Q & A with a recruiter...

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Comment by brady.labrum on December 5, 2008 at 2:01pm

Michelle B, What questions should you ask a recruiter...Everyone has different needs and desires. You need to ask direct questions about the things that are important to you and what you believe is important to your son. I commonly get asked questions about college, life on a ship, how much freedom a sailor has, and retirement opportunities from the parents. Applicants normally ask about travel, adventure (SEALS), and believe it or not self-discipline. The specific questions that I can give you are not as important as you being direct and honest about your concerns with the recruiter. In today's day and age with technology being what it is, I find that there is absolutely NO reason for a recruiter to have to lie to either an applicant or their parents. Communicate the things that you feel are important and if you aren't satisfied with the response that you get, keep on asking. Remember, you still have to give concent for your son to join the Navy so that recruiter has to work just as hard to address your concerns as they do for the applicant. I hope I was helpful.

Comment by brady.labrum on December 5, 2008 at 1:52pm

Nicole, if I was in your son's position I would let my LPO/LCPO (Leading Petty Officer/Leading Chief Petty Officer) know what is going on first. Then, I would head to my personnel office and let them know what the problem is. They should be able to call the District (Navy Recruiting District Los Angeles: Public Affairs Office 323-298-6600 x273) and have the DEP coordinator fax over the paperwork. One important thing for your son to know is that HE needs to stay on top of this. In the meantime, his uniform needs to reflect his current rank. He will have to switch out his patches until he can get this resolved. The good news is that when it does get resolved, he will get backpay for the difference of e-1 and e-2 all the way back to the start of his enlistment. If he has any questions he can call me directly at 520-664-6119.

Comment by brady.labrum on December 5, 2008 at 1:46pm

Pamela, I think I need a little bit more information. Is he joining as an officer or enlisted? If he gets his commission with the pilot option, it is basically up to him to pass all of his flight training. If he does not pass, he will have to move into a different career within the Navy until his obligation is completed.

Comment by brady.labrum on December 5, 2008 at 1:44pm

Lynn, If I were to give any advice to your son it would be to consider SWO as well. SWO will give your son experience in many different areas including supply. The type of experience that he will receive is in an executive managerial position. If he is good he will be able to advance to the levels of department head, executive officer, or even commanding officer. These positions are the equivalent of being a CEO/CFO, Department Head, or other upper-management positions. As far as his physical fitness is concerned, the best thing for him is #1 run at a pace that keeps his heart rate up but not enough to overdo it. Running on the treadmill will not be as beneficial as him as running on the regular ground.

Comment by brady.labrum on December 5, 2008 at 1:38pm

Mary, proud mom...
There is no specific time limit for the completion security clearances. The good news is that if he had any financial red flags in his history, it would have been caught during the job classification at MEPS. He would not have been able to even sign up with his job if the financial situation was really bad. When it comes to security clearances no news IS good news. If his job requires a secret clearance, he should be okay. The Navy will be able to issue him an interim secret clearance so that he can perform his duties while his full clearance is being finalized. I hope this answered your question.

Comment by Michelle B. on December 5, 2008 at 11:22am

Good Morning, I have a question. My son is in the Navel Seacadets and will be 17 years old in a few days. His local recruiter is actively involed with and visits my son's high school. My son wants to go and start the initial process for enlistment and for all of us to meet his recruiter. We will be doing this after the first of the Year. Because of my son's time in NSCC we understand that he may have a higher rank after RTC. My son like most 17 year olds he"knows everything". I just want to be prepared as a parent and to help my son to make the best choice about his Navy career. He wants to be a Seal, I want him to have to best options for making that happen. What question should I be asking the recuriter? Is there the opprotunity later to ask other questions?
Thank you so much for your time and helping moms and dads with this process.
MB

Comment by Nicole on December 4, 2008 at 2:05pm

Hello all, I have just one question. My son spent his senior year in Hawaii with his father when he signed up for the Navy. At the beginning of summer his father got stationed in Japan and my son came home to Florida for 2 months before shipping out to BC. He went in as an E-2 because he had done the referral program while in Hawaii. My son called last week and informed me that he is getting paid at an E-1 pay rate. I have spoken with is recruiter in Hawaii to find out what is going on and was told that he is looking into it because it is not just my son who is having the problem. Both my son and I are worried because my son said that he is walking around base with stripes that say he is an E-2 and is getting an E-1 pay rate and he could get in trouble because of it. I just want to know if there is someone else I or my son can speak to in order to get this resolved as fast as possible. Thank you in advance for your help. Nicole

Comment by Pamela on December 3, 2008 at 3:55pm

My son is about to receive his MS in Engineering and is applying for a flight position with the navy. He is being recruited by a local office who has very little info related to aviation. I have had alot of advice pro and con, about recruiting, and am afraid he will end up as an engineer on the ground, and not as a pilot. How certain is the specific job he requested (given he passes flight school). Thanks.

Comment by LynnDear on December 3, 2008 at 12:07pm

my oldest son is applying to OCS. He thinks he wants Supply Corp and he has a degree in accountanting. His recruiter is asking him to consider Surface Warfare School instead. He scored 64 out of 80 on the OAR. His concern is what jobs will be available to him if he retires from the Navy in 10 years in these fields. They won't pay for his past education loans, but will for future schooling. He has to sign a contract in about 2 weeks but doesn't know what to watch out for. If he signs he would start OCS in about 2 months. This is happening very quickly. He is NOT a runner, but needs to start training asap. He can't do one miles no matter how long he has. I hear that shin splints are a problems, so is there a place he can learn to do this safely. Also, are there any official web pages that you recommend regarding jobs, and possible careers from these jobs.

Comment by Mary, Proud Mom of Nick on December 2, 2008 at 6:28pm

I have a question on security clearances for some of the rates. I understand that a credit problem can be an issue in getting a clearance approved. How long does it take a secret clearance to be done? Is this a case or no news is good news? If a sailor has started A school and their rate requires a clearance is it fair to expect that their clearance is okay since they are in A school now?

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