MEPS, Trip I - 20090924
Sgt. Reynolds picked me up at 12:00pm, we dropped by the Board of Education to pick up my transcripts from Hoover, and then headed back to the MCRS to do some preliminary paperwork and a basic urinalysis test. We left the MCRS around 3:30pm, stopped by McDonalds for some lunch, and headed down to Beckley.
We arrived at the Holiday Inn in Oak Hill around 5:00pm, signed in at the military office inside the hotel, and was assigned a room. My roommate (Liz) arrived about ten minutes after I did, and she said, "Let's go eat!", and so we did. I had a grilled cheese sandwich, fries, and a diet Coke. She's joining the National Guard and had already been to MEPS (and was back to swear-in), so she told me all about what I'd be doing the next day, which made me a lot less nervous. After dinner, she went out for a smoke break, invited me along, and then we called it a night.
Woke up, showered, went to breakfast. I had a hashbrown, a slice of bacon, and a little carton of orange juice. Everyone heading to MEPS that day was packed onto a big bus and driven to the Military Entrance Processing Station. Everyone got out, grabbed their bags, and lined up in front of the entrance. We walked through a metal detector, put our bags away, and lined up in rows of six in front of the main desk. I was one of four girls and maybe twenty guys. We had our photo taken, had our right and left index fingers fingerprinted (which was used to sign in/out of a room), and sent to Medical.
We walked back to Medical, signed/fingerprinted in, were given our medical files and waited in line for pulse/blood pressure, vision, hearing, and then we were herded into a room where we filled out our medical sheets (yes/no questions) and took a breathalyzer test. I passed everything so I was good to go. The nurse looked over everyone's papers to make sure everything was filled out and signed, and then we were sent on our way.
Next, I had blood taken. Just FYI, nurses have never been able to get blood out of my right arm. I probably should've mentioned this because she stuck my right arm and nothing came out, so she had a Navy man* try my left arm and that worked. I walked back into the waiting room with two band aids and I got a few laughs.
* I'm not sure what he was, but he wasn't wearing scrubs and had U.S. Navy insignia.
After that ordeal, the nurse took the four of us girls into the Female Ortho room which was a big open room with little stalls in the back and we were told to strip down to our bras and undies and then we did some silly exercises so the doctor could check our joints, reflexes, etc. Everyone, including the nurse and doctor, was laughing the whole time. The Duck Walk was hilarious. Even walking forward on our knees was too much, but we all passed, so that was fun. Then came the not-so-fun part. We were each taken, separately, into a little room and checked all over. I was surprisingly not too self-conscious and was unusually comfortable throughout the whole ortho checkup.
The only nerve-racking part of my first trip to MEPS was the urinalysis portion. It wasn't the fact that someone was going to watch me pee, but the fact that I cannot pee on command. So now it's 11:00am and medical is finished except for the pee-in-a-cup portion, and we have about an hour to pee before the medical area closes. The only liquid I had had that morning was a little 8oz. carton of orange juice at breakfast, so myself and another girl were probably the last ones left in the medical area, drinking lots of water and hopping around the common/waiting area. It took about 40 minutes and some poking of the bladder, but I was finally able to pee.
So after I peed in my little cup, I was sent to the USMC liaison office and the officer told me the last thing I needed to do was to take the AIMS test (Aptitude Inventory Measurement Service/a personality test for homeschooled/GED kids) and then I could go eat lunch. So he took me back to a little room, I took the test, reported back to the liaison office, and went to lunch. They were already packing everything up, so the lady handed me a bag marked "unconsumed" and I had about 10 minutes to eat my lunch. I had some kind of tuna salad sandwich, a diet Coke, a bag of chips, and an oatmeal cookie. I let the liaison officer know I was finished, waited a bit, and then he drove me home. I arrived home around 2:30pm.
Everyone working at the Beckley MEPS was nice and very funny. It was a positive experience. Three months ago, you couldn't even get me to walk up to someone and ask for help and now I'm enjoying myself. I'll be heading back to Beckley on the 30th 4th to swear-in on the 1st 5th.
