MEPS Briefing

MEPS is an important part and you will be briefed by your recruiter about what to expect in full detail. This is a basic guide on what to expect but each individual will have their own specific requirements so use this only as a basic guide. Remember MEPS is looking for a reason to disqualify you so follow your recruiters guidance.

• Trust your recruiter. We are not doing all this work to get you here to set you up for failure. If you don't disclose something to them, and then bring it up at MEPS, you will be disqualified and significantly delay your process. This briefing is the time to bring up anything you forgot, not at MEPS!

• Remember you represent yourself, your recruiter, and the Air Force down there. Make a good impression.

• The morning you process you will wake up at the hotel very early. Go to bed early the night before. You need to move with a sense of purpose at MEPS and can't be moving sluggish or falling asleep.

• When you wake up you will shower and get dressed. Make sure you are cleaned up as dirty or stinky applicants may be turned away. While in the shower let warm water run in each ear for a few moments to melt any ear wax down. Don't use a cotton swab as it can push the wax deeper in your ear and prevent the staff from seeing your ear drum.

• Brush your teeth but DO NOT use mouthwash. If it has alcohol in it you will fail the breathalyzer.

• For breakfast, no coffee, orange juice, or pork products (bacon, ham, sausage) as these can cause you to fail your blood test. Stick to water.

• Urinalysis. When you get to MEPS early in the process they will ask who needs to go to the bathroom. Try not to go before arriving at MEPS so that you can do this first thing. You will be required to provide a urine sample in a cup while an observer watches you. If you don't complete it within a few hours of arriving you will have to stay another night and do a second day at MEPS to try again. If a sample is not obtained within 72 hours of you arriving, you are automatically disqualified for 6 months. Just pee in the cup! If you have used marijuana within 45 days of going to MEPS, let your recruiter know so he/she can reschedule you. A failed drug test is a permanent disqualification from the military.

• You will be doing the TAPAS personality test which can qualify you for additional jobs.

• You will complete your Form 1408 to list any fears or phobias. If you indicate things like a fear of spiders for example, it should be a real phobia. If you see a spider do you just step on it, or go in to a panic? These answers will affect what jobs you qualify to do.

• You will have your blood drawn, don't pass out. Look away if you need to but if you can't handle a needle, you will be disqualified.

• Your vision will be checked including your vision level (20/20, 20/40, etc.), color vision, and finally depth perception. Depth perception has a high failure rate based on the equipment used. This test will have a series of circles (ex. OOOOO) in a row. There are 5 circles per row and one is elevated closer to you. Your job is to identify which one. If you struggle on it, try crossing your eyes, blinking rapidly several times, looking around the edge (use peripheral vision), or imagine something in the background and focus on that.

• The hearing test will have you in a booth with headphones on. You will have a button in each hand. When you hear a beep in the left ear, press the left button, if a beep in the right ear, press the right button. Do NOT use headphones/earbuds 48 hours prior to arrival at MEPS. No loud music or swimming during that period either. This can cause you to do poorly or even fail this test. If you are hearing noises from outside your testing booth (like a printer or other people talking) and it's interfering with your ability to hear the beeps, let the test administrator know! If they don't help you, let the Air Force liaisons know you had issues in the hearing test booth.

• Your medical exam will go over all your questions from your DD From 2807-2 (the form you signed with your recruiter that has 164 medical questions) to make sure it's accurate and there is nothing more to add. You will be asked the same questions in different ways to see if you think up anything else. Any new medical information provided at MEPS will result in you being disqualified and you will need to provide medical records to your recruiter for submission to the doctors for review. This can potentially add weeks or months to the process. Tell your recruiter before going to MEPS!

• The rest of the physical portion is similar to a sports physical. Everyone will get their genitals examined. Men, turn your head and cough. Women, you'll be on an exam table in stirrups. The doctor will also look at your sphincter for lesions and hemorrhoids. Women will also have a breast exam.

• Your final physical test is the X-Factor test with the Air Force liaisons. You must lift weight above your head. The more you lift, the more you qualify for. Aim for at least 70 lbs.

• You will meet with a security investigator to review your background information which will then be sent off for your security clearance investigation. They will also take your fingerprints.

• After all that you will be meeting with the Air Force liaisons who are very busy and you will list your Earliest Available Date (EAD). This is the soonest date you are willing to ship out to basic training. So make sure you already have a date in mind. BMT always starts on a Tuesday, so have a specific Tuesday in mind already. This date should be no more than 90 days after going to MEPS (doesn't apply to high school students). Talk to your recruiter if you require a date farther out.

• The final step is to swear in to the Delayed Entry Program! If you make it to this point, good job! You've completed the hardest part!

• Once the swear-in is over you will be getting on the shuttle back to the recruiting office once everyone is done.

