Q for military members and veterans

Shower Fart

Shower Fart

Occasionally a shower shart
Messages
1,362
I’m hoping that you may be able to recommend a career path for the son of one of my friends. This kid has wanted to join the military since he was a kid and he’s now a junior in high school. He’s met with recruiters, attended events, etc. There’s no question that this is what he wants to do.

The issue that he and his parents have to deal with is that he had a seizure 6 months ago. I don’t know the particular circumstances, or if the root cause can even be determined with certainty, but he has been on meds, and hasn’t had a seizure since the initial incident. The doctors are monitoring him and encouraged that the meds are working as expected, but they aren’t yet ready to take him off the meds.

So long as he is on the meds he won’t be allowed to enlist. The kid and parents met with his recruiter today and they hope to get some clarity on what would need to happen for him to enlist, with the hope being that he gets off the meds, maintains a clean bill of health and then enlists. In your experience, does that seem like a possibility?

I‘m also curious about any parallel career paths that might not be military that he could pursue instead. Any insights on a civilian role that wouldn’t require military experience?

For some background: the kid is doing fine in school, but is very hands on, an academic path isn’t his wheelhouse. Also a very hard worker that thrives in a structured environment. For example, he’s a lanky kid that is on the wrestling team…he takes a beating from the shorter, more muscular opponents, but still wins half the time. Tough kid that just wants to put in the work.

Any insights or recommendations are much appreciated.
 
I've got a son (in college now) that started having seizures a few years ago. Meds have gotten them under control, but it basically cost him an entire year of college to get it sorted out. Heck, some (if not most/all) states won't let you drive for 6 months of seizure free time after you have one. I don't think I'd really ever encourage my son to go in the military (not that he wants to) with his recent history.

On the flip side, I'm not sure if they require a degree or not (actually probably do), but I think a career in the game warden field would be cool.
 
OldDevilDawg said:
The most respected and appreciated member of a unit in the Marine Corps is, and always has been......Doc. That Navy Corpsman that was always willing to give his life to save ours. He is the equivalent of a USMC EMT. If your son can't get into the military, discuss with him the possibility of becoming an EMT.
Click to expand...
I wonder if most Marines feel this way. I asked my older brother, who was an enlisted Marine from ‘69 - ‘72, if he would have done it different.

Looking back he said the only other thing he would have considered doing different was being a Navy corpsman.
 
Last edited:
iesheepdog said:
I wonder if most Marines feel this way. I asked my older brother, who was an enlisted Marine from ‘69 - ‘72 if he would have done it different.

Looking back he said the only other thing he would have considered doing different was being a Navy corpsman.
Click to expand...

Marines hold their corpsmen in special regard, for sure. Hell, he's an endless source of motrin and dude can score you a banana bag to get hydrated up after a bender and before morning PT lol
 
iesheepdog said:
I wonder if most Marines feel this way. I asked my older brother, who was an enlisted Marine from ‘69 - ‘72 if he would have done it different.

Looking back he said the only other thing he would have considered doing different was being a Navy corpsman.
Click to expand...

Yes, all Marines feel this way. Doc would die for you to live. That's why Corpsmen have always been Marines in our eyes.
 
Shower Fart said:
I’m hoping that you may be able to recommend a career path for the son of one of my friends. This kid has wanted to join the military since he was a kid and he’s now a junior in high school. He’s met with recruiters, attended events, etc. There’s no question that this is what he wants to do.

The issue that he and his parents have to deal with is that he had a seizure 6 months ago. I don’t know the particular circumstances, or if the root cause can even be determined with certainty, but he has been on meds, and hasn’t had a seizure since the initial incident. The doctors are monitoring him and encouraged that the meds are working as expected, but they aren’t yet ready to take him off the meds.

So long as he is on the meds he won’t be allowed to enlist. The kid and parents met with his recruiter today and they hope to get some clarity on what would need to happen for him to enlist, with the hope being that he gets off the meds, maintains a clean bill of health and then enlists. In your experience, does that seem like a possibility?

I‘m also curious about any parallel career paths that might not be military that he could pursue instead. Any insights on a civilian role that wouldn’t require military experience?

For some background: the kid is doing fine in school, but is very hands on, an academic path isn’t his wheelhouse. Also a very hard worker that thrives in a structured environment. For example, he’s a lanky kid that is on the wrestling team…he takes a beating from the shorter, more muscular opponents, but still wins half the time. Tough kid that just wants to put in the work.

