What is your 'favorite' memory from MEPS?

Two memories.
First, the duck walk.

Swcond...I was last in line (125 of us at MEPS) for last event -- actually signing up. I acored well on ASVFAB, and when NCO asked what I was interested in I said, "Airborne infantry."

After his double take, he said, "You want that?!"

"Yes"

So he took me to the front of the line before I could change my mind, and boom, I was signed up.

My MEPS was at Westover Air Force base in Western Massachusetts. I have several fond memories of the place. At the time I had been going to a military school and was used to a floor of cadets sharing a bathroom. When I arrived the night before my MEPS appointment I was put up in an "Air Force hotel" for the night. I asked the enlisted airman "Where is the bathroom for this floor?" He looked at me like I was some sort of savage and responded "There is one in your room."

Another fond memory was the very next morning. A few minutes after walking in a class room, no one was asked their name or any questions. Everyone was immediately given a breathalyzer test. Anyone who blew a number other than 0 was sent away. Not sure if they were allowed to join the military when sober or kicked out. Out of 55 in that class room, 9 were drunk and set out.

My favorite memory happened the second time I went through MEPS when I joined the Air Guard. I had been out from active duty for about 9 months when I decided to join the Guard and had been working in a warehouse doing a lot of heavy lifting loading trucks and such. Anyway, when they put us through the strength test of lifting the weight over your head, several of the teenagers struggled with it. When it was my turn, I just walked up there and lifted it up like it was nothing, no struggle at all. A 30 year old man just showed up a bunch of teenagers, LOL!

My first time through MEPS, in 1995, ended with me signing my USMC contract. The Gunny there told me if my signature went outside of the box at any point he would break my arm. I believed him. Still do in fact.

That was 1984 and don't recall any of it

In 1979, guys for all five services were getting checked out in Indianapolis. Hernia inspection came up. All the guys, about 30, lined up and drop trou. A middle age female doctor walked in and grabbed her way down the line with the coughs in rhythm with her stride.

My most vivid memory from MEPS is not weighing enough to join the Army. On my third try, my recruiter had me eat a breakfast of champions on the way to the MEPS. It consisted of a quart of chocolate milk, as much of a gallon bottle of water as I could manage, a family-sized Tupperware bowl of mashed potatoes, and a re-heated hamburger that he bought the night before. I remember standing in line for my physical trying not to puke. I passed the weigh-in and all that I had to do was stand in front of the toilet for two seconds before all of that food came back up. It was horrible then but funny now.

When I enlisted in 1976 it was called the Armed Forces Entrance and Examination Station (AFEES). My favorite memory was watching my recruiter putting his face in his hands and shaking his head after I said I probably wasn't going to enlist. You see, I wanted to be a helicopter pilot, but I had a medical Specialist 8 that was being an ass about my eye test. He was one of those "the regulation says..." guys and was flunking me on eyesight because my right eye registered as "20/15". You see, the regulation stated that your eyesight had to be "20/20" in both eyes, and he had the "power" to nix me from becoming a pilot. I let my recruiter sweat it out for two days before I decided to ask for a different MOS; 93E - Meteorological Observer. This MOS had nothing to do with the artillery; it was a smaller MOS that was strictly related to Army research and development programs. This made him hang his head again. It turned out there were only about 200 or so in the Army, and they never saw many openings for it. But he ran it through and there were seven slots, so I took it. The rest is history. They civilianized the MOS seven years later and I became a 97B - Counter Intelligence Agent. Never really missed not becoming a pilot!

They told us to drink a lot of water for the UA and I definitely did. I've never had to pee so bad in my life. To tell you the truth I may have peed my pants a little bit. When I went back through MEPS as an prior service/officer candidate it was a totally different experience. Everyone else was walking around and standing at parade rest while I pretty much had free reign of the place.

My least favorite memories are visiting MEPS as a recruiter. We knew if they called too early something went wrong on the floor and you may have lost an applicant to something.

Because I needed a flight physical, the recruiter arranged for me to go to the local Air Force base and get a combination entrance/flight physical instead of going to MEPS. I didn’t have to bend over, spread anything, or even get undressed. I think I owe that recruiter a bottle of scotch.