If a recruit wants to enlist as a 12B and lives right outside of Fort Leonard Wood, can they just drive themselves there?

2025-09-26T10:48:32-04:00

Let's say a recruit wants to enlist as a 12B and lives right outside of Fort Leonard Wood in St. Robert. Can they just drive themselves there? Or would they still have to go to the USO in St Louis Airport to get picked up? Just wondering how that would work because I know some cadets who lived close to Fort Knox drove themselves to CST.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 26 at 2025 11:09 AM

2025-09-26T11:09:07-04:00

Recruiter would probably have to drop them off to reception. But that's just a guess.

Response by SGT Aaron Atwood made Sep 26 at 2025 11:34 AM

2025-09-26T11:34:19-04:00

I've never heard of training personnel being able to do something like that; especially for recruit training. Besides, the way Murphy's Law works, I could see the prospective recruit getting orders to BCT at a different base altogether. The way it generally works is the person goes through the recruiter. Recruiter takes person to MEPS. If MEPS is a go orders get cut in the second trip there, and generally the recruit goes straight from MEPS to the recruit depot via government-paid travel. Same goes for weirdos like me who switch branches. My orders took me from MEPS to Fort Sill. I couldn't go fetch my family and bring them to Oklahoma until after I had finished checking in at Fort Sill first.

Response by COL Randall C. made Sep 26 at 2025 12:36 PM

2025-09-26T12:36:19-04:00

No (USMEPCOM Regulation 601-23*, para 9-6).

There are also two things to consider:
• Soldiers will report to the MEPS station on their ship date for a final physical (you didn't break anything? You're not pregnant? Etc.) and to be administered the oath of office. Once they are sworn in, they belong to the Army (so to speak).
• Recruits are not to even ride in POVs during the first three phases of IET* (TRADOC Regulation 350-6, Table 2-2) and they wouldn't have access to their POV for a couple of months.

Even if they were allowed to drive in their POV to BCT (which, again, they aren't), and assuming they could find someplace to dump it for the period prior to AIT (since 12B is OSUT and has BCT and AIT combined), not many people would want to risk their car being in the same shape after parking it somewhere, for that length of time, without someone being responsible for it's security.
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* USMEPCOM Regulation 601-23 - https://www.mepcom.army.mil/portals/112/documents/pubsforms/regs/r-0601-023.pdf
* TRADOC Regulation 350-6 - https://adminpubs.tradoc.army.mil/regulations/TR350-6.pdf

r-0601-023.pdf

Response by PO2 Mike Vignapiano made Sep 26 at 2025 4:58 PM

2025-09-26T16:58:12-04:00

Driving themselves? I don’t think there would be a place to stow their vehicle for the duration. Also, would they know where to go? Those who are there to receive/greet the arrivals from MEPs probably wouldn’t know how to treat them.

Response by Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen made Sep 26 at 2025 9:29 PM

2025-09-26T21:29:38-04:00

You need to learn a lot more about the military if you're considering enlisting.

Response by 1stSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 27 at 2025 4:06 AM

2025-09-27T04:06:13-04:00

You can’t just drive to Fort Leonard Wood and enlist. You’ll need to go through a recruiter and MEPS first. Once you’re in, the Army will give you reporting instructions for training

Response by MAJ Byron Oyler made Sep 27 at 2025 11:27 PM

2025-09-27T23:27:28-04:00

Cadets in ROTC and enlistees are in very different situations.

Response by SSgt Christophe Murphy made Sep 29 at 2025 10:19 AM

2025-09-29T10:19:20-04:00

Don't over think it. Everyone goes to entry level training the same way. They leave through MEPS. That is the doorway you step through to be processed, sworn in and board a bus or van and go to training. Doesn't matter where you live.

Response by MSG William Wold made Oct 26 at 2025 10:19 AM

2025-10-26T10:19:33-04:00

I grew up and lived 14 miles from the East gate at Ft Lewis. The ranges were my play area. I believe the most sucky part of my entire career was basic training a Ft Lewis. There were a couple times I wanted to just go home. AIT though was on the East coast, where I was sent the 20th of December, only to get there and told I could go home until the 2nd of January, but in my own nickel, getting $97 a month. So my first 3 months sucked. But got over it. At AIT graduation I thought I was still E-2 but being honor graduate they pinned me SP-4. I said wait I’m still E-2. No, you were promoted to E-3 5 days ago so technically honor graduate gets a one rank promotion. Congratulations. I would be E-4 the rest of my enlistment.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 27 at 2025 12:30 AM

2025-10-27T00:30:02-04:00

What's probably going to happen is the recruiter will have an emergency conflict. They will have their buddy Drill SGT take the recruit to transportation. The Drill SGT will watch the recruit get on the plane, the plane will fly to NY, then transfer to SF, then fly all the way back to MO where the recruit will meet the exact same Drill SGT pick them up at the airport and take them to Reception at Ft LW.

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There is something to be said to be part of the experience of getting on the plane, trying to figure out who on your flight is going to BCT, talking up a storm to them, thinking you are going to be BCT battles, then all pile off of the plane into the watchful eyes of Drill SGT's who Shepard scared kids onto the bus. Then chat up a storm with everyone on the bus to Reception. Then all pile out of the bus into the care of a tired and pissed off Drill SGT who has to baby sit them until the next morning, finally to realize whatever they thought they knew was going to go on is totally out the window, and all those new buddied you just met scatter to the winds through the Reception process and allocating them to BCT Companies.

If all one did was get dumped off at Reception, for the first week, the recruit is going to feel left out of the experience, but I guess it's not that big of deal.

If the Recruiter is nice they will dump the soldier off just as the bus arrives. If they want to screw them over they can dump them off several hours before.
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Quasi related:
In BCT my MOS was 35F. There were only FOUR of us in my entire training company. 80% of the rest of the company was 88M (Drivers). When I went to AIT the four of us showed up very late from our bus ride. LONG AFTER the rest of the cycle had already processed in. We found out that FT Jackson had all the other 35F's and was the inverse in terms of their BCT companies and MOS's

So for the entire AIT school the four of us made up our own little special group because we sort of were on the outside of everyone else's experience. I mean it's only 4 months, and no one cares once we graduate and scatter to our units, but it's little things that matter when it's all you have.

So I hope the recruit gets mixed in with everyone else ASAP in relation to the experience that is the journey from his front door at home to Reception.