I am 36 years old, after living a life only for my self the last 20 years, I would like to enlist in the NG fulltime. Are there age requirements? Also, I have had some minor law problems in the past, does this affect my eligibility. I am currently a student in NC. Would like to serve my country which has fought to keep the freedoms I enjoy like going to church without being shot at.

Thanks for any help in advance

yes the age limit is 42 and about the law violations depends on what they are and how long ago I work for a recuriter as a adsw so if you have any other questions drop me a email.

Do it!! You will not regret it.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!! BELIVE IN YOURSELF AND U GOT MY SUPPORT POPS!!!! lol please dont take offense but you got my support when i went through basic we had a guy that turned 42 in basic and he out did all us young buck and we all called him dad or pops lol. carry on we are rootin for ya brother.

+1 more old guy

I am 35 and getting back into it, so don't worry you won't be the only one

I'll be 41 next month and will be going to basic in a few months. I know I'll be called things like "Grandpa" and "Papa Smurf", but it'll be a motivator for me because I'll be whooping most (if not all) those guys. It pays to stay in shape.

I strongly recommend you get a good ASVAB study guide. It really helped me prepare. I scored a 94 and got a 135 on the ST (I needed a 101). A good score will help open more opportunities for you.

Talk to a recruiter but also do a lot of research for yourself.

Good luck and God bless!

well tomorrow I will be taken the ASVAB test. hope to get a good score

Go for it! I'm a 38 y/o prior service guardsman (re-upped after 18 yrs of civilian life) who is going to WTC in August. My recruiter has been high-speed all the way in helping me get squared away and I'm fired up to get to training and really get started in the Guard.

I am also 36 and i also want to enlist but i have some concerns. I am trying to lose some weight and nothing is seeming to work. I have been going to the gym and working out but i am getting frusterated cause i am not seeing no progress. I have also had some law violations but they are misdeamonors. Will that stop my process?, I am confused on what i am needing to do. Can you please explain to me what i am needing to do.

If you are working out and not losing weight it is probably a diet problem.

So how much weight do you have to lose if your not sure let me know and I can tell you and have you been to a recruiter because you might be able to make tape which means they measure your neck and waist and plug it into a program if you make tape you can still enlist and with the law misdeamonors it depends on how many you have and what they are.

I am needing to lose at least 40 pounds. I am also working with my recuriter in the mornings at pt. He gave me this diet to work on but i have been on for 3 days now and i am getting frusterated. How can i know that it is working.

You're frustrated after 3 days? Think about how long it took you to pack on an extra 40 pounds. I'm in the same type of boat. I haven't lost alot of weight, BUT I've lost inches around my weight, lost the double chin and have Bigger arms and chest. Muscle weighs more than fat. Nothing is ever achieved overnight except maybe getting the clap. Stop being frustrated, Write down everything that you eat and look up the calories. Follow the plan and drive on.

Jay

quote:

Originally posted by 14364582:
I am needing to lose at least 40 pounds. I am also working with my recuriter in the mornings at pt. He gave me this diet to work on but i have been on for 3 days now and i am getting frusterated. How can i know that it is working.

If it really sucks then it is working.

You can do it. I got back in Feb 2007 after an 11 year break in service at the age of 42. Went through WTC at Ft Sill. We had 2 guys in our battery that were over 50. One other guy my age that scored 300 on his PT. I was an honor grad when all was said and done, and that was being 30 pounds overweight (but I was under fat). If you're overweight, think inches not pounds. Just put my name on the volunteer list to deploy, as I don't think my unit is going to get tasked (We're a vertical engineering company that was only stood up less than 2 years ago).

quote:

If it really sucks then it is working.

Bingo.

Diet is key. Meal-replacement shakes work really well, as do foods high in fiber and nutrients, like nuts, but you have to be careful because they have a lot of calories. Stick to whole foods, not processed, and absolutely no junk food - avoid sugar like it's the plague. Having a beer in moderation is actually not that bad, but emphasis on MODERATION, no more than 3 light beers in one sitting, and drink them slowly with a light snack like pretzels. What you want to do is keep your blood-sugar levels as steady as possible. The way to do that is to eat 5 or 6 small meals a day - six 300 cal. meals is 1,800 cal., which is good for healthy weight-loss, provided you are working out rigorously.

As far as working out goes, what you want to do is long-duration running every other day, preferably in the morning before you eat. On non-running days you should do a full-body strength workout (do not do body-builder type split routines, they are for competition body builders and are not optimal for general fitness) alternating pushing and pulling exercises. After your legs are good and toughened from running, start working in periods of sprints in your runs.

And don't forget to warm-up and stretch. Being older, this is much more important than it is for younger folks.

If you do this, and have a little patience, within a few months time, you will start to see some profound changes in your level of fitness.

I entered at age 35 and was one of the top PT scorers at basic. I even mentored some of my younger buddies who were having trouble passing the APFT, and all but two passed (one had an unknown medical condition and the other just lacked heart).

You can do it, but you gotta be determined and patient.

Good luck.

Thanks for these posts. I'm 38 and just enlisted O9S, and I'm pretty sure OCS is gonna kick me in the motivators. Especially the pullups. I've heard the same info about diet before, but with a family it's harder to change my eating habits. But hearing the motivational comments and stories helps, at least for me.

Thanks for all of your support. It is hard for me to eat 6 times a day cause of my job. Someone told me to eat hard boiled eggs and jello and chicken soup. I am trying everything that i know possible. I know that i am gonna lose weight eventually but it is hard trying to be patient. This is something that i am really...... wanting to do but it is getting frusterating. I do my pt in the late afternoons early evenings cause i have to be at work in the early... morning. Is that good for me do to that.

PT in the evening is fine. The benefit of doing it in the morning has to do with the way your body burns calories. Sugars are burned first during exercise, then, when depleted, fats take over as the primary fuel source, with a slight amount of protein. A finite amount of excess carbs, called glycogen, are stored in the liver. Unless you eat a large meal of carbs close to bedtime, your body has been depleted of glycogen throughout the night's sleep. Therefore, for most efficient weight-loss, it is best to exercise in the morning, before eating, when the body is primarily burning stored fats as fuel. Another thing to do is finish off strength workouts with a good 20 to 40 min. of moderate cardio.

If you can only eat a couple times a day - like I had to do in Iraq - you can still maintain a healthy diet. It won't be optimal, but you can only do what you can. The thing is, you really have to be careful of overeating when there are longer periods of fasting between meals. If you can't eat several small meals, you have to be picky about what you do eat. Meal-replacement shakes are excellent for this, a fiber supplement will help keep blood sugar levels constant as well.

You can do it.