Home for Christmas Exodus, Language Assignment

67th Platoon at the 120th Adjutant General
Battalion (Reception), Fort Jackson, SC

A Much-Needed Break

All basic training recruits at Ft. Jackson have gone home for Victory Block Leave (VBL), better known as Christmas Exodus. Recruits will be able to spend time with family for Christmas and the New Year before returning to the post to complete training. Our cycle, Delta Company (Dragons), 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, has 2 weeks left before graduation. I've been assigned to 1st Platoon; 4 platoons, each headed by 2 drill sergeants, make up our company.

Training's been a "hurry up and wait" experience during the 9 weeks we've been on post so far, and I hear the Active Army's the same. There's plenty of waiting around in line and formation, but at the same time, the training's something no civilian can normally experience. To date, we've qualified on the shooting range with our M16 rifles, done nighttime reflexive fire with M4 carbines outfitted with red dot sights and night vision goggles, stacked on doors to clear rooms, neutralize insurgents, and evacuate casualties, practiced bounding overwatch under fire (finding forward/rearward cover while a battle buddy covers you with suppressive fire aimed at the enemy) in leapfrog fashion, ridden in and dismounted HMMWVs (Humvees) during convoy operations, low and high crawled under barbed wire while live rounds were being shot several feet above our heads, thrown live grenades, shot the M249 SAW and M240 Bravo machine guns, M203 grenade launcher, and AT-4 anti-tank weapon, done tactical foot marches as far as 10 miles in full "battle rattle" (combat boots, Kevlar helmet, ballistic and ammo vests, assault pack, and M16), done land navigation with a compass and map, and practiced drill and ceremony.

A typical day consists of wake-up between 0445 and 0600, PT (except on Sundays, when recruits may attend religious service), breakfast chow, movement to that day's scheduled training, movement back to the post (the "rear"), weapons cleaning, personal time, final formation (and mail call, if there is any), and lights out at 2100. The training's carried over to home somewhat; I wake up between 5-7 AM and begin to get sleepy around 6-7 PM. While substantial, both the chow hall food and MREs (meals, ready-to-eat) were devoid of the love one would find in a home-cooked meal. It just isn't the same.

After arriving home, I learned that my language assignment at the DLI would be Pashto pending approval of my security clearance.

Adjusting to the Army lifestyle will obviously take some time. Thanks to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), more rules are imposed upon a U.S. serviceman than a civilian would ever care to know, but that's a good thing. Integrity is a big deal in the military, and in life, it's one of the few things that matter.

I report back to training in early January. In the meantime, I'm making the most of my time at home with family and friends.

Physical Fitness Assessment Test, Final Inspect at MEPS

A Letter from Fort Jackson's Battalion Commander

The battalion commander emailed all of us Future Soldiers shipping out early October with a briefing on potential units we'll be assigned to at BCT. All recruits will fall under either the 165th or 193rd Infantry Brigades. Within these, they may be assigned to the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Battalions.

He also gave us a general overview of the goings on at BCT. Confiscation of cell phones and other contrabands at Reception Battalion (RECBN), PT 6 days a week, the option to worship on Sundays, and 2 phone call privileges during the 10 weeks of training.

A family friend gave me his IET Soldier's Handbook and Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks (SMCT) to study out of. I've already begun studying for everything imaginable. Probably the hardest topic is the weapon systems. It'd be easier to memorize all the parts of an M203 if it were in front of me.

I'm going to pay a visit to my recruiting station next week to weigh in and do the 1-1-1 test. My final inspect at MEPS will be on the 11th, a day before I leave California. Less than 14 days to ship, and I can't wait!

Life for the Next Eight Hundred Days, in Three States

I talked with a PFC who also classed as a 35P linguist and contracted for an AD term of 6 yrs. PFC Lopes is currently in her 13th week of  intensive language training at the DLI (learning Croatian) and has 9 months to go before heading to Goodfellow AFB, Texas, for AIT. She broke it down for me like this:

10 weeks of basic, Ft. Jackson, SC.

Depending on language assigned, up to 18 months at the DLIFLC in the Presidio of Monterey, a military installation in Monterey, CA.

Depending on language, up to 15 weeks of AIT at Goodfellow AFB, Texas.

