Tyler_PinkertonZ28

iTrader: (1)

Long story short, I went through MEPS on 08/18/11 and was told I passed all of the exams and qualified for every job (Air Force). On 11/14/11 I booked a job as a loadmaster scheduled to leave on 02/28/12. Yesterday I get a text message from my recruiter saying that whoever my liason at MEPS was, didn't realize that my hearing score didn't qualify for my job as a loadmaster. It took them almost 6 months to realize this and now that I am within 3 weeks of leaving I am running of the risk of not shipping out but also losing my job. I wouldn't be nearly as aggrivated if they had just realized this within the first few months, but I have already turned in all paperwork, signed a contract, and I am ready to go. All of the jobs that I was interested in are now unavailable to me because of the hearing test. MEPS also told my recruiter that they refused to retest me unless I went to a civillian doctor first and passed their test. I have 6 days to take and pass that test, go back to MEPS, and pass that test or my job will be given away. I honestly tried very hard the first time on the test, so I highly doubt I will do any better this time around.

My question is, I am 20 years old and have 2.5 years of college done. I wanted to enlist so I could get my loans repaid. But with all of this happening and no possible postponing my leaving until may/june, would it be smarter to finish my degree before leaving? I would graduate in May 2013. Also, all of the jobs that I listed at MEPS were jobs that I am now unqualified for, so I would have to find 9 new jobs that I am interested in. I have been asked about going in Open General, but I don't think I want to do that.

Sorry for the long story, what would y'all do if you were in my shoes?

VinR1

iTrader: (17)

like I said in one of your other threads, finish school first and become an officer - life will be much, MUCH easier for you

sincerely,
Enlisted Marine that enlisted with a college degree and gets bossed around by Officers that are much younger and far less educated

Tyler_PinkertonZ28

iTrader: (1)

That's what I'm thinking now also. I still plan on joining regardless, but it may be better to finish school first.

jarheadtex

iTrader: (2)

haha!!...do ECP or MCP

hawk584

iTrader: (1)

finish school

-10yrs and counting enlisted usaf guy.

p.s.. everything has a waiver..... EVERYTHING. .. all you have to do is fight. took me 10 years to learn not to put my career in the hands of another and the famous quote from our Friday morning ultimate Frisbee games with mixed O's and E's.. " You have to want it!"

Tyler_PinkertonZ28

iTrader: (1)

Really? He told me there was no waiver for hearing and sight when it came to certain jobs.

Tyler_PinkertonZ28

iTrader: (1)

This may be a dumb question, but what is ECP and MCP?

DBurgLT1

I believe they are commissioning programs.?

Tyler_PinkertonZ28

iTrader: (1)

Update: I took the civilian hearing test earlier today and I passed it with H1 hearing. But just barely. I have the maximum allowed hearing loss in my left ear. Hopefully I'll be able to pass at MEPS too.

VinR1

iTrader: (17)

yes, commissioning programs...all of which Im too old for

jmargo

iTrader: (10)

Start wearing ear plugs prior to your hearing test. Wear them all the way up to the test if you can get away with it and avoid loud noise as much as possible. Don't even listen to the radio on the way in. When they do the test try not to move or get distracted and if you start getting the heartbeat in the headset slightly adjust yourself to get it to stop.

jarheadtex

iTrader: (2)

haha!!!! NO there is not a waiver for everything...if there were I would be able to enlist alot more applicants in the Marine Corps. There are things that the Bureau of Medicine or the particular branch WILL NOT waive.

hawk584

iTrader: (1)

my bad, most things have a waiver

wav3form

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to enlisted life... it sucks. They will **** you over so fast it'll make your head spin. I'm so glad I got out.

99FormulaM6

iTrader: (21)

That is a great plan, but just having a degree just mean you will get accepted to a commissioning program. It is easier for someone who is currently enlisted to apply and get accepted to a commissioning program than it is for a civilian to walk in to a recruiter and get accepted.


Lots of things have waivers, especially education requirements and legal issues. However, when it comes to sight/hearing requirements, those are in place for safety reasons. I had a kid go to bootcamp and then it was realized his job required color vision. He had to pick another job. It sucks, but in the end, his dad came back to our office and told us that they knew he was color blind, and knew the job required color vision but were hoping he could slide by.

Yep. I even had an applicant one time who was DQ'd by the Navy for having lazy eye surgery as a kid (over 15 years ago) and then somehow he was able to get a waiver for the USMC.



