Army Basic Training: Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS)

The Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS)

Some of the new recruits who frequent the message board have offered some really great insight into their first trip to MEPS. The MEPS is the place where you actually get examined to see if you are Army qualified, take the ASVAB, meet with a counselor to choose your MOS, get sworn in, take a physical and participate in a host of other pre-Army processing before you ship out. Once that is all completed and everything is in order, you will go back to MEPS the day before you ship out (see the bottom of this page for an account of the second trip to MEPS). You will get sworn in again, take a urinalysis and be questioned if anything has changed in your status. Once you are cleared, you will be put up at a hotel and will ship out to BT the next morning.

Also, be sure to page down to the bottom to read about your second trip to MEPS (the day before you ship out). Read below:

Re: Looking for a description of your MEPS experience

Posted by JM on 9/9/2002, 9:48 am , in reply to "Looking for a description of your MEPS experience"

Louisville MEPS: We were all treated like cattle.....immature cattle at that. Almost everyone was rude. The medical techs we're smart-a$$es. The doctor was crazy, seriously crazy. He wore a towel on his head and twisted his beard up over his head under the towel and he yelled and cussed you if you could not understand his accent -- thus making the e-5 who was his assistant smirk nastily at you. Whenever we filled out paperwork, they had this big chart overhead and stepped us thru every line even on questions like "sex......M or F."

It was interesting to say the least. I'm 23 years old and was stirred up in a sea of 18 y/o punks who had no idea what they were getting themselves into. I enjoyed it though! I love to see the look on the staff's face when I threw some good ole KY charm at them by just being polite. They acted like you had just slapped them in the face with a rubber chicken when you said "thankyou" or "yes Ma'am".

That was my August 2002 experience at MEPS.

FORGOT SOMETHING!!!

Posted by JM on 9/10/2002, 6:40 pm , in reply to "Re: Looking for a description of your MEPS experience"

I almost forgot about the night before at the hotel! They put me up for the night at this hotel (not as nice as the one @ Nashville MEPS). I was roomed with a ARNG artillery fellow who was shipping out. He had a buddy from back home(?somewhere in hoosierland?) that was originally from Korea. They were both really nice dudes - polite, just wanted to serve the US. The Korean kid, dont remember his name but the marine pukes called him 'saki', he was a spazz - a nut so to speak. The Marines to be loved him - they made fun of him the whole time and he didnt realize it. The poor kid had no idea what he was getting into with the military. I KNOW the DS's are grilling him while I type!!! He could not shut up!

Anyway, enough of Saki. The hotel staff was a bunch of a$$holes that got even meaner when I was polite to them!!??!! The worst part is coming up. As all of U know, you have to be up at the butcrack of dawn.....like 0415. Nooooo problem........usually. The darn power went out because of a t-storm at about 1900. So we all set outside on the balconies while it rained until past dark. It was 92deg and 95%humidity! No A/C, no lights, and no hope! At 2000 the 'hotelsecurity' guru with his walkie talkie came by yelling at us to 'get the h@11 in your rooms or you will be punished accordingly'....WTF. It was pitch black. We could not see in our rooms. We could not see in the latrine. We could not see in the shower. But luckily, Ernie, my roommate remembered that "Saki" had a 1AA cell flashlight with him (not to mention his cell phone, walkman, and all other kinds of 'contraband' that he was not allowed in bct). So we go to saki's room and get his light from him. If you have ever taken a shower with a 1 cell AA light in a black motel room, you know how I feel. Did I mention that it was still hot and humid. We finally got to bed at 2330. May have fell asleep at 0230 in a puddle of sweat. Then the power comes back on at 0345 - a whole 45 min of constant sleep. This would be cool if I was on an FTX AND GETTING PAID! I love to be dirty and sweatty......with weapons).

I have already explained the next day.......it sucked. oh yeah almost forgot -- The whole reason for me going to L'ville meps instead of Nashville(where my area normally goes) was because I had to take the AFAST test for flight school and they could schedule it faster. Well after my physical, I reported into the Army office and told them who I was and why I was there. They say, Oh yeah, your that guy from West Ky who is gonna take the AFAST, just have a seat and we'll be with you in a minute. I took a seat and they came and got me 2 hrs later and told me that they had forgot about me and it was too late to take the test. THis was not pretty! I nicely told the counselor, with veins popping in neck, that the ONLY REASON that I had came to this Godforsaken place via 1hr POV and 5hr bus ride was for this AFAST test! I told them that if this was an accurate representation of the way the Army operated that I wanted no part of it, and I would gladly go home and take one of the job offers that I had received. The counselor said 'oh......uhh......let me see if the test administrator is still here'. He was. He was getting ready to leave, but I geuss that busted his bubble. I took the test and went home.

BUT IT HAS A HAPPY ENDING. The bus driver that took me to and fro spent 37 years with the navy.....as a UDT frogman and SEAL......began as a sniper in viet nam. Wow, did he have some stories!!! He had a lot of guns in that van too!!! Paranoid? Maybe. It was just he and I on the way home, so we had a pretty good talk, and he ended up writing me a letter of reference for my Flight packet. ALL IS GOOD.

Re: Looking for a description of your MEPS experience

Posted by 95B on 9/9/2002, 10:13 am , in reply to "Looking for a description of your MEPS experience"

Milwaukee, Wisconsin MEPS:

So far everyone that posted anything about MEPS says it was not a very good time. Well my expierience is different.

