MEPS - The Third Visit

No comments on my last few posts . . . am I that boring or are y'all just busy? :-) Anyway, on with the tale!

So, after two months of bureaucratic bungling the NGB approved my waiver. My Recruiter calls and we set up to head for MEPS on a Tuesday. As I said in the last post, I was smart and took the whole day off even though he figured I'd be in and out in a few hours. We get there at oh-dark-thirty again and I'm first man at the door. I know the drill by now so the MEPS staff don't need to yell at me. I check in with my service office, then up to the main desk to start the final process of swearing in. Um . . . well, I would have if they'd had my file. It must be down in the NG office, go get it. I run downstairs and . . . nope. Back up to the main desk. "Well, we don't have it, you'll need to wait over there." So it's back to chairs, where I once again sit until EVERYONE else has been processed. (Why do I keep trying to be the first guy in the door? It never works out!) Ninety minutes later, they call me up to tell me I'll have to come back another day since they can't find my file. (Are you frikkin' kidding me???) I'm about to lose my mind when . . . "Oh, here it is!" (Damn thing was LITERALLY right in front of her the entire time!) She was looking in the wrong place because I told her I was only there to swear in; the folder was in the "Full Medical" pile.

I tell her that I already did all my medical work, which entails another 20 minutes of phone calls and checking with other folks before they tell me that yes, I did but I need to have a second exam because it's been more than 45 days since my medical. (Yay!) So, it's back up to the med floor to strip down, get weighed & measured, re-do the physical agility test (Thank God, no re-test on the piss or rubber glove!) and get another once over by the Doctor. Finally, I'm done and they sign off on my medicals. Now I can go back to the NG office and sit with my Career Counselor to pick my MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) and square away all my pay, rank, and bonus issues (the good stuff!) This should all go easily, right?

Nope.

See, cuz the NGB made them re-write all the paperwork for the waiver, I had to re-fill out all MY paperwork as well - and I had to be DAMN sure it said EXACTLY the same thing as the originals. (Sigh. I actually had to redo one form twice because I accidentally checked a box that was for "Female Recruits Only") There's another hour shot. Now, it's on to getting my job squared away. I tell her I want a 68W slot and she types in her computer . . . OK, there's an opening in the 1/102 RSTA BN (mixed infantry/cavalry unit) that's only about a 1/2 hour drive from my house. Perfect, I'll take it! The Sgt. warns me that it's a combat unit and I could wind up in Iraq or A-stan. I tell her I understand that, I wanted a line unit. That's where I think I can do the most good.

The Sgt. gets back on her computer to reserve me a training slot and . . . "Uh-oh." My head is already starting to pound. What this time? "There are no 68W slots available for the rest of the year." What? You just told me there was an opening! "No, there are no TRAINING slots open. The NG has no more seats at the 68W school. You'll have to pick something else." I think about that for all of 30 seconds . . . "Sorry, Sgt. I can't do that. I'm 40 years old, I'm not joining the Guard for money or job training. I'm good on both of those, I'm joining because I want to be a Medic."

That surprised both her and my recruiter. "So, you're saying it's 68W or you're not enlisting?"

"Yup, I'm afraid so, Sgt." (Here's where I was thinking The Wife would being doing back flips when I told her I didn't enlist.)

"Well then, I'll just have to find you a goddam seat!"

Not the answer I was expecting, but I'll be damned if she didn't do just that. The Sgt. was an outstanding Counselor. She got on the phone with Ft. Sam Houston (Where they do the 68W training) and she spent FOUR HOURS (no lie!) fighting and arguing, making her way up the chain of command to get me a slot. Finally, she found me one but it wasn't until Jan, 2009. I didn't give a damn, I took the slot. After that, things actually ran smoothly. The Sgt. got me everything I wanted and more!

I got the job I wanted, the unit I wanted, the advanced rank I needed, and I even got the GI Bill kicker which pays me an additional $250/month, on top of the basic bill, for going back to college. Best of all, I got the largest bonus allowable by law AND they're paying it to me in a lump sum because I signed on to a "Critical Unit". That means I get the whole bonus as soon as I'm done with my Initial Entry Training, instead of 1/2 after IET and 1/2 three years later. Wasn't expecting that, but I was glad to take it!

Next, it was on to a security interview which I passed with no problems and then a quick break for food. Finally, I was ready to swear in. I stood at attention, in a room with six other recruits, in front of an Army Captain, raised my right hand and took my oath of enlistment:

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of New Jersey 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 Governor of New Jersey and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to law and regulations. So help me God.

It may sound goofy to you, but it was one of the most moving moments of my life. With those few sentences I went from citizen to citizen-soldier. Call me a dork but it meant more to me than I can explain.

Later!