Any insights or recommendations are much appreciated.
Click to expand...
If he does take the military path then I hope for his sake he goes air force. They have the better schools and the IQ level is head and shoulders above the army & marines. With that said the navy puts out some excellent pipe welders and electricians.

For civilian route look at union apprenticeships seeing how the Dems recently poured a fvckload of our taxdollars into the unions with their bs build back better scam. The skilled trades unions are begging for apprentices atm which includes electricians, pipefitters/plumbers/refrigeration, HVAC, pipe insulators, heavy equipment operators, laborers, iron workers, millwrights, etc, etc ...
 
Shower Fart said:
So long as he is on the meds he won’t be allowed to enlist. The kid and parents met with his recruiter today and they hope to get some clarity on what would need to happen for him to enlist, with the hope being that he gets off the meds, maintains a clean bill of health and then enlists. In your experience, does that seem like a possibility?
Click to expand...
I will ask my son, he is an Army recruiter, but I am of the understanding that the diagnosis is the key. IF it is epileptic seizures, you have to be free of seizures without medication for five years. If there is another cause for the seizure, other rules apply and depending on the diagnosis, are immediately waivable depending on the prescribed medicine. My son was diagnosed with having a seizure while on active duty, stationed at JBLM and was not med boarded out.

As far as career paths, apprenticeships have been mentioned and I want to say that another avenue to a Department of Labor certified apprenticeship is to contact the local Community Colleges. Something that is happening more often is that large companies are farming out ... actually shifting the training costs to the employee ... most of the classroom/lab work to CCs. Most of these are AAS degrees with a paid internship at the companies. It will cover the same information used in an apprenticeship except in a classroom environment. If one needs structure, this may be better than self-taught/paced apprenticeships through unions. He will have an AAS and the internship will give him inroads into a good employer. After 3-6 years of working, he will be awarded the DOL certification as a journeyman.
 
@Shower Fart : I talked to my son today and he suggested that if your friend's son wants to enlist, he should at least talk to a different recruiter for a second opinion, assuming the diagnosis is not epilepsy. TBH and fair, recruiters rarely do much legwork unless a prospect is eligible to enlist which means being able/willing to ship out to boot camp within 12 months. I can send you my son's contact information and he is more than willing to research the diagnosis and medications and advise him of what he finds. He has a good working relationship with the other branches of service's recruiters including the National Guard and is willing to reach out to them to find out if they can waiver this condition/medicines as well.

For full disclosure, my son will not receive any official credit at all for this kid's enlistment. He has zero incentive to help other than personal experience ... he needed a waiver or three to enlist and had to find a motivated recruiter because most of the paperwork had to go out of state for signatures.
 
batchaps4me said:
@Shower Fart : I talked to my son today and he suggested that if your friend's son wants to enlist, he should at least talk to a different recruiter for a second opinion, assuming the diagnosis is not epilepsy. TBH and fair, recruiters rarely do much legwork unless a prospect is eligible to enlist which means being able/willing to ship out to boot camp within 12 months. I can send you my son's contact information and he is more than willing to research the diagnosis and medications and advise him of what he finds. He has a good working relationship with the other branches of service's recruiters including the National Guard and is willing to reach out to them to find out if they can waiver this condition/medicines as well.

For full disclosure, my son will not receive any official credit at all for this kid's enlistment. He has zero incentive to help other than personal experience ... he needed a waiver or three to enlist and had to find a motivated recruiter because most of the paperwork had to go out of state for signatures.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for that offer! I’ve got an update that I’m going to add here in a minute.
 
First of all I’d like to thank everybody that responded here, there’s a lot of great ideas, and I appreciate your insight very much. My friend will be sharing the ideas just so the kid has something to look forward to in case the military option ends up falling through.

With that said, the meeting was encouraging. The seizure wasn’t epileptic, and apparently the recruiter is as thorough as @batchaps4me son and looked into possible restrictions. It’s a pretty basic med that doesn’t have any special requirements to administer or store. Apparently a supply that lasts over a year can be dispensed without concern. Obviously, he needs to remain seizure-free going forward.

Now the decision is focused on when to put the decision in MEPS hands (that’s my understanding anyway, you guys hopefully know what I mean). It’s a balance between getting off the meds altogether or staying on the meds and adding time since the seizure. No decision on that is going to be made in the near term.

I‘ll be passing on all of your suggestions, which are very much appreciated. At this point, my friends are trying to get their son to focus on a more general goal than a specific plan. Maybe the plan to join the military will come to pass, but they want him to also be encouraged by other opportunities as well. You guys provided some great options!

