I'm not sure what to do. I posted before about my fabulous hubby who lost 105 lbs and studied for 4 months (and aced the asvab) to get into the CG. He completed his physical at MEPS last Tuesday (10 days ago). That day, the recruiter gave him a form for his security clearance. He said to email him when we got the info together and he would send us the link to complete the clearance online. So, I spend all Tuesday afternoon getting the paperwork together. I email the recruiter, who emails me back the next day and says he will mail us (ie. snail mail) the form to fill out. So, I call him the next day (Friday) and he says that he forgot we could do it online, and he will send me the link on Monday. Monday comes... no email. So I call him late Monday and he gives me the link online over the phone. I spend 3 hours figuring out all the stuff I need to do, and get the form completed. The following day I call him to find out where we go from here, and he said to me that I needed to change a few of my responses to the security form. So, I immediately go online to change it, and I call him back (like he asked me to). No answer. No call back. This was Tuesday. My husband called him yesterday. No answer. No call back. He called the recruiter twice today. No answer. No callback. We are supposed to get his date for bootcamp this week. We are supposed to get his date for A school this week. He was supposed to get sworn in this week. I'm frustrated because it's taken like 10 days to do an afternoon's worth of work. I just feel like this guy isn't listening, and isn't responding to us. I don't mean to be overbearing, but I really feel like we are in the dark. We just want to know what we are supposed to do next.

Do I just need to chill out, or should I go to his CO?

Thanks a bundle!
Blessings,
Crystal

Chill out your not the only applicant the recruiter is dealing with. Good luck when all does go through.

I disagree, stay on the recruiters A$$...

Dont be rude, but if your husband is going to stay afloat in the CG then he's going to have to learn to be the squeeky wheel. I think it's just flat rude that alot of the recruiters don't call back. I had the same problem 10 years ago when I came in.

With that said, recruiters are very busy folks, but they should never be too busy to at least call you back and keep you guys up on what's going on. Just be patient, but also stay consistent with getting the answers you need.

Joining any armed service is a huge decision and you guys deserve to know whats going on.

Keep your heads up and good luck.

MK1

Ok, after reading this several times, who is joining the Coast Guard, you or your husband?

Your HUSBAND should be dealing with HIS recruiter. Your HUSBAND should be filling out HIS security package. My wife doesn't even iron my uniforms, and although I admire you for standing by your husband, maybe he should stand up and do something that affects his future career.

Just a thought.

quote:

Originally posted by MarineBM:
Ok, after reading this several times, who is joining the Coast Guard, you or your husband?

Your HUSBAND should be dealing with HIS recruiter. Your HUSBAND should be filling out HIS security package. My wife doesn't even iron my uniforms, and although I admire you for standing by your husband, maybe he should stand up and do something that affects his future career.

Just a thought.

Again, I disagree...

She is joining the CG just as much as her husband is....

and you need to be asking these questions just as much as your husband does. I will assume he is doing his part to find all the right answers to his questions.

MarineBM is a drilling reservist so he would have no idea that a wife has just as much of a role in supporting an active duty husband as he does going to work everyday. MarineBM thats too bad that your wife dosen't iron your uniforms.

To be honest with you I cant stand it when active duty or reserve husbands have wives that have no part in the decision making of their husbands careers, as if they're just supposed to stand there like they have no say in the matter.

You will be the one taking care of the kids when he deploys for three months, you will be the one that has to do all the bills when he's underway and can't, you and the kids are the ones that are going to have to pack up every three or four years after you have made friends and secured a great job to move accross the country, and your the one that will have to encourage and support the decisions he makes. So dont let anyone give you a bad time on here that obviously has no idea what he's talking about.

Good luck....

MK1

138,

First off, Congrats to your husband for the weight loss and the determination to join the Coast Guard, he sounds like a very driven individual that will succeed. If I understand you correctly, it has been 10 days since his MEPS Physical. 10 Days is not a long time as far as the whole recruitment evolution goes. Quite a few processes are taking place after a successful MEPS physical and testing. I am a bit concerned about some of your post, as well as postings by others on this thread, and I will try to elaborate, while dispensing accurate information, without angering anyone.