With an 8-year MSO (military service obligation), of which 6 are AD, we'll both be spending almost half of our AD service going through training.

Then, depending on the units we're attached to, we may or may not deploy.

Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center

While at basic, recruits undergo Phases 1-3. At the DLI,  which is run by the DoD, they are assigned to Bravo Company and proceed into Phases 4 and 5. Phase 4 is considered somewhat of a lockdown, to put it simply. Not as strict as basic, but some restrictions do exist. Drill sergeants are present here just like in basic.

During Phase 4, a typical day at the DLI starts at 0530. Reveille is at 0700, and formation at 0710. Classes run from 0800 until 1530. PT begins at 1600 until 1700. Mandatory study hours are from 1900 until 2100. Bed check formation is at 2145 and curfew at 2200. For the most part, this is how most days are. Morning formation, class for 8 hours, PT, study hours.

Phase 4 lasts 2-3 weeks. Phase 5 loosens up on the restrictions, and Soldiers may finally leave base, drink if they are of age, and bring up their vehicles.

According to PFC Lopes,  the pace at the DLI is fast the entire time as instructors are required to get all prospective linguists to become proficient in their language (and only have between 6-18 months to do it). But if you really want it, you'll get it.

-SPC Bernardino

Future Soldier Asset Inventory, FSAI

Pre-ship check-in over the phone with a recruiter. It's called the FSAI, or Future Soldier Asset (or Assessment?) Inventory. Just a checklist to see that all is squared away.

Current height and weight.

Ship date.

Recruiter.

High school/college diploma.

Driver's license.

Direct deposit set up.

Any issues with my contract.

Any issues my family has with my enlistment.

Any new medications.

Any run-ins with law enforcement, to include traffic violations.

Any issues at all.

None!

Never Forget

Show Me the Man You Honor, and I Will Know What Kind

"...of man you are, for it shows me
what your ideal of manhood is
and what kind of man you long to be."

One Month to Ship to Fort Jackson, New APRT and ACRT

Soldier Leader of the Cycle

Ship Date: 11 Oct.

So stoked and ready to leave. Current weight 165 lbs. Will be 155 pre-ship. Transferred from the recruiting station in Northern California to one close to home. PT sessions at 0600 Mon through Thurs.

Earlier this year, TRADOC (U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command) began pilot testing of the new APRT  (Army Physical Readiness Test) and ACRT (Army Combat Readiness Test), which will replace the old APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test).

5 events comprise the APRT, in this order (no standards for each event have been set yet):

Shuttle run

Rower, 1 min

Long jump

Push-ups, 1 min

1.5-mile run

My goals at BCT (Basic Combat Training) graduation:

Top PT score

Soldier Leader of the Cycle

Expert Marksman

1 month to prepare.

-SPC Bernardino

A Tale of a 19D Cav Scout in the Army Reserve

A Story Like Mine

A few months ago, I learned about the plight of a man in his 20s who wished to join the Army Reserve. His story began in a manner that was, in some ways, similar to my own. Let's call him John.

The obstacle that stood in the way of John's dream was the same one I faced almost a year ago.

It really doesn't need to be said that case studies aren't much for compelling evidence - on any issue - but John's story does reassure us of the soul's indomitable will to endure.

...

Pasts That Haunt Us

I was a junior in high school, 17 years old, when I was taken to the emergency room for a shoulder dislocation that never bothered me again. I never gave it much thought either - until this past September, for the same reasons it returned to John's attention.

When he was 17 years old, John paid a visit to the ER for a gunshot injury to his leg that never bothered him again - until his decision to enlist in the Reserve.

To realize his ambition, however, would require that John receive the thumbs up from the people holding the keys: MEPS, "Freedom's Front Door". For many young men and women, the process is timely and pleasant. But for many others, including John, it becomes an emotional trying time keeping them from their dreams.

Trial by Time

In July of 2009, John stepped into a recruiting station and began the process of enlistment into the United States Army Reserve. Part of the required paperwork was a complete disclosed history of all past medical conditions with documentation. That included a copy of the medical report detailing his stay at the ER.

A review by the physicians at MEPS led to a decision to "defer" John's qualification screening - and subsequently his chance to swear into the United States military.

7 months later, in early February, MEPS deferred John a second time for legibility issues with his medical report.

