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THE MOST IMPORTANT THING
Take charge.
The Recruiter and MEPS liason want you, so bad. But they will never tell you this. You have to fight to get what you want - all they want to do is tag you. Guys have walked in wanting to be a Ranger and left with contracts setting them up to be fucking leg MPs or cooks. NOT COOL.
I don't care what they think, the MEPS liaisons are worse than used car salesmen.
They are LIARS, trained to SCREW YOU out of getting what you want. They will draw up a good contract once everything is agreed on, and it is trustworthy, but up until then... they are NOT on your side. Ask pointed questions. Put them on the spot. Make them explain every little section of your contract, if that is what it takes. I did.
YOU ARE IN CHARGE, and you can leave at ANY TIME.
You have not sworn into anything at this point. The morning staff will say you can't leave, and it's just a head game to make you feel powerless. So they put you up in a hotel and bought you breakfast... SO WHAT?! You can walk RIGHT OUT and go the fuck home and tell your recruiter to go fuck himself for setting you up for failure. You are in charge, get a good contract. You don't even have to ask, you can leave at ANY POINT. Just WALK AWAY if things taste sour. They say you are not allowed to leave and that is a DAMNED LIE. You are on your own time. Remember that.
I scored a 98 on the ASVAB and was a gung-ho GO at every station, and my liaison lied through his teeth about my options. I walked out of his office THREE TIMES before I got my Ranger contract. READ THAT AGAIN. I stood up and told him to have a nice day and walked out of his office not once, but THREE different times. Finally he said I could get a Ranger contract but with no benefits. I looked him in the face and told him that wasn't good enough. Max your contract out... all benefits. Why not?? Getting stiffed and still saying "OK, I'll join!" doesn't make your more "hardcore" it just makes you stupid.
Get what you want NOW. You're only a civilian once, and then you're IN and on the hook and have no control over these things. NO control. Once you are in the Army, it is nearly impossible for 11B (Infantry) to get Airborne School. BEFORE you swear in, all you have to do is DEMAND it and you get it. You're the boss, they want you BAD. You can always say, "Sorry, but that is not what I want. I'll have to come back later when it is available. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go call my recruiter for a ride home." And if your recruiter gets mad and wont pick you up, get out of the building, walk down the road to a pay phone, and call your parents or a friend collect. It's better than swearing into a 4+ year agreement that you don't actually agree with.
GET YOUR "11X OPTION 40" OR NOTHING AT ALL!!! NO EXCUSES!!!
Be an asshole, it's OK. You're never going to see these people again.
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RANDOM NOTES
Your recruiter can show you what jobs are out there, but if you have done your homework here you'll already know what you want. At that point, all he or she can do is plug your information into the computer and give you a free ride to MEPS. They can set you up with a "reservation" in the computer, but that is overkill and also what you want isn't always available to them. Don't sweat it. Tell them you'll sort it out at MEPS. Recruiters can't "promise you" anything, they're just there to help you navigate through a lot of complex paperwork.
If it is not in writing, it doesn't exist. Spoken promises aren't worth spit.
Bring a book to read. You will probably sit in a chair for at least three uninterrupted hours at some point. Be forewarned that a great deal of waiting is involved in processing through a MEPS station. Patience is a virtue.
Before you sit for your ASVAB, study up on your algebra and geometry. Make sure you can distribute a simple formula, and calculate circumference and area of circles and rectangles no-matter which variable is supplied.
Get a decent score on the ASVAB so you have some negotiating leverage. Even if you don't score too hot, negotiate like a punk.
There is no reason to DEP in early. The benefits always seem to go UP if you wait. DEP in a month or so before you're wanting to ship.
Major things to ask for: Option 40, Montgomery GI Bill, Army College Fund (yes, its even MORE money for college), and a Max'ed out CA$H Bonus. You CAN get all of the above. :)
There is no reason to sign up for longer than needed. Sign up for the shortest contract even if you're planning to go for a 20 year career - it means you get to re-up sooner rather than later, which involves getting cool bonuses and school/duty station options. 4 years and 22 weeks was the standard for a Ranger contract when I joined in late 2005.
Sometimes "OPTION 40" doesn't show up in the computer. That doesn't mean shit, the liaison can call the ROC and get it assigned to you. I had home-schooled so at first it didn't show up, and he lied and said it was not possible to get it. An hour and a half later, I had OPTION 40 on my contract - go figure.
Look him in the face and say, "This is simple. If you give me these things in writing, I will sign RIGHT NOW and you've got me. If you cannot or will not, I'm going home and will do other things with my time."
If you're here, it is because you want to be a Ranger. When you get down to MEPS and go through all the shit, make sure you're a GO at every station, even if you have to beg and "sell yourself" to convince the staff to pass you. The whole fucking point is getting a Ranger contract, no? When they say duck walk, duck walk. If it hurts when you are duck walking, suck it up. If you can't suck it up for those ten seconds... you are definitely not the right guy for the job. If you fail at a station and it disqualifies you for RIP, you might not know this until the liaison is giving you the stare down and pressuring you to sign the contract he pretends to have worked so hard to produce. If it is not the contract you are looking for, you know what to do.
You might be told to lie, the whole "you are Superman for a day" line, and stuff. Fine. Just don't lie about something you can't back up with performance. The Army really doesn't give a shit if you smoked pot with your buddy down on the railroad tracks in 9th grade. The Army DOES give a shit if you randomly collapse on the ground and start jittering and shaking and screaming. Don't lie about that. They ALSO give a shit if you piss hot, you sure as hell better have given up that stuff. Whatever you end up entering into the record about yourself, be consistent about it. According to the records, either you DID or you DID NOT smoke pot. The only people who actually care are your teammates downrange, and they all smoked up too, no worries. If you are answering "NO" to all the health issue questions, make sure you except the Chicken Pox question and answer "YES" if you actually have had it. That is a GOOD THING to have had already.
Yes, you CAN RE-NEGOTIATE. Ask your recruiter to take you back down there. My brother went through the MEPS washing machine and came back without Option 40, talked to me, and then went back and got his contract squared away and is now RIP-bound.
IMPORTANT: At least get Airborne! It's nigh impossible for 11B to get once you're in, but when you're at Airborne School all you have to do is sign one form and BAM you're going to RIP. Airborne is the one place in the Army where you can volunteer for RIP and nobody can stand in your way except you.
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Get a good contract so you can relax, knowing that after Basic you're headed on to bigger and better things and you have some sweet benefits lined up to support you.
All of this being said, there are some GREAT recruiters out there who will square you away. Probably not your recruiter though.
-cdwdirect