AND
My ASVAB subtest line scores:
GT - 123
EL - 106
CL - 111
MM - 109
Requirements
2111 Small Arms Repair - MM 95
6531 Aircraft Ordnance - GT 105
I qualify for both of my top choices! Now we just need to see if any spots are available.
We arrived at the Holiday Inn in Oak Hill around 5:00pm, signed in at the military office inside the hotel, and was assigned a room. My roommate (Liz) arrived about ten minutes after I did, and she said, "Let's go eat!", and so we did. I had a grilled cheese sandwich, fries, and a diet Coke. She's joining the National Guard and had already been to MEPS (and was back to swear-in), so she told me all about what I'd be doing the next day, which made me a lot less nervous. After dinner, she went out for a smoke break, invited me along, and then we called it a night.
Woke up, showered, went to breakfast. I had a hashbrown, a slice of bacon, and a little carton of orange juice. Everyone heading to MEPS that day was packed onto a big bus and driven to the Military Entrance Processing Station. Everyone got out, grabbed their bags, and lined up in front of the entrance. We walked through a metal detector, put our bags away, and lined up in rows of six in front of the main desk. I was one of four girls and maybe twenty guys. We had our photo taken, had our right and left index fingers fingerprinted (which was used to sign in/out of a room), and sent to Medical.
We walked back to Medical, signed/fingerprinted in, were given our medical files and waited in line for pulse/blood pressure, vision, hearing, and then we were herded into a room where we filled out our medical sheets (yes/no questions) and took a breathalyzer test. I passed everything so I was good to go. The nurse looked over everyone's papers to make sure everything was filled out and signed, and then we were sent on our way.
Next, I had blood taken. Just FYI, nurses have never been able to get blood out of my right arm. I probably should've mentioned this because she stuck my right arm and nothing came out, so she had a Navy man* try my left arm and that worked. I walked back into the waiting room with two band aids and I got a few laughs.
* I'm not sure what he was, but he wasn't wearing scrubs and had U.S. Navy insignia.
After that ordeal, the nurse took the four of us girls into the Female Ortho room which was a big open room with little stalls in the back and we were told to strip down to our bras and undies and then we did some silly exercises so the doctor could check our joints, reflexes, etc. Everyone, including the nurse and doctor, was laughing the whole time. The Duck Walk was hilarious. Even walking forward on our knees was too much, but we all passed, so that was fun. Then came the not-so-fun part. We were each taken, separately, into a little room and checked all over. I was surprisingly not too self-conscious and was unusually comfortable throughout the whole ortho checkup.
The only nerve-racking part of my first trip to MEPS was the urinalysis portion. It wasn't the fact that someone was going to watch me pee, but the fact that I cannot pee on command. So now it's 11:00am and medical is finished except for the pee-in-a-cup portion, and we have about an hour to pee before the medical area closes. The only liquid I had had that morning was a little 8oz. carton of orange juice at breakfast, so myself and another girl were probably the last ones left in the medical area, drinking lots of water and hopping around the common/waiting area. It took about 40 minutes and some poking of the bladder, but I was finally able to pee.
So after I peed in my little cup, I was sent to the USMC liaison office and the officer told me the last thing I needed to do was to take the AIMS test (Aptitude Inventory Measurement Service/a personality test for homeschooled/GED kids) and then I could go eat lunch. So he took me back to a little room, I took the test, reported back to the liaison office, and went to lunch. They were already packing everything up, so the lady handed me a bag marked "unconsumed" and I had about 10 minutes to eat my lunch. I had some kind of tuna salad sandwich, a diet Coke, a bag of chips, and an oatmeal cookie. I let the liaison officer know I was finished, waited a bit, and then he drove me home. I arrived home around 2:30pm.
Everyone working at the Beckley MEPS was nice and very funny. It was a positive experience. Three months ago, you couldn't even get me to walk up to someone and ask for help and now I'm enjoying myself. I'll be heading back to Beckley on the 30th 4th to swear-in on the 1st 5th.
AND
My ASVAB subtest line scores:
GT - 123
EL - 106
CL - 111
MM - 109
Requirements
2111 Small Arms Repair - MM 95
6531 Aircraft Ordnance - GT 105
I qualify for both of my top choices! Now we just need to see if any spots are available.