The Forbidden: Aptitude Areas (More Commonly Known As Open Contracts)!

I said I was going to post about this, so here we go!

Within the Air Force, we have such things called Aptitude Areas, otherwise known as Open Contracts. These occur frequently. Some of you may be wondering what they are exactly, while others know exactly what I'm talking about! When you go to MEPS, you have an interview of sorts with your liaison in which you make a list, and essentially, pick your jobs. When doing this, you list a maximum of 10 jobs, and 1 Aptitude Area. Before you even leave for MEPS, let alone talk to your liaison about jobs, know what jobs you're interested in! Make a list, and bring it with you, and number them (1 being your top pick, and 10 being your last). They are more than willing to accommodate this for you! While you're listing your jobs, be thinking about what aptitude you want to list. If you're open to pretty much anything, ask which jobs drop most frequently within your squadron. For mine, it's Mech. and Elec.. But, if you're a bit more choosy, look at what jobs you picked the most of. Or, if you will only take a medical job, for example (which I strongly dis-advise) then list a Gen. Aptitude.

When you get back from MEPS, you and your recruiter should talk about what you listed, that way he/she knows what to look out for the most. They can see your list already, but by talking to them you let them know what you're most interested in, or what have you. I just added about 6 more jobs total to mine, but had to eliminate one of the original ones I listed, because I ran out of room. If you're like me, and open to basically anything, let your recruiter know!!! I can't stress that enough. I'm, fortunately, a favorite of my recruiter's because I also do what is asked of me, show up to the DEP CC's every month, and get back with him in a timely manner. This will work in my favor when the monthly job drops occur! He knows to lookout for something I may like, and get me shipped out faster!

Okay, back on topic of the open contracts. There are so many bad misconceptions about them. Basically, you won't get "stuck" with something you don't want. The one and only way this could happen is if you don't qualify for anything else on the list.

                                                      (Lies!)

When you accept an open contract (Let's say it's a General one), you accept the fact that you won't know what your job is until around 7WOT in BMT. From what I've been told, around 4WOT, you will go and view what jobs are available under the General area (since that's what you chose, remember?!). Let's say you made a 92 on your ASVAB, with a score of 85 in General. Well, you have your handy dandy list you made of jobs you'd like, and you're cross referencing that list to what's available. List as many jobs as you can! But, be aware that if you list something you don't really care for, or don't want at all, there is a great chance you may end up with it. So don't list something just to fill up space, make sure you'd be okay with it! Anyway, let's say your most wanted jobs are Public Affairs, Cryptologic Linguist, Loadmaster, Diet Therapy, EOD, In-Flight Refueling, and SERE. (Granted, these all range dramatically, but just go with it =]) You absolutely do not want Security Forces, which is the most popular job, I believe, to be given on an Open Gen contract. Now, let's say you didn't qualify for the Loadmaster and (I think) In-Flight Refueling, because you're 5'3", and to qualify for any airborne job, you must be a minimum of 5'4". So, there's 2 of your 7 jobs automatically gone. You didn't list Security Forces, so you're in the clear. You scored well enough on the ASVAB, that you definitely qualify for the other jobs for that aspect. You also have to take into consideration Security Clearances, vision, depth perception, etc. We'll say you passed them all with flying colors!

Since you're more than qualified for all the jobs you listed, you should expect to get one. The difference between listing jobs at MEPS, then waiting around for months for you to get a particular job, and going Open to BMT, is that you get first pick! While you're stuck at home, waiting around for a job, the trainees at BMT are picking over your jobs! Essentially, you get sloppy seconds. You have a better chance of getting the job you want by going Open, than you do waiting around for months on end. You could've already graduated BMT and Tech School, and be at your first duty station by the time your 1 year DEP contract expires. Think about it that way. Another difference, however, is that not every job in the General aptitude area are going to be on the BMT list. Only the spots they have open within the entire Air Force.

I hope I've thoroughly explained this, and have answered any question you all may have. If I think of anything  that I left out, I'll make sure to update! Feel free to comment! =]

MEPS, MEPS and more MEPS.

