Here is some email traffic from a while back. This individual, I will call her Sandra, moved from one State to another after she was selected. In her case, it caused her a lot of complications because the way the Seattle MEPS dealt with paperwork was much different than Denver MEPS. Her concerns about “aging out” are moot now due to the Air Force raising the age limit to 39, but through her story she makes a good point of how important it is to have good lines of communication with your recruiter, and how complicated the selection process can be.
As a reminder, this is just one person’s experience while in the midst of the grueling and complicated process. Your experience could be very different even if you are in a similar situation, but perspectives like these can help you to make more informed decisions for yourself.
Sandra:
I have been selected as an Officer Candidate. My recruiter is out of Washington, but I have since moved to Colorado. My application was submitted August 2016, but the Board was pushed to April 2017. I am 34 years old and my recruiter has been trying to get my application package approved at the Denver MEPS location to get me an appointment, so that I can then put in for an OTS class. If I do not get in the 18-02 OTS class, then I will age out. I will turn 35 in February 2018. I am extremely concerned about aging out. I have no other POC other than my recruiter. Can you please give me some advice if age critical applicants are definitely given priority? Are age waivers even granted for non-rated, civilian applicants such as myself? 18-01 and 18-02 OTS classes are barely 60 days away. Is it typical for candidates to be put in an OTS class less than 60 days away? Who else could I possibly contact to light a fire and get my MEPS appointment done so I can be put in for an OTS class? Is it appropriate to contact the MEPS station to get more information? I appreciate your help!
Me:
You could try reaching out to the Colorado recruiter. Does your recruiter realize you are age critical?? As far as I know your recruiter is responsible for fulfilling all medical and security requirements which includes MEPS, and I am not sure how that scheduling works. Once it is all complete they put your name in a pool of others names who are pending OTS class dates and for that I know they WILL consider your age and put you in the soonest class. I am not sure how quick of a turnaround it is though…
If I were you I would also be concerned about not getting through MEPS quickly enough. How is your communication with your recruiter? Can he elaborate on the issues? Perhaps you could offer to drive to MEPS and just start asking questions.
Sandra:
I reached out to the MSgt today who works with my recruiter who is a TSgt. The MSgt said that because I am a select then he should be able to get me an ETP age waiver if necessary, and he is buddies with the boss of the “MEPS folks” and he would talk with them. Not sure who exactly he is talking about. They have indeed referenced Denver MEPS. I have been in phone contact with my TSgt recruiter regularly. I’m calling or texting her everyday now to keep her on point but her answers are vague. I know she has a lot of candidates to juggle at various stages of the process, I am really a one off. I’m aging out and she had to transfer my application to another station, which she probably never has had to do, so it may be an unfamiliar process for her that is jeopardizing me. I’m about a 4-5 your drive from Denver so I can’t really drive over anytime.
Me:
The biggest problem I hear about with recruiters is that they are so busy they just simply drop the ball and forget to do things for people. It sounds like you have good communication with both recruiters so I think you should be okay. I would actually ask them if since you are going to the CO MEPS if you should be working with a CO recruiter. Getting an appointment at MEPS is always a process, and recruiters always have a lot of paperwork they have to do for you. It sounds like in your case it is just taking time to schedule the appointment for whatever reason, probably because they aren’t used to working with you or because that transfer is taking a while. How long exactly have you been waiting for an appointment at the CO MEPS?
Sandra:
Thank you for your insights. My TSgt recruiter notified me at the end of April that I was selected. We didn’t really have any communication until the first week of June when she had me re-sign all my paperwork. I emailed it all back same day but according to my recruiter, emails with large attachments won’t go through to her govt email. So a week later after we figure that out, I resent all the paperwork in several separate emails. She submitted it to Denver and asked me when I wanted to go to MEPS. I said 6/26 or 6/27 which gave them about a week to review my package. After corresponding, she told me on 6/30 that the Denver doctor kicked back my application but she didn’t know why and would have to review my package to figure out what they want and she would try to resubmit it today. She had me write a statement saying no other medical records exist for me. I have a benign medical history with few records. Maybe the doctor thinks I should have more medical history and thinks I’m holding something back, which is not the case. I have asked my TSgt recruiter for a Colorado POC but she won’t divulge it. I was busy planning my wedding and getting married in May and thought I was just letting her do her job, but best guess is that she dropped the ball because i didn’t keep on her. I am sure a lot of selects wait months to get to MEPS and get an OTS class date, but being age critical just adds to the pressure. I am the squeaky wheel now and the MSgt is involved so hopefully we’ll see some movement and I will keep you posted on my progress.
