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malar2002 wrote:

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Nah, that doesn't work - whether or not Rafe chooses to tell the truth, a thorough medical exam including Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) would be administered to any potential recruit in the world's largest volunteer army, I imagine (I hope Shades would confirm or deny my assumption). Any competent physician's assistant or nurse would have twigged to Rafe being a diabetic instantly.

You are correct, marlar2002! Aside from the labwork, all recruits are questioned at very intense levels to literally scare the truth out of them. Recruiters first do paperwork medical screens and ask recruits questions about any pre-disqualifying diseases. Somewhere around 100 questions on everything from broken bones to missing body parts and piercings/tattoos that aren't obvious. My least favorite question was regarding undescended and/or missing testicals. (I'm female, if that hasn't been made clear yet). If they disclose any disqualifying issues, like diabetes, asthma, various mental health issues, permanent hearing loss, blind, etc. - they are done at that point and permanently disqualified from joining any branch of the military. Some issues require a medical prescreen - which means the recruiter faxes med records to the MEPS docs for a determination on whether the recruit can be scheduled for a physical. Most of the time, the doc kicks the paperwork back with a "NOT QUALIFIED" stamped. In this case - they are done. No way to get around the docs unless the issue is something like a failed hearing exam. Then the recruit can be retested and which ever branch of the military can request a waiver from their command. This happened to one of my recruits. She failed her MEPS physical and they listed her as not qualified so I took her to get another hearing test done on the base and she passed by the skin of her teeth. It took a mountain of paperwork, months of waiting, but eventually the Air Force gave her a waiver and she is in the AF today - unless she seperated at the end of her 4 year commitment. Not many females stick around for 20 years at all. Anyway, back to the MEPS physical. They get blood drawn & provide a urine sample, they walk like a duck, and lift 50+ pounds over their heads. Urine is checked for drugs and if it is positive, the individual is permamently disqualified from ever joining the Air Force. Other branches will give them a second shot after their system has time to clean out - especially the Navy and the Army. Not sure about the Marines. Women get female exams. Then everybody gets questioned again in private by the doc about drug use and any medical history stuff that he didn't discover. He acts like your best friend and it is his job to diqualify you - so, he may snag some recruits into divulging hidden issues that are disqualifying but - MEPS docs would have never found out without being told by a recruit. Sometimes, it is just something ridiculous like - "my dad said I must have been sleepwalking one night because he was talking to me and I didn't respond". BOOM!! This guy was still able to join the AF, but - not the job he wanted because he could no longer get a security clearance because his medical records were now documented with "SLEEP WALKER". The next step after talking to the doc, and this is the most dangerous part because this is round 3 of medical history questions asked by med techs who are pretty slick at being a good buddy kind of person and get you to divulge stuff that you may have made it through if you would have just kept your guard up. Also, in this intimidating office space are huge signs posted that are extremely official with the words "WARNING...blah, blah, blah" basicially they state that you can be fined or go to jail if you neglect to disclose any medical conditions, etc. that hasn't already been disclosed. This scares the cr*p out of young people (they aren't really going to jail as they aren't enlisted at this point. They could literally get up out of the chair and walk out the door and nothing will happen. The stuff that comes out in this room is usually old stuff that isn't pertinent anymore, probably never officially diagnosed by a doctor - stuff that mom said you had when you were 5 yrs old like allergies or use of an inhaler once when you were a kid and had a bad cold. The kid never was diagnosed with asthma, hadn't touched an inhaler in 13 yrs - but - because the kid said "my mom said I used an inhaler" - all kinds of questions come up. Anyway - that's pretty much it in a nutshell. Once recruits finish up with medical, though go into their respective branch of the military office and talk about jobs and when they will leave for boot camp. Later on that same day, there is a mass swearing in ceremony held to enlist the recruits of the day. Now, here is a HUGE secret that isn't divulged to recruits...that initial swearing in ceremony is basically a show put on to give them a sense of obligation so they don't back out before they ship out to boot camp. Reality is, they can back out at any time. They can just not show up on the day they ship and nothing will happen other than some harrassing calls from their recruiter because the recruiter's boss is breathing down his/her neck to get that recruit on the bus. The day the recruit ships, they will be sworn in for real. They are also drug tested again on this day. At this point - they are most definitely enlisted in the military and they are going or will face charges.

Medical screening continues while in boot camp, including more drug testing. Some times things get by MEPS, but are caught at boot camp and there are a LOT of people discharged and sent home at this point. I heard a story about a recruiting getting somebody with Down's Syndrome through MEPS and all of the way to boot camp. The physical signs of Down's were obvious, from what I was told. This poor kid got kicked out and sent home.