Okay, final MEPS post! Hopefully....

So, we left off at the end of the medical exam. Well, I processed out of there, and went and met with my liaison. He was somehow surprised I finished before the 3 guys. Maybe because there was a whopping total of 3 females, and a bajillion males. Anyway. He had to pull up some files to go back over, and I had to verify, of course. Then, we made my contract! This consisted of making a list of jobs (Max of 10), and picking an Aptitude Area. As with anything, more is better! Try to pick the max total of jobs. But, don't list something you don't want! You may just end up with it! When doing this, your liaison will present you with a list of alllll the jobs you qualify for. Mine was roughly 5 pages. When picking your aptitude area, look and see what category most of the jobs you listed fall under. Or (if you want something quickly), ask which Aptitude Area your squadron gets the most of. That'll really help. I was torn between General and Administrative. I ended up picking Gen, because it's apparently rather difficult to get Admin, considering there's only about 5 jobs or so total.

So my list was made, my contract was drawn up, and that meant lunch time! They had announced over the intercom it was ready, about 20 minutes before I left his office. Make sure you eat at this point! It had been roughly 7 hours that I had been awake, and hadn't eaten. I demolished my sandwich. Anyway, I ate lunch, went back to my liaison, and he sent me to the control desk to find out where to go next. I went and did another interview with a DoD employee, then was fingerprinted. This is tricky, as your fingers can't be wet, this includes sweaty!! Mine didn't take nearly as long as some, maybe 10 minutes. She printed off some copies, told me to take them to my liaison and say I was ready to swear in! When I went back to his office, I was pleastanly surprised to see my recruiter there!! We instantly started talking about that I made weight and all that good stuff. I handed over my prints to my liaison, and he told me to sit in the waiting area.

Of course, I figured since I hadn't waited long all day, it'd be the same process. WRONG. I waited for close to 2ish hours before I was able to swear in! They had to assemble a group of people, and I was farther ahead than those left that hadn't sworn in. I was bored out of my mind! And the exhaustion was getting to me! I had been so full of nerves/excitement up until that point, I wasn't tired. But it was getting close to 1500, and I'd been up roughly 12 hours with about 3.5 hours of sleep the night before. Finally I heard them call my name, along with 7 others. We were escorted back to the ceremony room, where a civilian instructed us on what to do. Luckily, I thought, my recruiter had already shown me how to stand at attention, rest and parade rest. This differs slightly branch to branch. The way I was taught, the AF rests their hands above their tailbone, while Marines for example, rest theirs on the small of their back. She corrected me, though. Oh, well. She explained a few more things, then the 8 of us (only one of my AF guys was with me! One was DQ'd and John was still waiting to be finger printed) patiently waited for the officer to come in. He was an Army Colonel, I believe. And he was so very nice, and inspirational. He gave us a fantastic speech about the Military, and then thanked us at the end. That was an awesome feeling; the first time I was thanked for my service, that I hadn't even provided yet! Anyway, we raised our right hands and repeated after the officer.

That was such a rush, such an indescribable feeling. I knew in that moment that I wasn't "signing my life away", I was willingly giving it to a greater cause; something bigger than all of us. I knew I was making the right choice, and was implementing what I was born to do. When you take the Oath of Enlistment for the first time, you'll understand why I can't elaborate. It's like explaining why you love your children. You get choked up, emotional, and know that it's just.....right. That particular feeling there, will override all negative feelings you have when you get to BMT. It will give you strength when you think you have none left, it will give you courage, faith, and so much more. It gives you life. I've been a completely different person since that day, only a short 6 days ago. But my life was eternally changed, and I couldn't be more thrilled.



MEPS Part Deux

Okay, where did we leave off? Oh, right. I headed to have my bloodwork done after the interview with the Doc. It was exactly like donating blood, except they just stick the needle in, pull some blood out really fast, then the needle is out. Basically painless. I'm a regular blood donor, so this didn't bother me. Anyhow. That was one of the easiest parts of the day! The technician (a TSGT in the AF, I believe) and I were discussing how cold it was. I said it was no good for my bladder. I had to go. She said that as soon as she did the next guy's blood, we'd do the urinalysis. Thank the heavens!!!

