my son has been suckered by a recruiter

I don't have a problem with him serving (even if he cleans toilets for 6 years) It was my idea. My beef is his recruiter is, and has lied to him. He finally admitted to him today (when pressed on it) that he wont see the first installment of his bonus for two years. Three days ago he flat out told him in front of us, that he could use the bonus money to buy a car to get to his duty post. Well he cant. We will have to drive him. We can work that out, but a little honesty while sitting in my living room would be nice. The army takes very few people with GEDs and apparently dosent do the school after you are in anymore anyway. Frankly if he were talked into that crap, he wouldnt be talking to this guy. I dont hire people with GEDs unless they have a damn good story. I havent heard one good enough yet. (not that it isnt possible, I just havent heard it)

The reason Matt is two years behind is his birth-mare didnt put him in school until a social worker forced her too. He was five grades below his peers 4 years ago, and now holds a B+ average in school. His first ASVAB was with no advance tutoring or even an hours notice. Straight up cold no idea what was on it.
(thats another thing I'm not really happy about the recruiter.)
Then skipping half the tutoring classes in the following month to just hang out and talk instead.
Matt has friends, he dosnt need a recruiter to be his best friend, the recruiter needs to do his job, and help my son get ready to enter the Army,
not screw around to get his numbers up or whatever.
The school district dosent even trust this guy, why should I?

I'm not holding his hand, I want him to succeed in this, but I think I know the wild street kid I inherited five years ago better than this guy.

We are being told by this guy that his ST score was 110. GS,MK,MC AND PC all over 105. I'm thinking Matt needs that in writing before he gets in the guy's car tomorrow.
I still think he would have done better if he was given some actual help before the test.

Knine knows the kid a little, he's a good kid, and never had a break before the past few years. Somebody has to look out for him, I was hoping the recruiter was going to be of assistance, not working against matt.
 
I know I sound disgruntled, and I am.

But on Monday He will swear an oath, and be a United States solider.
I wish I could be there to see it. I'll never be prouder.


If he were free and clear and ready to go, I'd smile and tell him this is what he signed up for and chalk it up as a learning experience. But he has a year and a half of school yet to complete, and has to live here with us. We live in a rural area, and he dosent drive because of the insurance cost. So it affects the rest of the family negatively.
 
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well now that my hackles are up, I find that he has to show up for monthly drills before BCT, (150 miles away) or will face disciplinary action, plus will be billed for insurance he wont be using. The recruiter also greatly exaggerated the pay for these weekend drills. He wont provide the mentioned line scores in writing either.He was promised he would transfer to active duty Army after graduation, but I find on the Army site that the required form DD3682 to transfer to active is only approved 30% of the time. He was supposed to be signing up for the active duty split option program, but somehow this reserve-to-active thing was substituted this past week.
 
Recruiters have quotas to meet. Some will do and say anything to meet goal. If they don't consistantly meet goal, thier transfer evaluations when they are done recruiting will hinder thier advancement to the next paygrade. That's about the nicest thing I can say about 99% of recruiters. Mine was the 1% who laid it all out in black and white, never lied about anything. I think I was one of 2 guys in bootcamp who didn't threaten to kill thier recruiter if they ever ran into them.
 
Can only wish you luck some luck on this. Don't close the door though. As others have mentioned, they come around a bit when they reach 25.

whd507 said:
My son Matt has been trying to get in the army, while he's still in school. he wants to do basic during summer, then finish his senior year, and go active duty. I'm ok with that. what I'm getting increasingly alarms about, is ths recruiter isnt really forthcoming about details. he took him to take his ASVAB test, an he scored pretty low, but passing. I want him to re-take the test and score higher. the recruiter is resisting, and is taking Matt to his indiuction physical tomorrow. I shoudl have done more research earlier, but I'm finding most people in this program arent getting what they want, and that its to teh recruiters advantage to have a good number of "beta" inlistments (31-49) to fill less desirable positions. he has a year and a half before he graduates, so I dont see the rush. yes things may change in a month, but the deception from the recruiter and his boss, outweighs the possibility his slot will fill up in 30 days.

