road to the army

Let me start by saying that I did TONS of personal research before I set foot in the recruiter's office today. What kind of job I want, what benefits I was looking for, what I was getting myself in to, etc. Good stuff actually. I've just heard horror stories of people walking into the recruiter's office, getting beautiful pictures of the military painted for them, and getting promised lots of really unreasonable stuff. I wanted to be prepared, so I read basically everything I could find.

Honestly, the experience wasn't bad. I went to the Army recruiting depot in town with my sister, walked in and had the following conversation with a very nice Staff Sergeant:

SSgt: "Hi. Can I help you?"
Me: "Yes. I would like to speak to a recruiter."
SSgt: "Of course! Right this way! What can I do for you?"
Me: "I would like to enlist."
SSgt: "Well you've come to the right place!"

Basically I came in with a lot of questions. Mainly about my education. Even though I hate Georgia Tech, I still want my degree, and I would ultimately like to become an officer. So I asked about that particular path. I got lots of information about Basic Combat Training (BCT) and things I need to be able to do before then. I have to get a lot of paperwork to include my high school diploma and transcript, my college transcript, medical records of any surgeries, and a certified copy of my birth certificate.

Basically, the benefits I want come down to the following:

• Advanced promotion to E-3
• Repayment in full of all student loans
• 100% tuition coverage at any university while in the Army
• Signing bonus up to $40,000

After he answered all my questions he asked if I had time to take a practice ASVAB so he could see what he was working with and so that he could better help answer some questions. The test took about 25 minutes to complete, and was fairly basic. I had to choose words that were most similar, solve equations for x, do some reading comprehension, and show basic understanding of math principles. I finished and got the SSgt, who cursed when he saw my score, saying it was the highest score he'd ever seen as a recruiter. Ha. Thanks Dr. Garner & Mrs. Glenzer :)

After his shock subsided he informed me that as long as I scored like that on the real ASVAB (which I have to take again because my high school one expired), I can qualify for any MOS I want. So he registered me to take the ASVAB at MEPS, located at Fort Gillem. I have to be at the depot at 1330 on Monday to be shuttled down to MEPS. It should be a piece of cake, and it'll give me a chance to scope out MEPS before I go for the physical. Details on that after Monday.

And of course, it wouldn't be a trip somewhere without free stuff. I scored an Army bag, Christy got a t0shirt, and we both got super cool bracelets! :)

For now, I'll leave you with this clip. Enjoy!