Posted: 2/4/2012 6:50:10 AM EDT
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So my 19 year old son has decided that he wants to join the Navy and would like to be a corpsman. He's scheduled to leave for MEPS on Monday, and I have recommended that he pick several other ratings that he's interested in, in case what he wants is not available. I also recommended that if he can't have any of the jobs he's interested in then he should be prepared to walk away.
His recruiter told him that if he goes to MEPS and doesn't accept anything that he can never go back. Is this true, or is the recruiter trying to play hardball? Any other recommendations from the hive? For a little background, he's currently in his first year of college, and has a part time job as a patient transporter at a very large hospital system. One where, should he stay civilian, he's got plenty of open doors to pursue just about any career path he may want to take, without leaving the company. I think he's just looking to get some "adventure". If he wants to serve then I'll be extremely proud of him, I just want to make sure he does it smart, and pursues a career path he will enjoy and that will translate into the civilian world if he decides he doesn't want to be career mil. |
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Quoted: Why not ROTC? You do not have to commit until after your second year. He would be on an officer track and if he chooses to go with it then he gets his school paid for. So my 19 year old son has decided that he wants to join the Navy and would like to be a corpsman. He's scheduled to leave for MEPS on Monday, and I have recommended that he pick several other ratings that he's interested in, in case what he wants is not available. I also recommended that if he can't have any of the jobs he's interested in then he should be prepared to walk away. His recruiter told him that if he goes to MEPS and doesn't accept anything that he can never go back. Is this true, or is the recruiter trying to play hardball? Any other recommendations from the hive? For a little background, he's currently in his first year of college, and has a part time job as a patient transporter at a very large hospital system. One where, should he stay civilian, he's got plenty of open doors to pursue just about any career path he may want to take, without leaving the company. I think he's just looking to get some "adventure". If he wants to serve then I'll be extremely proud of him, I just want to make sure he does it smart, and pursues a career path he will enjoy and that will translate into the civilian world if he decides he doesn't want to be career mil. |
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Why not ROTC? You do not have to commit until after your second year. He would be on an officer track and if he chooses to go with it then he gets his school paid for.
So my 19 year old son has decided that he wants to join the Navy and would like to be a corpsman. He's scheduled to leave for MEPS on Monday, and I have recommended that he pick several other ratings that he's interested in, in case what he wants is not available. I also recommended that if he can't have any of the jobs he's interested in then he should be prepared to walk away. His recruiter told him that if he goes to MEPS and doesn't accept anything that he can never go back. Is this true, or is the recruiter trying to play hardball? Any other recommendations from the hive? For a little background, he's currently in his first year of college, and has a part time job as a patient transporter at a very large hospital system. One where, should he stay civilian, he's got plenty of open doors to pursue just about any career path he may want to take, without leaving the company. I think he's just looking to get some "adventure". If he wants to serve then I'll be extremely proud of him, I just want to make sure he does it smart, and pursues a career path he will enjoy and that will translate into the civilian world if he decides he doesn't want to be career mil. He's at what used to be a community college (Florida just restructured their state college system) and I don't think they have any kind of ROTC. As a side note, he's currently got a free ride between state scholarships and Federal financial aid. So he's not in a bad position or anything, which is why I'm bugging him not to settle for anything he won't be happy with. |
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The recruiter is full of shit. So this seems to be the general consensus. Thanks all, that's pretty much what I thought. I also told him that if they don't have any slots that are interesting to him in the near future then he should ask about delayed entry... |
| So when he's at MEPS should he just tell the person doing the placement that he wants to be a corpsman, or whatever else, and that he's willing to wait a year (in terms of the delayed entry)? Is that how delayed entry works? How hard is it to change his job after going to boot camp? Would he be pretty much screwed at that point? |
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As far as I know, the Army is the only service that will guarantee your job and ship date in writing before you actually sign the contract.
ETA: If he does not like what the Navy has to say, he can pick up his paperwork and walk over to the Army, Air Force, or Marine office and they will snap him right up. The ASVAB and Physical are pretty much the same for all the services.. |
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Do not do this. "How hard is it to change his job after going to boot camp?" Get it in writing at Meps if they don't have anything he likes tell him walk away. X Navy recruiter. Not sure I understand. Are you saying "don't go in planning to change jobs"? If so, that's pretty much what I'm telling him... |
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Correct get the Job he wants in writeing at Meps. And no Open rating with the claim that then he can strike for the Rating (Job) he wants. In this case if he wants to be a Corpsman they may try to sell him on joining as a Seaman Recruit open Rating and then making him beleieve he can become a corpsman via striking for the rate. Also i'm assuming that he has not taken the ASVAB test yet which his score on it will determine what he qualifies for.