After resolving that hiccup, John was booked for his MEPS trip, only to be deferred a third time pending an orthopedic consult.

...

After listening to John's story up to this point, it would be understandable for any Soldier Hopeful to grow disheartened; I certainly was.

Eventually, John stopped updating his peers about his predicament, and I was unable to gain any insight into his ultimate fate.

Did he ever go to MEPS?

Is John a Soldier now?

...

Beast of Burden

Equus africanus asinus is the scientific name for the domesticated donkey, an animal regarded by popular opinion to be stubborn and stupid. It has been a relatively devalued animal in mainstream culture until recently.

But what the uninformed may not know, besides its role as a proficient pack animal capable of carrying heavy loads, is that the donkey has historically served as a reliable alternative to the dog as a guard animal, protecting droves of sheep from predators at home.

The American Robert Green, a miniature donkey importer, once said of donkeys:
"Miniature donkeys possess the affectionate nature of a Newfoundland, the resignation of a cow, the durability of a mule, the courage of a tiger, and the intellectual capability only slightly inferior to man's."

...

Finding a Way

After 5 days with no word, John broke the news.

On 18 Feb. 2010, John swore into the Army Reserve as a 19 Delta, Cavalry Scout. He would ship to Ft. Benning for one-station unit training (OSUT) on 04 Nov. 2010.

John only lingered around another day before leaving once again without a trace.

Anyone who has made it to this point in the enlistment process knows that there still lies the possibility of being prematurely discharged. In fact, my roommate with whom I was assigned during my brief MEPS visit had been discharged from the Navy before he even had a chance to ship to Illinois for recruit training.

Knowing this, I wanted to know for certain that John had indeed shipped and long ago become a Soldier serving his country. Keep in mind that John had documented his struggle a year ago. There was no update of his status following the date of his expected completion of infantry training.

...

Coincidence

This past Memorial Day, I was doing some breadcrumb navigation on an Internet forum to brush up on my nutrition.

By chance, I found an old thread I had posted in where I happened upon a user with an alias identical to the one John had used years ago.

Of note was a glaring gap in this user's activity, beginning in late February of last year and lasting until the middle of March - a time period in which this individual could conceivably have spent time preparing himself during his DEP period, shipped to and graduated OSUT, and been assigned to his first duty station.

The user had enlisted a year ago as a Cav Scout in the Army Reserve.

...

In the 1997 film Gattaca, 2 brothers, Vincent and Anton, decide to play a game of chicken: the goal is to swim out as far into the sea as possible and hope that the other turns back to shore first, thus admitting defeat.

Anton, the younger of the brothers, has been deemed genetically superior to his older sibling. Vincent, on the other hand, has a low life expectancy and a heart defect. Playing the game as children always yielded the same outcome: Anton would predictably win.

But strangely, Anton begins to find that he can no longer beat his brother at chicken. One of the final snapshots of their childhood reveals that it is Vincent who swims a drowning Anton back to shore.

Toward the end of the movie, when the brothers have grown older - and Vincent has clearly lived beyond his calculated life expectancy and defied the constraints of his heart deformity - they decide to play chicken one last time.

During a brief pause in the race, Anton calls out to Vincent, who is ahead.

"Vincent- how are you doing this, Vincent? How've you done any of this? We have to go back."

"No, it's too late for that. We're closer to the other side."

"What other side? You wanna drown us both?"

"You wanna know how I did it? This is how I did it, Anton. I never saved anything for the swim back."

The Defense Language Aptitude Battery, or DLAB

My Test Results
After another long night at the hotel and an early drive to MEPS, I took the DLAB, a 1.5-hour long test of gibberish and pictures, at 0730. The DLAB assesses a prospective linguist's potential to learn a foreign language.

The best score on the DLAB is a 176. There are 4 language categories one may qualify for (required scores in parentheses):

Cat. I (95): French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
Cat. II (100): German
Cat. III (105): Dari, Hebrew, Hindi, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Urdu, Uzbek
Cat. IV (110): Arabic, Pashto, Chinese, Japanese, Korean

I scored a 146, qualifying me for a Cat. IV language. Although I would love to learn Korean or Japanese, ultimately it is the Army that will decide which language I am assigned to learn for one year during my advanced individual training (AIT) at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, CA.

