Age waiver at MEPS

[Saltamonte]

Hello,

How common are age waivers for non-prior service individuals who are trying to obtain an 18X contract? I am 34 and my recruiter says that neither he nor anyone at MEPS will be willing to issue any kind of age waiver for that particular contract. On the other hand, I also I hear from other sources that when I get to MEPS, that is where I can "negotiate" the actual job that I am looking to get. The recruiter says that the only way to get to SF at this point would be to join the regular army and then at some later point, drop a packet for SF . The optimist in me believes that I can talk to someone at MEPS about this and get squared away. How true is this? Is it REALLY possible to negotiate what you want at MEPS or is the Army in such a state now that they can easily tell me "take it or leave it"? If I can't secure an 18X contract option, my plan was to go in as a 35P and then go from there. My only concern with this route is that Airborne school would not be guaranteed and I am not sure whether my command would even release me to try out if the opportunity arose....

 

[Saltamonte]

Hmmm.. Been a few days so I'm guessing no one knows the answer? I just want to make sure that I'm clear on what happens at MEPS as it pertains to discussing one's job and signing the contract. My main question is: Is it possible to negotiate a desired job while at MEPS even though your recruiter may say "x" is not possible?

 

[Il Duce]

There are a lot of things that can be negotiated at MEPS - but not regulatory guidance. If the regulation says you have to be a certain age to be eligible for a certain program (or meet certain medical standards) that's not leeway anyone at MEPS has (except if you were able to fool the doctor on medical stuff - but that's a dangerous path).

My suspicion is 18X has very specific age criteria. Anything can be waived if you go up high enough but I can't imagine why some GO would sign an age waiver for a candidate. Unless you've got some serious political pull I think you'll find 18X closed to you. If you want to go SF you can attempt the route other service members go for but I would take a look at age requirements there as well. You'll need at least 2 years in service - but probably closer to 4 - to work your way to SFAS so if the age for regular application is 38 or lower you're out of luck.

 

[Saltamonte]

There are a lot of things that can be negotiated at MEPS - but not regulatory guidance. If the regulation says you have to be a certain age to be eligible for a certain program (or meet certain medical standards) that's not leeway anyone at MEPS has (except if you were able to fool the doctor on medical stuff - but that's a dangerous path).

My suspicion is 18X has very specific age criteria. Anything can be waived if you go up high enough but I can't imagine why some GO would sign an age waiver for a candidate. Unless you've got some serious political pull I think you'll find 18X closed to you. If you want to go SF you can attempt the route other service members go for but I would take a look at age requirements there as well. You'll need at least 2 years in service - but probably closer to 4 - to work your way to SFAS so if the age for regular application is 38 or lower you're out of luck.

Thanks for the reply Duce. I will be coming in as an E-4 due to having a degree, so although I would not have 2 years time in-service, I think I would be OK in that department. Everything thing that I've read from the goarmy.com website states that there is no age requirement whatsoever for those who are currently serving and are trying to drop a packet for SF. It appears though that I may go the Option 40 route since that is the only other way to get a guaranteed shot at RASP and thus achieve my main goal of getting into special operations in the Army. Thanks again.