Last Minute MEPS Advice

[jride200]

The title of the thread says it all . . . I go to MEPS tomorrow morning at 0530. Short of my recruiter instructing me to hydrate very well and to wear underwear (really, no kidding), I haven't any idea really what to expect. Common sense tells me to withold my nightcap of several pints of Guinness.

 

[BrandonJ1780]

Bring a book, it's a long day...

 

[TheBubba]

or an MP3 player. I got to MEPS around 0500 and left about 1930 or so... fun day. I didn't have a book or anything... that was my first mistake.

Also... don't piss off the Gunny. That was my second mistake.

 

[Tom]

I have heard not to work out a couple days before MEPS. It can create blood results that look like a diabetic. Also when you wake up in the morning take a massive p!ss. Some people hold it in till MEPS, but this has shit from all night. You want to drink a very large glass of water with a healthy breakfast. Being well hydrated also helps your eye tests. On the underwear note, don't be the weird guy with dragons on his underwear. Wear something plain. Wear nice clothes and not jeans. Sit up properly when you're waiting, try not to look like an idiot and call officers sir. An USMC soon to be enlistedman had a question and decided to ask the USMC Colonel CO. To get his attention he decided to yell, "Hey dude!" The Colonel looked like he wanted to tear his head off, but he held back. As an Officer Candidate they will treat you better. The staff would ask me questions about college, flying, etc. and bark at the soon to be enlistedmen.

 

[Slammer2]

dang...I got there around 0500 and was out by noon. The whole "underwear thing" - you need to strip down so that the doc can look at your back and knees and all that crap. You dont want to be the guy that doesnt have any underwear on. Its just a long boring day of testing. Nothing that you need to worry about. And dont drink alcohol the night before.

 

[BigRed389]

All kinda depends on your circumstances.

I got put up in a hotel with an enlisted Marine recruit who snored like a motherfucker...kept me up till 3 AM with a 5AM wakeup call.
Probably why I failed my depth perception test there, but did OK on my civilian retest.

Hydrating supposedly helps for the vision portion as well...but more importantly, urinalysis. I took a piss b/c I didn't know better when I woke up.

So I arrived at MEPS pissed out, dehydrated from a PRT, on 2 hours of sleep, and first thing was urinalysis. Having no "ammo" I had to drink nasty ass tap water by the cupful for half an hour before I was ready to go. Point is...make sure you'll be able to piss when you get there.

The underwear thing is essential...but for everybody else's sake, wear boxers. The prior service 30+ guy with a beer gut and tight white briefs traumatized everybody there during the duckwalk type stuff.

I'd always been told for any blood tests to fast for 24hrs prior, so I did that as well. But apparently it's not an issue since they let people eat.

And when you get out, look your file over and make sure you're cleared for flight duty. Let your recruiter know if anything "questionable" came up...they can clear you for a general officer physical, but obviously the aviation aspect adds a few extra requirements. If anything you're not sure about came up, ask your recruiter...I probably could've saved about 3 weeks if I had.

 

[jride200]

Well . . . I'll be sure not to wear my dragon boxers. Instead, I'm thinking I'll wear my purple bikini briefs. Appreciate the advice regarding the 30+ enlisted guy with a beer gut and tighty whiteys. Definitely not looking forward to that.

Regarding urinalysis and bloodwork, do you guys think I should disclose that I take creatine as an athletic supplement? I understand that creatine is not allowed for members of the aviation community, and I fully intend to cease using it prior to OCS.

 

[Tom]

You should stop that junk right now.

 

[Top_Gun_101]

do people who wants to be an officer go to MEPS ? ? ?

 

[MasterBates]

Yes

 

[BigIron]

do people who wants to be an officer go to MEPS ? ? ?

Yes. And they also brush on up grammar too.

 

[Lawman]

do people who wants to be an officer go to MEPS ? ? ?

You get the same initial medical screening as anyone else the differnce being you didnt spend the night in a hotel and afterwards you dont get on a bus and head to boot.

Critical thing with Meps for the guys going, they will probably have you go in through the same door as the guys going straight to boot and will have you do the same "Dump your trash do you have any weapons/booze/porn/etc" check. Once thats over, make sure you go check in with your respective services office. I made the mistake of not speaking up for about the first half hour and was being moved around with the rest of the indocs before somebody realized I was there as an Officer Candidate. They will run you through a lot faster and give you a lot more free rain (I.E. heres your stuff your done at this station just head over to the _____ department next). Still like others have said refer to people by rank and title if you can/know how. Most of the staff members I met there thought I was prior between my bearing and the fact that I recognized enlisted ranks from all the services (the one Senior Chief was suprised). And no boozing or partying late the night before, its a crappy day and it would be a lot worse with a hangover.

 

[Lawman]

Yes. And they also brush on up grammar too.

Yeah to be an officer you gots to be dog gone articulate.


(No Shit this is a quote from my OCS Plt Co)

 

[e6bflyer]

Wear nice clothes and not jeans. Sit up properly when you're waiting...

Seriously, you can wear jeans and nobody is going to care. If you are in a warm climate and wear something (like shorts and T-shirt) that is easy on, easy off, all the better. The MEPS people aren't going to care.
Ditto on not acting like an idiot. Under the radar is the way to go.

 

[Tom]

I guess I was basing my clothing opinion on tundra weather. Wear whatever, but keep this in mind. You never dress for you job, you dress for the job you want.