I arrived at MEPS to take my ASVAB test, all of the people in the building at that time were extremely nice to me, they talked with me about things other than the Military and such. That day I was only there for a couple hours.

The next day I arrived for processing at five AM, I am a 22 female stuck with 17 and 18 y/o immature punks. All the doctors were nice ( to me anyway) all very polite as long as you were polite to them. Everyone says talking to the counselor was the worst, because they try to get you to "crack" or tell them something that will DQ you. The counselor I talked to did not seem to be that way at all, just asked me a few simple questions and that was it.

The "hurry-up and wait" and being stuck with immature teenagers for 12 hours are the only things that sucked for me. Although I did get to sit in the National Guard Liasons office for a few hours to get away from the "kids". One of the SGT's came up to me sitting at a table and says " you dont look like these "kids" are your type of people" and I said "no" and he told me to come sit in the office for awhile until i was done processing, I was even offered to eat pizza with them.

That was my expierience at MEPS in Wisconsin. I actually had FUN!! can you believe that......

Re: Looking for a description of your MEPS experience

Posted by Angela on 9/9/2002, 11:52 am , in reply to "Looking for a description of your MEPS experience"

I would have to say my MEPS experience was not excellent but not a nightmare. I went to the MEPS in Los Angeles at about 5am. There were a variety of ages but mostly in our twenties and late teens. I was a little upset b/c my recruiter and I were the first few people at MEPS and once they opened there doors other people came in so when it was time to line up and go for physicals I ended up in the middle of the line. Anyways, we had to line up at different stations for our physical. I got the chance to talk to different people it was nice. We had to wait forever to do the urinalysis. What upset me about that, is that you are not allowed to use the restroom until you take the urinalysis and within our line of girls there were some that had to go really bad. Some other girls came in after us and were standing by the bathroom door while the rest of us waited our turn in the seats, on a first come first serve sorta basis. I think it was a general census that these girls that had to go would go first, they were practically dancing around. So what irked me was that the girls standing by the door when in next when the MEPS person called for the next group. So even though I wasn't someone who had to go, I was pissed. So there are some rude recruits at MEPS. So other than having to put on paper gowns and walk like a duck my experience wasn't too bad and most of the other recruits were mature and nice, and we joke with each other to make the physical a little less uncomfortable. Now luckily I had my dad with me when I went to see the MOS counselor, especially as my dad was in the Army it helped. He made sure I didn't let myself be lured into an MOS that I didn't want. I was really looking into the intelligence field without DLAB since I was 11 points from passing it. But I was also open to other MOS that filled some requirements that I had, the counselor tried to get me into 91W, it seemed interesting but my dad reminded me that I didn't like it when I was a medical assistant and probably won't want it for the next four years. So I got out of there with most of my requirements filled with an MOS of 31F. As for the security interview it was easier than I thought. The counselor didn't try to trick me and we even chatted a little about other things, one of them I think was the Navy seeing as he was Navy and my brother-in-law is in the Navy. During lunch the guy at the counter let my dad have a free lunch also since he was with me. And my dad got to chat with the man who swore us in and also watch me swear in. So overall it was not a bad experience. Although the ladies during our physical were a little intimidating but I figured that was to give us a taste of what Basic training would be like.

Re: Looking for a description of your MEPS experience

Posted by Cendy on 9/9/2002, 11:56 am , in reply to "Looking for a description of your MEPS experience"

i don't know how much help this can be but marck wrote about his first time at MEPS for his humor column site, lifeobserved.com. here's the link:

http://www.lifeobserved.com/retro41.html

i hope this is useful in your search.

Re: Looking for a description of your MEPS experience

Posted by 74Bravo on 9/9/2002, 12:01 pm , in reply to "Looking for a description of your MEPS experience"

For me, this was the second time around...first time was in 1992 through Baltimore MEPS, ok Experience all in all...had to waiver for the hearing test though...

The last time was middle of August 2002 at the Ft Dix MEPS. I was warned prior to arriving that the Doctor at this facility has been there for decades, and he was one who required the utmost of respect (no problem whatsoever for me, I work with Sr Executive mgmt on a daily basis)...well, I passed the hearing test that was being administered by an Army LTC (reservist IIRC), the eye exam was another story...3 ppl in front of me were temp DQ'd. The machine they use to get the refraction (it tries to figure out your required script to clear up the view), well, I had to goto an outside doctor to be told that a) my perscription I have now is too strong, b) my eyesight is not NEARLY as bad as my personal doctor made it sound...as for the ortho...no problems here...weight (over for my height) I weight more than the ideal weight, so on to the body fat. I basically knew what it was so the Navy medical speciallist (didn't actually look at the rank) 'bet' me I would be off as they have a different way of figuring BFI. I was off by .1%...well under passing though.

The meeting with the doctor was a lil iffy. I kept my professionalism as did he, however, he had JUST finished walking out into the hall to tell the younger hopefuls to be quiet RIGHT before I walked in, and then AGAIN (less than 3 minutes) AFTER I walked in...he kept his mannerisms while I was in there (noise in hallway increasing yet again) and when it came to looking at the ear drums, I knew he would be looking extra close...his patience was at the thinest point as in a pond where the overnight temps hit 32...thin sheen of ice..and PLOP...broken. He temp DQ'd me asking for records proving my ears had been a problem as a child, however not now.

