01CelicaGTS's WOFT Progress

[Lindsey]

Damn, I was gonna say pop on over to Bremerton and I'd try to get you a discounted flight at my flight school.

[01CelicaGTS]

That would have been awesome. I haven't flown in soooo long. Thanks for the thought though!

[01CelicaGTS]

Alright, question time!

 

I am getting a couple of letters of recommendation from a staff sergeant in the Marines, and a Captain in the Army. Should they use the Army form for the LOR, or just a standard professional letter?

[av8rnik]

My understanding is that a letter that comes from an active duty soldier is supposed to be on the USAREC Form 1960.

[DC8488]

My recruiter gave me a slideshow detailing the application process for civilians he got from his battalion. It very specifically said not to use forms for LORs and any letter format would be acceptable as long as it looks professional.

[Yamer]

I told mine to use a memo format on their specific branch letterhead. For civilian writing a letter use a regular letter format

[01CelicaGTS]

Finally got some concrete dates out of my recruiter. I'm shooting for a battalion date of October 10 for a USAREC date of November 5.

 

I'm still waiting on 3 LORs and I'm going in Monday for my PFT. The nice thing about a board date a month out is that I can continue to improve my PT and submit an updated score before the board date.

 

Good luck to everyone who's in the September board!

[av8rnik]

Good luck with wrapping everything up! I was surprised that my recruiter was telling me that if i didnt make the September board that there would be one in November since there is not a WOFT board on the schedule posted on the recruiting site. Just reinforces that the recruiting site is really just geared towards AD folks.

[FLYC2A]

Finally got some concrete dates out of my recruiter. I'm shooting for a battalion date of October 10 for a USAREC date of November 5.

 

I'm still waiting on 3 LORs and I'm going in Monday for my PFT. The nice thing about a board date a month out is that I can continue to improve my PT and submit an updated score before the board date.

 

Good luck to everyone who's in the September board!

 

 

 

since you are not doing your battalion board until oct 10th.....dont you have to take the NEW SIFT TEST now ???

 

I thought "b" status is right AFTER you get boarded.....am i wrong?

 

btw, i was going to take the afast 2 weeks ago but my recruiter says that ill would not have time to make oct 1st cut off.....so he recomended me to just wait til oct 1 to take the new sift. I cant really find any concrete info on the new test, dont even know what to study for.

[av8rnik]

From what i remember reading, the SIFT will be more similar to the navy test. maybe start there. I would think there since there is no baseline for what typical test scores are, then you might have a little more flexibility in the score and the impact on your evaluation at the board. But who knows, needs of the Army right?

[01CelicaGTS]

I'm not really sure about the SIFT test. I am just going forward at this time, and will adjust as necessary. The rumor is that it will not affect civilian applicants at this time, but that's just rumor. I asked my recruiter about it and he said that he would look into it, but hasn't heard anything yet. At first I was a little upset because I have been hounding my recruiter and station commander since last month to get dates for me, so that I can get my packet to USAREC before Oct1, but they dropped the ball on that one. He called me one day after the cutoff and said we missed it. Oh well, I figure that I have time to take the SIFT after October 1, before the November 5 USAREC board. I probably only need about a week to get it scheduled and study and I'll be good to go.

[FLYC2A]

where did you hear this "rumor" ?

 

I called CWO cook / the number posted on the USEREC website, under the special message of the test change.... anyways, he said pretty much what the website said but he couldnt give me any info regarding the test itself! He said they MAY or MAY NOT release info sometime in sept.

 

 

this all sounds fishy!!! WTF are we supposed to study? lol

[01CelicaGTS]

Haha, I heard that rumor on the forum, lol. I'm just going to begin studying for it and hope for the best.

[udairman71]

For what it's worth my plan is to just study that entire ARCO book not just the AFAST section. It's a lot and it's definitely not ideal but until there's something otherwise...

[01CelicaGTS]

Went in for another APFT today, and increased by a bit. I scored 249 this time, with the biggest increase in my situps (from 61 to 70). I know I'm capable of more (I did 75 situps on Friday when I gave myself a PT test). I'm pretty content with that for now, but of course I'm going to continue to work out to submit an update before the USAREC board.

 

Also, my recruiter told me that my packet is completely submitted for the 10 Oct battalion board. Hopefully I'll know before the end of the week when my actual interview/appointment time is!

[DC8488]

Nice job on the APFT! Keep it up you're doing great.

 

Congrats on getting everything done. Knock out the BN board and you'll be behind the stick in no time.

[Yamer]

Great job celica, glad to see it progressing

[01CelicaGTS]

Thanks guys! I'm starting to get anxious. I hate having things out of my hands (like actually getting my packet submitted!) My recruiter called me today and said that there were a few errors in my packet that needed to be fixed, and he will be fixing them today. Yesterday was the cutoff for packets for the battalion board, and he told me that they're off tomorrow through Monday for a 4 day weekend! Hopefully it'll get fixed and submitted and I can still make the board on 10 OCT. Fingers crossed.

[av8rnik]

I wouldnt worry about minor errors in the packet. just as long as everything gets fixed before the cutoff for the USAREC board. Enjoy the weekend and relax a little before next week!