I dont know what to do, I cant even talk to Matt anymore, only the recruiter has any sway.
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well, Matt is seeing the crap he was promised is just that, Crap.
He texted the guy to see if he could get the line scores in writing before he leaves, and was told he will never have a hard copy of his line scores.

when he asked about having to go to weekend drills before basic, he was told he had to take care of other recruits and he would get back to him later.
(how much later? he leaves in a few hours?)
 
whd507 said:
well, Matt is seeing the crap he was promised is just that, Crap.
He texted the guy to see if he could get the line scores in writing before he leaves, and was told he will never have a hard copy of his line scores.

when he asked about having to go to weekend drills before basic, he was told he had to take care of other recruits and he would get back to him later.
(how much later? he leaves in a few hours?)
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He should walk away.
 
If Matt was recruited out of the Battlefield or Seminole recruiting stations in Springfield, the company commander is located in Joplin, MO. Here is the address and phone number ... speak to the Captain in Charge and see if you can get this sorted out.

Joplin Recruiting Company
Federal Building, Room 107, 302 Joplin Street
Joplin, Mo., 64801-0106
(417) 782-2806; Fax (417) 627-0293

Here is a link to the Battalion HQ in Kansas City

>>>> http://www.usarec.army.mil/5thbde/4gbn/Directory/directory.htm

And to all of the companies and recruiting stations assigned to it ...

>>>> http://www.usarec.army.mil/5thbde/4gbn/Directory/CLTs/index_clt.htm

I disagree with CBT's assessment of recruiters. Yes, there are bad apples; but they are in the 1-2%. I have run malpractice investigations on some and booted them out of recruiting and in some cases out of the Army altogether.

If this guy is lying and being deceptive .... go to the next higher level outside the recruiting station. I have given you all the numbers that you need to go higher if you wish to do so. Hope you haven't waited to long to get energized on this.
 
If you want me to talk to him and give him real world vs recruiter spin, I will be happy to. I'd rather he make an informed decision rather than go of what the recruiter tells him.
 
Thanks a bunch, I wasn't able to able to find out any chain of command info past the guys commander. Its late Sunday night, so I am likely out of luck. I would have started earlier if I had suspected anything was up, but I only talked to the recruiter once, and the trip to MEPS was out of the blue as I thought it was a practice test.
However at this late hour, the sudden brushoff from the recruiter, has snapped Matt out of his mood of late. he has a list for the guy tomorrow, I don't know how that will go or not,since I wont be around (it will be on the ride to MEPS) but I don't know enough about the process at MEPS to know what info he will get when he's signing up, or what the councilors do.
He's pissed now, because hes afraid of changing MOS at this late date, and losing the sign up bonus, and he really has no clue what is offered in units closer to home. He was hoping to go to BCT at Ft.Leonard Wood, and AIT, but if he changes MO he may be going elsewhere. (I'm not sure why hes stoked about FLW?)
 
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whd507 said:
(I'm not sure why hes stoked about FLW?) training is training I assume.
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I assume that you are located near Springfield, MO. Fort Leonard Wood is less than 1.5 hours away. Folks based at FLW make the run to go to the mall at Springfield all the time. If there is a girl/woman anywhere in the picture, being close to home will factor heavily into his decision about location. Just a guess.
 
That would be my guess. Thank you for the info and advice.
I feel like a crappy dad for not seeing this far enough in advance. I just didn't suspect anything was amiss, I thought it was just general everyday stuff. usually I plan better, and am more informed. I'm now a member on goarmyparents.com, and will here forth have some applicable knowledge when needed.
 
