Ok, now I am confused!

[mom2joshandjacob]

First of all, I want to apologize for the way I ask questions.. I have no idea how to use this site or where to look to ask questions.  With that said,, here we go!  Joshua and Jacob took the ASVAB yesterday.  Jacob, who wants to be a mechanic scored a 57,  Joshua who wants to be a chef scored a 26.  Now Joshua has always struggled in school.  He was heartbroken when they came home last night and up until about midnight last night he had decided "screw it"  The boys went back to their recruiter this morning and he told them that Jacob could go now or wait for his brother. He also said that he would like to see Joshua get a 50 so that his career choices would be larger.  The math is what knocks Josh for a loop every time,, even in school.  It took him six times to pass the exit exam.  Jacob is going to wait for his brother.  Now,, here is the confusing part.  The recruiter told the boys that after Joshua passes in 30 days,, (notice he used WHEN), he will drive them to Portland, OR. for the MEPS  (did I use that right?)   Jacob said that after that point they will be officially in the Navy but it could take up to 12 months to actually ship off to boot camp.  I don't understand,, is the MEPS thing the medical part,, will I miss the actual swearing in?  What happens next??  I am so confused,, I just want to know what and when.  I don't mind waiting,, really,, just don't want surprises.  Oh,, I sent the recruiter an email,, he said he will come by our home after the Oregon trip,, he said he will personally drive the boys there,, and answer all my questions. BUT until then, he gave Jacob a little card for me to use until then,, hmm,,, Navy4Moms.com,,, lololo.   So,, thankyou,, moms,, in advance for any help.  I adore my boys so much, I support their choice,, but Lord this will be hard!  Have a wonderful afternoon,,, Tina from No. Cal,, Joshua Christopher and Jacob Paul's mama

[Jo]

Just and FYI. Hoppi is very correct on the Brothers program. I have two sons in the navy and both stationed in Mayport. :-)

[javismom]

Hi Tina! My son first went to see a recruiter the first days of December. He was ok according to the recruiter except that he had to lose weight and get his body fat down from 27% to under 25%. We got on that right away but after a month, I had expected for the recruiter to atleast call to see how my son was doing.... nothing. It happened that a friend my son had graduated with was also joining, took him to see another recruiter who has been wonderful as far as keeping in touch with my son, encouraging him with the weight loss, etc. So anyway, Javi went to his MEPS at the beginning of Feb so that he and Celina could join together, so they were told. So they took their asvab and then my son wasn't allowed to do the medical exam because someone forgot to tell him he needed some medical papers. My son, Javi, and his friend came back and she had got under 50, he got 64. Since she planned to retake the test, the recruiter suggested he wait to do the physical until the 30 days (so he could go with Celina). This actually worked out good because it gave him more time to lose more weight. Two weeks later she was offered a job and now she leaves in May. So then my son got my niece to talk to the recruiter, she decided she'd go with him at the beginning of March and do her MEPS. So she passes all and he is off by 1/2inch around his waist! So he has to come back in 3 weeks. On that third week, my niece gets a job and is scheduled to leave in Sept! I felt sooo bad because twice now he thought he'd be going to bootcamp with a buddy like he was told and twice now for the reasons said, he didn't. Needless to say, he lost the weight and now is in as a DEPPER (?) waiting for a job opening of his choice. I think that even if they go in together, it seems to me that unless they get pretty much the same range in scores and there are 2 job openings at the same time, it seems maybe that it may not be guaranteed that this "buddy" system works. I hope I'm wrong and that I'm just not understanding all the details. I hope everything works out for your boys. The Lord will place them where He needs them to be for Him. Take care Tina and hope to talk to you soon, Liza (Javismom)

[gonavy]

I'm currently a Navy recruiter, it is absolutely extremely hard to join if you score under a 50. Now what I have found that helps those in need of a study guide is the "ASVAB study guide 9th edition." This walks you through step for step on all the sections. If you use as it tells you to, he will bring his score up! I really recommend using this guide, it has worked for 6 of my future sailors and they all scored over a 50 after using this! Good luck!