Me:
Yeah it sounds like you are just a victim of the military bureaucracy. I think as long as you stay on top of it you should be fine, and if your TSgt isn’t helping you out you know that the MSgt has your back. Definitely escalate higher if needed if you feel like you slip through the cracks again.
Sandra:
Hi, I wanted to give you an update on my situation. The MSgt in charge of my recruiter has been responsive and in turn, got my recruiter to call me and explain what was going on. Apparently, MEPS stations all have slightly different ways of processing officer application packages. So, while my application package was previously approved through the Seattle MEPS, when my recruiter transferred it to Denver MEPS, they kicked it back because the medical records were not in their preferred order and I guess my recruiter had an issue with getting a med read to them. She had to do some extra leg work to get the package corrected and its being reviewed now with an anticipated turnaround of 3 business days. Once approved, then she can schedule the MEPS appointment.
According to the MSgt, it is an option for me to fly back to Seattle to go to MEPS, however he called that “asinine” and said it would be the last resort if they just couldn’t get my package approved in Denver. He felt it was unnecessary for a select to have to fly to MEPS. If all goes well, it will have been about a month process to get my package transferred and approved. There was a full week delay at the beginning because my recruiter didn’t get my email with all my re-signed docs. The lesson there would be to text or call your recruiter to notify them that you’ve sent an email and you can make sure they receive it, then the recruiter can watch for it or tell you to resend right away.
My recruiter also said that I will not be transferred to a Colorado recruiter. Even though I am geographically separated from her squadron, she will continue to get me through MEPS and to an OTS class. She also noted that none of her selects from the 17OT01 board have been given OTS class dates yet.
It terms of the age waiver, the MSgt advised that he has experience getting age waivers for candidates who have been selected and it has taken excessive time to get through the board and MEPS. Since the 17OT01 board was pushed 6+ months, coupled with the fact that I will age out by next February, he felt confident he could get me an age waiver. He said specifically that the Board would have seen my age and if they felt I would age out before getting through the whole process to get to an OTS class, then they wouldn’t have selected me in the first place.
I thought you might find this information useful for other officer selects that run into similar situations. The bottom line is that every select must be their own top priority. My recruiter is short staffed, doing the work of two recruiters, and constantly going away TDY or for training. Don’t wait for your recruiter to contact you, contact them regularly to make sure your package doesn’t fall off their radar.
Sandra:
Since we spoke, my recruiter resubmitted my package to Denver MEPS on 7/10. It took a full week for the recruiter to hear back from them that they were authorized to schedule my MEPS appointment (they said a three day turnaround). My recruiter is TDY so I’ve been working with another TSgt until she returns. He notified me early this week and he’s been working on getting the hotel arrangements. Since MEPS is more than one hour from my home, they get me a hotel for the night before. Still waiting on the confirmation email that my appointment should be for 7/24.
My recruiter has reiterated to me that no one from the 17OT01 board have been given an OTS class date yet. So when she mentioned a couple months ago that they were scheduling for Sept classes, that is probably a long shot for me now. All three recruiters, my TSgt recruiter, her MSgt supervisor, and the TSgt filling in, they have all insinuated that an age waiver due to the lengthy paperwork processing time shouldn’t be an issue to arrange. I hope they are right! I’m hoping for nothing later than a January class. (I’ll technically age out in Feb).
Sandra:
Unfortunately Denver MEPS pulled the plug and requested another form and it’ll be at least another week before the recruiter can request an appointment. So when I finally get an appointment, I’ll let you know. Bottom line, if you move from the geographical area of your recruiter, don’t let your recruiter transfer your package. Just ask for an appointment at the MEPS nearest your recruiter. Mine is at Tacoma so with 20/20 hindsight I should have insisted on a Seattle MEPS appointment and flown myself there. It’s been eye opening at how difficult it is for the recruiters to work with other unfamiliar MEPS.
Additional Perspectives From Other Applicants
I had a recruiter from Georgia who was fantastic, he got everything done quickly and had my package together in around 3 months to submit to 16OT04. That being said, you have to show initiative and be willing to be flexible. Not all the time will you get to take the TBAS or AFOQT in your backyard. In my experience as long as you remain flexible, return their documents in a timely manner (just do it asap), and are tactful when calling them to get status updates you should be good to go. Your mileage may vary but I don’t doubt for a second that my recruiter went the extra mile because I told him I would literally drive anywhere in the Southeast US to get my package done in time.
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