I do have a general officer story - he was the base commander where I was a recruiter and his daughter wanted to enlist in the Air Force. My recruiter commander went to church where the brigadier general did and he decided to send the girl to me because she had some mental health issues and he thought I'ld be compassionate with her. She visited my office with her mother and I found out within 5 minutes of them sitting in front of my desk that she had battled anorexia for several years and although she had overcome her anorexia at that time, she was still on antidepressants and in therapy. NO WAY will the military docs qualify a kid who needs antidepressants as a maintainence meds. But - since she was the general's daughter, I had her get me copies of medical records and I faxed a prescreen to the MEPS doc. I told them before they got the records that she technically wasn't qualified, but - I'ld send the records forward to the docs who make the ultimate determination. It took one day to turn the request around and she was diqualified. There is no waiver for mental health issues and the MEPS docs do not fall under the command of any general who can order otherwise. So, if any of you know anybody wanting to join any branch of the military, tell them to tell their docs they want off their meds - get off the meds and wait long enough until they are out of their systems - and then go see a recruiter. The military doesn't have the ability to pull your private, civilian med records so unless the illness can be detected by lab work or it is just visible - like surgery scars - then it is prudent to keep your past in your past.

I sure am going to miss Guiding Light! I'm undecided about whether I'll watch "Venice" -

Hello! Thanks for your kind words!


For fear of sounding like a shady recruiter (), I would like to expound briefly on the comment I've made regarding "divulging";o) A very wide net has been cast to catch many disabling (ultimately, military service disqualifying) medical conditions. However, there are several instances where one may unwittingling permanently disqualify themself from ever joining any branch of the military, when they in fact, could have otherwise been very successful in a military career. So many small kids are diagnosed with asthma (I was and so was my daughter many years later). I never used an inhaler as a kid or an adult, was never rushed to the hospital because I couldn't breath and neither was my daughter. I had allergies and so did she. As a teen, I played basketball, ran track, and was a cheerleader. No breathing problems ever forced me to so much as sit down. I was no different than my peers, as far as I could see. Same with my daughter and the sports she has played. My daughter was 4 years old when a doc diagnosed her as asthmatic, the same time we lived in Turkey down the road from a cement factory. In reality, according to the ENT doc in Turkey, she truly suffered from allergies. Once her tonsils & adnoids were removed, and PE tubes placed - she has rarely had a sick day in her life and 13 years have passed since she supposedly was suffering from asthma. There isn't so much as one entry in my military medical records in 20+ years that includes the word: asthma. My daughter isn't joining the military, but - she absolutely would fly through a medical exam because she truly never genuinely suffered from ashtma.

It is stories like this that recruits relay to MEPS docs and end up forever preventing themselves from a military career. Asthma (insert many of the permanently disqualifying illnesses here) was never an accurate diagnosis, and actually may have never been diagnosed by a doctor. Just because mom says, doesn't make it so and should not bear any weight on one's future employment goals. MANY teens deal with depression and anxiety in highschool, yet go on to live very successful lives after the "mean girl" and punk bullying is in the past. Yet, mention depression or anxiety and one will find themselves being politely excused from the MEPS phyical because they are permanently disqualified.

I do realize that recruiters are generally thought of as sneaky, untrustworthy, etc. I'll be the first to admit, yep - some are. The pressure is incredibly immense with the control over the recruiter's life unlike anything I ever imagined. I digress, but - I had to go through a mental screening to qualify for recruiter duty. The psychiatrist asked me if I was certain I wanted to be a recruiter because every single recruiter assigned to the local Air Force base was a current patient of his. I responded with "as long as I do my job, I'll be fine"...my words left him laughing and he signed my form and said "good luck". I can tell you recruiter stories that would blow your mind! I would write a book - but then I'ld have to go into hiding because they are lots of "powers that be" would come looking for me.

There are kids who NEED the military to be there for them when they graduate highschool or drop out of school and get a GED and can't find a job anywhere that will pay much more than minimum wage and no health coverage. They come from poor families who share one toothbrush (no, sadly I am not exagerating).

Kids with no futures, need an avenue to give them a leg up in the world. Not everybody in the military needs to the A-B students. Even kids who were B-C students with an occassional D and F can and will improve their lives with a military career. Some take a college class here and there and before they know it, have a couple of degrees under there belt (hello, it's ME;o). I will honestly tell you I was not a successful recruiter because I refused to play the game as instructed. I didn't push people to do things they didn't want to do. I was there to help those who wanted to join and I pushed more waivers through my squadron than any other recruiter because I believed these people needed a leg up. Waivers were a LOT of work, lots of paperwork and time and many recruiters refuse to dedicate the time for fear the waiver will be denied. Anyway - long explanation but - hopefully I have clarified why some people end up being disqualified when they really shouldn't have been.

LOL! Try explaining the "function of prostate" to a blushing and giggling 17 year old male and you will feel my sense of my uneasiness;o) Be sure to add in: "are you missing a testical or is one undescended" and then explain what an undescended testical is.

I've perused the Venice site and have watched the interview with Crystal. One of the reasons I think the Otalia story is so capitavating (to me) on GL is because of the reaction/interaction with the rest of the current cast. I think the GL writers have been brilliant in regards to how they have continued the love story without any physical passion. So many people on the internet forums keep screaming "KISS already" - but, I wonder how many people would keep watching after the culmination of the heat and passion has passed.


I appologize for fowling up the background color and I've given up on putting the quotes in from "malar"...but - my comments are in response to hers.

Cheers!!
Shades