I can pretty much assure you that with the shortage of MP's you will have no problem getting that MOS if you meet the requirements.

Keep in mind one requirement to be an MP is a security clearance, so if you have anything questionable in your background this will come into play.

FYI, it's not the recruiters who find you a job and wrtite you a contract.  That's the job of the guidance counselor at MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station).  In fact, the recruiters aren't even allowed to be in the room while the counselor tries to fit your round peg into the Army's square hole.  That's why it's always a good idea to take a trusted veteran along with you, preferably someone who has been in the Army recently, say within the last 5 years or so.  A lot changes over the course of time, especially in times such as these.  So, your uncle Joe, who drove M-60 tanks for three years during the late 70's isn't going to be as much help as your friend at work who got out last year.

One piece of advice for when you do join and get ready to ship out, don't take a bunch of crap with you.  You won't be allowed to use most, if any, of it and you you won't be able to store too much of it.  Your entire basic training platoon will ahve to store the suitcases they bring with them in one small room, not too much bigger than a large closet.

When you get to your first duty assignment, you can have your stuff (up to a certain weight - which is rank dependant) shipped to you from your home of record, at the governments' expense.  You'll need someone who you trust to be there when the packers and the movers show up to pick it up though.  Just remember to ask about shipping household goods when you get to your first duty assignment.

Good luck and don't hesitate to drop me a line if you have any questions.  I did 8 years active-duty and got out of the Army in OCT '02.

Frank

OK....the pathfinder school looked rather intresting to me, I got some qualms about jumping out of perfectly good airplane though...but Id need to think about that. Airborne would definately be a rush though.

Im gonna go in tomorrow and start talking, but not gonna commit to anything quite yet, until I figure out what exactly I want. I have a very bad habit of not liking to do anything half-assed, I like to get neck deep in, or not at all. Also a adrenaline junkie, I have rather high paced hobbies (rock climbing/rapelling, paintball, Krav Maga, and horseback riding.)

What are promotion points?

And thanks again 82nd for starting this thread.

Also, nothing at all bad in my background, worst Ive done is go for a romp in the hay with my ex at the barn

John

No matter what any career counselor, recruiter, or any of us(sorry guys) tells you about any MOS, demand to look it up in DA PAM 611-21. This is the listing and descriptions of all Army MOS and ASIs.
If you want to check it for yourself:
DA PAM 611-21

edited to add: WARNING: this is a large PDF file. 956 pages.

I think Im gonna take it over to kinkos and get it printed and bound, so I can have it on hand when I go into the recruiters

Currently reading that other thread, its good stuff.

Id wanted to join up right after high school, but I managed to get a very serious GF junior/senior who...ahem...gave me incentive to stick around. When that fell apart, I didnt go in, cause I wanted to make sure I wasn't joining just to get away.

I'm ready to go in, and get what needs to be done, and only hope that my actions will save any american lives.

Ill let yall know any updates.

By the way, what units should I be thinking about looking at? One thing I know I dont want to be doing is driving around in soft hummers in Iraq.

John

I can not stress GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING. My sons recruiter was very upfront. AS we told our son we would be his best friends when dealing with the recruiter. Since both of us were prior service. Do not sign anything until you have completely read it over and everything that was promised to you is there,eve the bonus money if you get any. If it isn't there you will not get it.Good luck and I hope you get everything you want.

One nice fringe benifit is this is one of the three in one recruiting stations, army/marine/navy

If dude is giving me a hard time, I can always look over at the marine recruiter and say "He looks like a nice fellow."

I was a detailed army recruiter from '92-'95. The Army guarantees jobs, the Marines guarantee career fields. Not busting on the marines just stating facts. The Army will guarentee you 11B, Infantry. The Marines will Guarentee you one of a number of MOSs in the Infantry field, their choice and you won't kn ow till the end of boot camp which one. The Marines only guarentee that MOS for 1-1/2 years depending on the MOS. ou will sign a "Statement of nderstanding" that tells you this at the time of enlistment. After that they can reassign you to do anything. The Marine recruiter that was near me in '92 joined the marines to be a basic rifleman and 2 years later was pumping gas for 2 years then was assigned to a division staff section and processed paperwork for 2 years. This may have changed since I was a recruiter but it pays to ask.

