MEPS rant

[Jodie]

We have been going through this process for some time now. Yesterday, I took a half day at work so I could be there to watch my husband swear in. It's a proud moment to witness. For the past ten months I couldn't believe we were finally here. I sat there for five hours while constantly being told he will swear in at this time, and at this time. Through out the entire day. Finalyl he gets the approval, and he is taken back to watch a video. While he is watching the video one of the higher ups comes over and sits down beside me....he says we have an "umph" (meaning a problem) I said yeah he told me he couldn't swear into nuke today because there is one more approval but he could change that next week once he is cleared. The man said no there is a bigger "umph". I said....what do you mean a bigger umph. He went on explaining that my husband filled out a waiver for 3 dependants....and I looked at him yes me and our two daughters. He said yes...but your pregnant (which is obvious by the size of my belly) and I told him yes I am well aware I am pregnant we discussed that with the recrutier and he said not to include the baby because he wasn't born yet. The man said that was wrong, and since my husband only filled out paperwork stating he had three dependants, they now have to go back and correct all his paperwork before they can allow him to swear in. -_-

 

The man was very nice and said he knew my husband out of all the people that came through there, he knew him. Also, he said he would get this fixed. That he would still be able to join, he just couldn't do it today.

I was so frustrated to the point of tears. Maybe it's just hormones, but it shouldn't be this difficult. The recruiter has made my husband and myself fill out the forms on three different occassions and we do indicate in the medical part that I am pregnant. Have since the beginning. Just so frustrated!

 

Any advice?

[Concernedad]

The informal Navy motto is.....Hurry up and wait.

You better get used to dealing with Snafu's. There will be many times you will scratch your head in disbelief over the Navy methods. At least someone came over to explain it to you. 

There is also a fairly good chance you will find out in the future that many things your recruiter told your husband, were incorrect. 

[Jodie]

It doesn't help that his original recruiter, the one who told him the wrong information, passed him off to a different recruiter because my husbands case was too difficult. Although he would never admit it.

 

The guys at meps were very nice, and reassuring just a frustrating process that I personally don't like dealing with. Let alone my husband.

[Concernedad]

Recruiters are just poorly trained sales people. Like any sales person, some are good and some are bad. Some recruiters will be honest and prepare you for what is to come. Some will tell you what they think you want to hear. 

My son dealt with four different ones before he entered. I would give a score of

(1-10 with 10 being the highest)

First Marine recruiter-1(told us in first and only meeting, Marines played video games all day)

Second Marine recruiter-incomplete (I told him I wanted to meet with him personally after he kept pulling my son out of class. He disappeared. Never to be heard from again.)

First Navy recruiter-7 (very straight forward. Small snippets of questionable info, but always kept us in the loop)

Second Navy recruiter-4 (decent kid, but totally unprepared for the job and gave us much misinformation)

If yours ranked higher. Congrats!

[Fur&FeathersDVM]

You're right- dealing with the navy can be very frustrating. My husband has been in the navy for about six years now and he literally worked towards his dream of being in the navy from the time he was in first grade.  All he ever wanted to do was be a sailor. He had a long journey with lots of bumps in the road but he finally started his navy journey at navy OCS (officer candidate school) at the age of 25. Believe me, there was not a dry eye in the room- including the staff at the recruiting station who had been working with him for years- when he finally got to swear in. I couldn't even begin to count the number of times there has been misinformation, schedule changes, surprises, etc- both prior to joining and once he was in. I had to change my school schedule frequently and now still change my work schedule many times at the last second to try to be there for things and sadly have also had to miss a lot. That's just the nature of military life.

The bottom line- it is well worth dealing with the frustration. There are many, many benefits to military life. Yes it is hard, but so is life in the civilian world. What doesn't exist in the civilian world is the great network of support military families get- not to mention the benefits (health insurance, housing, etc). Hang in there and I promise it will be worth the wait. My husband would tell you without hesitation that it was worth his fight to get in. He loves serving his country and the opportunities it gives him. I hope that you and your husband will not let this deter you and that you will keep at it!