WTF? You feel like a crappy dad? You literally saved that kid from a life of hell. Never forget that. You have my utmost respect Sir.
 
can contracted dates be set in the contract for BCT and AIT at MEPS? I read about a few who were never assigned their original AIT because there was never a slot available. So they placed them in an AIT for another MOS, so they would never never qualifiy for the bonus per the contract.

can he see his line scores?

how does he find out about drill schedules? his recruiter is not a reserve recruiter, I read about snafus due to that.

can he sign a new contract at MEPS? or is he attached to the stuff he has already signed here? if so, I assume they dont have much time to spend per recruit to explain the contract.

isnt it usually less jumbled than this (never mind I figured that one out myself)
 
How is it hes 18 and still has a year and a half of school? He'd be better off on active duty right now than being a 19 y/o senior in high school trying to make drills.
 
cant enlist without a diploma. they don't want very many GEDs, and frankly if he went that route he'd be homeless.
 
whd507 said:
can contracted dates be set in the contract for BCT and AIT at MEPS? I read about a few who were never assigned their original AIT because there was never a slot available. So they placed them in an AIT for another MOS, so they would never never qualifiy for the bonus per the contract.

can he see his line scores?

how does he find out about drill schedules? his recruiter is not a reserve recruiter, I read about snafus due to that.

can he sign a new contract at MEPS? or is he attached to the stuff he has already signed here? if so, I assume they dont have much time to spend per recruit to explain the contract.

isnt it usually less jumbled than this (never mind I figured that one out myself)
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You REALLY need to talk to the area/company commander. I know that you are concerned and have this feeling of deception; but I really think that you are worrying far too much about "what might happen". Most of that worry is unfounded IMHO.

Job/MOS selection is done through a computer system that used to be called "REQUEST". It is based on actual and projected vacancies. I have heard of recruits being reclassified into other MOS because of their performance in basic training (i.e. they blew their part of the contract). If not, there is always "breach of contract" if the Army doesn't live up to its part of the contract.

Specific drill schedules will be determined by the unit to which he is assigned. He won't know that until he gets military orders assigning him to a specific unit. There used to be an Engineer Group and many subordinate engineer units in the Springfield, MO area. If Matt can qualify as a 12B Combat Engineer, I suspect that he will take BCT/AIT at FLW and be assigned right in the Springfield, MO area.

My understanding is that the contract is fully negotiable up until he puts his hand in the air and swears the oath.

Please talk to the area commander as I have suggested. Get a copy of the contract and read it.
 
whd507 said:
My son Matt has been trying to get in the army, while he's still in school. he wants to do basic during summer, then finish his senior year, and go active duty. I'm ok with that. what I'm getting increasingly alarms about, is ths recruiter isnt really forthcoming about details. he took him to take his ASVAB test, an he scored pretty low, but passing. I want him to re-take the test and score higher. the recruiter is resisting, and is taking Matt to his indiuction physical tomorrow. I shoudl have done more research earlier, but I'm finding most people in this program arent getting what they want, and that its to teh recruiters advantage to have a good number of "beta" inlistments (31-49) to fill less desirable positions. he has a year and a half before he graduates, so I dont see the rush. yes things may change in a month, but the deception from the recruiter and his boss, outweighs the possibility his slot will fill up in 30 days.

I dont know what to do, I cant even talk to Matt anymore, only the recruiter has any sway.
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Speaking as a former Army Reserve recruiter, the only services that take split option recruits are the Army Reserve and Army National Guard. (Split option is the program that allows recruits to complete basic training during the summer between their Jr and Sr year of high school.)

If he wants to enlist full time after high school he would be better off waiting until he has started his Sr year.
 
Bluerauder said:
Not to be too harsh here, but I think that you also need to be realistic about expectations. He was Cat IVA and has moved up to Cat IIIB. He has already had a retest. You didn't mention that in your initial post. Matt is also 2 years behind in school at age 18. His options are limited. Matt and his recruiter may have already come to that conclusion. Retakes on the ASVAB are also limited. Personally, I wouldn't give him better than a 50-50 chance of making it through Basic Training and AIT. He will have to work on it and apply himself everyday. I suspect that he will not qualify for Military Police.

As to the "less desirable jobs" .... that perspective is in the eye of the beholder. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the grunts, tankers and cannon cockers. I use those terms affectionately 'cause they are the ones who are always at the tip of the spear and always get the job done day after day.

I hope Matt does well.
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I have to agree with Charlie here for the reasons in bold. The Army Reserve would probably be a good stepping stone to start from.
(Maybe I should have read a little further before my 1st post....)
 
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