Today was my second-to-last visit to MEPS. The final trip will be before I head to the airport to report to basic training.

Becoming a Future Soldier in the United States Army

1. ASVAB

2. MEPS approval of prescreen

3. Physical examination at MEPS Medical

4. Job selection

5. Pre-enlistment interview

6. Swear-in

7. Begin DEP

8. DLAB

9. End DEP, ship to boot camp

***

Hurry Up and Wait

The doctors at the Military Entrance Processing Station use a serial profiling system known as the PULHES factor to evaluate an applicant's readiness for the military. Respectively, the criteria are physical stamina, the upper extremities, the lower extremities, hearing, eyesight, and psychiatric. The scores range from a 1 to a 5, with 1 being the best possible outcome. Last week, on 15 Jun., I had my first experience with the doctors at MEPS Medical.

For us applicants, the day began with a wake-up call at 0330. Breakfast was served at 0400, and the bus left for MEPS at 0445. Females checked in first. After checking in at the liaison office, we were sent to Medical  down the hall and waited outside until the door opened at 0530. There, we underwent the first of a series of interesting tests. And lucky for us, we were only 37 in total, so the day would go by relatively quicker than most.

Hearing

We entered a booth and sat on stools facing the wall. The man running the test had us put on headphones and instructed us to press a button clicker each time we heard a sound. The sounds were faint and of varying frequencies.

Eyesight

We were pushed into another room and tested for color vision (being able to read a colored number inside of a bubble of a different color) and visual acuity. The latter portion of testing was difficult for me.

Physical

From there, everyone was directed to a briefing room and, one by one, was tested for blood pressure, pulse, and alcohol intoxication through a breathalyzer. Urinalysis followed (for marijuana detection) before we had our blood drawn for blood-borne disease. Finally, our heights and weights were taken.

Upper and Lower

After arguably the longest wait in the whole day, the males began testing in the male ortho room. Everyone was instructed to strip down to their skivvies and enjoyed a personal, behind-closed-doors consultation with the doctor. And I won't say any more about that. Afterward, the chief medical officer (CMO) emerged from his room and had us perform several movements testing the mobility, range of motion, and integrity of our limbs and joints.

My Talk with the Doctor

I was in the room with the doctor when he was writing down comments on my overall PULHES profile. He is a very amiable man with a great sense of humor and who, like all good doctors, did not make me feel uncomfortable. Overall, I felt the testing had gone well, with a few obvious setbacks- namely, my eyes and shoulder. I was curious to know my PULHES scores for those two areas. And while I was confident that I had made it, I just had to reaffirm my feelings and asked the doctor.

"Are my U and E scores a 2?"

Doctor Oswin turned to me. "They are a 3. That is disqualifying."

I was not making eye contact with him. I was giving myself time for the reality of my situation to sink in when he asked me to look up at him.

"So you're disqualified. Tough."

I was trying to smile but could not.

And after a long pause, he spoke again: "And not so tough."

Doctor Oswin picked up a stamp with the words "Waiver Recommended" on it and asked me, "How would you like me stamping this onto your paper?"

"I would love that, Sir."

***

"Waiver Recommended"

"This candidate is a vigorous, well-muscled, personable, intelligent young man with the right 'stuff' for the military. Waiver recommended."

That was Doctor Oswin's comment on his overall assessment of my qualifications for service. I'd forgotten the great compassion that doctors are capable of. His recommendation for a waiver spurred me on with new hope.

"Thank you very much, Doctor. I hope you have a good day."

"I am, and you're part of it."

I was taken to the CMO's room, where he signed off on my papers.

"Do you know what my chances might be of my waiver getting approved?"

"I'd say 75, 80 percent."

With that, I was sent back to the medical control desk, then to the front control desk, and then back to the liaison office where the service liaison told me that he would send my waiver request electronically up to USAREC (U.S. Army Recruiting Command) at Fort Knox for approval.

***

Monday

This past Monday, 20 Jun., I received a phone call at 1317 from my recruiter.

"Guess what? Your waiver has been approved."

At the recruiting station, SGT showed me the email.

"WF Result:Approve

Comment:Waiver is approved.

