The oldest Army recruit is ?????

CavScout

Active member
This may sound weird but at 36 with 3 years previous Army experience (1985-1988) I am considering quite seriously joining the Army Reserves. I am physically in very good shape with no major physical issues but I would have to go through basic and AIT again and the concern that I have is that I wouldn't be able to hack it, regardless of me being in good physical shape or not. Whats the oldest recruit you have ever seen and what happened to them? I feel as if my previous experience both in the Army and out could be beneficial in this day and age with the issues we have going on thie world. All feedback would be appreciated but don't pull any punches, say it like you think it might be. Thanks folks.


(I used the search engine but found nothing to cover this topic)
 
Well it is interesting that I saw this. I am 34 and a prior service Marine. I am headed to MEPS next week to enlist in the Army this time. Being a Marine means I do not have to go to Army Basic Training though. So I will head right to AIT I guess. I will find out and get back to you.
 
I will. I was active for 5 years and EAS in 95. SO I have had quite a break. I am actually wondering if they will let me go to Basic to get used to how the Army does things. This should be interesting.
 
Goon said:
I will. I was active for 5 years and EAS in 95. SO I have had quite a break. I am actually wondering if they will let me go to Basic to get used to how the Army does things. This should be interesting.

Personally, I am itching to do it...nevertheless, I want to get a little more conditioned before I try.
 
Goon said:
Well it is interesting that I saw this. I am 34 and a prior service Marine. I am headed to MEPS next week to enlist in the Army this time. Being a Marine means I do not have to go to Army Basic Training though. So I will head right to AIT I guess. I will find out and get back to you.

I didn't have to go to Basic or AIT, had the 11B MOS when I joined the Army NG due to training while in the Corps, but was only out of the reserves a year before going into the guard. We had people joining in their 30's, so as long as you can hack the physical demands, the mental crap should be nothing for you. I think you can get some Ibuprofen and Naporsyn while in basic, it what keeps me working out now at 37 :shock: :lol: :shock:
 
I am actually more excited about this than I have been about anything in a while. I will let everyone know how things go. I retook the ASVAB the other night. So weird being in a room with a whole bunch of nervous kids. I think their recruiters do not give them enough info about little things like the ASVAB. Hell there were kids there that did not know how it was even scored or that it was broken down into sections testing certain areas of knowledge. Had they never even tried a practice test? Well lets hope they all did well enough to get a shot at changing their lives.
 
Goon said:
I am actually more excited about this than I have been about anything in a while. I will let everyone know how things go. I retook the ASVAB the other night. So weird being in a room with a whole bunch of nervous kids. I think their recruiters do not give them enough info about little things like the ASVAB. h**l there were kids there that did not know how it was even scored or that it was broken down into sections testing certain areas of knowledge. Had they never even tried a practice test? Well lets hope they all did well enough to get a shot at changing their lives.


How'd ya do?
 
I ended up with a 95. I go to MEPS tomorrow. I am going to have to do battle with the MEPS people to try and get an Opt. 40 contract. I will let you know how it goes.
 
Goon said:
I ended up with a 95. I go to MEPS tomorrow. I am going to have to do battle with the MEPS people to try and get an Opt. 40 contract. I will let you know how it goes.


What is an "Opt. 40" contract?




Update: I found out I think....is that an Airborne or Ranger training slot?
 
Well an Option 40 contract is Ranger option enlistment. But I found out that Prior service an not get this. The Army is really making this difficult. They want to reduce me to E-2 and only have about 5-8 MOS possibilities. One of them is actually Calvary Scout and the other one I would consider is 91w which is a medic. I aced the physical and wasted a day at MEPS. I have to go again on 11/5 to try again and get this shit fixed. The whole e-4 to e-2 thing is the killer. I am already taking a big pay cut to go in the millitary and they want to cut it even more.
 
I remember at the time I was in, going "Airborne" was an option along with "Air Assault" as a Cavalry Scout, so you might go that route.

"Scouts Out!!"
 
Well I am in. I ended up with a 91W MOS. I figured I could work this angle to either get into a Ranger Batt or an SF slot. They sure do make things hard for prior service to get a second chance. Not complaining though they are just making me be more creative. My only hope now is that I get my shot at moving to one of the 2 above mentioned groups. I will keep you posted. I have to attend the 4 week WTC first then to AIT.
 
Thanks man. I am looking forward to this a lot. I will let everyone know what WTC is like when I am there.
 
You may join the Reserves as long as you can get a 20-year retirement by the age of 60...that's past 40 for you prior service guys...

As a recruiting commander, one of my recruiters enlisted a young man...while he was telling the son about the advantages of joining, the mom became interested...she was 38...the recruiter sold her too...they both enlisted the same day and she went off to BT and AIT in a medical MOS and was assigned to a Reserve Field Hospital in the area.

It can be done. My airborne school class had a 45 year old Major in the course. The black hats were checking on him constantly, but he made it with no problems...

Hooah!
 
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