Blood test, and urinalisis..well...they are labwork..just drink plenty of water...and MAKE SURE THEY SEE YOU...well..going.

All in all, experience was mutual, and I am in the process of finishing up my collection of records...in fact, I have an appt on Wed to have my ears looked at by my doctor to get a written letter stating that although scarred, they are old scars, and that since I went in before, there is no reason to not be able to get back in now...I mean..you REALLY don't need to hear to work on computers...RIGHT?!

Either way...Ever Forward...Drive on...it's just a brief moment in life your at MEPS, decide wisely, read EVERYTHING, and HOOAH!!!!!

Re: Looking for a description of your MEPS experience

Posted by 74Bravo on 9/9/2002, 12:04 pm , in reply to "Re: Looking for a description of your MEPS experience"

One more thing...ANYONE that goes to MEPS should be dressed for success...ripped blue jeans, and a T-Shirt makes a negative impression. Dress pants, and a nice golf shirt is the thing to wear. Make yourself look more professional and less likely to be a PITA and you will be treated like a professional, when you dress like a teen punk, expect to be treated as such.

Re: Looking for a description of your MEPS experience

Posted by RAM on 9/9/2002, 3:47 pm , in reply to "Looking for a description of your MEPS experience"

I arrived at the Knoxville MEPS at 5:30 in the morning. There was already about 30 people in the waiting room, but I was relieved to find out most of them were going to take their ASVAB first, which I had already done. As soon as I got there, they separated 10 of us and took us to the medical department. The control desk gave us each our MEPS record, to hand to the medical desk in the back room. As soom as we did, we started our physical process. First, they took our blood pressure. Then they administered the hearing test, which conducted in a closed booth with partitioned stalls. You have a clicker that you push if you hear a tone through your headphones. I freaked out because I finished my hearing test quickly, and had to sit there for about 10 minutes waiting for 5 other guys to finish theirs, but I didn't know at the time if I had finished, or if they were still testing me and I just didn't hear anything. Luckily, that was not the case. After that, we took our vision test, which consisted of reading lines of nubers and letters at awkward angles, then deciphering sets of numbers that were hidden in blotches of color, to see if we were color blind. After that, we were moved to a classroom, and an airforce officer breifed us about our interview with the doctor, and gave us percise instructions on how to organize our files when we presented them to him. We also had to fill out a bunch of paperwork detialing any physical illness or injuries we had sustained in our lives. As we left the room a corpsman administered breathalizers on us. We then each had a preliminary interveiw with the doctor, where he asked us if we did any drugs, or had omitted any info on the paperwork. After that, we had our blood drawn, and took our urinalysis. Then came the fun part: they took all of us into a large freezing-cold room and had us strip down to our underwear. They took our height and weight, then did body fat checks on those of us that were over the limit. Then, the doctors, medics, corpsmen, admin. guys, and half the MEPS station all came into the room to watch us do our physical excercises to test our shoulders and knees.( Advice to guys-wear breifs, unless you want to end up flashing your host of spectators!) After that, we went one by one into the doctors office, where we dropped our drawers, so he could check things out south of the equator, so to speak. After that, we got dressed, got an approval stamp from the doctor, and headed to our career counselors. This is were I experienced the longest wait. ( About 2 hours) My career counselor gave me some hasseles about what I wanted, but I stuck to my guns, and got the MOS I wanted. ( he tried very hard to put me in petroleum supply, and chemical corps, niether of which I would do. I ended up with the MOS I wanted, 19D. After that I had to talk to a Gestapo agent for a security interview, who seemed like she wanted nothing more than to put me jail. That for me, was the most nerve-racking aspect of the whole MEPS ordeal. I passed the interview, and took yet more paperwork back to the career counselor, and signed the dotted line, after I as was absolutely sure about all bonuses, training I was to recieve, and conditions of my term of service. After that, I was sent back to the control desk, where I once more relinquished my paperwork packet( which by now was as thick as War and Peace), and was told to sit and wait to swear-in.(another lenghty wait.) Eventualy, an army captain emerged, summoned me to the swear-in room( very officious pace), and swore me in. I then went back to the career counselor and had my mugshot taken for some recruiting propoganda he was planning, woke up my recriuter in the coffee room, and left. The whole process took about 8 hours. It wasn't a pleasant experience all in all, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Re: Looking for a description of your MEPS experience

Posted by Romulusguy on 9/10/2002, 1:33 am , in reply to "Looking for a description of your MEPS experience"

Los Angeles, California MEPS:

I was driven to a hotel the night before I was supposed to go get my physical, by my recruiter. In his car was another guy, who looked to be around 22 or 23, wearing a "wife beater", and shorts, and that was it. He didnt say much, and I didn't think we would get along.

We got to the hotel, and my experience with nasty people began. I went up to the front desk (My recruiter just dropped us off, he didnt walk in with us), and politely waited for the hotel staff to recognise me. With a smile on his face, the concierge came up and bid me good-day, and asked if he could help me. I informed him that I was with the National Guard, and that a room was supposed to be held for me. His smile immediatly reverted to a frown, and look of disgust, as if I was some sort of vermin cluttering his hotel lobby. He pointed down the hall and said "Go there", and then turned away from me. I remained calm, even though I wanted to give this obnoxious guy a piece of my mind, and walked down the hall.