You will be offered jobs based on your qualifications and the Army needs. You may be qualified to be an in-flight rocket repairman but if the army is overstrength already, they won't offer it to you.

Yes, by all means ask what other programs are available with each job. Airborne, air assault, ranger school, overseas assignment, bonus, 2,4,6 year hitch, etc. Get the most you can and you will get it in writing.

Pathfinder does require airborne status.

My advise is, if you want to be a shooter, go infantry. If infantry, go airborne. If airborne infantry, go ranger. If you don't want to be a shooter, go whatever, then whatever-airborne/air assault. Nothing worse than doing your 4-6 years active duty and never leaving the office/motorpool to do something that gets your adrenaline pumping. I met guys that are mechanics that never went overseas or on a real world deployment there whole enlistment. What a sorry way to live.

If you want a 9-5, realatively easy job, seek life elsewhere.

Whats the difference between airborne and air assault?

I'm getting a ride over to the recruiter in a hour.

Parents are pretty much freaking out.

John

Edit: Bah, my ride flaked. I gotta go tomorrow. Are they even open today anyways? (Labor day)

John

Whats the difference between airborne and air assault?

Airborne means those who jump out of airplanes with a parachute on their backs.

Air Assault means those who are qualified to rig and inspect loads for slinging underneath helicopters, guide helicopters into and out of LZ's and PZ's using hand-and-arm signals, set up LZ's and PZ's IAW Army standards and rappel and fast rope from helicopters.

Airborne school is 99% physical and 1% mental (getting over your natural fear of hurtling yourself into thin air, 1250 feet above the ground).

Air Assault school is both physically and mentally demanding.  

Having attended both schools, I'd have to say that Air Assault School is more challenging.  Having said that, I feel it is only fair to point out that I didn't complete Airborne school.  I had testicular cancer, so I quit school.  

Airborne school can be written into an enlistment contract.  AFAIK, Air Assault cannot.  AASLT school is tough to get unless you are assigned to a unit where it is considered necessary (101st, 10th Mtn., 75th RGR, a couple units in Korea, and a select number of other units).  

THE Air Assault school is the Sabulauski Air Assault School at Ft. Campbell, KY.  They also have schools at Ft. Drum and in Korea.  Also, the Black Shirts from Ft. Campbell go to West Point each year to teach a class for the cadets.

Airborne school is taught by the Black Hats of the 1st Bn / 507th PIR, at Ft. Benning, GA.

HTH
Frank

Thanks Frank. I was somewhat unclear on the differences.

I'm leaving in a bit here for the recruiter. Ill let yall know how it goes.

John

I just got back from the recruiter...

He told me that he did not make the contract, that a computer would give me all the options. I have written down a pageful of questions that I thought of between me and my friend who sat through it with me. (He tried to recruit her too...she said shes just the penpal. LOL.

Couple of things, I have somewhat bad eyes, (I forgot to mention it cause I was wearing contacts.) Whats the cut off point for saying "Your too blind."

EDIT: Said as long as I had no color-blindness and no more than a eight diopter adjustment I was fine.

Also, is there a hight to weight requirement? I am 5'5" and 125 pounds on a fat day - no matter how much I eat, I can't seem to gain weight.

John

Then join the Coast Guard because they are about the only uniformed force without a large ground force in Iraq right now and are way too busy with homeland security to spare the people. Right now there are two kinds of people in the Army, those that are deployed, and those that are going to deploy, and if yo join up you're going to be one of them. Unlesss you are ont he verge of being legally blind, your vision won't keep you out of th emilitary, just away from certan jobs. Don't BS yourself, what do you want to do in the military? The best advice I got from the career councilor when I enlisted was "are you more interested in jumping, or in the job?" I took the job (11b), but didn't get to jump because of a foot injury that pushed my DEP slot back and canciled my original slot. Don't BS the recruiter either, tell him\her if you have medical issues (i.e. vision) up front so you won't waste your time.

