PLEASE HELP: RE-3P? Allergies?

[brokenmoto]

Hey everyone, I really need some knowledge on how I can get back to Parris Island. Any help/advice/anything that could help me get my life back on track would be extremely appreciated.
(story, skip this paragraph if you don't care)
I ate some shrimp pasta at late chow during admin week and had a reaction that got me sent to the Beaufort hospital. I was fine within the hour and was back at the squad bay later that night. The next day, my senior pulls me aside and tells me that I'm most likely going to get dropped to EHP/MRP to have allergy tests done before I can resume training with another company; essentially telling me that I wasn't going to graduate with all my friends I'd been training with for months at this point. I barely even got to say goodbye to anybody before I was processed out of Hotel and into EHP.
That was a really rough day, but I was told to appreciate these next few 'limbo' weeks because it's a rare circumstance to be in. After being sad for a few days, I got my attitude right; honestly EHP isn't that bad if you think you'll be going back to training. There's hella books, most of the drill instructors are chill if you don't **** up ('chill' being relative to drill instructors, not actual humans), and there's a few people there I became pretty close with. Fastforward like two weeks and I finally get called for my offbase. I'm excited as **** because I know it's just these tests, processing, and the last few weeks of training standing before me becoming a Marine. We leave MCRD (weird), get there and sign forms, I'm happily chatting up the cute nurse who did the skin tests, saying how if my old kill hat saw me talking to her like this I'd literally be dead, and then I wait for the doctor to give me the results. He tells me I do have an allergy to shellfish, among a few other things like dust and cats and whatnot. Then he gets serious and asks me if anybody had told me up to this point that a shellfish allergy is a disqualifying condition... I'm shocked. Don't even remember what I answered or what happened after that, I just got back to the squad bay and cried my eyes out. That was probably one of the worst days in my life. Everything seemed to slow down after that, and I spent another month in EHP just repeating the same routine: Wake up. Clean. Chow. Clean. Chow. Clean. Hygiene. Sleep. Repeat.
It took this long because RSP was way over capacity, but, fastforward through that depressing month basically in a prison, I finally get processed into RSP. Which is, without a doubt, the worst place I've ever been. It's where all of the day-zero fraudulents, fake-suicidal quitters, actual nutcases, and porkchop IST failures get lumped into one big joke of a platoon that shuffles to chow after everyone else is done and eats the scraps. Discipline doesn't exist, it's just a constant drone of talking, and people being stupid. Being a part of this was humiliating. Anybody who's been to PI reading this maybe remembers how you looked at the RSP kids; pussy ass quitters milling around in their skivvies, looking like a bunch of scared puppies. Yeah, I remember too and then I was part of that. But skip through the administrative steps of being sent home, I flew back home to Maine.
This part's embarrassing but whatever. I've been back for 3 months now. I can barely get out of bed, I eat maybe once every few days and I've completely isolated myself from my friends and family. I can't face anyone knowing that I came home not a Marine.. even thinking about it now I just feel overwhelming shame and sadness. Please, if anyone can help me, I need to get back to Parris Island.

(Brass Tacks)
On my DD214 my separation code is JF-V1, reenlistment code is RE-3P. I've done research on my situation and thought it was hopeless until my recruiter, who works at MEPS now, messaged me yesterday. He told me I was able to reenlist, I just needed to get a waiver and I'd be good to go. If anyone has any information that can help me in getting this waiver, I'll be thankful beyond comprehension. I'll do anything for this.

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[brokenmoto]

sorry, i didnt realize how long this got and cant figure out how to delete/shorten it

[Tennessee Top]

Don't know what JF-V1 means other than it's your character of service. RE-3P means you can't reenlist without approval from Headquarters Marine Corps (that's why you need a waiver).

Only people who can help you at this point are your local recruiters so you need to take your DD-214 and go see them. There are no recruiters here on this page.

Medical waivers are not as easy to come by as your old recruiter makes them sound. Specially if the issue is an automatic disqualifier. It's not as simple as submitting your waiver then just waiting for it to come back approved and heading back to PI. That said, I've seen waivers approved I was sure had no chance in hell. It's also possible none of the recruiters at your RSS will be willing to put the time in for your waiver - they don't have to. All you can do is go try.