So, maybe 2 minutes passed, and she took me and one of the two other girls into the restroom. She didn't get right up in our business, like most people say. Then again, different MEPS have different personnel, so who knows? Well, she handed us each a cup, told us to fill it at least halfway, set it on the floor when we were finished, do our "thing" then pick the cup up. We had to keep it above waist level while carrying it over to the window. The tech in there did a pregnancy test, which I said there would be something wrong if mine was positive! As I mentioned earlier, I had just gotten off of my period, about 3 weeks previously, ha! Well, they did that then sent us on our way.

OH!! Somewhere in the middle of all of this, we went into a briefing. That's where we filled out our medical questionnaires, and they informed us of the rules for doing so. They also performed a breathalyzer, my first ever! It took about an hour or so.

So after the pee test, I went and took my vision test. I wear contacts, so I had to do 2 tests; one with contacts, one without. I did a basic test like at an eye doctor, then we moved to the depth perception and color blind tests. It actually seemed to take a while to do this, but probably because I had to do each twice. Bummer. Anyway, I finished that, and was directed into another room for *drumroll* the Underwear Olympics!! I almost feel like this topic needs its' very own post, but I won't do that. =] So I go into that room, where one of the other girls was already waiting. I sat beside her, and she told me she had been waiting in there for about 30 minutes or so. I was lucky enough to not wait any longer for anything for more than 5 minutes, other than swearing in, which I'll get to. So we waited on my roomie, since we were the only females. She arrived almost immediately. We went into the stalls located on the left side of the room, and undressed to our skivvies. No socks, though! Luckily, our tech knew how cold it was (even though she was in her ABU's!) so she provided 2 space heaters, which we flocked to like starving mice. She called us each up to get weighed and measured. I was first, of course. This was the moment I had been most nervous for, anxiously sweating about. I stepped on that scale and saw 142. Phew! I still had 3 pounds to spare! She had me step off the scale and stand against the wall to be measured. She measured me right at 5'2" like we had hoped for!! I knew from then on out, everything else would be a breeze. I didn't care that I had already passed all my other exams, this was the one I had been killing myself for for over two weeks. Sweet, sweet victory was mine. Back on track: she then weighed and measured the other two, then called us over to her little stand to inspect our tattoos/scars/birthmarks. Here's another mythbuster: They won't disqualify you for basic scars. I had heard this repeatedly. No matter what kind of scar, you'd be DQ'd. I found this to be appalling! How do they expect any person to not be a Jake Gyllenhall character, and not get scars?! It's called life! Of course, they do DQ for certain scars. If they could present a problem in the future, like if they're really big and deep or something. Cooking scars, scars from when you were 5 and fell off your bike and scraped your knee don't count. You can now relax. All tattoos have to be documented. If you have a full sleeve comprised of 27 tattoos, you have to go through each and every one (which you should have already done with your recruiter, but of course have to do it again to make sure you didn't add any). She had to document what it was, the size, and meaning of it. Mine are very simple, so it took just a couple of minutes.(Side note: I'm going to dedicate a post to tattoos and the Air Force.) Anyway, here comes the fun!!!

The Underwear Olympics

At this point, our tech brought the doctor in. We did a series of stretches/exercises so he could see what our range of motion is. Also, you were in your skivvies throughout the weighing/measuring and bodily identifiers. Anyway, he checked out our spine, bottoms of our feet, joint use, etc. They don't look too much into it if you have awful balance when doing this. They realize not everyone is an Olympic Gymnast. After we completed all of this, we did the infamous duckwalk. Oh, I would practice walking at least 5 paces on your tippy toes and heels if you can't already do this. Anyway, duckwalk. Right. The key to the duckwalk is to do exactly as they say. I was rather nervous about this just hearing about it, but it was SO easy. Firstly, you squat into like a backcatcher in baseball stance. Your butt should be resting our your heels. We could either place our hands on our waist, or in the crook of our hips. I opted for waist, because I felt like I was pushing down on my legs by putting them on the hips. You then begin to literally waddle. You MUST walk heel to toe while doing this. We only did 5 paces one way, turned around, 5 paces back, and turned around again before standing. No big deal, I promise. After that we did this weird thing where we got on our knees in a classic kneeling position, resting kind of on the toes. You had to roll back onto your heels, then roll your body up without balancing yourself on the floor, or your own body. I accidentally bounced up the first time, which you can't do. But I did get another try. You're not DQ'd for that either. That was it for the Underwear Olympics. Again, no big deal!