1. You should not be filling out the National Security Questionnaire. This is a very serious form that only your Husband fills out. The information on this form is investigated, and any mistakes, regardless of how small, have the potential to raise red flags and either delay or deny his clearance. Your husband has to certify that the information in this form is true and accurate to the best of his abilities, not yours. If you were to bring his form into my office and state that you filled it out and not your husband, I would reject it and have him fill it out.

2. As far as your hubby’s recruiter calling you back, recruiters are spread very thin, and regardless of other posts in this thread, there are many reasons that we don’t call back immediately. I find it very hard to believe, in an all volunteer recruiting force, that a Recruiter would just neglect to call someone. That is not to say that it doesn’t happen, but it would be an exception, not the norm. It is usually for a very legitimate reason. For instance, in my office, we have three recruiters that are responsible for 30 plus county’s, which equates to a large portion of South Carolina and Eastern GA. It is very possible that the recruiters in that office, your husbands specifically, may be out of the office with MEPS duties, Career fairs, prior planned appointments, or prepping for his school visits. He may also have medical appointments, an emergency, sick child, planned leave time, or a myriad of other issues. Tell your husband to be patient and polite, but stay persistent. Squeaky wheels don’t always get the right kind of attention.

3. I applaud the fact that you are involved with your Husbands potential enlistment in the Coast Guard! However, there is something that is blatantly disregarded in this entire thread, The Privacy Act Statement of 1974. We are not authorized to discuss your Husbands status as to enlistment or share with you where he stands or what he needs to do. You should have been told up front, when you called his recruiting office, that your husband needs to contact his Recruiter. Only if a recruiter has permission from the applicant, can he discuss anything. Recruiters are not allowed to just disclose information to people, family or otherwise.

With all of that being said, I congratulate the both of you on your potential career with the Coast Guard. Don’t let the delay get you down. If you don’t hear from him in a reasonable amount of time, try to contact him again. If you truly can’t get in touch with him, you can always talk to his Recruiter in Charge. If the phone calls aren't getting it done, use this link and send the recruiter in charge an email. Either way, I don’t think he is dodging you, as all of us are very busy this time of the year. Best of luck

Vr,
Chukles.

quote:

Originally posted by D13MK1:

quote:

Originally posted by MarineBM:
Ok, after reading this several times, who is joining the Coast Guard, you or your husband?

Your HUSBAND should be dealing with HIS recruiter. Your HUSBAND should be filling out HIS security package. My wife doesn't even iron my uniforms, and although I admire you for standing by your husband, maybe he should stand up and do something that affects his future career.

Just a thought.

Again, I disagree...

She is joining the CG just as much as her husband is....

and you need to be asking these questions just as much as your husband does. I will assume he is doing his part to find all the right answers to his questions.

MarineBM is a drilling reservist so he would have no idea that a wife has just as much of a role in supporting an active duty husband as he does going to work everyday. MarineBM thats too bad that your wife dosen't iron your uniforms.
D13MK1, you have know idea about my background, my family or where I came from. You can talk to my wife about the 10 months I was on title 10 (six months deployed) and ask her about me having no idea about supporting an active duty husband while working a full time job. You can also ask me about what it was like when my dad was on active duty for 22 years in the navy, and what my mom and family went through.
To be honest with you I cant stand it when active duty or reserve husbands have wives that have no part in the decision making of their husbands careers, as if they're just supposed to stand there like they have no say in the matter.
My wife does have a part in the decision making about my career, and she does have a say in it.
You will be the one taking care of the kids when he deploys for three months, you will be the one that has to do all the bills when he's underway and can't, you and the kids are the ones that are going to have to pack up every three or four years after you have made friends and secured a great job to move accross the country, and your the one that will have to encourage and support the decisions he makes. So dont let anyone give you a bad time on here that obviously has no idea what he's talking about.
Maybe I do know what I'm talking about, maybe you should stop your personal attacks and try and understand what I was trying to say.
Good luck....

