Timelines, Jobs, MEPS....arrgghhh

[PhillyBeth]

Our son has gotten all the paperwork together and delivered to his recruiter, taken the pre-test (AFQT?) and gotten a 96, and should be going to MEPS sometime next week (he should be getting a call with date and time later today). He's most interested in Nuke, SWCC (he's up to speed on the physical fitness requirements but he'll need a vision waiver), and possibly one of the intelligence positions.

We're trying to avoid getting involved with the recruiter unless it becomes necessary...

So, in a probably futile attempt to get some idea of what the immediate future:

1) Are there openings in those jobs?
2) What sort of time line are we potentially looking at for starting boot camp?
3) Does a need for a waiver of any kind basically eliminate that job?

Thanks in advance to all who can chime in.

Beth

[josh]

i know they are always looking for people to fill up the special operations spots in every branch (as long as he can get the waiver). if you haven't seen this website, i would check it out because it has a lot of information on SWCCs. http://sealchallenge.navy.mil/swcc/vision.aspx
the nuke field is pretty special and they dont take just anyone becuase of all the training he would go through so there that one may have slots to be filled also. however, the only way i know for sure, to find out about job availabilty, is when he is at MEPS talking with his classifier. they will ask for a timeline for when he wants to go to Great Lakes and then they look at what spots are open during that time period. (the classifier could check in a 3 month time window at a time when i went last december)

[Brandonw409]

Beth. Why would you try to avoid getting involved with the recruiter? He/she is going to have all the answers you need. And especially if your son is interested in those job fields because if the district you are in as anything like ours, that's the only positions we are looking to fill. And his vision waiver is going to depend on what his vision is corrected. If when corrected it's 20/20 then he is good. If it's not 20/20 then take him to an eye doctor and see how close they can get it. But I would def get a hold of the recruiter because you aren't going to be able to do it without one!

[PhillyBeth]

Josh - The info on the 3 month window is exactly what we were looking for. Its also good to know that he'll have some input into his departure date.

Brandonw409 - Why would you try to avoid getting involved with the recruiter?

Because our son is a bit older than average here (23) and the whole "making his own decisions" thing is a sub-plot that needs to be played out. He's capable of doing just fine, but Dad and I want to keep to the sidelines as much as possible. We're both the kind of people who plan things in detail (especially Dad who's a software engineer). Mixing that with a fairly laid back son (he still believes that people will do what they say they're going to do) and the Navy's "hurry up and wait" is a recipe for well, you know...

Thanks for the info on the vision waiver - we've already checked into that and he is a good candidate for full correction. He's always been a team oriented guy (captain of the HS football team as a junior, that sort of thing) and the tight knit feel of the nuke and SWCC fields is very attractive to him.

Anyway... right now he's waiting for his college official transcript to be delivered so we're in a holding pattern until probably late next week.

Thanks again to all who've replied.

Beth

[Montana]

My son has been waiting on a waiver, now after a month they need more paperwork. My son is getting discouraged as he has taken the ASVAB but not his physical yet. Any advise?