-OP: You need to figure out if being in the military is something you want to do. If you go to school and then try and join, there are no guarantees that you will be able to get back in. With all the budget cuts, all of the services are cutting back over the next 10 years, so you could finish school and then come back and try to join and be turned down.

I am not saying take any job they give you, that is your choice. However, think about the pros and cons of your choices.

This is what I see:

You want to join to get your loans repaid, so that tells me that it might not be the easiest for you to pay them off on your own. This is with just 2.5 years of school, not the full 4 years you will have in the end. So...

If you join now, you can get the 2.5 years repaid, and use the military to pay for the last 1.5. Thus having no college debt.

If you wait to join, and finish school, you run the risk of incurring more debt, and running the risk of not being able to join when you finish school.

Or, with the cuts the military is facing, the loan repayment program *could* always see cuts (since it pays out millions each year). So, you could finish school, come back to join in 2013, be able to get back in, but still have to repay your college debt.

That is just my .02 as a recruiter for 3 years

Tyler_PinkertonZ28

iTrader: (1)

My biggest worry would be not getting back in if I decided to wait until after graduation. Paying my loans off isn't that big of a deal, I just prefer to be debt free when possible, so the AF paying off my loans seemed pretty good. On that note I am still not sure whether or not to take the loan repayment because I would have to give up my GI bill during my first enlistment. With my degree being in Criminal Justice, the chances of me commissioning with that degree coming from a civilian is slim to none anyway, since it is not a technical degree, or a degree that is in need. I am currently waiting on MEPS to decide whether or not I can come back and test. I was also told that my job will only be held until Tuesday, which doesn't leave me much time at all.

99FormulaM6

iTrader: (21)

Losing the GI Bill unless you reenlist is a big concern for some people, but most of the people that I enlisted that took the LRP were planning on staying in for a while anyway, so it wasn't that big of a deal to them.

You are right about your degree and having trouble getting commissioned with it. The Army would probably give you a commission, but I know the Navy won't and the AF probably won't either. However, once you are enlisted, they look at the applications differently, so you might be able to get a commission that way with your CJ degree.

Generally, when I had an applicant who failed part of the MEPS physical, once they were tested at a civilian, we sent the test results to MEPS and within 48-72hrs (standard MEPS processing time), we would find out if MEPS was going to do a retest, or just use the civilian results (which usually happened). I only had one time when MEPS wouldn't use the civilian results, or allow a retest and that was for a HIV test.

Tyler_PinkertonZ28

iTrader: (1)

It would be great if meps would just use my civilian scores. At this point I just want to leave on my current leave date. I'll worry more about commissioning later down the road. I planning staying in for a while (hopefully 20) but my wife is in pharmacy school and her practicing is dependent on where I am stationed.

Jkeenan

iTrader: (1)

I would take the G.I. bill if i were you. Unless your loans are sky high (25K plus at a minimum) you are giving up alot by not taking the GI bill. If this is going to be your first enlistment make sure you get what you want out of it the first time. Your first enlistment might be your only enlistment so make sure you get the benefits you want. make sure to take advantage of the tuition assistance program and pell grants while your in since they can cover alot of your educational needs. I am currently finishing up my degree in Management Human Relations and am only gonna owe about 7k and i never even touched my GI Bill. Im saving my GI bill for law school and with the GI bill combined with the hazel-wood act i should be able to get my law degree from a state school in Texas for almost nothing. Just research all your options before you commit to anything.

Greenfire

iTrader: (2)

So what happened? Def do not go open general for a job...i made sure i had my job locked in before BMT and my recruiter was a load master i should have done that job. lol
Anyway I was in your situation when I joined as well, but I did finish my degree and graduated then enlisted. Yes I know why didn't I go OTS, same reason not a competitive degree and one the AF wasn't looking for and yes much harder to go OTS as a civilian. If I had a "do over" I would have went to a college that offered AFROTC and commissoned that way, it's the best way IMO. I got my college loan's paid off but the AF didn't pay all of it off but what I got was very helpful and I'm glad for the boost to help pay them off. It's a great feeling to get those gone. It is possible to work your way through college so that you do not have any debt my friend did it but his grades did suffer a little but he graduated and is now a cop.

Just find something that interests you and you will be fine. MEPS is like that they are crappy if you ask me, my experience was a bunch of hateful people that hated their life and jobs. I had to go see a civilian doc as well for my feet but everything was okay. Let us know what happens.