Wow, finally through with that whole bullshit process.  I swear I was asked my mother's maiden name like 50 times throughout the day.

My recruiter signed me on as Caucasian / "American Indian/Alaskan Native" (unbeknown to me) because  he doesn't believe in the whole racial preference thing (where jobs get filled by less qualified minorities, just to fill a quota).  And every American is probably at least 1% Native American.

MARCUS' TIPS FOR SUCCESS

Thanks for the heads up.  Just going through MEPS and talking to my recruiter through the 4 hour drive really did open my eyes a bit more to how things work.  A frat house really does describe the system in place.  You can go through qualifications, paperwork, clearances blah blah blah, but it really comes down to who you know.  My recruiter is a YN1 so he can get anyone pretty much anything they want within reason.

I like your attitude as far as the whole system being pretty damn stupid, but the opportunities are just there for the taking.  My government is hemorrhaging money into pointless projects, I might as well take what I can while I'm young and have a better future later on.  I think once I tough it out in boot camp, I'll have a good time with this.  And I surely won't miss a single port of call for anything.  I can't fathom someone sitting back and playing vidya games when they're basically on a short vacation in Asia, Australia, or Europe.

Your recruiter is an idiot

Like I said, he's a Yeoman, basically someone whose life revolves around paperwork  He gets paid to play around with the system.

Marcus, where are you currently stationed?

bremerton on the uss emory s land, finest rust bucket in the navy.  it's a sub tender that's being converted to half msc and we'll be heading to guam next year to support civilian ships or something

and i thought you'd be on the bus to boot camp.  when is your swear in date?

naw, i'm already sworn in and have my contract for the ET field, but the soonest opening for the school will put me in boot camp in october (holy shit).  however, i'm going DAR which will let me take the place of any aspiring ET who can't ship out when they're expected to (death in family, injury, etc).  navy is at capacity or over capacity right now, so they're not "sailorizing" as fast as they used to i guess.  Shit, if i had enlisted a month earlier i'd have that $10k bonus and would be well on my way to basic.

I really don't see the appeal in joining a force that will basically make you infantry and little or nothing else.  I guess American culture somehow glorifies that, when in reality you can expect to see your bros or yourself shot or blown up.  It's not pretty at all.  You see those photos/videos of dudes who survived IEDs and their faces are all fucking melted and shit. 

I guess somebody has to do it, but somehow I think all these young guys are misled into it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezu7QzY1f80

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY-ykaDeHow
97 surgeries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWNrXvVG1dU

i'm just saying, that's what is happening on the ground right now.  it's not some glorious battle, its american military overstepping their means, pissed-off iraqis doing their thing, mainly IED's and guerrilla tacics, both sides suffer.  The respective powers try to say its an affront to freedom or a religious thing, but it's all stupid politics.  It never had anything to do with religion or ideology.  Both sides have been hypocritical. 

a common phrase in the armed forces is "no one held a gun up to your head" in regards to signing the contract.  we all knew what we were getting into when we signed up.  no one is 100% safe regardless of branch.  there have been attacks against ships by eco terrorists in the past 10 years.

I'd heard of Green Peace getting a wild hair up their ass, but nothing serious as far as ecoterrorism.  You mean like violent attacks?  It's kind of ironic because I've heard that Navy ships are pretty ecologically sound when compared to cruise liners or any other commercial vessel.