The enclosed request for medical waiver has been reviewed and is approved."

My PULHES profile was changed from 131131 to 111121. I was good to go.

Yesterday (Wednesday, 22 Jun.), I made another trip to MEPS to have my waiver signed at the CMO's office. Then, another walk back to the liaison office. I handed my packet to the liaison. He went through my papers and looked up at me.

"Son, what do you want to do in the Army?"

The job that I wanted, 35 Papa, Cryptologic Linguist, was not, according to the liaison, available in the coming months, but he had me sit outside in the waiting room and told me he would see what he could do.

***

Job Selection

2 movies later (Black Hawk Down and Gladiator), I was called back into the office to sit with a different liaison. He had managed to reserve 35 Papa for me and walked me through the job selection process.

It was decided. I would contract with the rank of E-4 (Specialist, SPC) as a 35 Papa for an enlistment term of 8 years and a signing bonus of $17,000 pending an FBI background investigation and DLAB test results. My ship date is 11 Oct. 2011.

***

Swearing In

By this time, 3 of us had completed our job selections and were taken to the briefing room, which was adjacent to the ceremony room. We were taught parade rest and attention and how the oath of enlistment ceremony would go.

Captain Kirk entered and took us into the ceremony room.

"At this time, is anyone feeling any reluctance about serving in the United States Armed Forces?" he asked.

No one answered; silence means "yes". With that, he asked us to repeat after him the oath of enlistment.

"I, Martin Bernardino, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States 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 orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

On 22 Jun. 2011, at 1455, I swore into the U.S. Army.

***

Present

After starting this whole process 9 months ago, I have officially survived MEPS (which was a pleasant experience, for me at least) and depped into the U.S. Army. For the next few months, I will be attending PT sessions and briefings at the recruiting station to prepare me for basic at Fort Jackson.

I will continue working until the end of August. I will spend all of September at home with family and friends before leaving this October. It's been a long time coming, but I am officially a proud member of the United States Army.

Memorial Day and National Moment of Remembrance at 3 PM

Arlington National Cemetery

Rest for Our Soldiers

Originally called "Decoration Day" to honor fallen Union soldiers following the American Civil War (1861-1865), Memorial Day marked a more general remembrance of all fallen U.S. servicemen following World War I.

On December 2000, Congress and then-President William J. Clinton enacted S. 3181, the "National Moment of Remembrance Act" (Public Law 106-579), which asks that on this day, Americans everywhere pause for 1 minute of silence, beginning at 3 PM local time, to quietly honor those American men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.

For many families today who have lost loved ones abroad, the day holds even more meaning.

For those who ask themselves what it means to be a patriot, they need look no further than stories like these.

What will you be doing at 3 PM?

Shotgun Foray to Radisson Hotel, Morning Mishap at MEPS

Unexpected Call

Speak of the devil. As I was finishing my last entry yesterday, I got a call to be at the station by 1330. Got ready in 15 minutes and zipped out of there. The shuttle (a van) was still picking up other Soldier Hopefuls along the way. I boarded the van, and off we went to our destination.

It was 6 of us guys. I still remember their names*: Julian, Matt, Ichabod, Icarus, and Iago. Julian, who sat next to me, was going in as an MP (military police), Matt and Ichabod as EOD (explosive ordnance disposal).

As of 2005, the passing rate at MEPS is 3 in 10 applicants. 30 percent. In that van, 2 of us would make it on a good day, and I wasn't sure how that statistic would be affected by the fact that the physical fell on "mission day", the last day of the month for MEPS to meet their projected quota for processed applicants.

At the Radisson

4 of us were dropped off at the hotel to check in before the other 2 were taken straight to MEPS to take the ASVAB. We passed by a young man sitting on the curb having a cigarette who pointed us to the check-in lounge. We signed in, were given our meal tickets and room keys, and told to meet back at the lounge at 2030 for briefing.

Turns out my roommate was the man I saw smoking earlier. Bennett is a Jake Gyllenhaal look-alike, very chill and reserved. He was previously an AF depper slated to ship to Lackland as a cryptologic linguist - my preferred job. A wet and reckless charge got him DEP-discharged, and now, 2 years later, he is reenlisting in the Navy. Today was his 4th time at MEPS.

