Buddy System?

[Corpsman_Billy]

Hey guys, well I didn't have any friends wanting to go in when I signed up so I never really looked into this.

Now one of my friends from high school decided he wants in the Navy and sure enough, wants to be a Corpsman. He went to the recruiter's today and didn't tell me he was going.

Well, none of my recruiter's were in there, apparently they have some temp guy from another station. This recruiter was trying to tell him that if he came in he could buddy up with me and ship out the same day. However that creates a few problems.

The first one is that he is 20 pounds over weight. He can actually do all the push-ups and sit-ups as well as complete the run in time, but before they would bring him to MEPs he has to lose that weight. So say that he does lose those 20 lbs in a month, that leaves just one month until I ship out. And the next problem is he wants to be a Corpsman like me. I'm sure he won't have a problem getting it as he has a clean record and scored a 92 on his ASVAB, but since the wait for Corpsman is several months I don't see how they would let him ship out in just a month's notice.

I know my recruiter's at this station would never blow smoke up anybody's crack but I've never met this new guy so I don't know if he just doesn't know the details, or is trying to get a quick sig.

Can anybody educate me on this topic? I also thought that you had to go down to MEPs at the same time and since I've been in DEP 5 months, I'm not sure if that changes anything.

Overall, I don't really expect anything, however it would be nice to go to RTC with a familiar face.

--SR Meyer

[BexJ]

That does sound a bit strange, considering the wait time for HM seats to open. What it could be is your friend wasn't too clear that you were already in DEP and shipping out soon, or the recruiter didn't know you were in DEP and thought he was going to come back to the station with you, and y'all join in together. I'd say get your buddy, and both of you go back down there and speak to your recruiter and get him up to speed with what's all going on, and see what's what.

I think it is prolly just a bit of miscommunication between the two of them, but there might be system in place, if nothing else drop Doc_D a line since he is the in house Recruiter, and pick his brain some.

[corminup]

WOW!!! A recruiter who doesnt blow smoke.....do they exist??? LOL just kidding....best of luck to you both!!

[KentuckyBoy]

I agree with BexJ. You AND your buddy see the recruiter together. You also might have to make the decision to go without him if he can't lose that weight. 20 lbs in a month is a LOT of weight. You're talking 5 lbs a week. Not a healthy way to go either. I don't know how good of friends you are, but you might be looking at waiting a pretty good chunk of time. Then you have to realize you're going to be spending a lot of time with this individual, and living AND working with someone usually brings them into a different light then just hanging out with them. I wish you the best, but remember that even if you do get to go together, the Navy is a great opportunity to branch out and meet people from all different walks of life.

[Corpsman_Billy]

WOW!!! A recruiter who doesnt blow smoke.....do they exist??? LOL just kidding....best of luck to you both!!

Believe it or not they do exist. :err: Shocking, I know

I agree with BexJ. You AND your buddy see the recruiter together. You also might have to make the decision to go without him if he can't lose that weight. 20 lbs in a month is a LOT of weight. You're talking 5 lbs a week. Not a healthy way to go either. I don't know how good of friends you are, but you might be looking at waiting a pretty good chunk of time. Then you have to realize you're going to be spending a lot of time with this individual, and living AND working with someone usually brings them into a different light then just hanging out with them. I wish you the best, but remember that even if you do get to go together, the Navy is a great opportunity to branch out and meet people from all different walks of life.

If can't ship with him, it really isn't a big deal to me. I'm going March 31st one way or another. But for the long plane ride, it would be nice to have a friend there.

And I read somewhere that it is unhealthy to lose more than 2-3 pounds a week. However, I have seen plenty of people do it without any problems. They go to the Y 4 times a week, swim laps for 30 minutes and then run on the treadmill for 30 minutes. Then they get put on a diet meant to boost their metabolism and eliminate all the junk food intake.

And yes, living and working with someone does bring them into a different light. However, it isn't like they would be there my entire Navy career, we would just be talking about RTC and I bet you ten bucks that I will be with people a lot more annoying than he is.