My previous posts have not been up to par with what I think they should be so hopefully this will get me back on the right track.

I am not actually trying to practice sleep deprivation it just turns out that a whole lot of my days and nights run together.

I would love to get in there and knock this AFAST out of the way but my recruiter says I have to pass the PFT first. I have begun working on that and working hard but it will take a little time seeing as I've neglected my body for the last 10 years. I'm not overweight or anything along those lines, just need to get my wind back and knock out the pushups and situps and I think I'm on my way.

I'm not trying to come off as having a reckless personality but my previous posts have not made you think otherwise the next ones will. I will keep you up to date on my progress with the fitness test and where I am in the recruiting process.

I'm not sure this post was too much better but I haven't been doing a week long keg stand or not been to bed in 3 days so I think my mind is a little more together at this point.

If you could tell me should I not even bother my recruiter other than to schedule the flight physical and AFAST and do the packet myself? What were your experiences during the process? And how far along are you in the training and has it been what you expected? Better? Worse? Worthwhile? There isn't too much that you could say to discourage me from wanting this so if you would be kind enough to lay it all out there for me that would be much appreciated.

Awesome. I was anxious to see your reply.

It sounds like your recruiter is already on
board, since the PFT is part of your packet and
not required for someone going to basic for
regular enlistment. The timeline isn't
absolute, meaning you don't HAVE to pass your
PFT before scheduling the flight med and AFAST,
but maybe after having eyes on you, your
recruiter wants to see you pass it before
moving forward.

You could try saying, ya know, hey I'm a
civilian and I haven't made PT a priority up to
this point, but I think it would be faster to
do everything concurrently and don't worry I'll
pass so please schedule me for the flight
medical. In the same conversation, have your
high school diploma, transcripts and SF86
filled out and give an eta on your letters of
recommendation. The general idea is to move
forward as fast as possible and still get the
job done.

Give yourself like, a month until the flight
phys appointment, another couple weeks
max until your AFAST, a bit more time for your
security interview and plan to be passing the
PFT in 2-3 months. Your letters can come in at
any time and things should begin to come
together at that point.

You'll want to be on your recruiter's good
side. You kinda need them for certain things.
This is the list they'll be looking at (page 11).

My experience with my recruiter was great. I
even went to his Super Bowl party. I did what
I could to make his job easier and he did what
he could to put me in. We didn't really bug
each other unless we needed to, and we knew
what each others timelines were.

My buddy and I took him up in his 172 and did
some stalls, that was funny as hell.

Keeping your recruiter interested in your
packet is kind of like leading a horse with a
carrot. Each part of your packet is another
carrot.

The lesson is, ya know, be someone who is worth
helping, and seems worth helping. Dress
business casual whenever you show up to the
office, don't show up with alcohol on your
breath or hung over... a biggie with my
recruiter was always answering my phone.

Later on, you might see a power shift. When
you get closer to being selected, and you and
your recruiter realize it's going to happen...
he'll start wanting to be on YOUR good side.
So in order for that to happen, it's important
that you be someone who is respectable so they
won't resent you for your new, bright future.

Sure, I'll do my best to answer any questions
you have, that are within my experience. I
haven't left for WOCS yet, but I'll keep you
posted. (I have attended NCO leadership
school, though, and was the top graduate) I
hope you don't think less of my advice. I mean,
having gone through this process so recently,
I may be the best person to be answering your
questions. And I've got the time.

quote:

Originally posted by Bushmaster78FS:

Dude, you should definitely write a novel...

hahaha

I've started working as hard as I can right now on getting in shape for the PFT. I am so sore I have been having to take a couple days off here and there just so I can walk normally. Other than that I think I have made some tremendous leaps in the previous two weeks. I'm not too worried about it since I played sports my whole life I'll get it taken care of.

I might as well just bust my butt for the next month, quit smoking these damn cigarettes and knock everything out with a top scores on everything just to show him how serious I am. And then I think he will be on board fully.

At this point I don't think he wants to waste a lot of time on me and my flight packet so I am going to be going at it alone. Should I just get all the required forms, build my own packet and bring it to him? Along with everything that is needed on my end to complete this process the day I go in for the PFT? LORS and everything? I am just a little lost on this process, Seeing as how I am not a current military service member this whole process just doesn't make sense yet, I imagine everything is done the same way just wish is it was more streamlined.

Could you give me some tips getting the carrot process started? What parts should I take care of the soonest? I appreciate your continued support and advice. I can't wait to hear the final verdict after everything is completed and get down there as soon as possible.

No, don't try to do it on your own own.

There is a number on the Warrant Officer Recruiting site you should start at:

Stephanie R. Rausch
Officer Accession Section
1-800-223-3735 ext. 046777
CO:M 502-626-0467
DS:N 536-0467
FAX: 502-626-0944
Stephanie.Rausch@usarec.army.mil

Ask for a recruiting office near you, that has a good record of putting in WOFT applicants. This is the fastest way to get yourself hooked up with the best recruiter for you, and here's why not all recruiters would be equally useful to you:

This type of packet is something that takes some people a year, and when recruiters are dealing with monthly goals and quarterly projections, long-term projects are not the most attractive... propositions.