Had dinner with 2 other guys at 0700. One wants to join the Army as a mechanic, and the other is an Air Force prospect. Later, we headed to the briefing. All in all, we were 40 men and women. 6 failed to show up.

Curfew was at 2230. We would be awakened the next day at 0400. The bus would arrive at 0410, and breakfast served beginning at 0415. We were to board the bus at 0440 and arrive at the Sacramento Military Entrance Processing Station at 0515. Oh, and the Gideons indeed were at the hotel passing out New Testament bookets. They really do do it without fail.

Neither Bennett nor I had much sleep last night.

At Sacramento MEPS

I'll say this now: my time at MEPS was short. I did not make it very far. My recruiter pushed me through as a walk-on, which I explained to the Army Liaison. He had me take a seat and processed the other guys.

Turned out my status was still "Deferred" according to the electronic log. Under my name, 0 documents had been submitted by my recruiters as of Wednesday. But just today, the log had registered 5 submitted documents; there was a lag time before MEPS received what my recruiters sent them. Still, as they had not yet reviewed my situation, I had to be sent home. At 0530, I had to call my recruiter to ask him to pick me up.

I sat in the waiting room watching Forresst Gump until Sgt. Balaban arrived.

A Talk with Sarge

My recruiter, who doesn't look to be much older than I am, received an earful from the liaison.

Here's the scoop: my recruiter had already called me last week telling me that my papers were deferred pending review by MEPS. Yesterday's trip to the hotel was supposed to have been postponed. For some reason still, the station commander at the office told my recruiter to go ahead and push me through the system, which didn't make sense to my recruiter. But the chain of command is the chain of command, and so he did.

The misunderstanding came from someone whose decisions overrode both my recruiter and the station commander's instincts to hold me back until next week: the 1st Sergeant, 1SG. So, it was something in the higher ups that screwed up my trip, and subsequently my emotions.

But that's okay. I'm prepared for another trip to the hotel and MEPS.

Balaban made a pit stop at Battalion HQ to deal with some business before dropping me back off at my car. On the trip back to the station, I got to know him a bit more.

He has a brother who was in the Marines and a dad  proud of his son but who still thinks he's an idiot for joining. Balaban himself has been deployed twice to Iraq with an artillery MOS but has some stories a crazy infantryman would tell you. On days his unit wasn't assigned to patrol, they'd get creative with killing time (not exactly along the lines of Jarhead, but creative). He had his first son before his second deployment, and a second is on the way.

I'm trying to understand why he'd rather be deployed than home. But it seems like others can't explain the compelling impulse to be deployed either.

Following is an exchange between 2 Soldiers in an EOD team from the 2008 film The Hurt Locker. The men are Staff Sergeant William James and Sergeant J.T. Sanborn. Tearfully, Sanborn says,

"I'm done. I want a son. I want a little boy, Will. I mean, how do you do it, you know? Take the risk?"

"I don't know. I guess I don't think about it."

"But you realize every time you suit up, every time we go out, it's life or death. You roll the dice, and you deal with it. You recognize that, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I do. But I don't know why. I don't know, JT. You know why I'm the way I am?"

"No, I don't."

*All names in entry changed for privacy reasons.

Job Reservation and Recruiters Against Civilian Doctors

Waiting to sign on the dotted line

"CONGRATULATIONS

A TEMPORARY RESERVATION WAS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED FOR THE FOLLOWING FUTURE SOLDIER:

Name: Martin

Job: 35F1

Title: Intelligence Analyst

Term: 3 years, 30 weeks

Ship Date: 20111121

WHILE SPECIFIC TRAINING LOCATIONS ARE NOT GUARANTEED, YOU ARE TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED TO RECEIVE THE FOLLOWING TRAINING:

Type: BT
Location: Ft. Jackson
Start Date: 20111128
Length Wks: 12
Length Days: 4

Type: AIT
Location: Ft. Huachuca
Start Date: 20120312
Length Wks: 16
Length Days: 4

School: 301st Military Intelligence Battalion"

Because Army recruiters have access to something called the FSR2 - the Future Soldier Remote Reservations System - they can reserve a job even before their applicants' visit to MEPS. That's what happened for me.