I check myself and the guy I was with in, and we went to our room. It was there when we FINALY got a chance to talk, and I realised how foolish I was to judge a book by its cover. We talked of our fears of Basic Training and expectations, and we both agreed that part of one of the reasons we both joined the military, comradery, was already being fufilled between the two of us. We went downstairs to get some dinner, and were treated rudely by the hotel staff once they saw we were with the military. It was about 10:00pm when we went back to our room. We had a 3:00am wake-up call, and had to be on a bus at 4:00am. We didnt get any sleep, however. We talked until about midnight, then tossed and turned. I think we managed to snag about an hours worth of sleep.

We woke up, and made our way downstairs to eat some breakfast, then wandered down to the bus. There, waiting for the bus, was a group of young kids, most of them 17 or 18, and all of them acting like they were 12. They were rude to the hotel staff, and made crass jokes in very loud voices.

The bus arrrived, and it was driven by a Latino man who didnt speak very much English. The obnoxious kids started making very innapropriate jokes about Mexico and how the man was driving, to the mans face, in order to get shortels and laughter and OTHER rude comments from the other kids on the bus. The guy I was going to MEPS with, now my friend, almost turned around and clobbered the kid. If we werent so nervous about getting in trouble, we would have.

Finaly, we arrived at MEPS. Getting off the bus, we were met by military personell who gave us instructions, such as no hats to be worn, how to respond to people ("Yes Sir, Mam"), and what was allowed and not allowed. They gave some pretty sage advice as well: "Follow the rules and treat us with respect, and we will do the same".

We were led into a room where a female Sgt. who meant business went over a bunch of forms step by step, and during this process our blood pressure was taken and a brethalizer test was administered. Many of the kids goofed off and made jokes while the Sgt. was speaking, something she did NOT appreciate. I sat there and followed every instruction to the letter, so I had no problems with her.

After an hour of filling out forms in this room, we were let out into a large hall, with a series of doors and rooms in it. The rest of the day would be spent visiting each room and getting various tests done.

The first test I went to was the blood test. I waited in a long line, in which stupid kids talked about all the drugs they had dne, and how they were going to beat the urine test. I just shook my head, thinking how dumb someone must be to, first of all, make it known to others that they have done drugs, and secondly, make it known to others in a place whos sole purpose is to disqualify you from joining the Military.

Anyway, I am sitting in a line, waiting to get my blood done. Most of the people there, including myself, wanted to get it over with first, because no one likes getting stuck with needles. We hear a scream, and some doctors rush into the blood room. Some 17 year old kid had fainted when the medic tried to draw blood, which made everyone in the line nervous.

I finaly get inside the blood room, and a male Navy medic instructs me on what to do. His bed side manner was terrible, but I didnt let it phase me. When he stuck me, i didn't even feel it, and since I am a polite person, I told him so ("Wow, I didn't even feel that, you are really good"). He completely ignored me.

It took me about 5 hours to finish up most of the other tests. There was the urine test, a hearing test, and a vision test. I then had to wait 2 hours just to get into see the doctors for the main physical. The doctors were ancient, and some of them could barely walk. They were extremely rude and angry people, who flexed their power at every chance they got. They made everyone strip down to their under-wear, and perform a duck walk. Half the people in the room, including myself, had no idea what a "duck walk" even was. They then mad eus do a series of light exercises, and brought us up to a scale. Unfortunatly, I weighed in 8 pounds heavy for my age and weight catagory. I was devistated, especially when I didnt pass the tape test.

The total experience took about 11 hours, and was exhausting. Surrounded by immature kids and rude personell was taxing in its own right, but it was a good glimps of what to expect from the military in general.

I went backa month later, and passed my weight test. The doctors were much friendlier, and told me to "keep up the good work". I had a very intense feeling of accomplishment.

After passing the weight test, I went downstairs and talked to the National Guard people. They were polite, and congratulated me. I didnt spend buch time with the Career Councelor at all, because I enlisted with the OCS Option.

After talking with the Liasons, I was taken into another room, and digatly fingerprinted. I was also read the rules on the UCMJ, which has more rules regarding homosexuality then it does on murder and stealing, something I found amusing.

3 long crappy day with a very happy ending.

Posted by Randal C. Jarrell on 9/10/2002, 10:56 am , in reply to "Looking for a description of your MEPS experience"

This is a reprint of my ordeal.

We headed down to the MEPS station at 5:00 to start on the physicals. Everything was going smoothly until they noticed I had a curvature of the spine. I turns out I have scoliosis. They said I needed to get X-rays taken, but they needed to send me to a medical facility somewhere else in the city. They shuttled me to this facility where I sat for hours waiting to have my X-rays taken. After taken, I had to wait an hour to get films. I then called the phone# that MEPS gave me for the shuttle, but could never get hold of anyone. It either rang non-stop or was busy. I kept trying to call for a solid hour until I gave up on that number. You would think that being at a military facility in the same city as MEPS, that someone there would know how to call MEPS directly, but nope... nobody could find the number. I had to search high and low for a phone book to get the number to MEPS. I then called them and let them know that I have been trying to call the shuttle for over an hour and could they try and send someone to get me. After another 30 minutes, my ride came. So I get back to MEPS and show my X-Rays to the doctor who sent me to get them taken. It turns out that I am well within the acceptable limits, but the jerk doctor actually sighed and very disappointedly said, "well... I guess you qualify." The jerk was looking for a reason to DQ me. He actually looked upset that I passed.