And the statemant about only the Army guaranteing Rate and Ship date is false they all do. |
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Do not rely on promises from a recruiter, nor listen to him blow smoke up you're son's ass. He can go back as many times as he wants. My experience is Army, We chose an MOS upfront, and if you enlisted open you probably ended up hating life. I am 11B and went through Sandhill School for Boys a little over a year ago. They will attempt to pressure the shit out of him. He will be talking to a career counselor while there (The guy that actually puts him in the service) and the CC will tell him straight up that whatever the recruiter said is bullshit. Good Luck to him, and get EVERYTHING on paper. ETA: Make sure he walks out with an EXACT duplicate of what is put in his folder and if something is not correct (Schools or other), he should get it fixed ASAP. |
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Why not ROTC? You do not have to commit until after your second year. He would be on an officer track and if he chooses to go with it then he gets his school paid for.
So my 19 year old son has decided that he wants to join the Navy and would like to be a corpsman. He's scheduled to leave for MEPS on Monday, and I have recommended that he pick several other ratings that he's interested in, in case what he wants is not available. I also recommended that if he can't have any of the jobs he's interested in then he should be prepared to walk away. His recruiter told him that if he goes to MEPS and doesn't accept anything that he can never go back. Is this true, or is the recruiter trying to play hardball? Any other recommendations from the hive? For a little background, he's currently in his first year of college, and has a part time job as a patient transporter at a very large hospital system. One where, should he stay civilian, he's got plenty of open doors to pursue just about any career path he may want to take, without leaving the company. I think he's just looking to get some "adventure". If he wants to serve then I'll be extremely proud of him, I just want to make sure he does it smart, and pursues a career path he will enjoy and that will translate into the civilian world if he decides he doesn't want to be career mil. He's at what used to be a community college (Florida just restructured their state college system) and I don't think they have any kind of ROTC. As a side note, he's currently got a free ride between state scholarships and Federal financial aid. So he's not in a bad position or anything, which is why I'm bugging him not to settle for anything he won't be happy with. Sometimes nearby universities partner up with FSC to allow their students into ROTC programs. For instance, people at FSCJ (Jacksonville) can attend ROTC at UNF. I'm not sure how far you are from a university, but it might be something to have him look into. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Do not do this. "How hard is it to change his job after going to boot camp?" Get it in writing at Meps if they don't have anything he likes tell him walk away. X Navy recruiter. Not sure I understand. Are you saying "don't go in planning to change jobs"? If so, that's pretty much what I'm telling him... He needs to get his job details in writing, at MEP's. Don't fall for the old "why don't you go in as a cook and if you don't like it, change jobs later" line. If they dont have the job you want available when you are MEP's just decline and come back later. They typically have certain ratings that are understaffed and they will try to fill them first. I went through MEP's 20 years ago but I bet that still stands. |
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So my 19 year old son has decided that he wants to join the Navy and would like to be a corpsman. He's scheduled to leave for MEPS on Monday, and I have recommended that he pick several other ratings that he's interested in, in case what he wants is not available. I also recommended that if he can't have any of the jobs he's interested in then he should be prepared to walk away. His recruiter told him that if he goes to MEPS and doesn't accept anything that he can never go back. Is this true, or is the recruiter trying to play hardball? Any other recommendations from the hive? For a little background, he's currently in his first year of college, and has a part time job as a patient transporter at a very large hospital system. One where, should he stay civilian, he's got plenty of open doors to pursue just about any career path he may want to take, without leaving the company. I think he's just looking to get some "adventure". If he wants to serve then I'll be extremely proud of him, I just want to make sure he does it smart, and pursues a career path he will enjoy and that will translate into the civilian world if he decides he doesn't want to be career mil. Not true. I went to MEPS a couple of weeks ago (January 23, 2012) and walked away due to the lack of available jobs (Laundry Specialist isn't my cup of tea). The recruiters seemed pissed but were willing to take me back a second time. Keep in mind that this was before signing and swearing in!!! I don't think that leaving is an option at that point. |
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He walks into MEPS and either leaves a corpsman or a civilian. I wouldn't even advise him to have a back-up MOS.
They pulled that shit with me 20 years ago in San Antonio. I walked out the building with the recruiter chasing me into the parking lot yelling that they had magically "found a slot". |
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He walks into MEPS and either leaves a corpsman or a civilian. I wouldn't even advise him to have a back-up MOS. They pulled that shit with me 20 years ago in San Antonio. I walked out the building with the recruiter chasing me into the parking lot yelling that they had magically "found a slot". This. I offing hate shady recruiters. Tell him to find a new one. There are also other branches of the service. |