Good luck and let us know how this works out for you here on this same thread (just come back and update it). Somebody in the future may have a similar circumstance and can benefit from your experience. Read the similar threads below your post.

[crazymjb]

Keep fighting. I think you may be lucky in that the military won't be dumping people as fast under this current administration and will be more likely to grant waivers. Frankly, if they are going to let transgendered people in I don't know what leg they have to stand on to say a shellfish allergy is a permanently disqualifying condition.

In 2008 when I went through (hotel company no less) one of the recruits in my platoon had made it about 8 weeks in previously when he discovered he had an allergy. Same thing happened that happened with you. He got the waiver and came through with us and was a squad leader (sucks for him lol) the whole way through.

Also man, you didn't quit or fail, you had a medical issue. Nothing to be ashamed of. Not to be cliche, but you need an attitude adjustment. Sometimes **** happens in life and you move on. In this case it seems like nothing more than a speed bump, so don't be a ***** and get back up and keep fighting. I just got passed over my last board for army guard aviation... did I go home and cry about it? No, I've re-applied and I'm doing what I can to strengthen my packet, meet people in neighboring states, and get packets submitted more places. You know what would have happened if I stopped eating and spent 3 months in my bedroom? Nothing. Quitting is stupid, don't quit. Your military career will be full of failures and disappointment -- it's gonna suck if you don't learn how to get back on the horse.

Mike

[brokenmoto]

Thank you, to both of you. I'll head down to the station soon to see what they can do. And Mike, you're 100% right, so thank you again I definitely needed that lol. Honestly this is the first I've really reached out to anybody since I got home, and even though I don't know either of you, its the first I can recall feeling any kind of hope so, really, thanks guys. I'll post updates as they come.

[Tennessee Top]

I wouldn't mention anything about your mental state/negative attitude since being back home to the recruiters. They may take that as signs of clinical depression (sounds logical to me) and not want to tack it onto the allergy issue.

I agree with Mike's assessment regarding transgender troops. If the military is so desperate for bodies they're willing to stoop that low, what's wrong with a simple food allergy. The Navy was ready to kick a bunch of sailors out because they're fat or can't pass their PFT. But, they suddenly realized they can't afford to lose that many bodies (something like 1300 including officers). So now they've decided to give them all another chance to lose the weight or pass the PFT.

[crazymjb]

^that's true. It's perfectly understandable that certain things can get you down -- but the military as you've found has a way of being uncompromising.

I don't think they are taking transgender people out of need so much as political correctness. That said, if the potential medical and psychological issues of that group is something the military can see past, it doesn't make sense to me that they wouldn't be more flexible with other things.

Assuming it is just a shellfish allergy, my guess is you'll get to go back, and be miserable all over again and realize you wasted 4 months of your life previously because the administrative machine that is the military was incapable of pulling it's head out of its ass. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Mike

[brokenmoto]

Good idea, I'll definitely leave that part out. Good point though, if I'm somehow less qualified than somebody who might totally lose their nonbinary marbles without routine hormonal check-ins because of food that's rarely even served... I'm gonna need some serious explaing, and possibly a sensitivity training course lol. Will post updates of admnistrative headassery, thanks guys.

[brokenmoto]

So today, I learned officially that there’s nothing that can be done. I talked to pretty much every recruiter from every branch in every recruiting office in my tri-state area. That’s it. So thanks again you guys. I’m going to ride out the summer and deep 6 in the fall.

[Tennessee Top]

Deep 6?

[crazymjb]

Hey man, keep fighting it until you find a recruiter who will work with you. Did you try the National Guard, they run on a completely different waiver system than the big Army, for example. Each state usually has a bunch of recruiters as well, call some other offices. If they haven't even requested a waiver at this point, there is no way for them to know. As I think I mentioned, a kid in my boot camp platoon was on round 2 after he had the same thing happen for a peanut allergy.

You might just need to put your foot down more. You need to advocate hard for yourself. Call them back and say "here's the deal, I want to fight this as far as I can, and I'm willing to put in the leg-work to make it happen." There's no way one won't do what they can for you unless there is something else going on you're not disclosing here.

Mike