I then got talk to my career councelor person and they asked what I want to do. I tell them that I want an 11x - airborne contract with a station in an airborne unit (82nd or 173rd). They tried to talk me out of going infantry. They kept asking why a college grad would want to go infantry. I told them that the only way I would sign is with those three above requirments in my contract. Not too much to ask really. People have been asking these things for years. Here is where it gets weird. They say that there is no way I could get into the 82nd or the 173rd. In fact, they said there there is little possibility for me to even get airborne. It is all full. There are no training slots. But the whole time they are saying this, they are also pushing me to take an 18X (special forces) contract. This sounds cool, but I don't think I could pass the SFAS selection. I am smart enough to know my physical limitations. What I am worried about is that if I fail SFAS (which 80% do) then I'd be up for "worldwide assignment". They could send me to Korea ( a year without my wife) or Ft. Polk, or Alaska, or Ft. Drum. What I am saying is that they could send me any where in the world and fill any old 11B spot. The Army person kept saying,"no, no, no. They'll put you in an Airborne unit. Why would they spend all of that money and put you in a "legs" unit or a mech. inf. unit?" Everywhere I have looked and everything my recruiter has told me is that this is a lie. They can put you anywhere. ANYWHERE! She insisted that "world-wide assignment" didn't actually mean what it sounded like. If anyone can clarify this, I'd appreciate this. This went on for a while, but because it took so long for me to get my X-Rays, it was already late Friday afternoon and there was nobody they could call. They said they will try again if I come back on Monday. I am a college grad in good physical shape who scored a 99 on the ASVAB and I can't even get into an airborne unit. I'm not in the Army yet and I am scared at the crazy beaurocracy I will have to live with if I do go in. We'll see how it goes on Monday.

(This was Monday's follow up.)

I went back to MEPS this morning. I sat in their waiting room for 6 hours before anyone talked to me. When they did, they said I could have all that I wanted if I just enlist for 4 years instead of the 3 I had asked. No problem. I get a bigger bonus, student loans repaid, 11x/airborne contract, & station of choice in Italy. The only draw back is that I don't ship till September. My advice to all going to Meps: stick to your guns, play hardball, and don't sign until you are happy. You'll get what you want if you just hold out for it.

Are MOS's secured at MEPS?

Posted by Randal on 3/6/2002, 2:56 am

I'm about to enlist, but everyone tells me that regardless of what they say at MEPS, they can send you where ever they feel like it. Everyone says,"get it in writing!" But can't they still screw you even if it is in writing? I am getting a Ranger contract, but does that mean that I will be secured this MOS, or at least the oppurtunity to try out for it?

Re: Are MOS's secured at MEPS?

Posted by RT on 3/6/2002, 8:20 am , in reply to "Are MOS's secured at MEPS?"

Well, a contract is a contract. The Army is obligated to give you that MOS! Now, you may run into a situation where you will not be able to continue on in that MOS. Let me give you an example...let's say a soldier has some obscure MOS (something not run of the mill) and for some reason, between the time he enlists and the time he finishes basic training, the availability is no longer there for that MOS. The soldier will then be given a choice, he can either reclassify into another MOS he is qualified for OR he can choose to "go home" with no strings attached. I'd say this happening is rare though, I've only had it happen three times in my company with the thousands of trainees that came through in a year. As far as the Ranger Contract, no it does not guarantee you a slot in Ranger School.

Re: Are MOS's secured at MEPS- Yes and No

Posted by Andy on 3/17/2002, 11:51 pm , in reply to "Re: Are MOS's secured at MEPS?"

My chosen MOS is 46R (Broadcast Journalist) which also involves a voice audition. My reservation was secured through MEPS, but Ft. Meade had the final say as to my attending Defense Information School. I did not meet minimum standards on my first audition. This made for some some stressed out weeks, but on my second reading I was accepted. Leaving for Ft. Knox 4/17, and enter AIT at Ft. Meade DINFOS 7/15 for thirteen weeks. Cheers!

Just did MEPS. It sucked.

