Expert: James Bell - 5/30/2004

Question
I havent checked my mail lately because ive been busy with all of this military stuff. I went in and went throught the physical and everything, I qualified but when I talked to the job counselor he said I was one point away from qualifying for the jobs I wanted. I told him I would wait and talk to my recruiter about taking the asvab again to bring my score up. My recruiter told me that I couldnt take the asvab again unless i had failed the test. so ive pretty much decided that that's a load of crap so I'm not joining. My recruiter said that I shouldnt go in job locked because if i do that, then that makes her look stupid. And I thought well its really not about you and if i go in I want the job I want. so im sure she's going to try and call me and ask me what other jobs i would be interested in and im just going to tell her ive decided not to join anymore. she's been pretty nice and i know she has a job to do. and im not going to be another name on her list. this is  a serious decision and shell just have to deal with it. i was all for it until i saw the career counselor. i wasnt just going to let them throw me into any job. the job i was going for was diagnostic imaging. so i guess instead of going into the military and doing the job, ill just stay home, go to school for three to four more years and figure out my medical career.
And another funny thing i found was that my oldest brother was calling every hotel he could to try and get a hold of me and talk to me. my mom had told me that he wanted me to talk to some people that he knew that had gone into the airforce.
i appreciate you talking to me and giving me as much information as you could.
thanks,
angela

Answer
Angela -

Sorry to have taken so long to get back to you.  Let's see if I can shed some light on all that has happened.  I called a friend of mine in Ohio, who just retired from the Air Force.  He was a MEPS counselor in San Antonio for 3 years, and a recruiter before that ... if there's bullshit floating around, he knows how to cut through it.

1.  You aren't there to make your recruiter look good or to not look stupid.  Her job is to match you with a job in the Air Force that will benefit the military and you.  I think she was playing on your emotions to try and get you to sign up on an open contract.

2.  If you took the ASVAB in high school, and you are now in college, you are allowed to test again to raise your score.  If you took the test after high school you cannot take the test again simply to raise your score, PROVIDED you are not qualified to join the Air Force.  As you explained it, you qualify for certain jobs in the Air Force, just not the one you wanted.  The only way you could retest is if you took it in high school, and you have since graduated.

3.  If you missed getting the score for the job you wanted, and they will not allow you to retake the ASVAB, ask them for a WAIVER to allow you to take that job anyway.  Realize one thing about the military ... for every rule (regulation) made, there are exceptions (waivers) to those rules.  If the military is going to lose a quality recruit for the sake of ONE point, they need to reevaluate their priorities.  The military is hurting for recruits, I just think they are trying to get you into one of the more critical career fields to boost their ratings (recruiters and counselors get more points if they get someone to sign up in a shortage job).

4.  REMEMBER ... you are there to find a career for YOURSELF ... NOT your recruiter, NOT the MEPS counselor!

I'm still available if you want to talk.

Sincerely,
James
610-718-5626