Fun with MEPS

[Theboyintrainin]

Here's a little story for anyone worried about going to MEPS:

I was at MEPS on Wednesday of this week, because I had something to do on my scheduled day of Thursday. We had a small crowd, but I was nervous because I'm not a city boy. I had never been on the nineteenth floor of any building and I had never been able to see the top of a fifth floor building as if I was about to fall 100 feet past it to my death.

It went well enough; I had a little trouble at the metal detectors because I had everything in my pockets (gloves, toothbrush, tooth paste, cell phone, pencil, pen, wallet). Other than that, it was a big ol' hurry up and wait. Then I hit the urine test.

I can't tell you how much trouble I had with that...and I really shouldn't have. I don't know what my problem was with that, I guess I just got subconsciously nervous. If they hadn't watched me I would have had that knocked out in two seconds, but I guess I'd just scoop up some toilet water and use that if they didn't watch me. (Shrug)

I couldn't go until 1100 (long after the others were gone) and I had taken in so much water that I should have been able to fill two water bottles (and I had to go the bathroom five more times in the next two hours without drinking anything else).

On the bright side, that was the hardest part, really.

I went back to see the Sergeants at the Marine Liason then took care of the rest of the stuff with ease (I had been finger printed before and yes sir no sir things to me have always been easy).

I had to wait 40 minutes to be sworn in because the Captain was downstairs having lunch. It turns out he was the guy at the ASVAB testing area on the Air Force Reserve base where I took the test before. Pretty cool guy. Me and the other guy getting sworn in did attention and at-ease perfectly, but that was the easiest part.

I got home around 1530 and my recruiter tried to recruit the guy next door who just became a dad. It was a little bit funny, but, I think the guy might have joined the service if his little girl hadn't been born like a week ago.

Overall, it is survivable. Don't panic, be honest, and remember what your recruiter said (No, no, no, 'no maybe', 'no not that I know of', no!). One other poolee had to go to a neurologist because she put yes to having headaches due to MEPSing during midterms week. I made it in one go and I'm the most nervous poolee I know of.

In any case, I just give the following advice:
-Don't do anything that will affect your ability to 'go' (drink like two glasses of water or milk at breakfast and just hold it if you have to go. You can always beg for a spot in the urine line if you have to go that bad).
-Don't worry about the physical: I've got work to do on my conditioning and I could still do it; as long as you have no chronic problems in your bones and muscles, you will be fine.
-If you DON'T KNOW about any problems they find, admit that you didn't know about them. I had...erm...a blemish on a certain spot that they considered problematic, but I just said that I didn't know about it until that day and I got past with a 'we're gonna stare at this on shipping day' mark.
(this is not saying that you should tell them you didn't know that you used Marijuana in high school, but if they find a 'pimple' on your crotch like they did for me. Common sense, guys, because getting stuck in jail or being dismissed from service for lying on these applications isn't worth it.)

And finally, some personal advice from my experience:
-If you're going into the Military, have a driver's license first. I need one for my MOS (MP) and now I got to balance physical training with actually driving right (aside from the fact that driving test driving is not how most people drive, it shouldn't take more than one or two tries).

[2114Wollmann]

Ha ha, I had the same problem. I had enough water in me after that I could do about 40 urine tests. Happens to a lot. Did the nurses start clapping for you like they did for me?

[BackhausD]

We had a small crowd, but I was nervous because I'm not a city boy. I had never been on the nineteenth floor of any building and I had never been able to see the top of a fifth floor building as if I was about to fall 100 feet past it to my death.

I don't know why, but I found that funny lol.
Country Boy....can't wait to meet more of you guys!!

It also took me about 7 years to pee. I don't know why. I guess I can't **** on demand with 5 other dudes. I better start learning though lol.

[davblay]

Back in my day (1969) MEPS was called AFEES (Armed Forces Entrance Examination Services), anyway it being the late 60s there was a lot of (alleged) drug use in those days, so when they called for the urine test, about five of the "CITY" boys picked this one "COUNTRY" boy to pee in all thier cups (as they thought they might fail). Well at the end of the day, 6 of them had to stay overnight to be tested again the next day. True story, I promise, things were far more relaxed back then. I guess they trusted people more then.....who knows. But I thought it was funny, and no I wasn't one of them!

I guess you have to be careful what you ask for....you just might get it!

Dave

[Theboyintrainin]

Ha ha, I had the same problem. I had enough water in me after that I could do about 40 urine tests. Happens to a lot. Did the nurses start clapping for you like they did for me?

No, but I got to tell the Sergeants and Staff Sergeant down at the Liason that Kim punched me in the gut to get me to go.

(Joke, because one of the Sergeants told her to do so. We all got a good laugh.)

[FloresMarin]

Now that is funny I had the same problem. All the Girls where done with their test and I was the only one that couldn't pee... I stood by the drinking fountain drank away and still couldn't go.. then we had to get undress to do the famous Duck walk and all those fun things... In the middle of the Olympics I had to go so bad... As soon as the Doc was done I got dressed to go to I had to go so bad that I overfilled the cup... dropped it in the toilet.. lol.. the Nurse had to get another one... so yea.. then i had to go undress again for the rest... I think the Urine test is the hardest part since you have to pee in front of a person.. I never done that lol... Guess there is always a first time for everything...

[PooleeWickline]

MEPS was a bummer for me. So i get there the day of, and the only doctor there, ended up having to go to the doctor. So the other guys and i had to sit there all day from like 7 in the morning to 3, and then come back the next day to set from 7 to 3. fun fun.

The peeing part was fine. i'm not that shy.

[immaproshooter]

get use to peein in fornt of others(for the guys).... when u gotta go you gotta go and when you have 3 or 4 guys peein in the same ****ter at once....its not that big of a deal by end of Boot...and the stalls have no doors...the urinal is on long stainless steel urinal..but we werent allowed to use it..(luckily i was the one in charge of cleaning the urinal every day when it was time to clean(any down time basically) so id just polish it up and that was all....i pretended to stay busy....braso became my best friend... what was always funny was squeezing 6 or 7 guys in full gear into a porta ****ter

[ElDiablo]

I drank about eight gallons of water, and still couldn't go. Then, with my interview with the doctor, he checked my ears and saw a little piece of wax in there that he didn't like so they flushed it. When that water started running I almost p*ssed my pants. Fun times though.

[2114Wollmann]

I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only one. Quite embarrasing at the moment. The most embarrasing part was that I tried three times haha. Makes a fun story though.

[JRigg]

Peeing for me was no problem whatsoever. We had kids who drank so much water they were sweating there butts off waiting to go. It was funny. I also had a sticker so i was able to cut every line for blood work,hearing, vision, all of it.

[boblasek]

I guess this is more common then I thought as I had the exact same problem. The guy told me to go drink some water and I did. On my way back he told me to turn around and drink some more, he then proceeded to tell me this 2 more times until he made sure I was full of water. Fun times at MEPS

[Dale0817]

I drank at breakfast, got to the pee test and went. No problems.

But, it was funny watching the kids who couldnt go. One kid was standing at the urinal for atleast ten minutes before they made him leave.

[wolf0259]

I've had that problem before at my old job and their random drug screenings. I knew the pee test was coming so I made sure not to hit the head that morning. Thankfully, when the time came I was able to get the flow going no problem. For me it wasn't being watched that was the problem...just bad timing on my part.

[yoitsfrank]

I drank about a gallon the night before, I was in the bathroom almost dancing I had to go so bad. I couldn't hold it any longer (the doc decided to line everybody up and fill out the paperwork), so i left the line, went, and had to wait hours to go again. MEPS is a wonderful place.