Expert: Rod Powers - 9/28/2009

Question
ok here we go.  First off I've always loved the military, and have always wanted to join...well I joined the army national guard and was so excited about it.  Well I had just gotten married and new I was headed to basic in just about 2 months. well one of the next few days my oders came in and I was scheduled to leave in 2 weeks.  So i'm at for benning.  and the first step was reception, now i"m a person who works out a ton, and I was running 5-10 miles every other day before heading to basic...well reception was the worst place ever.  We were told that we needed to wait until the new i.t. handbooks came in before we went down range.  so my unit was there 2 and 1/2 weeks!  Well with no p.t. in bravo company nothing to do buy stand up straight.  (and i would with no problem.) disipline was never hard...if told to shut up...shut the heck up.  well I got depressed, and had alot of anxiety..I missed my wife and family.  and I just wanted to be home.  Long story short I got myself to be sent out with honorable discharge with depression/anxiety.  I feel that if reception were 3 days long that I would be graduated and in my unit by now. I miss how I fealt by having the army in my life.  I want to be back in.  I know I can do it.  Well sir any info would be great.  

sincerly  

Answer
Hi Robert,

Please keep in mind, when reading my response, that I am not criticizing you, but only trying to point out how the military looks at such things.

One of the primary purposes of the basic training experience is to try and weed out those who can handle the military's way of doing things from those who can't or won't adapt.

For example, during the first Gulf War, thousands of Army, Army Reserves, and Army National Guard Soldiers were deployed to the Gulf, just to sit around for several months (more than six months) in tents in Saudi Arabia, with nothing happening, before the action finally started, never knowing how long they would be there, and when/if combat would ever happen.

This is a simple fact of military life. The military doesn't want or need those who can't adapt to this.

I've seen platoons wait in Reception for up to a month, and sometimes more, before going "down range" to basic training. It's not that uncommon. It's part of the Army "basic experience" for some.

Here's the problem: The Army, Army Reserves, and Army National Guard doesn't need people right now. They are overmanned. They have more people than Congress says they are allowed to have. Because of the poor civilian job market, recruits are lining up to try and join the military in record numbers. Additionally, those who are already in, are not getting out.

Because of this, all of the services are being very, very picky right now about who they allow to enlist, and who they don't. In other words, they aren't approving very many waivers right now.

A medical history of depression/anxiety has always been one of the hardest waivers to get. That's because the military's suicide and suicide attempt rate is very high, and the services don't want to take a chance to add to the problem. Right now, I think your chances of getting a waiver for a history of depression are probably non-existent, based on my observations.

I wish I had better news for you,

For more information about the US Military, feel free to visit my US Military website at: http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com