[01CelicaGTS]

Just got back from my battalion board. It went pretty well, as they recommended me and are going to push my packet to USAREC. I didn't get to see what my score was, but maybe it'll be in the system in a couple of days. The only thing that the president of the board told me was to continue working on my PT. She told me what's been said on here a million times; that they are looking for at least 270 but would prefer around 300. One of the officers was asking me some really odd questions, but I think I figured out after the interview that he was trying to see how I currently handle confrontational situations. There were 2 officers in the board room, and one officer on video conference from Hawaii. The only thing I wish I would have done is explain my APFT score, and how much I've improved since I started, but there wasn't really a chance in the scope of their questions to explain that. I think if I don't get selected on the USAREC board it will be because of my APFT score.

 

They didn't call my wife, or even ask how she felt about the situation, but they did ask my what my backup plan was. I should have told them that I would enlist and try from within in a couple years, but I honestly don't think I would do that. I told them the truth, that I would continue pursuing my degree in Software Engineering and get a job in Software Development. Oh well.

Edited October 10, 2012 by 01CelicaGTS

[UnitedWeStand111]

That's alright, honesty is the best policy they say. I'm sure you handled the confrontational part well enough with your work experience. Did they really grill you, or was it fairly laid back like some civilian interviews?

 

I wish they would change the APFT, but it is what it is. Some people, like myself, are in overall great shape, yet do poorly on the APFT because of the run usually. I feel the test is made for track runners, but then again, it does weed out the people who can't push themselves hard enough to run a 13min 2 mile LOL

[Lindsey]

Congrats on getting that last step done, Celica! That's awesome.

 

What kind of "odd" questions was that particular officer asking?

[01CelicaGTS]

That's alright, honesty is the best policy they say. I'm sure you handled the confrontational part well enough with your work experience. Did they really grill you, or was it fairly laid back like some civilian interviews?

 

I wish they would change the APFT, but it is what it is. Some people, like myself, are in overall great shape, yet do poorly on the APFT because of the run usually. I feel the test is made for track runners, but then again, it does weed out the people who can't push themselves hard enough to run a 13min 2 mile LOL

 

I hear you on the APFT. I mean, I understand why it's there. If get into sh*t in combat, you better have the strength, endurance and stamina to get out of there. However, I don't understand the whole getting a perfect score thing. For one, I'm a civilian. 250 is higher than most civilians can get, much less some active duty soldiers. Two, I'm going to be training for almost 2 years before I get to a unit. That's more than enough time to ace the APFT. Oh well, it is what it is

 

Congrats on getting that last step done, Celica! That's awesome.

 

What kind of "odd" questions was that particular officer asking?

 

Well, first off he was really laid back. I mean like, leaning back in his chair "why the hell should I choose you" type of laid back. Most of his questions seemed to me as though he was joking around. I actually laughed when he asked a few of them (until I realized he wasn't laughing...ooops!) I used to work at Target for 8 years, with 6 years in management.

 

The first thing he says is "So I know that Target carries their own brand...Archer Farms, Market Pantry, etc...but they also carrier products that all other stores carrier. Why is it that when I go to Target a Dyson vacuum is $100 more than I can find it anywhere else?"

 

I was taken back by this, especially because I was not in charge of pricing or anything like that. In retail, that is all done at the corporate level, not at the store level. So, I answered the best I could, and told him that ecommerce is changing the way that people shop, and many times you can indeed find items cheaper online, but you won't get the instant gratification of having it right now. That led into some other conversations.

 

After that, he asked me why Target makes people buy so much. He said that Target was stealing his money by the way they merchandise, saying that his wife calls it going shopping for "$100 toilet paper" because everytime she goes shopping for TP she spends $100. Again, this didn't seem relevant to the situation.

 

Well, after we got away from Target he asked about my current position at JPMorgan Chase Bank. I told him I was a investment licensed personal banker, and he started asking me how he should invest his money. I had to explain to him that in my position, I don't usually make the investment decisions, I get the customer pointed in the right direction and send them to our licensed Financial Advisor to get specific funds to invest in. So he says "I have $50,000 sitting under my mattress, what should I do with it?" I told him the worst thing he could do is keep it under his mattress. So then he says "OK, I'll go buy gold and bury it in my backyard". I was like "WHAT????? Is he SuperTroopering me right now? Is he going to start saying 'meow?'" I said, "with all due respect, I would not suggest burying money in your backyard." I finally told him that I could not tell him how to invest because typically, I have to spend a lot more time with a customer to understand their goals, risk tolerance, and future plans for the money, etc. Not only to do what's right for the customer, but to keep me out of trouble with FINRA and the SEC, and keep my job. Then he tells me that his wife is a securities arbitrator!!!

 

The only "normal" question he asked me was what airframe I wanted to fly. At the end, he told me that his brother is a blackhawk pilot...lol.

 

I feel that when he asked me questions, I just got flustered. I wasn't expecting those questions, and they weren't questions that I could answer directly because I didn't have full control over the issue he was asking about.

[Lindsey]

Wow, that's...really interesting. Sounds like you did a good job though. Kept your cool and thought through things. Definitely goes to show that every board is different!

[d10]

The only "normal" question he asked me was what airframe I wanted to fly. At the end, he told me that his brother is a blackhawk pilot...lol.

 

Makes sense now. If I was stuck in a recruiting battalion while my brother was flying the best helicopter the Army's got I would be a dick to all the WOFT applicants too.