After that, the tech gave us dressing gowns and instructed us to put them on with the opening in the front. We walked into a smaller room connected to the room we were in for the female exam. I, again, was first. I guess because I was oldest and had "more experience" with these types of things. I was the only one of us all to have had a pap smear before. Weird. Anyway, when I entered the room, I walked over to the doctor so he could check my ears/eyes/nose. I also had to hold my nose and blow to pop my ears since I'm joining the AF. John didn't have to do this, though. Which I found odd. That took maybe 5 minutes, then I saddled up. (Because of the stirrups...get it? Maybe not...) The tech laid a sheet over me, and the doctor started the exam. He pressed on my tummy, which made me giggle because I'm ticklish. They laughed at me, too. =] Then was the "vaginal" exam. Basically all he did was lift the sheet to verify I was female. I counted, and it was less than 2 seconds. I kid you not! Then he did a standard breast exam, and I was done! I had passed my medical exam, and was ready to process out of there, and go to my liaison for job selection interview.

I think I'll now break this up into 3 parts. This is why I chose a blog instead of YouTube. You'd be watching this video for DAYS. =]

MEPS

Okay, time for my longgg tale of my adventure to the MEPS. This was another video attempt (I broke it up into two parts) that took roughly an hour combined. Who wants to watch the same person talk for an hour?! Yeah. Anyway.

So, I received the call I would finally be going to MEPS on the 4th of July. I was floating on the river (something my family always does) for over 5 hours. I get back to my car, check my phone and immediately notice a text from my recruiter. He said he finally had all my waivers/paperwork cleared and if I was ready, I'd head to MEPS on 18 July. Of course I said yes! But, with exactly two weeks to go, I immediately realized I needed to lose 8 pounds to be at max weight, and 13 to be at the 5 under my recruiter wanted. It was time to buckle down. I literally survived off of tuna (straight from the can) and water for those two weeks. Actually, 11 days. My recruiter gave me an amazeballs diet to get the last few pounds off. I would lose a max of 5 lbs in those 3 days, and would eat the weirdest stuff. Now, I'm a girl and we generally don't share our weight, but I honestly will share everything with you. Nothing to be ashamed of, we all have our things. My recruiter measured me at 5'1", which meant max weight was 145. I had JUST finished my period (TMI, I know), so I was still a little bloated and had gained a few pounds. I was at the highest I've ever been, 153. EEEEEKKKK!! I had my work cut out for me, but I managed it! My recruiter measured me again roughly a week, give or take, before MEPS. I was somehow 5'1" 7/8, so he was hoping they'd give me 5'2" for an extra 5 lbs, just in case.

Anyway, that's the little bit of background I will give you into this. It actually plays a significant part in this story.

So MEPS. Right. We departed on a Tuesday around 2:15, 2:30 ish for our closest MEPS. It generally takes 30-45 mins to get there. However, we got stuck behind the WORST drivers doing 50 in a 70. We ended up arriving at the hotel around 3:30ish. Oh, another thing, another guy in my DEP came with us. Anyway, we got there, went into the MEPS arrival room, got our room keys, checked in, blah blah blah. We were on separate floors, of course, but I was directly above his room. We went and got settled in our room, and I realized I didn't have a roomie. I was rather excited about it at first, but then.....well, more on that later. =]