Quoted: By the way, what units should I be thinking about looking at? One thing I know I dont want to be doing is driving around in soft hummers in Iraq. John

Yeah, I didnt even think about it today, I will definately tell him (its in my notes) for next time I see him. I have two full pages of questions that Ive thought of based on our hour of conversation today.

EDIT: I have a huge problem with over thinking and analyzing things, especially when I know that - all joking aside - this will be one of the biggest 5 decisions I face in my lifetime, and will effect the rest of my life in some manner, most likily for the positive, but the very real and present possibility of getting killed within the Armed Services.

John

Vision isnt a problem he said, I did the ASVAB pretest today, he told me a 40 was average, 60 was overkill, and I scored an 81.

Also told me due to my college credits accumulated he could probably get me promoted to E-3 before I even leave for boot camp. (!) Didnt even know this was possible. Sweet

Can someone tell me at what rank you have to do a promo board and have points for promotion? Is it E-4 or E-5?

Anyways, today was an overall good day, I gotta find my medical records for both the broken wrists Ive had and the torn ACL, to keep doc from disqualing me when I go down to San Jose for ASVAB/Medical/Job offering.

Thanks guys.

John

Good luck, a day at MEPS is usually a long one, especially if you're taking the ASVAB the same day as your PHYS/BCT reservation/MOS selection, overall I had a good time at MEPS though (aside from the obligatory ball fondling, but you know how that goes), just because it meant DAMNIT I'M IN THE ARMY FINALLY

You ought to be at LEAST E3 when you leave for BCT, with college credits. I don't even have college credits and will be E3 when I leave for having a referral (In other words, my recruiter just wrote my name down as a referral for the next dude that walked in to join behind me), and completing a bunch of little pre-training things called the Pre BCT task list. Your recruiter will tell you more about it I'd imagine.

Thanks for the support guys, oh, and I couldnt even concetrate on the pretest while I was taking it...

The Sgt. made a comment that had me laughing for a few minutes. "...like a Frisco fairy on a pinhead."

Good group of people, I hope all the people I work with in the military have such a good sense of humor.

John

Well, I went out with the DEP guys yesterday on a land nav, that was fun. We broke up into two teams, with each squad going out with one Sgt. The Captain who attended the exercise went with out squad, along with the only female. (Cute...and probably smarter than me, shes going chem engineer.) We did more terrain association than compass work, cause our Sgt. was a tanker, and he used that more. Good group of guys, I'm invited to go along with all the DEP stuff for now, but haven't been to MEPS yet, having some issues getting enough money for car insurance so I can get my license, so I can go to MEPS. Anyways, gonna step up my running, I wanna pass the pre-BCT checklist and get that rank. Also learned how to make MRE bombs yesterday. The other squad attempted to close ambush us, fortuantely we saw them before they sprung the ambush. MRE bombs started flying both ways, hehe.

A jogger came upon our little scene (little asian woman) and I swear she was about to flip out. Started yelling at the Captain, "What are you shooting at! yadda yadda yadda."
"M'am just a training exercise, they aren't shooting at anything."
"They were shooting!" "M'am, none of us are armed. No weapons."
"Oh....ok. Is it alright if I go by?"
"Yes, m'am."
She proceeded to edge around our formation very slowly and watching all of us... Always funny how people flip out when they see a soldier. Anyways, it was a blast, just enough to get the adrenaline up a bit. I could definately see myself doing this as a career. And yes, I understand it was all fun and games, cause they weren't real explosives or guns. And the sergeant has me saying, "Hooah." now. Boss looked at me a bit funny when I responed with that this morning.

Anyways, just running at the mouth a bit, thanks for putting up with this enthusastic wannabe soon-to-be solider.

John

Hey don't be ashamed that you're "only almost there" man, I'm a DEP'er right now too and am always talking Army stuff with my friends who really don't understand, but they know I'm proud and excited to be a part of it. I start next month, can't wait. It's okay to be proud to at least have the ball rolling somehow.

Not ashamed. Just know I aint fit to kiss the boots of some of these warriors that grace our forums. Realist maybe? lol.

John

Go for the shortest possible contract!!! :D  

And stay away from MP.