• When you return to the recruiting office you will go over the jobs you qualify for and list a minimum of 9 specific jobs and 1 aptitude area that you would be interested in doing in the Air Force. You can list as many as you want, but a minimum of a total of 10 is required. You must be ok with getting any job listed and once booked, you can't change your mind. You should have some sort of idea of the jobs you are interested in before returning to the recruiters office.

APPLICANTS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS…

Passing your physical and initial security clearance check at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS)

is vital for your acceptance into the United States Air Force.

Unfortunately, not everyone is able to join for numerous reasons.

Situations can occur that may temporarily (TDQ) or permanently (PDQ) disqualify you from joining.

The following is a list of controllable reasons some applicants failed to complete their processing:

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter they had been to an EMERGENCY ROOM, told MEPS instead.

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter that they had been to a chiropractor for car accident, told MEPS instead .

-Applicant failed to identify any scratch or scar due to mole removal or stitches…discovered at MEPS.

-Applicant withheld information about suicide attempts (CUTTER) marks on her arms…disqualified.

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter that they had a court case pending, told MEPS instead.

-Applicant told his recruiter he smoked marijuana 10 times-Told MEPS 20--#’s must match.

-Applicant failed to inform recruiter of an open speeding ticket. Paid attorney but did not pay the fine for ticket.

-Applicant told MEPS Doctor they were taking over the counter medication and vitamins—MEPS Doctor told them to go see their family Doctor for a diagnosis before qualifying them.

-Applicant failed to tell the recruiter about the X-Rays he had as a child-Told MEPS instead.

-Applicant failed to tell his recruiter about his 4-day stay in the hospital for pneumonia-Told MEPS instead.

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter about cell phone and hospital bills in collections-Told MEPS instead.

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter about all the traffic tickets on his record-Told MEPS instead.

-Applicant tested positive for marijuana-Told recruiter wrong date last used. Should have waited 45 days to process, Permanently Disqualified from ALL SERVICES.

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter about her chronic bronchitis-Told MEPS instead.

-Applicant told MEPS he has problems breathing when running---TDQ until he has an evaluation for Asthma.

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter about previous possession of marijuana charge-Told MEPS instead and would have been identified as a positive match during a security clearance investigation.

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter she used an inhaler for allergies-Told MEPS instead and now needs to prove she does not have asthma.

-Applicant tested positive for pregnancy.

-Applicant Told MEPS he went to the doctor for wheezing as a child. - Did not tell his recruiter.

-Applicant showed up at MEPS late and could not process.

-Applicant failed to tell his Recruiter he had ADD and used RIDLIN as a child- Suddenly remembered when he was at the MEPS.

-Told the doctor at the MEPS he used an inhaler just ONCE as a child.

-Applicant failed to tell his recruiter about Juvenile charges that he was told were dropped and would not show up on his record. FBI will find any charge you have ever been charged with, regardless of what you were told.

-Applicant failed to tell his recruiter about mole removal, told MEPS instead.

-Applicant failed to tell his recruiter he had seen a counselor for his parents getting divorced.

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter that he had a sexually transmitted disease (STD), discovered at MEPS instead.

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter about an abnormal PAP, told MEPS instead.

-Applicant revealed at MEPS that he had stitches regardless of age it happened.

-Applicant told MEPS that they thought or were Lactose Intolerant.

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter about any possible food allergies/BEE stings and revealed it to MEPs.

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter about Abortion and revealed at MEPS.

-Applicant failed to tell recruiter they didn’t pay all their bills on time every month.

-Applicant failed to reveal a tattoo (that couldn’t be seen) to his recruiter.

-Applicant failed to provide a urine sample and could not complete the physical.

-Applicant had a fresh injury that they didn’t inform their recruiter about, MEPS does a full sports physical and was disqualified for it.

-Applicant was under/overweight when going to MEPS, was disqualified for 30 days and had to go back to MEPS.

-Applicant failed to inform recruiter about using acne medication, told MEPS instead.

-Applicant did not have the appropriate under garments and was denied the ability to do the physical.

-Applicant did not inform recruiter about drinking underage, told MEPS instead.

DON’T BE THE NEXT PERSON ON THIS LIST! BOTTOME LINE, DO NOT REVEAL ANY NEW INFORMATION AT MEPS.EVERYTHING YOU TOLD THE RECRUITER, MUST BE THE SAME AT MEPS. TELL YOUR RECRUITER ABOUT EVERYTHING EVEN IF YOU THINK IT’S SMALL. IT MATTERS!!! NO MATTER HOW SMALL!!!

This list is not complete and it continues to grow! The best way for you to pass your physical and security check is to let your recruiter know about any potential issues prior to your processing. In doing so we may have the opportunity to clear the situation and have your processing run smoothly.