MK1

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MarineBM,

quote:

I spend 3 hours figuring out all the stuff I need to do, and get the form completed. The following day I call him to find out where we go from here, and he said to me that I needed to change a few of my responses to the security form. So, I immediately go online to change it, and I call him back (like he asked me to). No answer. No call back. This was Tuesday. My husband called him yesterday. No answer. No call back. He called the recruiter twice today. No answer. No callback. We are supposed to get his date for bootcamp this week. We are supposed to get his date for A school this week. He was supposed to get sworn in this week. I'm frustrated because it's taken like 10 days to do an afternoon's worth of work. I just feel like this guy isn't listening, and isn't responding to us. I don't mean to be overbearing, but I really feel like we are in the dark. We just want to know what we are supposed to do next.

Do I just need to chill out, or should I go to his CO?

I'm going to put my .02 in on this. First and foremost it is VERY important that a spouse be involved in the enlistment process and know what's going on. It IS NOT the spouse's reponsibility to do ANY of the paperwork! The spouse will not be on that cutter a 2am filling out the log book for their spouse. And as chukles stated, if a mistake is made then the applicant is in trouble, not the spouse that did the paperwork for them.

Now as far as the non-returned phone calls. As anyone thought that maybe the recruiter had a family emergency, or maybe they got sick, or maybe they were in a car crash??? No one thinks about that.

I run a (2) person office and I'm responsible for North/South Dakota, All of Minnesota, and 1/2 of Wisconsin. Do you know how many calls I returned today from people JUST INTERESTED in the Coast Guard? 45 calls were returned. These were from people calling at the end of yesterday and last night. These weren't just 5 minute calls either, some took as long as 15 minutes answering basic questions. And that was between going to MEPS, doing a shipper package, converting some supply purchase requests, answering emails to the RIC from the webpage and cathing a quick bite of lunch.

I don't know what area the Original Poster's spouse is recruiting from, but it is the Summer and everyone wants to join right now.

So the recruiter hasn't gottne back after 4 calls. It's only been 10 days since MEPS. The recruiter HAS been in contact with those 10 days. If it goes on much longer than yes be concerned. But the applicant needs to head up this concern with the recruiter.

So before people start thinking recruiters are unresponsive or unprofessional, give them the benefit of the doubt. CPO Kalbach

Hey Chief, It's like midnight where you are, guess recruiters never sleep.

quote:

Hey Chief, It's like midnight where you are, guess recruiters never sleep

This is how I stay at the tip of the spear with my applicants. Knowledge is power. Plus I'm a nighowl CPO Kalbach

Ok... I think some things need to be clarified here.

1. My husband is joining active, but I feel like I am joining just as much as he is.

2. I have been speaking with the recruiter some because my husband has a job right now that makes it EXTREMELY difficult to contact his recruiter. I have been involved with the whole process, and the recruiter has always been open and available because he's aware of the work situation my hubby is in.

3. I love my hubby more than life itself, but sometimes he doesn't always ask the questions he really needs to know... like when do benefits kick in? When will we find out our first station? When do I sign up for A school, etc. Please remember, we are brand new to the military experience. I've found that some people who have been in for a while forget that not everyone is used to the government process.

4. I called around and got the addresses, phone numbers and birthdates of his kin (some of whom we are not in contact with). I made sure our finances were in order, etc so we could fill out the security clearance. That's all I was saying re: filling out the security clearance. My husband actually physically completed the form, entered his own info etc. But there was a lot of grunt work getting the info together to actually fill out the form.

5. I am not trying to sound like I'm impatient. I'm not trying to sound like recruiters are lazy... unprofessional... unresponsive, etc. But, please remember this: Hubby and I are new to this process. We don't want to get burned here. We aren't aware that the summer is the biggest boom time. How would we? We aren't aware that 10 days since MEPS is a short time. How would we? All we were told was to get that security clearance done, and we would find out the ship date within a couple days. That's ALL we knew. In my job, if I didn't return a call for 4 days, I'd be handed my rear end on a platter.

Again, we're new to this. Please be forgiving. That's why I'm posting here and asking for advice... you don't know jack unless you ask questions.

Thank you to the many who posted constructively.

Blessings,
Crystal

Crystal,

No worries, it is completely understandable. Like the above posts said before, be patient. It sounds like your husband has overcome the biggest hurdles in the enlistment process and now it's just a waiting game. We're a popular service with minimum staffing so it may be awhile before the recruiter can get back to you and your husband.

