MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station)

C077/K051  February 21 – April 25, 1990

OK, lets back up a moment. We all went through boot camp at RTC Orlando. But, what brought us to this great place? We all know the ladies all went to Orlando. And that all the Nuke went there as well.

So, I will back up a little for myself. A faithful day in January 1990, I lost my job as a draftsman at a small company. We did not know it yet, but the owner was purposely bankrupting the company, but I was cut because they needed to shave payroll. So, I am out of work.

For 2 years, I had toyed with the idea of joining the Navy. Heck, I had since high school in 1985. To be honest, when I went to the recruiter that Monday morning, I had intended to talk to the Navy and the Army. The door for the Navy recruiter was the first one I came to.

They could smell a fresh one. They talked the talk and had me from when I opened the door. I took the pretest and spoke to the recruiter about what I wanted to do. Since I had an engineering background, he pushed me to the Nuke side. He gave me a list of what I needed to get to officially be able to enlist.

Tuesday morning my phone rang, it was a new recruiter. This one happened to be a couple blocks from my apartment. Wednesday, I was in the office filling out a whole ream of paperwork. Off to MEPS that afternoon to take the ASVAB.

After an evening at a kind of dumpy motel in Des Plaines, Illinois, it was back to MEPS. I had no idea I was getting the physical the next day too! So, off to stand around in my underwear with a whole pack of others. We know that long drill.

Funny side note. A post in a different Navy group was talking about MEPS. One guy mentioned how he had a short Asian lady doing the turn your head and cough part for the guys. He was 18 and shy. I mentioned, her sister must have been at the Des Paines MEPS. He went there too! Close to when I did. Small world. 

OK, after medical said I was OK, time to go back to the Navy guys. I had to take the Nuke test now. What the heck did I know about nuclear engineering? Well, I passed that too. Let me tell you what, that was a hard test.

I eventually signed up for Nuke MM with Sub duty. This was maybe around January 24. I reported for active duty on February 21, less than a month.

So, back to MEPS. One other guy and I from Rockford rode the bus to O’hare. We met the van that took us to MEPS and then back to the motel. This time there was a little more military discipline happening. The last full night as a civilian, February 20. I was 22, so I hit the bar. One of the Marines watching over us came in and asked for my ID. I bought him a beer and we talked about Boot Camp. The biggest advice, listen to everything before you do anything.

The next morning it was up at 0500 with a loud knock on my door. Several people were already getting in trouble for sharing rooms. Off to eat and the bus to MEPS. Nothing but waiting almost all day before they called us into the big room. One other guy and I were going to Orlando. He was a nuke as well. Since my last name was Adams, I got the packet for both of us.

Then more waiting until they called for the Navy groups to head out to the bus. The Great Lakes guys had to go to O’Hare and wait for another bus to take them to Great Lakes. The San Diego group and ours had to catch flights.

Another period of waiting at the airport for our flight. I decided to have a couple beers while we waited. Paul, forget his last name, had one too. I bought it, he was underage. Then he went to buy some candy so nobody could tell he had one. We know this was part of the plan to keep us waiting and get us to the base late so we would be exhausted the next day and walk around like zombies.

One thing that happened on my first trip to MEPS. After medical and the Nuke test, it was getting late. I had not eaten lunch, so I asked if I could go to eat. The petty officer I was talking to said, yeah. He found a third-class standing there. Take Adams to get lunch, do not let him speak to anyone. I found that strange.

While eating, he went to the head. So, right after he leaves, this Airforce guy sits next to me and starts talking.

“So, which branch are you joining today?”

“Navy.”

“Nice, what rating are you looking at?”

“I think nuke machinist mate. Why?”

“Oh, just curious. Ever consider the Airforce?”

Before I could talk that third-class returns.
“Hey, leave my guy alone.”

Airforce guy laughing, “Can’t blame me for trying.”

“What was he doing?” I ask.

“Trying to poach you. I'll show you when we get back.”

As we went back, he pointed out the boards outside the offices of each service. The had the recruiting info for their prospective recruits. Sort of a brag board. On the Navy board, I was top 5, but #1 on the Nuke test. (Still don’t know how I did that.)


So, MEPS, many long hours there before I made the trip to Orlando. Sorry, my stories are out of order, some of the memories are just coming back.