Call from Nuke recruiter to possibly go early

[sailormom]

My son is currently scheduled to leave for boot camp on December 8th.  However he has signed a commitment to leave early if a spot opens.  A "nuke recruiter" called him on Wednesday late afternoon and asked him if he wanted leave October 15th and then asked him a series of questions that he had already answered with his main recruiter.  That seemed to go okay - once he told him that he had told his recruiter and all was documented.  Then he asked my son if he had any debt.  He said he has school loan debt and when asked how much - my son told him the amount of college debt that is in my name (we could not afford to put our kids through college but we took out loans in our name on their behalf) not the amount that is in his name.  We expect our son to help pay that debt back (the amount in my name) but officially his legally responsible debt is significantly smaller than what is in my name.  

The recruiter seemed concerned about the amount.  I told my son to call him back and clarify his debt but he has not done that yet because the recruiter said he would be calling back. Should he be concerned that he has not received a return call as was indicated?  Should he make the call to clarify? 

Thanks for any advice you might have. He is very anxious to get started and I'd hate this misinformation to be a hold up for him.

Thank you in advance. 

[BoyWonderMom]

Sailormom, I would clarify the debt. Also a plan to repay that debt while in bootcamp and beyond. Many jobs require security clearance and a good financial standing is very important. That's what I remember from 2012 when our son's recruiter came to talk to us. Hope this bit of info is helpful :)

[Adam'sProudMom]

Our Nuke started out with over $100,000 in student-loan (plus interest) debt. He, too, encountered some concern about his qualifying for security clearance. I don't believe they mentioned it until he was in Goose Creek, though. But luckily, because his father and I had cosigned on two of the loans, he was able to get the clearance. So from what you've mentioned about your son's loans, it sounds like he'll be okay.
By the way, my son has lived very frugally, plus he chose to be a submariner (for the sub bonus) based in Hawaii, since the amount of the housing allowance (BAH) is based on the cost of living in the zip code. He was able to pay off all his loans in just under 5 years. Now he's totally debt free!

[AnthonysNavyMom]

It might be an issue. My son said there's a guy in his nuke program now that has some school debt issues. The Navy put together a payment plan for him, and his bonus will go towards it as well.

[kcbnme]

Is the debt really that big of a deal?  My son has around $5,000 only, and is current on all payments.  He left everything with me to continue the payments while he is in boot camp and can't. 

He was told by his recruiter that the clearance had been completed (he was in DEP for 8 months), but they didn't do much checking if it was because I was his boss and they didn't call the office at all regarding his employment, and they didn't call any of the personal references he put down, either. 

Strangely, DOD ran a credit check on him (shows up on his credit report) but that happened about two weeks before he went to MEPS and signed.  That seems odd even though he had already been working with a recruiter for three months.  He hadn't signed anything, but I can't remember when he turned in the clearance paperwork, whether it was before or after MEPS.