Posted by Randal on 4/6/2002, 11:15 am

Just got back from MEPS in San Antonio, TX and I thought I would relay some of the experiences I had. On Thursday night, I was shuttled to MEPS to take my ASVAB. We were greeted at the door by very rude NAVY personel working the control desk. After waiting for 1.5 hours, I was able to sit down to take the test. The room was freezing. My teeth never stopped chattering. The test wasn't bad. I actually got a 99 for the overall (AFQT) score. They said that is as high as you can get. As you can imagine, I was pretty happy that evening. It is too bad the next day sucked. We headed down to the MEPS station at 5:00 to start on the physicals. Everything was going smoothly until they noticed I had a curvature of the spine. I turns out I have scoliosis. They said I needed to get X-rays taken, but they needed to send me to a medical facility somewhere else in the city. They shuttled me to this facility where I sat for hours waiting to have my X-rays taken. After taken, I had to wait an hour to get films. I then called the phone# that MEPS gave me for the shuttle, but could never get hold of anyone. It either rang non-stop or was busy. I kept trying to call for a solid hour until I gave up on that number. You would think that being at a military facility in the same city as MEPS, that someone there would know how to call MEPS directly, but nope... nobody could find the number. I had to search high and low for a phone book to get the number to MEPS. I then called them and let them know that I have been trying to call the shuttle for over an hour and could they try and send someone to get me. After another 30 minutes, my ride came. So I get back to MEPS and show my X-Rays to the doctor who sent me to get them taken. It turns out that I am well within the acceptable limits, but the jerk doctor actually sighed and very disappointedly said, "well... I guess you qualify." The jerk was looking for a reason to DQ me. He actually looked upset that I passed. I then got talk to my career councelor person and they asked what I want to do. I tell them that I want an 11x - airborne contract with a station in an airborne unit (82nd or 173rd). They tried to talk me out of going infantry. They kept asking why a college grad would want to go infantry. I told them that the only way I would sign is with those three above requirments in my contract. Not too much to ask really. People have been asking these things for years. Here is where it gets weird. They say that there is no way I could get into the 82nd or the 173rd. In fact, they said there there is little possibility for me to even get airborne. It is all full. There are no training slots. But the whole time they are saying this, they are also pushing me to take an 18X (special forces) contract. This sounds cool, but I don't think I could pass the SFAS selection. I am smart enough to know my physical limitations. What I am worried about is that if I fail SFAS (which 80% do) then I'd be up for "worldwide assignment". They could send me to Korea ( a year without my wife) or Ft. Polk, or Alaska, or Ft. Drum. What I am saying is that they could send me any where in the world and fill any old 11B spot. The Army person kept saying,"no, no, no. They'll put you in an Airborne unit. Why would they spend all of that money and put you in a "legs" unit or a mech. inf. unit?" Everywhere I have looked and everything my recruiter has told me is that this is a lie. They can put you anywhere. ANYWHERE! She insisted that "world-wide assignment" didn't actually mean what it sounded like. If anyone can clarify this, I'd appreciate this. This went on for a while, but because it took so long for me to get my X-Rays, it was already late Friday afternoon and there was nobody they could call. They said they will try again if I come back on Monday. I am a college grad in good physical shape who scored a 99 on the ASVAB and I can't even get into an airborne unit. I'm not in the Army yet and I am scared at the crazy beaurocracy I will have to live with if I do go in. We'll see how it goes on Monday.

Posted by Randal on 4/8/2002, 6:55 pm

I went back to MEPS this morning. See below for last weeks episode. I sat in their waiting room for 6 hours before anyone talked to me. When they did, they said I could have all that I wanted if I just enlist for 4 years instead of the 3 I had asked. No problem. I get a bigger bonus, 11x/airborne contract, & station of choice in Italy. The only draw back is that I don't ship till September. My advice to all going to Meps: stick to your guns, play hardball, and don't sign until you are happy. You'll get what you want if you just hold out for it.

Unprofessional conduct by recruiters/meps personnel

Posted by Dave Truitt on 3/5/2002, 9:53 pm

The Army kinda has an image problem with me. You know, when you are thinking about enlisting the first impressions of the miliatry you get are: 1) from your recruiter and 2) the MEPS personnel. Here are a few example of unprofessional conduct I've personally witnessed at the MEPS in Laurel, Maryland. 1) 0400, me and my reruiter on our way to MEPS via recruiters govt verhicle, recruiter makes numerous PERSONAL calls on govt cell phone, including one to his girlfriend. They start fighting over the phone, recruiter screaming at his girlfriend, using a lot fo profanity. 2) recruiter and meps personnel make lewd comments about attractive female applicants, again using profanity. 3) recruiters and meps personnel use the "F" word like they get a hundred bucks every time they say it. recruiters and meps personnel...many of them grossly overweight...one looked like "java the hut" from the Star Wars movies. I'm no prude, but I think a professional, military bearing precludes ALL of the above mentioned behavior. Interestigly, almost all of this behavior was from ARMY people...didn't see any of it from the Marines, AF, or Navy. All Army.

The other side....

Posted by Sarah F. on 3/7/2002, 7:01 am , in reply to "Unprofessional conduct by recruiters/meps personnel"

Just for the record, I was processed through Detroit MEPS and have to say that I had a great time -- all the people in uniform were incredibly helpful and courteous. A few civilians could have been more "customer-service" oriented, let's say, but I didn't see them as reflecting on the Armed Services at all. I also have to say that my recruiter has been nothing but incredibly helpful and friendly, forthcoming and informative (unlike my husband's recruiter for the Air National Guard, but that's another story!). Sgt. Meads has always been respectful and generally a great person to be around. I'm stationed in the building from which he recruits, and I still go down and say hi during every drill. So they're not all bad.-Sarah F.

