Physical 1

So I finally took the physical. (Tuesday 21st, 2009) It really isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I mean I was tired because I had to get up at 3:00am to get to the place by 5:30am but other than that it wasn’t bad. The people at MEPS were great. Obliviously they weren’t the happiest people on the planet but as long as you were being respectful and following instruction (and a few people weren’t) then they were great. Basically there was like seven main stages. First stage (all this is after check in btw) was a briefing and you filled out another medical form (basically the same as your prescreen form just a little longer) and you took a breathalyzer. Stages 2-6 could vary in order, basically you went to the shortest line till everything was done. There was blood test, which didn’t hurt, for HIV (not AIDS). Then there was a urine test for drugs. Then there was a vision screening. Then there was a hearing test. Then there was a doctor interview (they were only asking questions). All of that took place till about 10:30ish. When that was finally done we had the Doctor screening and exercise test. This is probably the most dreaded part of the entire process but in truth wasn’t that bad at all.

The Doctor Screening and Exercise Test
After they explained everything that was going to happened we stripped down to our underwear and stood in a line. Then they took our height and weight measurements; while in line a doctor came by and listened to your heart and lungs. If you were over your weight limit (like myself) you had to go in another line where they did a body/fat ratio, btw my body fat was ok. At the same time the doctors would also look at your feet, I literally mean look at they rarely touched you in the whole process. After that you were put in one of two lines. Each line would go into a smaller room. Line 1, they checked (quick look) your eyes, teeth, and ears. Line 2, was the dreaded “Nuts and Butts” (btw, if I didn’t mention it this is obviously for men and yes they actually called it “Nuts and Butts”). The Nuts and Butts line went into a small room like the other line except it was only you and the doctor. You got privacy at this point. You had to walk up to a line of tape on the floor, pull your underwear down, he would check your testicles (the old squeeze and cough method); then you turned around and bent over and pulled your butt cheeks apart. It was such a short amount of time… I mean literally by the time I bent over it was done. After everyone was done with those lines we had to do some exercises. Nothing difficult or exhausting, they are merely checking your joints to make sure they work. No push-ups or sit-ups or anything like that. These were more like wiggle your finger and walk on your knee sort of stuff. Then we got dressed and received our files. After that we had another private talk with the doctor where he would explain if we qualified or not and why.

Basically they were really good about keeping you informed the best they could, and for me that really made things go easier. There were a few times I wasn’t sure what was going on but I could ask one of the staff for help. They were extremely knowledgeable and professional. Now if you had a problem on the medical process (like myself) then you have to go for a waiver. So that is my next step. From what I gather it shouldn’t be that difficult of a process but we’ll see.