Secrets To Visiting A Recruiter

Recruiters are generally honest and trained professionals, but keep in mind they need you to sign up to meet their goals. Meeting a recruiter should be an informative, stress-free experience. Print these 10 secrets, take them with you, and make sure you're prepared for your interview.
1. Get it in writing. There is no such thing as a verbal promise. Guarantees such as MOS, bonuses, GI Bill, and duty station must be reflected in the enlistment contract.

2. Don't make emotional decisions. Never make the decision on your first or second visit. Take your time. Don't make a snap decision and don't let your emotions influence it.

3. Go with a buddy. Talking to a recruiter by yourself is a bad idea. Take a friend, your parents or someone else you trust. Remember they will try to recruit your buddy too.

4. Can I have the job I want? Most likely. Score well on the Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) and you can get the job you want, assuming you meet any other specified criteria, such as physical or security requirements. Keep in mind, however, that certain jobs may not be available due to over manning. In that case, you may want to wait until there is an opening for the job you want. Depending on how important the choice of a particular branch is to you, consider the possibility that another service may be able to offer you the job you want. Practice and take the ASVAB. Consider retesting if you believe you can achieve a better score and qualify for the job you want. Make sure that any guarantees are in the enlistment contract.

5. Can I be stationed where I want? Military people move, but recruiters sometimes offer programs for qualified candidates to start at the base or in the region of their choice.

6. Can I get paid more? If you have special training or education, you could qualify to go in with higher rank and pay than others. Ask the recruiter, as these high-demand specialties change.

7. Can I choose when to start? The delayed entry program is often used to allow high school students to graduate, but it can be used for other reasons, such as training in the spring or fall to avoid extreme weather.

8. How long should I sign up for? The length of your commitment often determines the amount of benefits (like money for college) you'll receive. Make the recruiter spell these out for you. Remember the shortest term possible is generally two years but some job training requires a longer commitment. The service will give you plenty of opportunities to re-enlist, extend your term, or make it a career. Enlisting for two years also makes you eligible for re-enlistment bonuses later and lets you keep your options open down the line.

9. Correct the contract before signing. Typos and errors can cost you money, put you in the wrong job or send you to the wrong place. Get the contract perfect before you sign it. Don't let anyone tell you it can be corrected later.

10. Remember you're signing up to be a soldier, airman, Sailor, Marine or Coast Guardsman. It is important that you are candid and frank with your recruiter. Don't hesitate to ask questions. You should work to get the job you want, but understand that your role as a servicemember comes first. Don't sign up just to get money for college or a job. Be honest with yourself. Serving in the military is not like a regular job. You cannot just quit when the going gets tough. The military requires diligence, dedication and a commitment to teamwork. Remember, your actions could potentially cost or save lives.
Bonus Tip: The Buddy Deal. Services have programs where friends who sign up together can go through training together, be stationed together or even start with advanced rank and pay just because you sign up together.

Are You Ready?

Click below to take the practice ASVAB test

Provided by Cruel Kev's Military Page

New Tattoo Rules for U.S. Coast Guard

The Coast Guard has tightened its rules for tattoos for the first time in 30 years in response to the increased popularity of permanent body art. The goal is a more professional appearance for the military branch that has the most contact with the public. "The 1940s, party-hard sailor is not the image we're going for," Chief Petty Officer Keith Alholm, a spokesman in the Coast Guard's Seattle-based 13th District, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Recruiters have found an increasing number of applicants with "near 100 percent coverage on their arms and/or legs," according to the new policy, which went into effect over the summer. Under the new rules, applicants whose tattoos cover more than 25 percent of an exposed limb will be turned away, the Coast Guard said. The previous standards were more general, prohibiting offensive tattoos but not naming a permissible amount. So far, at least 26 applicants have been rejected under the new policy. There won't be repercussions for most Coast Guard members who already have tattoos. "Our standards dated back to a time when tattooing was restricted to a very small portion of society ... Consequently, there was little need to spell out, in detail, the dos and don'ts of body art," said Cmdr. Wayne Muilenburg, the Washington, D.C.-based chief of the Coast Guard's Policy & Standards Division. Other military branches also have tattoo policies. The Army has long prohibited tattoos that show when the soldier is in uniform. Last spring, it also banned offensive markings "regardless of location on the body." The Navy also bars visible tattoos.

Compare Military Job Choices

What do you want to do? The military offers many thrilling and rewarding careers within all the branches. While you may think you want to work in one particular branch, you should keep an open mind and know that many of the same jobs are offered within multiple branches.
U.S. Army
212 Military Occupational
Specialties (MOSs) for active duty personnel in such fields as:
Administrative Services

Combat Operations

Electronic Maintenance

Engineering and Construction

Health Care

Intelligence and Electronic Communications

Mechanical Maintenance

Media, Public and Civil Affairs

~*~ ~*~ ~*~
U.S. Navy
Over 100 careers in
such fields as:
Arts and Photography

Aviation

Business Management

Computers

Construction

Education

Electronics

Engineering

Finance and Accounting

Information Technology

Intelligence, Law Enforcement

Legal

Medical and Dental

Music

News and Media

Special Operations

Transportation and Logistics

World Languages
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
U.S. Air Force
Over 150 careers in
such fields as:
Administration

