my trip to MEPS

I finally went to MEPS on November 7, 2002. SSgt Trent drove me up to the boring-looking building near Baltimore that evening to take my test. But they wouldn't let me in the testing room because I wasn't wearing socks, just sandals. Off we went to go shopping! On the way, he said, "You ARE wearing a bra...right?" Pause. "No." Oh boy! He had realized on the way up there that I would need socks for the physical the next day, didn't think I would for the test, and apparently assumed I was wearing a bra...I'm sure glad he asked though! I don't know why I didn't think to wear one.

We came across a drug store and fortunately they sold the items in question. I found some black socks and for some reason he wanted to know if they were women's socks. They were small so it didn't matter...then he said something like, "Okay, I'll go over here and wait while you pick out the other thing." I just laughed, grabbed one, he paid, and we got out of there. It still cracks me up that my recruiter had to buy me socks and a bra!

The ASVAB is a lot like the SAT, only it's on a computer. Also, in addition to the math and English sections, it has several short tests on your knowledge of things like electrical principles, car parts, and mechanical ability. I did good on the English sections, okay on the math, and then guessed my way through gears, pistons, carborators, and currents. The part I hated about it was that you couldn't skip questions and go back to them! Every question appeared by itself on the screen and once you clicked "Next" it was gone forever. I ran out of time on an easy question at the end of a math section because I took too long trying to solve a couple hard ones that I probably got wrong anyway. Argh!!!

SSgt Trent waited outside in his car the entire time because we had paperwork to fill out before he went home and I went to my hotel room. I don't even remember half the stuff we signed and read because I was so tired! I screwed up once by signing my name where he was supposed to sign his and he had to call somebody in the office in Rockville to fax to the hotel a new copy of that particular form. Oops. I do remember having to write out a statement about why I wanted to join the Marine Corps. I don't remember much of what I put though. Somewhere along the way, he called the office to find out what my ASVAB score was. He asked me to guess what I thought it might be so I said, "I dunno, somewhere between 85 and 90." I was wrong, it was 97. The highest you can score is 99 and the minimum to enlist in the Marine Corps is 32. So basically, I did pretty good.

Bring a long book, like War and Peace, if you ever join the military. You'll need it while you wait around in between the different parts of the physical and the actual signing-up process. I spent the entire morning (which began with a four am wake-up call) and most of the afternoon in that crazy place, waiting and waiting and waiting for whatever it was I was supposed to do next. We had a lot of spare time on our hands, and you can only read the posters on the wall so many times.

Small side note: Try to put off reading Marine Corps posters as long as possible. You will see them again. And again, and again. These are the same ones plastered on walls at every recruiting station and Marine Corps base.

I spent the day trotting around between medical stations and waiting to trot to the next station with a group of about ten other women. Nothing bonds you faster with strangers than those ten strangers and you all naked save for your underwear and bra! Before we ditched our clothing though, we got an eye exam, hearing test, filled out lots of paperwork, peed in a cup, talked to the doctor, and got blood drawn. During the hearing test, the girl to my left was acting like a kindergartner who couldn't quit wiggling around and making noise...and guess which of my ears scored worse! A young Air Force recruit in our group couldn't keep her hands off anything and while we were getting our color vision test, she got yelled at for picking up things she shouldn't. The same girl also wouldn't shut up... but she was really nice and I actually saw her again after our group split up. We both got sworn in at the same time later that afternoon.

After we ditched our clothing, we got weighed, had our height measured, ran around in circles, walked around in circles, stood on our tip-toes, touched our toes, waved our arms around, wiggled our wrists, wiggled our fingers, kneeled on the floor, bent our ankles, and duck-walked across the room. After that we exchanged our undergarments for papery gowns. The chubby women kept ripping theirs and us smaller chicas had to keep pulling the sleeves down to avoid flashing the room. One by one we slipped back into the doctor's office so he (old wrinkly white guy) could make sure we were girls.

After all that nonsense, we put on our clothes back on and waited to see if we passed. A couple girls were too heavy, so they were sent home to lose weight and try again another day. Most of us passed and moved on to our service liaison to pick jobs and actually enlist. I ended up going in open contract, which means that if I didn't pick a job while I was in the Delayed Entry Program (basically, that means you enlist, but don't ship out to bootcamp for up to a year) the Marine Corps would assign me to whatever they thought I would be good at whether I liked it or not. After going back and forth to various places, eating a nasty sub, getting cool digital fingerprints taken, watching TV, reading some magazines, and signing my name some more, it was finally time to go swear in. Me, the talkative Air Force girl, and four or five guys wandered into a fancy-looking red-carpeted room with flags and an officer waiting for us to raise our right hands. We repeated after him our oath:

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

Then we got the heck outta there...or at least I tried to get out. I actually did not leave until about six-thirty pm (I swore in about three thirty) because the person who was scheduled to pick me up somehow managed to be in Frederick, at least an hour away. My recruiters must have seen him there at the conference around four thirty/five and said, "Ahh, what are you doing here!?" The guy finally showed up and gave me a ride to my car. He was a very friendly radio repairman who had spent an ungodly amount of time in Boise, Idaho, before being shipped out here.

I don't remember what I did after I got to my car. Probably went home to recover.



My MEPS Stats:

Height: 5'1 3/4" (Rounded it up to 5'2")
Weight: 100.6 (Rounded it up to 101)

AFQT (ASVAB) Score: 97

P.S. When I shipped out to bootcamp, I weighed 103.9. My minimum was 104. They told me to eat a lot when I got to Parris Island. I must have because I weighed about 112 when I left.