If you would like to chat about what to expect in the future as a military family you can email me for my phone number and I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Aloha,
April
keelhulled@yahoo.com

MarineBM - I think your comment (the the responses generated) was a bit too harsh...you should know (as a former deployed Marine) how important it is for the families of the members to be "in the loop" especially when the member is deployed.

I have mixed emotions about what is written on public forums most of the time I keep my comments to myself - not knowing Crystal and her husbands specifics and knowing how thin the recruiters are I understand her willingness to help her husband...Chief Kallbach has been for over 2 years volunteering as the moderator of the Recruiter's Board and is doing a bang up job...having to answer for the bad as well as the good; I never missed quota as a recruiter, but I also never missed lunch at the bar from 1300 until 1800 everyday either...I was the Supervisor of a Recruiting Office from 79 - 81 and did a terrible job of supervising myself...but I did enlist some highly qualified people into the Coast Guard.

I'm sorry, but I agree with MarineBM. These are ALL issues that the enlisting member should be following up on. The spouse can help, however who is actually enlisting?

I can tell you as a background investigator, nothing ticks me off more than having to try and get in touch with an applicant and ending up fielding calls from a family member who I CAN'T speak with as they are not the ones I am working on. It's a great way NOT to get the job.

If "hubby" has a full time job and can't take the time to speak with the recruiter, then he should MAKE the time to speak with them. The recuiter has many tasks on his/her plate and should not be wasting time speaking with the non enlisting member. The spouse is more than welcome to sit in and ask some questions.

It almost seems that "she" is more motivated than "hubby" to enlist.

quote:

Originally posted by Nobodyaskedmebut:
MarineBM - I think your comment (the the responses generated) was a bit too harsh...you should know (as a former deployed Marine) how important it is for the families of the members to be "in the loop" especially when the member is deployed.

Nobodyaskedmebut, I agree that it is very important for family members to be informed when a mamber is deployed or home, but he isn't deployed.

Crystal, I was not saying anything negative about you and understand you are in a hard situation. My point is that your husband needs to take care of these issues himself with you assisting him. Good luck and welcome to the Coast Guard Family.

You know, I sortof resent the fact that some seem to think I'm more commited than my husband is. He's a wonderful man that doesn't have the luxury of walking away from his job to get with the recruiter whenever he calls. We need to pay the bills. He does the best he can. Good work ethic = not turning your back on one job while you are trying to arrange another one. He doesn't work at a desk, and 15 minute breaks only last so long. So, please, if anyone has gained a poor view of my husband, now would be a great time to change that opinion. *steps off soap box*

I think it's a general opinion that most people don't feel I should be as involved as I am. By the way, if the recruiter had EVER said to me that I couldn't be a liason, I would have gladly stepped aside.

Back to the real point of my post and lesson learned: 10 days is SHORT in the eyes of the CG. Good to know. We had no idea.

Blessings,
Crystal

Has your husbands recruiter been in touch to date? CPO Kalbach

Thanks for thinking of me!

Actually, the recruiter called today. (I've determined that the CG operates best on Tuesdays. ) Today we signed paperwork, and he put in the request for my husband's bootcamp date (oct. 9) and his A-school date (jan. 14). So, we just have to get some personal items together (marriage license and all that jazz).

CPO Kalbach, I have a question for you. School for Rob is in Petaluma, CA. If bootcamp gets out the middle of December, and he doesn't report to school until the middle of January, what does he do for the month inbetween. I know he earns 10 days of leave, but what about the other 2.5 weeks?

Thanks everyone for your input!

Blessings,
Crystal

quote:

CPO Kalbach, I have a question for you. School for Rob is in Petaluma, CA. If bootcamp gets out the middle of December, and he doesn't report to school until the middle of January, what does he do for the month inbetween. I know he earns 10 days of leave, but what about the other 2.5 weeks?

Glad to hear that your recruiter is back in contact with you. Your husband will more than likely work for the staff at Training Center Petaluma, doing various tasks, that any E-2 or E-3 would do(he will be gainfully employed). Here is TRACEN Petaluma's website. http://www.uscg.mil/HQ/TCPET/tcpet/tracen_history.shtm CPO Kalbach