Re: Unprofessional conduct by recruiters/meps personnel

Posted by Kevin Stansfield on 3/6/2002, 7:16 pm , in reply to "Unprofessional conduct by recruiters/meps personnel"

Dave, When I read your post regarding your experiences at the MEPS I swore I was reading a story about my own experiences. I too have been very disappointed in the professionalism and performance of US Army Recruiters and the staff members of the MEPS. I knew things were not going to go as expected when my Recruiter addressed me as "DOG", and other Recruiters mentally undressed my girlfriend as we stood in the lobby, on my first visit. My first trip to the MEPS was not what I expected. I arrived to take my ASVAB and began taking the test. Halfway through, I paused the test and ask for a second piece of paper, as instructed. When the proctor restarted the test, he shut the computer off. When he tried to restart it and cover his error a LT appeared and questioned the situation. He blamed me and said I shut it off and restarted the test (Impossibleit requires a password) So, I got to take the ASVAB twice in one evening. After spending a night in a motel, where the Management treated us like a bunch of convicted criminals, I arrived for my physical. During the briefing, the staff member used "ghetto slang" in explaining the upcoming day, and acted like she could not stay awake. Maybe it was her T-shirt and sweatpants that she wore are to blame. The physical started a few hours later, and that's where my expectations were destroyed. During the vision test, I politely informed the staff member I needed a depth perception test as part of my MOS/Enlistment Option. She "huffed", refused to explain the directions, and quickly gave me the test. I flunked. Knowing I had just passed a civilian depth perception test, I ask for it to be given to me again. She hatefully refused, and yelled for me to go set down. I refused. I then ask a second staff member present to give me the test. He stopped talking about his weekend of drinking and acted like he was mad. The first staff member heard my request and yelled "Sh*t, he done flunked dat test once." Now the second staff member refused to give me the test. Finally I was able to talk to someone who explained the directions and administered the test. I passed with a perfect score. When the first test administrator heard my results she cussed and mumbled something as she stared at me. The Doctors then came out and started their questioning of our medical records. I was shocked that Doctors could be so hateful and rude in such a relaxed environment. Q: "Do you have any broken bones"? A: "Yes, I broke my left arm in 1999". A: "I didn't ask when you broke it, BUD!" That's the Doctor I got, all of the others could hardly speak enough English to understand what they were saying. Within the Army office, was another shocker compared to what I expected. There were people sleeping on the floor while others laid across a few seats watching TV. Recruiters were standing around laughing, joking and cussing to the point it was obnoxious. The civilian office manager allowed a recruit to answer phones, transfer calls and work on their computer systems, while he spoke for hours about how he'd like to have his way with Janet Jackson. (He was wearing pink pants and a yellow shirt unbuttoned to his navel.) I also listened as an Army Career Counselor laughed and told a recruit, just as she signed his DEP paperwork, "See ya, wouldn't want to be ya". To finish it all off, my Recruiter dumped me at the MEPS on our second trip, so she could go shopping in the nearby city. I ended up waiting for four hours for her to return. However, I got what I wanted out of the MEPS and my recruiters. I have been accepted into the MOS that I wanted, and will leave for basic soon. I can say, as others have pointed to, that not all military installations are like the MEPS. Part of my process required me to go to Ft. Rucker, Alabama and do some testing. I must add that the Army staff members within that base were the most professional, curious and helpful I've ever seen. At that time I made a promise to myself to be a part of that type of Army, not the type of Army I saw at the MEPS. Besides, who really wants to join the Army and end up working at the MEPS or as a Recruiter. Please don't use my experiences to pre-judge the MEPS, but if you have experiences that parallel mine, know that you are not alone. I assure you that everything I mentioned about is true. So, get what you want from the MEPS and it's staff, ask questions, and if you don't get excellence..demand it.

Re: Unprofessional conduct by recruiters/meps personnel

Posted by Dave Truitt on 3/7/2002, 1:14 pm , in reply to "Re: Unprofessional conduct by recruiters/meps personnel"

Kevin: Believe it or not, my recruiter also adresseses me as "Dog." And he speaks in a language which I don't always understand. Now, don't get me wrong, I know everyone has their own culture and there is not a thing wrong with that. But for a black recruiter to speak in "ebonics" (i think that's the word) and expect a white recruit from a very rural area to know what he talking about is a bit unrealistic. In a more general context, I think the Army has a problem with its public perception. When I told my friends I was joining the Army, they were, like, "Why? Couldn't you get into the Marines or Air Force?" Right or wrong, that is the way a lot of folks see it: The Marines gets the gung ho, ahteletes; the Navy and AF get the guys with the brains for the technical stuff, and the Army gets the leftovers, the guys who couldn't get in to the other services. I'm not saying I agree, I'm just saying that is the public perception. One thing that I know for sure is that the Army HAS to offer all of these extra enlistment incentives (Enlistment bonus, guranteeed MOS and choice of station, Army Coll fund, ect, advanced rank for coll credits/degree, etc) because--all things being equal--they would have a hard time competing with the other services. Could be wrong...just my opinion

Re: Unprofessional conduct by recruiters/meps personnel

Posted by Raquel on 3/6/2002, 8:14 am , in reply to "Unprofessional conduct by recruiters/meps personnel"

Sounds like there is no good officer leadership in either the MEPS or your recruiting center...true, NCOs should know better and be professional in their work....yep, we do have some duds in the Army that just don't seem to get it, and I'm sorry that your first impression is of the duds. Depending on how strongly you feel about this, once you are gone and off in basic, I would certainly write a letter addressed directly to the commanding officer (ATTN: Commander of "name of unit" or better yet, use the officer's name) of the MEPS and the recruiting battalion. If the officers are worth anything, heads will roll. This behavior (at both the MEPS and the recruiting office) is grossly unacceptable!