After getting settled in, we went to dinner at 1700. He had a couple of rolls, while I had a spinach salad. When I say that, I literally mean it. Only spinach leaves. I hate dressing, so I never eat it anyway. But I ate it just to satisfy myself, since that wouldn't add any weight to me. We decided we would meet in the fitness room a little later. I piddled around in my room a bit longer, and Skyped (from my phone, I had forgotten my laptop) my sister in law and her husband. They gave me a few pointers, of course and just told me to stay calm. After that, my fellow DEPper and I met in the fitness room. I had on 6, yes SIX layers of clothes. We both needed to sweat off as much weight as possible, so we took it pretty easy, not wanting to stress our bodies. He went harder than I did, because my knee had started to feel a little sore. I did the stationary bike for about a mile, then alternated walking/running on the treadmill for about a mile. I then went and sat outside in allllll of my clothes in about 98* heat. It sucked, but you gotta do what you gotta do. We had a briefing later that evening at 2030, so it was about 1800 at this point. I decided to run to the ice machine to fill up my bag/bucket so I could ice my knee. I didn't take anything for it, not wanting to jeopardize anything. I sat in the room with that ice on my knee until roughly 2015. I went and met my AF buddies I had made in the MEPS room, and just hung out until the briefing. It was over pretty fast, so we all decided to hit the fitness room one last time. (For privacy purposes, we're going to call my fellow DEPper John.) John and I stayed a bit longer than the other AF guys, then went back to our rooms. I took a shower, and decided that sitting in that tiny bathroom with the door shut and shower on full blast hot water was like my own version of a sauna. I sat in there like that for about 10 minutes, then got up and got dressed. Almost as soon as I was dressed, my roomie walked in! She was going into the Navy Reserves, I learned. (The reason I was excited about getting a roomie at the end was because there were about 6 creepers lurking the halls/property of the hotel, and wouldn't leave me alone, so I felt better having another person in the room.) Anyway, we chatted for a bit, and then went to bed late, around 2300. Next thing I know, I hear the foghorn alarm of my iPhone blaring. That meant it was 0330, and time to get up and start getting ready for the day. We both got dressed, did our hair and full make-up (a feat in itself at that hour), packed up, and headed to the check-out. Breakfast was being served, and smelled oh so delicious! Of course, I didn't eat OR drink anything at all. All in the name of the Air Force. All the people (about 25 or less) processing that day met in the front of the hotel as soon as they finished eating. We all waited around for about 15 minutes before the bus was ready to be loaded.

We arrived at the MEPS around 0600, when a soldier came onto the bus and called role. He then explained the rules and regulations of the MEPS, and then we went inside. (I have to add, it felt oddly what BMT may feel like. Minus the yelling/scrambling/overall fear) We had to put our bags through the x-ray machine, put all metallic items in the bin, and walk through a metal detector. Just like an airport. We then were directed to metal lockers to place our bags in (keep in mind that you absolutely are not allowed to leave anything at the hotel, as you won't be going back, and are checking out). We did that, were sent to a large waiting area, and waited for our liaisons. The AF liaison was the first to walk through, not even 5 minutes after we had sat down. He briefed us on what would be happening, and how he expected the 4 of us to behave. We then did the lift test, where you lift 3 different amounts above your head. Easy peasy. We filled out a small survey, and wrote in letters in the corner. Those letters are a code that states how much you're able to lift. He then printed out a label with our name and branch, that we had to have on all day. Anyway, from here, it gets a little blurry. There was so much going on, and so many people going in different directions, I hardly remember anything. First, I think I processed at the control desk, where they took a few fingerprints, and a picture. I was then sent to Medical to start on my physical. I think I did the hearing test first. Tip: hold your breath as much as possible when doing this. It keeps from hearing the LOUD whooshing sound as you're straining to hear the light beeps. After that, I had my BP and pulse taken. My pulse was a 96, because of my nerves. My BP wasn't bad, 105/78. After that, came the interview with the doctor. The doctor I had was very nice, as was the entire staff at my MEPS. They truly tried to make you feel comfortable, since they knew how you were feeling. Best experience ever. Anyway, he asked me the basics, "Ever done drugs?" "Piercings, tattoos, etc.?" It was very quick. And painless. Hahaha!

I'm going to end this post here, since I have a few errands to run right fast. I'll post the rest tonight, I'm about halfway through! Happy Reading!