You want to be an easy "side project" for a recruiter who has an easy time making his monthly, immediate goals. You can still get through the process quickly, it simply requires you to be able and willing to work with them, which you are.

A good place to start looking for such a recruiter would be a recruiting office that is located between two or more high schools and near a community college or two.

Just recently, a program was started back up for non-US citizens to enlist in the Army and earn their citizenship through military service. I know for a fact my recruiter has at least 8 high-scoring, qualified enlistment applicants who are eager to join before their student visas expire. He's got it made. A lot of recruiters do.

An area that would have this type of applicant pool would be a bigger city, or one that has a healthy non-citizen population like, say, New York or Los Angeles or San Francisco.

If you're in Los Angeles, my recruiter says he'll go to you no matter where you are in the greater LA area. He would like to have you selected by the end of next quarter, meaning October (the end of the fiscal year).

He told me so. Yesterday.

If you're not in the LA area, take those numbers you get from Stephanie R. Rausch and give them a call. Tell them you are interested in the Warrant Officer Aviator Program and they should ask you a few quick questions about your background and your scores. If they sound interested, go with them. If they don't, just go to the next number.

What you want to hear from a recruiter is something like,"OK Great, sounds like you've got a shot. I'd like to have you come by my office so we can talk about this. When can you come by?"

Now... reading my own advice to you, I think it's the greatest thing ever, but it could just be that it already makes sense to me. So I apologize if it's less than useful to you.

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

quote:

Originally posted by Mr_Motivated:

Just recently, a program was started back up for non-US citizens to enlist in the Army and earn their citizenship through military service. I know for a fact my recruiter has at least 8 high-scoring, qualified enlistment applicants who are eager to join before their student visas expire. He's got it made. A lot of recruiters do.

I thought that program has always been there, as long as you didn't get a job that requires a clearance, you could join as a non-US citizen. The recent program was to get the citizenship through military service in as short as 6 months. I did it myself, nevertheless took me 19 months and a federal lawsuit. The trick is, one needs to be a I-551 Permanent Resident cardholder to join. If one holds a student visa, they are in a non-immigrant status and they can not enlist in any branch. Most non-immigrant visa types can not even apply for a job, and can not be given SSNs. "F" type student visas can get a job on campus and get a statement from SSA to be able to get their driver licenses.

All I [think I] know is, it's a program that was reopened and allows fast-expiring student visa holders to enlist. Apparently there was a "pilot" program in New York (not sure state or city) that was upgraded to full-blown USAREC-wide program.

"the flood gates have opened" my recruiter's exact words. He had 8-10 applicant packets on his desk for that program. Then he took me out to lunch. haha

quote:

Originally posted by Mr_Motivated:
All I [think I] know is, it's a program that was reopened and allows fast-expiring student visa holders to enlist. Apparently there was a "pilot" program in New York (not sure state or city) that was upgraded to full-blown USAREC-wide program.

"the flood gates have opened" my recruiter's exact words. He had 8-10 applicant packets on his desk for that program. Then he took me out to lunch. haha

Interesting. It is against the Army's basic enlistment reg that a student visa holder to enlist in any position. But I never heard of a pilot program, how are they going to let those people hold security clearances? Let me know if you can find a link or any web info on this. My source is AR 601–210 Par. 2-4.

of course I could be wrong about the details, but these were very eager, non-us citizens coming in just about every day, asking about the status of the program. ASVAB scores in the mid 90's.

by pilot program I mean an experimental program. not in the aviation sense, but the testing sense...

I can imagine this would make your ears perk up.

The specifics weren't important for the purpose of this thread, but I appreciate your input. What good are we if we can't correct each other when we're wrong.

I think this is it: http://www.latimes.com/news/lo...ay04,0,5003914.story

Yea, I understood with what you meant by "pilot program". I noticed the emphasis on medical and linguistic abilities of these applicants, though. I wonder if the program is aimed to fill slots in only certain positions. Like you are limited to only certain MOSs. Nevertheless, it was an interesting read for me, only if they had a program like this when I was a student back in 1999. I understand why some activist groups are concerned because these guys can apply for citizenship after spending one day in active duty and skip the whole 7 years I have waited for example. Although, illegals still can't make use of the program. So I don't understand the fuss that Mark Krikorian was making...

Were you a student in, say... nuclear engineering? I'm not kidding. nuclear freaking engineering.

quote:

Were you a student in, say... nuclear engineering? I'm not kidding. nuclear freaking engineering

What's wrong with that?

Oh, nothing. One of the student visa recruits is a nuclear engineering major.

Ha!!! Next thing you know.......




SERVICE GUARANTEES CITIZENSHIP!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Mr_Motivated:
Were you a student in, say... nuclear engineering? I'm not kidding. nuclear freaking engineering.

I was a flight student if you must know. Went to flight school...

That's cool. I was just trying to make small talk. In a "that's unbelievable" type of way.

I'd be done here but I feel like I started a project with dirty, so.

I dunno, bushmaster, I didn't mean anything negative by it. Nuclear Engineering sounds to me like they might as well be studying the meaning of life.