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Question
My son left for boot camp today at Paris Island. He originally signed up for a job under the aviation category. Crash/fire/rescue I believe. This morning his recruiter told him he didn't qualify for the job because he failed the inital drug test, which was months ago. He offered him $5000 to sign for a job in motor transport. Why would they wait till the morning he was leaving to do this? Is it because the MOS is undesirable. My son wanted to get firefighters experience and now isn't going to be able to.
Hi Tonya,
I'm not sure. First of all, most people who sign up for the Marine Corps don't get to pick a specific job to enlist in. In stead, they pick a "field," and their specific MOS (job) is given to them (within that field) during basic training. For details, see Part 3 (http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/joiningup/a/recruiter3.htm) of my "What the Recruiter Never Told You" article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/joiningup/a/recruiter.htm
Now, I'm not exactly sure what is going on here. I can't see anything in the regulation which would prohibit one from signing up in the aviation category, for a positive drug test, but would allow signing up in the motor transport category.
In any event, it's probably too late now to do anything about it. From the sounds of it, it appears you son accepted the offer? If so, he's stuck with it.
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
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Rod Powers
Expertise
Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.
Experience
Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.
Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).
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