flat line or 1-2 % budget growth via offsets through 2019. Of course, that all means jack, stay healthy, do good work in school and your classes, stay out of off duty trouble and you'll be fine.

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