Aluroon
SWO
My journey to submit my SWO application has made me realize the gravity of the Navy's War on Paper and I guess I consider myself a casualty of it. On the plus side it's liberating to not have to follow this board religiously anymore. If anyone else has experienced a shit show like this I'd love to hear it.
November '14-Completed OAR Exam, Recommendations, and Paperwork. During this time my recruiter said I should be able to submit my app before the holidays, boy was that a good joke.
Late November'14-Submitted initial medical paperwork
December 22nd-Rejected by MEPS
January 28th-Appeal rejected by N3M in Millington
February 3rd-Waiver from Surgeon for Hip Surgery Sent to Millington
February 12th-Approved to process at MEPS on February 20th
February 18th-Recruiter informs me that the initial paperwork I signed will be 65 days old when processed by MEPS and therefore invalid by 5 days so my MEPS date must be canceled eliminating any hope of making this board.
Now I must fill out all of the paperwork again, have it sent to MEPS where it will be rejected again so that I can then send the paperwork to N3M in Millington along with the waiver. Once I am approved there again I can schedule a MEPS date. New targeted date for submitting SWO app is late March/early April according to the recruiter with an OCS date of sometime in 2016. That is unless WWIII breaks out before then or if they run out of paper.
Trust me brother, I feel you. If it makes you feel better....
All dates between November '13 and October '14 are approximate.
November '13 - Started making phone calls to local recruiters office.
December '13 - Continue attempting to get in touch with local recruiter. Despite 6-8 messages left over two months did not receive call back.
January '14 - Continued to attempt to reach local recruiter. Still no call backs. Told OR out of office and will return calls. Never happens.
February '14 - Family friend in the navy made a call to a friend of his in recruiting. Heard back from recruiter in another city. Brief phone call / email exchange. Told that until under MEPS weight cap nothing further could be done other than gathering references (DD370s), taking the OAR, and sending on transcripts. Transcripts are forwarded. I take the OAR (59 despite getting slaughtered on physics - I'm advised not to retake it despite my strong feeling that I could have done significantly better).
March '14 - Religious observance of the Gym, collecting DD370s.
April '14 - Continued religious workouts, running, weights. Drop weights when I backslide on weight / height chart.
May '14 - Hit my magical height / weight number. Attempt to contact recruiter I've been in touch with. Phone calls and emails result in no answer.
Late June '14 - Recruiter from several cities over finally responds. Says that since a new recruiter is entering my area I will be passed off to him.
July '14 - New recruiter calls me. We meet and I'm told I need to gather medical paperwork going back to '03 when I broke my wrist before MEPS can be scheduled.
~August '14 - Recover said medical paperwork from out of state with great effort and luck. Forward it on to recruiter. Told that by the time MEPS is scheduled I will have missed the next board (despite ~3 week window). Find out about NASIS for the first time and fill it out.
~August or September '14 - MEPS visit. Recruiter prepares to submit package and realizes he's short on references (DD370s). apparently approximately half of mine have been lost between original. They also need a new copy of my transcripts.
October '14 - Recruiter realizes he needs addresses for DD370s. I Furnish them.
December 17th, '14 - I receive email from recruiter informing me that as my first choice was Intel, and as the December 3rd board did not make any selections, I will hear nothing until the March 9th '15 board at the earliest.
Feb 11th, '15 - I receive an email from recruiter informing me that the March 9th '15 Intel board has been canceled.
At this point I really have no idea as to the status of my kit, when / if selection boards will actually meet for anything I selected (Intel, SWO, IW), or if there is any future at all in this dream. I hear SWO is really screwed up with tons of people waiting in selection purgatory, Intel is a no-go at all, and IW won't take you as a 3rd choice. For 15 months I've put my life on hold with this process, with the (mistaken) understanding that at any given time I was only a couple months away. I put off searching for a professional career and have watched my degree and skills become less marketable by the month as a result. At this point I'm about ready to accept that the odds of his happening at all are slim to none and move on. It isn't a matter of desire, simply one of practicality. Waiting another year seems likely to produce no better result and leave me worse than when I started.
Turn 26 in May.
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