Head for MEPS tomorrow morning.

[patashley]

I head up to Lansing tonight and MEPS tomorrow 6am. I'm going 21b and will become an e-4 the day I swear in. Anyone else going to MEPS in Lansing, Michigan tomorrow. I'm prepared to stand for a while and have a clean pair of boxers. :) I want to go end of Jan/early Feb to OSUT at Leonard Wood.

[dancersoldier]

so, patashley, how'd MEPS go?

[patashley]

MEPS went smoothly! The only thing that I didn't pass was color Blindness. No big surprise. I had to tape in because I am 230lbs. My ideal weight for my height is 194lb. No big deal. I finished in about 2 hours and waited another hour when the counselor tells me that they are waiting for another waiver to come back from HQ. I guess it is just a formality.

I had to go back up by 8am this morning to Lansing (2 hour Drive), to swear in. I was told yesterday that the nco who needs to sign off on it was given orders to be in Grand Rapids for the weekend to make preparations for Jerald Ford's funeral. They knew that it would not be signed today, but I still had to go up with my recruiter and sit around for 3 hours. I will still need to go back up and swear in next week. I am already getting used to the Army hurry up and wait life style:)

[dancersoldier]

I live in Grand rapids, but because my college is in Holland, MI (hope college), my recruiter is in Holland and he too was busy with the Ford Funeral and visitation and such. So the weight thing wasn't a problem and they still let you enlist? That's good because i'm a little over the weight limit as well.
2 hours isn't bad. What is your ship date?

[NightStalker14]

You're lucky, patashley. I spent fourteen hours straight at MEPS.

Better than half of that time, I was sitting in a chair.

[dancersoldier]

14 hours! Oh man! Looks like i'll have to clear my schedule for the day.

[Pvt Farley]

dang man .. i spent 3 hours and was tired of that

[sp1173]

I heard when it comes time to ship from MEPS you have to meet the weight/height requirements or you do not ship for basic. Did anyone say anything to you. The way it was told to me is you can not be 1oz. overweight come ship time?

[NightStalker14]

What freaked me out about all that time I spent was that nothing went wrong. No paperwork issues or anything. I just... sat there.

Although you DO get to meet people going into other MOSs and even other branches, which is cool. I observed that the Marines would sometimes stay to themselves, but the Navy and AF and Army guys all mingled pretty easily.

[NightStalker14]

DON'T be overweight.

Nothing ***** more than reporting to Basic with all your stuff and being sent home for something like that.

I saw it happen a lot.

[WIBecky74]

I heard when it comes time to ship from MEPS you have to meet the weight/height requirements or you do not ship for basic. Did anyone say anything to you. The way it was told to me is you can not be 1oz. overweight come ship time?

Your initial visit to MEPS allows you to be over weight standards but within taping regulations. You are then under contract when you swear in. My assumption would be the same holds true for your visit to MEPS before shipping to basic since still under the same contract. As long as you are within taping regulations you can still be over weight standards.

[patashley]

I was told yesterday that as long as you tape under the limit for your age and height/ weight you will be fine. My first trip to Meps I weighed 230 and 27% body fat.
I just swore in yesterday. After waiting a month for a waiver to be signed and running 2 miles every other day, I weighed 236lbs. and 26% body fat.
I drastically cut back on my calories, eating good protein and very low carbs everyday, and gained 6 lbs. I made it again. I ship on the 14th of Feb to Fort Jackson and plan to shed more fat in the next 3 weeks.

[NightStalker14]

Awesome. Good luck to you.

[Gnome]

wow... yestereay was my first time at MEPS and they didnt have anything right.. The civilian guy thought i was a high school dropout trying to give me the AIMS test. i had to wait about 30 mis extra to get everything straightend out. Finnaly got sworn in at around 1... but i wasnt anywhere near 14 hours.. lol
Does anyone know what Fort Knox is like?