That's the good news. Here's the bad: applicants have 7 days from the time they reserve their job through FSR2 to to pass the physical at MEPS, contract, and swear in. That gives me until next Monday to do that. And if I don't, I lose that job slot, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as I'll explain in my next entry.

I was supposed to go to the hotel today (Wednesday), but my recruiter called me yesterday informing me that he wasn't supposed to project me to MEPS before their approval. This resulted in a deferral of my visit, and because of the reservation deadline, Sergeant and the other recruiters in the office are trying to push me through in time. I'll be getting a call from my recruiter ASAP. The wait is killing both of us.

A Ticket to Sacramento MEPS for My Physical Examination

U.S. Army Job Selection

After a 2nd visit today to Sarge's office that involved more paperwork signing, my recruiter gave me a list of currently open jobs and asked me to rank my top 3.

My picks:

1. 35 Fox, Intel Analyst

2. 35 November, Signal Intel-Analyst

3. 68 Whiskey, Health Care Specialist

After some discussion, I went with my first pick. With that, my recruiter reserved my slot for MOS 35F, Signal Intel-Analyst pending additional mental, moral, physical, and administrative screening, and booked my ticket to MEPS.

The Trip to MEPS
I will sign on for 3 years, 30 weeks with a signing bonus of 2000 dollars payable upon my assignment to my first permanent-duty station, PDS, after boot camp.

I was projected before 1200 today and will report to my recruiter's office this Wednesday, 18 May 2011, at 1300. From there, I'll be picked up and taken to the hotel near MEPS to room with a fellow applicant for the night.

The following day (the physical) will begin early at 0415 and end around 1730 with job selection and  the swear-in ceremony. I'll contract as an E-4, Specialist. The contract is legally binding and will mark my entry into the DEP.

My Ship Date

My ship date to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, is 21 November 2011. That gives me a little over 6 months in the DEP to prepare for boot camp. At Fort Jackson, I'll spend 12 weeks, 4 days undergoing basic training, BT, before going through 16 weeks, 4 days of advanced individual training, AIT, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona for my job.

I'll officially complete training on 03 March 2012 and  be assigned to my PDS. It would be nice if I were given my preferred station that was filled out on my dream sheet, but I'll gladly serve where I'm needed.

I'm excited to serve and hope that MEPS will grant me this privilege.

The Army, the Warrior Ethos, and Basic Combat Training

On Friday, I called an Army recruiting station to schedule a visit that took place today, 09 May 2011, at 1000.

As I'd been through the process before, I sat through what would have amounted to several weeks' worth of paperwork in a day.

My new recruiter is an E-5 (Sergeant) and has been in the Army for 6 years now.

Upon being asked by one of the recruiters what I would be doing this coming Friday, 13052011, I explained that I wasn't sure if I was scheduled for work (but that I would have no problem calling in sick if they needed me to be available). "You're joining the Army on Friday, Buddy," was his reply.

The exchange was surreal. My Air Force recruiting experience has caused me to develop a wary disposition regarding one's odds of getting into the military. But the Army recruiter pointed out that the Air Force has been downsizing for some time now, which can explain the night-and-day difference between their recruitment processes.

I didn't expect the quick turnaround, but I am hoping to be off within 2 weeks. Assuming all goes well with my pre-screen, I'll go to MEPS, have my physical, select my MOS (military occupational specialty, the equivalent of the Air Force Specialty Code), swear in, get my ship date for basic combat training (BCT), or boot camp, and finally enter the DEP.

I first learned and memorized the Warrior Ethos, or Soldier's Creed, in an Army ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) class I took while at university.

At that time, I had already begun the recruitment process for the Air Force and adopted its ethos, the Airman's Creed. I never thought I'd make the transition from blue to green.

Part of the urgency with which I've been moving stems from issues with my ASVAB scores, which expire 2 years after taking the test. It's already been 8 months since I took it, and though I still have time, I just want to make extra sure that I'll be enlisted well before they become null.

With a new set of physical fitness standards to strive for, I'll be preparing myself for the 10 weeks of BCT at 1 of the 5 forts in the Southern and Midwestern United States where recruit training is conducted.

Today was both exciting and scary. I feel closer to serving than I've ever felt before, but I also hope that the recruiters didn't just put a whole lot of false hope into my head. Here's to hoping.