This is a great group here, you guys exceeded my expectations, which were pretty damn high.
 
Shower Fart said:
First of all I’d like to thank everybody that responded here, there’s a lot of great ideas, and I appreciate your insight very much. My friend will be sharing the ideas just so the kid has something to look forward to in case the military option ends up falling through.

With that said, the meeting was encouraging. The seizure wasn’t epileptic, and apparently the recruiter is as thorough as @batchaps4me son and looked into possible restrictions. It’s a pretty basic med that doesn’t have any special requirements to administer or store. Apparently a supply that lasts over a year can be dispensed without concern. Obviously, he needs to remain seizure-free going forward.

Now the decision is focused on when to put the decision in MEPS hands (that’s my understanding anyway, you guys hopefully know what I mean). It’s a balance between getting off the meds altogether or staying on the meds and adding time since the seizure. No decision on that is going to be made in the near term.

I‘ll be passing on all of your suggestions, which are very much appreciated. At this point, my friends are trying to get their son to focus on a more general goal than a specific plan. Maybe the plan to join the military will come to pass, but they want him to also be encouraged by other opportunities as well. You guys provided some great options!

This is a great group here, you guys exceeded my expectations, which were pretty damn high.
Click to expand...
I agree with you, lots of wisdom on here. Of course wisdom comes from the decisions you make and the consequences of those decisions. ( Of course I’m quite sure a LOT of that wisdom is from bad decisions!)
All kidding aside, we may be from different parts of the country, with different backgrounds and experience’s, but you couldn’t ask for a better group of folks to chat up with questions.
 
Shower Fart said:
First of all I’d like to thank everybody that responded here, there’s a lot of great ideas, and I appreciate your insight very much. My friend will be sharing the ideas just so the kid has something to look forward to in case the military option ends up falling through.

With that said, the meeting was encouraging. The seizure wasn’t epileptic, and apparently the recruiter is as thorough as @batchaps4me son and looked into possible restrictions. It’s a pretty basic med that doesn’t have any special requirements to administer or store. Apparently a supply that lasts over a year can be dispensed without concern. Obviously, he needs to remain seizure-free going forward.

Now the decision is focused on when to put the decision in MEPS hands (that’s my understanding anyway, you guys hopefully know what I mean). It’s a balance between getting off the meds altogether or staying on the meds and adding time since the seizure. No decision on that is going to be made in the near term.

I‘ll be passing on all of your suggestions, which are very much appreciated. At this point, my friends are trying to get their son to focus on a more general goal than a specific plan. Maybe the plan to join the military will come to pass, but they want him to also be encouraged by other opportunities as well. You guys provided some great options!

This is a great group here, you guys exceeded my expectations, which were pretty damn high.
Click to expand...
The smartest kid in my youngest son’s high school graduating class of friends joined the Air Force to be trained as a firefighter. No college loan debt, a paid for trade. Smartest kid out of the group in my opinion.
 
MarineUKFan said:
On the flip side, I'm not sure if they require a degree or not (actually probably do), but I think a career in the game warden field would be cool.
Click to expand...
My wife’s cousin is a game warden. It does sound like a really cool job, except when he has to deal with tweakers, which is pretty often in Butte County, CA. Seems like the good totally outweighs the bad though. I believe a bachelors degree is required in CA, and he had to go through the police academy. Good pay and benefits, not to mention the extra benefits. Dude’s garage is packed with free fishing gear. Every time he comes up on someone fishing without a license, they always say, “That’s not mine, it was here when I got here,” so he takes it home. He never has to buy dog food, he just grinds up the dead animals and fish he confiscates from people, and the dogs get fresh raw meat every day. And he has plenty of funny and/or interesting work stories.
 
I saw a guy at the grocery store this morning with a seabee hat on,, I talked to him for a few minutes, **for those that don't know** SeaBee is derived from the abbreviation CB or construction battalion .. they are essentially the builders of the Navy, their task are very widespread and they have famously done everything ever asked of them from their inception in 1944.. they are not special forces but interestingly they are trained by the Marine Corps..
in my opinion, SeaBees are the best job in the Navy,, you can just about pick your job and pay when you get out,, If I remember correctly, SeaBees do not get orders to Ships,, however, they may and do go all over the globe for this that and the other..
@Shower Fart I don't know if they would be less strict about a seizure situation or more,, but you might mention for your friends son to ask his recruiter if that's a possibility,, Had I become a SeaBee, I would have stayed 30 years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top