Your recruit's final MEPS experience - an overview of their last hours as civilians

[Arwen]

The day before your recruit is due to ship out s/he will report to his/her recruiter's office, for yet another drug test, weigh-in, and another round of paperwork. Then the recruiter will drive him/her to a hotel near MEPS, where recruits get a meal ticket and a room. They cannot have ANYONE in their rooms, even spouse/children, and must be in that room by curfew. In many places they are told they may not leave the hotel, even to have a last dinner with the family, but there is a lounge/restaurant at most hotels used by MEPS to house incoming recruits.

In the morning all recruits at MEPS (all services) will be picked up at about 5:30 am, either by a bus/van if there are a lot of them, or by their recruiter, and taken to MEPS.

When s/he arrives at MEPS he/she will take a final physical exam, another weigh-in and drug test, then wait to be called by a processing clerk. When recruits finally get their turn at the desk, they provide IDs once again, sign a thick packet of papers, then sit in a waiting area to wait for all recruits to finish.

When everyone is finished with paperwork (at this point recruits are mixed - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard), they are all taken to a special room where they will be sworn in. This can take place anytime between about 9 a.m. and noon. If family members are waiting in the MEPS waiting room, they can be there for this part. They often do two ceremonies, one ending with "So help me God" and one finishing with "I do so affirm," as preferred by each recruit. It's a very crowded little room, with almost no space for an audience, so pictures are difficult. Many MEPS officers, who lead the oath, will recreate this ceremony with individual recruits for family members to take pictures.

Then the recruits go back to the office, each is given their file, recruits are separated into small groups according to their service/destination and given meal vouchers to eat at the airport. One recruit will be put "in charge" of the group. They will be loaded onto a van, charter bus or are given subway/train tickets to the airport. At this point they will be expected to stay with the group but are not supervised.

You CAN go to the airport (separately) to meet your recruit, you may be able to get a gate pass to sit with your recruit at the USO or the gate if there is time before the flight. A better option is to make sure your recruit has his/her cell phone to call and chat while waiting. They cannot use their phone at MEPS or on the plane, but they can call from both the originating airport and the Chicago airport.

When your recruit arrives at the Chicago airport, they can take an hour to get a meal if it's not already really late. They should make it a big meal - they have a long night ahead of them.  Then they report to the airport USO office, where they wait for a bus to pick up them up and take them to RTC.

Once they step on the bus they must turn their cell phone off. Those who have cell phones will get to make a 10 second call from their phones a few hours later, it could be 5 p.m. or 1 a.m., depending on how late their flight gets in. Within an hour of that call, the recruits put their phones in a box with all of their other belongings (even their underwear!) to ship home. Usually the battery is put in one shoe and the phone in the other.

For more information about what happens next, you should watch the video Navy Racks: Boot Camp. It's a little bit dated, the uniforms are different now - but it gives an excellent overview of what their experience will be.

[lemonelephant]

The recruiter may have to get a gate pass for you if MEPS is on a Military base (that only affects a few areas), but the recruiter has nothing to do with the gate pass at the airport and the recruiter will not be at the airport in most cases.

[LeslieC]

Ok, thank you.

[lemonelephant]

You are very welcome.

[Proudnavymom2]

Thanks for the info. Our son ships next monday..

[wastoldtochangemyname]

I was under the impression, because of 9/11 security concerns that if you do NOT have a ticket, you are not allowed a gate pass.  Is that information no longer correct?

[lemonelephant]

There are exceptions to that and family members can accompany Military service members who are on orders through the gate if they have a pass. That includes shipping to BC and shipping to "A" School after PIR if your then Sailor flies out to "A" School. See http://www.tsa.gov/traveler-information/military-personnel-injured-... all the way to the bottom; although it is not a deployment, most airports will permit it.

[BearsMom aka Amber]

My son is going to MEPS this Friday the 17th for his physical exam and to pick his job.  We were told he would be sworn in at that time.  Can you clarify?  Thanks

[lemonelephant]

Recruits are sworn in twice before arriving at the RTC. Your son will be sworn in at MEPS after he is found to be eligible for enlistment and chooses a contract, but he can back out of that if he chose to any time before he ships. After that MEPS visit, he is considered in the DEP program and will be a future Sailor and considered to be "Waiting to leave for Boot Camp" on this site. He will have another visit to MEPS on the day that he ships to the RTC and he is then "Enlisted" and will be considered in the Navy (although he won't be a Sailor until near the end of BC) and will begin receiving pay from the time he is sworn in the second time.

[BransMom]

My son signed his contract on Monday and got his job assignment and BC date of Aug.13,2014. 

The second time he swears in before he leaves is that the time we can see him swear in?

[lemonelephant]

Yes, you can watch that one. Some have seen both.

[lemonelephant]

Check your My Page.

[BransMom]

This is great information.... There is so much I do not know about this process... and well I hate not knowing... 

Thank you!