In the Army now

Jared officially joined the Army. Part of my frustration with the waiting game (from my earlier post) had to do with the military. Jared had jaw surgery about 9 years ago. We had to have proof that Jared's jaw was fine so the military doc could approve him to enlist. Conveniently the doc who did the surgery and his checkup wrote that he needed a followup on the chart notes. So I tried to track down his medical records knowing that after surgery he was cleared to go on a mission. I had no luck with his surgeon or the Lost River clinic where he had his physical and mission check up. So finally I called and set up an appointment with the doc who did the surgery. Luckily they did the checkup for free. I was glad since money is tighter right now and I felt like they should have had the proper documentation on file. Once we finally got his medical history the enlisting process went a lot faster. Monday he went to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) in Butte Montana. MEPS was closed Monday because of Veterans day so he had to do everything Tuesday. It made the day longer for him but he was still home by 6pm. At MEPS he took his ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery), got a physical, signed up for his job, and got sworn in. The recruiter had reserved a job that Jared choose a week or so before he went to MEPS. Jared will be a mechanic and will work at the motor pool. He will work on motorcycles all the way up to diesel vehicles. He is pretty excited that when he is done with the military he will have a better opportunity for jobs. Right now he is Active duty and has a 4 year contract. When he has served his contract if we love it he will re-enlist, or if not he will get out. This new adventure will be exciting. Jared will leave from Butte Montana on March 3rd. His boot camp will be in Jackson, Missouri for 10 weeks. From there he will go to his training for 13 weeks in Fort Lee, Virginia. We don't know where he will get stationed after training. I will be living with my parents until after training, when I can finally live with Jared again. It will be a long time to be apart, but I feel like this will really benifit our family. Jared has always been interested in the military and I could always see him doing it. I am excited to see what expiriences this next chapter brings.