Avionics

Base Operation

Communications

Electronics

Engineering

Flying/Navigation

Information Technology

Intelligence

Medical

Professional

Special Forces

Weapons Systems

~*~ ~*~ ~*~
U.S. Marine Corps
Over 300 MOSs in 35
career fields, including:
Personnel & Administration

Intelligence

Logistics

Engineering

Data/Communications

Transport

Public Affairs

Legal Services

Electronics and Aircraft Maintenance

Avionics

~*~ ~*~ ~*~
U.S. Coast Guard
Over 20 jobs for enlisted personnel in:
Deck and Ordnance

Engineering

Administration

Science

Aviation

Port Security
~*~ ~*~ ~*~

A Excellent Military Opportunity

Army Secretary Noel Harvey and Gen. Richard Cody, the vice chief of staff, said that the Army is using looser Defense Department rules that permits it to sign up more high school dropouts and people who score lower on mental-qualification tests, but they denied that this meant it was lowering standards. Until Army recruiters began having trouble signing up enough recruits earlier this year, the Army had set minimum standards that were higher than those of the Defense Department. The Army has had a recruiting shortfall of 6,000 to 8,000 soldiers during the past 12 months. It hasn't fallen so short of its annual goal since 1979, several years after the Vietnam War. Harvey and Cody addressed the recruiting issue in news conferences during the annual convention of the Association of the U.S. Army. The Department of Defense "standards on qualification tests call for at least 60 percent Category 1 to 3 [the higher end of testing] and 4 percent Category 4," the lowest end, Harvey said. "The other services follow that standard and the Army National Guard always followed it as well. But the active Army chose a standard of 67 percent in Categories 1-3, and 2 percent Category 4." It now will use the Defense Department guidelines. Cody said that increasing the number of people with General Education Diplomas allowed to enlist in the Army wasn't really a lowering of standards. GEDs are certificates granted in lieu of high school diplomas to dropouts who can pass an examination. The Army's figures show 6.5 percent of all enlisted soldiers held GED certificates at the end of 2004, the last year statistics were available. The Army plans to keep its limit on new soldiers with GEDs at 10 percent in any year. He said the number of soldiers on recruiting duty is increasing from 9,000 to 12,000, and the Army is asking Congress to increase enlistment bonuses from a maximum of $20,000 to a new limit of $40,000 for some who choose branches where there are shortages. The advertising budget for the Army was being boosted by $130 million.

US Pushes Japan To Break Deadlock Over Relocation Of Air Base

The United States prodded Japan to break a deadlock over the relocation of a key US air base so that an accord on the realignment of American troops in Japan could be forged by November when President George W. Bush visits the country. The relocation of the Futenma Air Base in the southern Japanese island chain of Okinawa is at the center of prolonged negotiations under what is being proposed as a defense transformation realignment pact between the United States and its top ally in Asia. A senior Pentagon official involved in the negotiations told reporters that to break the deadlock, Japan should consider the overall interest of its half a century military alliance with the United States. “The replacement of the Futenma capability is an alliance issue, not an American issue. It is an alliance issue,” stressed Richard Lawless, the deputy undersecretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs. He said the United States had rejected a Japanese relocation proposal but did not give details. It is believed that the Japanese wanted to shift the Futenma operations inside Camp Schwaba, a major US Marine base in the Okinawa city of Nago. The Americans sought a smaller facility inside a reef in Henoko district, also in Nago. “We have made our feelings known. We have asked for more information but at the present time, the opportunity that we’re being offered by the Japanese government is not acceptable to us, so the discussions are continuing,” Lawless said. He said both sides knew that “it is absolutely essential” to find a solution based on a promise made by Japan nine years ago -- ”something that is of quality replacement that allows us to sustain that presence for the alliance. “That is why we are saying to the Japanese government -- you undertook this obligation in 1996 to replace Futenma, we’ve been waiting. “It is not our fault, we want you to help us replace Futenma for the benefit of the alliance because the alliance needs this capability, as simple as that,” Lawless told reporters after testifying in the US Senate on US-Japan relations. Okinawa, which accounts for less than one percent of Japan’s land mass, remains the base for 65 percent of the 40,500 US troops in the country, and is next to the potential conflict area of the Taiwan Strait. Okinawa sees frequent protests against the US troops, who are stationed in officially pacifist Japan by treaty, blaming them for noise and crime. Lawless defended the US option, saying it “gives us more in the way of capabilities.” He said the issue must be resolved by November through an interim report containing an “agreement in principles” on all the major issues -- including military “roles, missions, capabilities as well as realignment” of American troops in Japan. “We would like to have it done in an October/November time frame and the final report done no later than four to six months,” he said. “That would suggest that we finish everything up no later than in Spring. “We can’t have an agreement on the major principles without resolving the Futenma issue,” he said. President Bush is widely expected to visit Japan in the middle of November before attending a summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum on November 18-19. Relations between Japan and the United States have strengthened considerably since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took office just after Bush was elected to his first term in office in 2000. The two key pending bilateral issues are Japan’s reluctance to lift a 21-month-old ban on US beef imports, and the relocation of the air base. Aside from providing logistics support to US troops in Iraq, Japan is a key participant in the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative and is involved in a US ballistic missile defense project.