Interesting incident at Air Force Recruiting Station

[AngrySecurityGuard]

I was over at the Air Force Recruiting Station the other day trying to enlist (I was formerly in the Army Reserves but got out on medical discharge in June) As I was talking to the main recruiter he gets a phone call from a young woman. I was sitting close enough to hear this convo. Now; military recruiters of course have to ask questions to determine eligibility; do you have kids, done drugs, etc.
AFR- Air Force Recruiter
YW- Young Woman

AFR- Have you graduated high school or received a GED

YW- No

AFR- Do you have any children

YW- I have 6 kids

At this point his eyes get wide.

AFR- Are you single, married, divorced, widowed?

YW- I am single but may get married soon

AFR- Okay; now have you ever done drugs?

YW- Yes I smoked marijuana.

AFR- How many times since the age of 16?

YW- Well I am sure I smoked it at least two hundred times..

AFR- (Swallows words) You said you smoked it two hundred times??

YW- Yeah..

AFR- Well lets see, we cant get you in because you're a single parent, and we definately cannot get you in because you must have a diploma or a GED, or college credits which can count toward a diploma. And the drug use is an automatic disqualify.

YW- Well what if I changed that answer to five?

AFR- Well you are still disqualified.

YW- Well I guess I have to try again later. (Hangs up)

At this point everyone in the office is just laughing their asses off. I don't think this lady was joking about the MJ use..

But I am on my way back toward getting in the military

[Bright_Star]

She'll never get in. They have ways of finding out your background.

[xaenon]

She'll never get in. They have ways of finding out your background.

Based on what little information we know about this young woman, it appears she suffers from a total and terminal lack of discipline. Even if she managed somehow to get through the background check, it's doubtful in the extreme she'd survive even the most lenient of basic training.

I'm curious, though, to know what sort of mental image she has of military service. It definitely ain't for a single parent of six.

I'll admit, I could be wrong about her. Maybe she's had a wake-up call and decided to turn her life around, and thought the service might be the ticket to that goal (I enlisted for similar reasons). Sadly, though, some things exclude you forever from the military , and if she truly is on a self-improvement kick, it looks like she's going to have to find another way.

If 'self improvement' is indeed the case, I wish her all the luck in the world. With six kids, she's gonna need it.

[Bloodsoul]

CustomersSuck.com.. have you rehabilitated yourself? *

From what I recall the basic training isn't all that difficult if you're readily prepared for it.. well, the physical fitness part, anyway. Granted, depending on her age, two-hundred doesn't seem all that much, at least compared to the average cigarette smoker. Still, not something you'd want to let on.

*I'm sorry, I just had to; ah, to be 30+ years too late to walk into Whitehall Street...

[dalesys]

CustomersSuck.com.. have you rehabilitated yourself? *

I want Alice.

[Saphire089]

She'll never get in. They have ways of finding out your background.

Besides wouldnt this type of job have you take a drug test?

[xaenon]

I want Alice.

Greatest. Tune. EVER.

[dalesys]

Greatest. Tune. EVER.

Movie tain't bad neither.

I like "The Story Of Reuben Clamzo & His Strange Daughter In The Key Of A"

... let's do it in C for "Clam"
... let's do it in B for "Boy, that sure is a big clam"
... let's do it in G for "Gee, I hope that big clam don't see me"
... let's do it in F for "He sees me!"
... let's do it in A for "A clam is coming"

Everybody sharpen your clampoons.

[Ben_Who]

I understand that some of the...less informed among the American populace think the military is a sort of job factory, or that they have to take any warm able body that shows up at their doorstep. I would imagine that any military recruiter these days has some...eye opening stories.

There's a reason it's called "recruitment."

[MoonCat]

What makes me laugh is that with all of that going against her, what was her question?

"What if I changed it to five?"

Really? She thinks if she claims to have one less child, this will make the recruiters ignore the weed smoking & the lack of diploma/GED?

[Bloodsoul]

Ah, I had assumed she was changing her pot smoking count to five.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

IF this woman didn't have 6 kids with no dad in sight (apparently), a military career might be good for her, if she actually passed basic training and stuck it out. But I think her kids are going to have to come first at this point...and lay off the cannabis...

[PepperElf]

In all honesty... the drugs are probably the least important factor - assuming she's now clean and doesn't have any felonies or warrants (or arrests) for it. By itself it could even be ignored... if she was a shit-hot genius.

However the lack of education is a big issue - you at least have to have a GED if nothing else.

And most importantly... the kids. Really that's the biggest issue. She can't even go to boot camp unless she has someone watching them - and not just a babysitter but someone who can legally make medical decisions. Plus ... let's be honest, E1 pay fucking sucks. And there's no way in hell you can feed 8 mouths off of it - even WITH financial bonuses for being married, housing bonuses, and extras having a kid. And, if I'm not mistaken... most child-based military bonuses are *not* per-child, so having more doesn't get you more bonuses.

[AngrySecurityGuard]

And most importantly... the kids. Really that's the biggest issue. She can't even go to boot camp unless she has someone watching them - and not just a babysitter but someone who can legally make medical decisions.

If she scores ridiculously high on the ASVAB.... I seen it happen... Then most recruiters will find a way to help them get in even in the craziest of circumstances. As someone who is former Army I seen it happen mostly with the Army recruiters. I seen women with 4 kids have their parents or grandparents gain custody. Air Force, Navy, Marines, etc have stricter standards.

I am glad I never got into recruiting (recruiters go through a LOT of shit).

[Geek King]

If she scores ridiculously high on the ASVAB....

Oh, brother, do they ever! I nailed the ASVAB--it was required for everyone to take it when I was in school, so I took it like every other test--to the best of my ability. I did well on the first half, and aced the second half. I thought that was pretty cool at the time, until I couln't get the damn recruiters off the phone!

I already had college plans, but they wouldn't take no for an answer. I finally just told them I had bad feet to stop the calls. It was true enough, if not medically accurate. I have really flat feet from genetics--you can see the whole imprint on a normal step, and I make a little suction sound when I cross tile barefoot.