Re: Unprofessional conduct by recruiters/meps personnel

Posted by Joe on 3/5/2002, 10:06 pm , in reply to "Unprofessional conduct by recruiters/meps personnel"

There are good and bad people in all every branch just as there are good and bad in all walks of life. You cannot judge a entire group by the actions of a few. Thats like thinking that a few kids who dress different then others are representative of all people from the ages of 13 and 18. It is unfortunate that you had such an experience but perhaps the reason you only saw this from the Army personal was because you weren't speaking with AF, Marines, CG or Navy people? Not to say it is right but these people have a pretty hectic time putting up with dozens upon dozens of new faces on a daily basis that don't have a clue of what they are doing. And for the record, its "Jabba" the Hutt ;P Give the Army a chance, I spent a few months deciding what branch would be best, and after a lot of research I ended up as a current DEP'er for the world's finest Army. I look forward to serving with you.

Re: Unprofessional conduct by recruiters/meps personnel

Posted by Kataratos on 3/6/2002, 11:20 am , in reply to "Re: Unprofessional conduct by recruiters/meps personnel"

When I went through meps, everyone was pretty proffessional at the one I went through. But, there are things that kinda bothered me, too.Like, my recruiter calls every female "babe". He doesn't mean anything by it or even realize he does it...but it can be somewhat unnerving. And the MEPs people and my recruiter were teasing me and giving me a real hard time about some stuff, that I was serious about. But, I just chalked it up to my being at the bottom of the totem pole. If you want to do something, do it, and don't let anyone stop you. If you want to be in the Army, don't let a few jerks keep you out.

bad meps experience

Posted by dave truitt on 3/5/2002, 6:10 pm

well, i get up at 0400hrs this morning and driving an hour to meet up with my recruiter so we can be at meps on time. I was supposed to process this past Friday, but had a problem with paperwork. You see, I had origianlly processed for the Army back in Nov of 2001, was qualified but did not sign a contract because they could not get me the job I wanted, so I contacted the Navy and had all of my meps records "Spiffted"(recruiter's jargon) to the Navy but the Navy DQed me because of a vision problem that the Army had already granted me a waiver for. Of course, the Navy recruiter told me that since the Army had granted me a waiver for the condition (a temporary eye infection from wearing contacts) there would be no reason the Navy wouldn't too. Wrong! Navy Recruiting Command denied waiver, even with knowledge that Army had granted it. So, back I go to the Army. My recruiter told me to take day off work last Friday to process and the "spiff" would be done. It was not and I wasted a vaction day. Recruiter called me back and said, "Tuesday is a definate..the "spiff" is done...you'll have no problem." I get up a 0400 only to find out "spiff" wasn't done. Recruiter blamed MEPS, MEPS blamed recruiter...I lose another day from work...for nothing. And to top it all off, a MEPS personnel said to me, "it's you're own fault...if you hadn't had your record switched to the Navy none of this would have happened." True enough...but MEPS people are supposed to know how to do these basic things. They definately dropped the ball...kinda makes you wonder: if this is what the Army is like, do i really want to be a part of such an organization?"

Re: bad meps experience

Posted by Raquel on 3/6/2002, 8:07 am , in reply to "bad meps experience"

Please don't judge the entire Army by this one incident. Yes, you will occasionally deal with folks who seem to have no brain (just like in the civilian world), but as a whole, the Army is not like this:-)) Good luck! Tell your recruiter to let you know when the paperwork is done and then you'll come in to process.

74Bravo posted this on the new message board:

Most likely they day before you ship out you will be picked up in the afternoon by your recruiter and driven to the MEPS you signed up at. At this point, you will check in and then have a seat in the lounge, where you will sit and await a shuttle bus that will take you to a hotel, where you will spend the night. Wakeup comes early, and the day ahead of you will be long..starting around 0400 for most...and then you will go through a final inspect by the Doctor at MEPS to make sure you are still physically qualified, and that you have not been sick, had any operations, and are all around in the same condition you were before you sat with your counsler. From here, you will have a long day of sitting around with other shippers, and during the day, you will swear in again, at which point you will be buddied up with someone who is also traveling to your BCT destination (always travel at the least..in pairs...so someone else knows where/what/when your doing something at all times...get used to this....it'll become second nature to have someone by your side at all times (this is your battle buddie if you will). You will then be taken via shuttle to your departing destination (airport, bus terminal) and be warned again if you haven't already been told about the nono's of travel...you will make your way to the departure point (gate, terminal, bus) and board..where you will be taken to the closest departing point to your BCT post. You will be picked up by a liason from the BCT post and given detailed instructions as to what you will be doing for the next several hours...then taken to your reception and processing battalion where you will begin your inprocessing.

There are lots of details you will HAVE to pay attention to...when they tell you their rank...they expect you to use it...don't say SIR/MA'AM lest they are officers, don't call a Drill Sgt "hey..yo...excuse me...."...address them for the title they have earned...Drill Sergant...if they are a Corpral..then address them as such...same goes all the way down the line. If they are stationed there, and not a recruit, you address them by their rank.

If anyone can think of any other great advice that has worked for them, please email me or post on the message board.