What is the deal with MEPS? It seems like US Armed Forces put them there to make your life pure hell!!! I went to MEPS at Ft. Dix to take the ASVAB and full physical. Scored in the 98% on the exam but because of my back surgery (7 years ago), they deferred me! All of the paperwork regarding the surgery was there and now I have to wait 2 weeks before some people behind a desk somewhere determine my future! This is insanity! My doctor\surgeon is a retired Navy Captain but that apparently means nothing! Anyone have any ideas on how to deal with this?

Welcome to the Army. Consider this you first lesson in Hurry up and Wait. Keep your cool and let the MEB (Medical Eval Board) do their thing. The only thing getting upset about this process is going to do is raise your blood pressure.

rofl, omg I nearly fell out of my chair after reading this. You'll be fine and I hope you have been strengthening your core back muscles since that injury.

you probably shouldnt have told them about the back surgery. if you had an injury, and you're sure it wont cause problems in the future, theres no point in bringing it up. its just another way for them to stop you from getting in.

Well it's been three weeks and still no word. If I tried to go to another branch, would this cause an issue there as well. Also would my ASVAB scores still count or would I have to retake the exam?

Here's the deal. Switching to another branch will not speed the process. All of the branches use the same MEPS. You couldn't re-attempt the physical anyway. You are in the system as having a valid physical no matter where you attempt to process. Those are the results that would be used no matter what branch you choose until it expires. Ask your recruiter if your packet has been forwarded up the chain for a medical waiver. If it hasn't, it's probably still sitting at MEPS waiting for the "Doc" to make a determination. Keep in mind that most of the people who work at MEPS are civilians and their sense of urgency is not the same as ours. If your packet has been forwarded up through the chain of command, it could take a while depending on who is the final approving authority (Usually Doc Wong, USAREC Surgeon General). Please be patient. At this point it's pretty much out of your recruiters hands.

Second, switching to another branch may not help as all have different physical, aptitude and academic requirements for various career fields. Right now the Army's probably going to be your best bet with a possible medical waiver since the other services are being so incredibly selective these days. Just stay in touch with your recruiter. I promise you he is as anxious as you are to get an answer...Been there, done that! I've waited more than a month at times to get a medical waiver approved, though the process is a lot faster than it once was.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SFC E,

I took my ASVAB in 1987 and it still counts.

I'm certain yours will too.

EDIT: To be more specific, I am prior service. I remain certain that your ASVAB is still valid due to the fact that it has only been a few weeks since you took the test.

THX for the clarification SFC E.

If you are not Prior Service, Your ASVAB score will remain valid for 24 months. You can contact another branch. They will have you sign the same form (I think it's USMEPCOM 680) you signed when you intially took the test so they can "Pull" your score from the Army's system to theirs. It's what we call a "SPiF Change"

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SFC E,

Be patient. When i enlisted, it took almost 6 months for me to get a waiver because I'd had a miscarriage (I was in the DEP when I got pregnant, had to get out of the DEP because of that then lost it 3 months later). The doc at MEPS wanted a ridiculous amount of paperwork before even referred me to an Army paid for doc to approve my actual waiver.

It took me about 7 weeks to get to Basic, which is funny, because my basic training was at FT Benning and I am from Columbus, GA which is like 15 mins away, but I had to go to MEPS in ATL, GA, about an hour and a half away. Anyway, back on subject, the civies up at MEPS are there to kick back any and everyone they can, the recruiters kept joking that they got a bonus with every recruit they returned. I got kicked back for high b/p... 130/85. By army medical standards 140/90 is high b/p. I think I was just on edge though, because when I got re-checked I was 120/82 and off to the military I went!

Here is the latest update; I spoke with my recruiter yesterday and the person at MEPS claimed she never saw my paperwork, which is quite bizzare considering she took it from me and copied it to add it to my file that she sent to the medical review board. So it took her a month to tell someone that the paperwork was missing? I emailed a copy to my recruiter but something like that, which could have taken three seconds to deal with, took a month! Oh well, at least the ball is rolling again. If this is what Army life is going to be like, I should be in much better shape to deal with children when my wife and decide to have them. Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement!

Yes, the army life is like that. Everywhere you go and in everything you do.