We found out last weekend that he would be going in on Thursday. What that really means is that he reports to the hotel the night before. He needed to be checked in by 6pm on Wednesday. Even though we live less than an hour from the MEPS station they asked him to stay at the hotel with all the other guys. This particular hotel handles a lot of MEPS guys and they had a lounge area set up with wifi, video game systems and games, snacks and meal vouchers. The wifi was great for my hubby so he could finish the homework he needed to get done since he missed class to pick me up from getting a root canal done and then he needed to meet with his recruiter to review the paperwork that he would be submitting the next day at MEPS. They share a room with a roommate who could be from any branch of the military.
Most of the people who go through MEPS are enlisting so they take the ASVAB test while they are there, to determine what area of the military they are suited for but since Scott is going in as an officer they don't use that. They will use AFOQT test that he took years ago in the AFROTC that measures aptitude. (you can only take it twice and the scores never expire) The AFQOT doesn't replace the ASVAB (they already know a lot more about the officer candidates by this time than they do about those enlisting) but it does give the Air Force a good glimpse of Scott's brain and how he thinks. If that doesn't all make sense, ask me and I can try to explain it better!
Hubby said that MEPS was similar to a VERY comprehensive physical. It also included a drug test, a blood test, hearing test, vision test, depth perception test and a range of motion test. The range of motion test was very specific and included things like rotating your ankles different directions, making different kinds of fists, walking like a duck, balancing on one foot, kicking front and back, standing from a squat in a fluid motion without using your hands, large and small arm circles, etc...
One thing that I thought was interesting was that their fingerprint is used extensively to help identify them and fingerprint scanners were used to sign in to different tests to ensure that they were the ones completing it.
At the end of the day Hubby was sworn in as Air Force reserves and committed to 8 years with at least 4 years active duty. The fingerprint was also used to sign the papers at the end of the day.
For hubby it was a one day deal and he was done, some of the websites where I looked to find information about MEPS said it was a 2 day deal.
There is some waiting time between different sections but not as much as he expected. Hubby took a book but ended up chatting with people more than reading (he's way more social than I am in situations like that, plus I jump at every chance I get to read a book without little fingers covered in jam or other sticky things poking at my pages while little voices request a snack, or need help with something). He said that there are lots of magazines in each room and tv's with the news, animal planet, etc...so you definitely won't be staring at a white wall the whole time you are waiting.
Before you go I would check out the weight requirements so you don't fail that portion of the day. Hubby passed without any issues but some other guys were a little over or a little under and didn't pass.
It's a great feeling to have one more things checked off the list and now we are just waiting on a class date for next year! Wahoo!
(And of course, don't forget your ID, all forms of ID that the recruiter tells you to bring...)
And of course don't lock your keys in your car when your wife can't drive up to bring you a spare set.....
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