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Man At Arms
The ACU (Army Combat Uniform)
Sigh.
Take a look.
Where to begin? I'll give each listed change a plus or a minus and I'll explain below.
Uniform changes include:
1. Mandarin collar that can be worn up or down (+/-)
2. Rank insignia centered on the front of the blouse (-)
3. Velcro for wearing unit patch, skill tabs and recognition devices (-)
4. Zippered front closure (-)
5. Elbow pouch for internal elbow pad inserts (-)
6. Knee pouch for internal knee pad inserts (-)
7. Draw string leg cuff (N/A)
8. Tilted chest pockets with Velcro closure (+/-)
9. Three-slot pen pocket on bottom of sleeve (-)
10. Velcro sleeve cuff closure (-)
11. Shoulder pockets with Velcro (+/-)
12. Forward tilted cargo pockets (-)
13. Integrated blouse bellows for increased upper body mobility (+)
14. Integrated Friend or Foe Identification Square on both left and right shoulder pocket flap. (+)
15. Bellowed calf storage pocket on left and right leg (+)
16. Moisture-wicking desert tan t-shirt (+)
17. Patrol Cap with double thick bill and internal pocket (+/-)
18. Improved hot-weather desert boot or temperate-weather desert boot (-)
19. Two-inch, black nylon web belt (+/-)
20. Moisture-wicking socks (+)
1. (+/-) It's a good idea, and already practiced. Some soldiers sew a button under their collar specifically so it can be worn up. The minus is the fact that it's velcro now as far as I know.
2. (-) First off you can't see it under body armor, and second it's a dark patch in the middle of your chest. Can you say good fucking target?
3. (-) Velcro wears out. Their rationale is that it will save soldiers the cost of replacing tapes (due to wear) and having them sewn on, yet tapes outlast the uniform typically and it only costs $0.88 per tape to have them sewn on, vs the extra 33 dollars for the uniform. You'd have to run through a hell of a lot of tapes to make that cost up. Also, velcro doesn't allow for straight alignment of the tapes and patches so it looks fucking sloppy.
4. Big fucking (-) Here's a bit of trivia for you. Soldiers, when rucking, often use the buttons to open the middle of the BDU blouse and the crotch of the BDU pants so they can get ventilation and not overheat. With a zipper you can't do that. Also, zippers are incredibly loud and unnatural sounding, and not possible to repair in the field (I sure as shit don't have the expertise to fix a zipper, but I can sew a button back on).
5. (-) I know I won't be using that shit. I'd rather have slip on elbow pads I can keep off the joint when I want full range of motion and I can move back into place when I want them.
6. (-) Ditto above.
7. (N/A) As far as I know BDU pants already have this. Maybe they mean something else, but as far as I can tell this isn't a change. It's good, by the way.
8. (+/-) Good idea, bad choice of fucking velcro.
9. (-) What the fuck for? I'm never going to carry a pen on my sleeve, I'll carry it in my pocket. Dumbass idea clearly intended only for REMFs. Just like the whole fucking uniform so far.
10. (-) Once again, velcro. Buttons = silent, velcro = loud as shit no matter how carefully you open it. I can just see an ambush or patrol getting blown to shit because a grunt's sleeve caught on a branch in the dark and RIIIIIIPPPPPPPed open.
11. (+/-) Another good change, more fucking velcro. They moved the lower blouse pockets to the shoulders because the pistol belt was over them when you were wearing gear and you couldn't use them like that. USMC did it first, but I bet they have buttons.
12. (-) I'm not quite sure what this means. I believe it means the opening is more to the side than the top. If so, that's fucking stupid. I don't want my gear falling out. More velcro, too, I bet.
13. (+) I am not sure this is needed, but if it's a real issue then great, fix it. I can't see the harm in it.
14. (+) Already practiced, just not part of the BDU. It's an IR identifier, as far as I know, so soldiers looking through NODs see a bright dot on you and don't shoot you. I might be wrong.
15. (+) I'm only really giving this a plus because I don't see the harm. I also don't see the usefulness of it. If I need something quickly it's not going to be down on my leg, so I might store beef jerky or something in those pockets but nothing vital.
16. (+) Moisture wicking anything is always good. Keeping the sweat away from the body is more comfortable and also helps prevent hypothermia in colder weather.
17. (+/-) Good because they're getting rid of the army-wide beret. Bad because it's stupid to imagine I'll be keeping anything more important than tissues in a cap I could lose at any moment.
18. (-) This boot is not polished. This is a bad thing. Polishing your boots is not just for show, it helps build up moisture resistance and coats the leather in a hard plastic-like coating that prevents damage to the leather's surface (which can lead to trapped moisture and rotting boots). Also, taking away boot polishing makes people look sloppy and eliminates a basic discipline building exercise.
19. (+/-) If this is intended to take the place of the pistol belt or something, then it's stupid but maybe a good change anyway. If not, it's just plain stupid because you only need a thin belt to hold up your pants, not a 7500 pound test nylon strap. That's what the pistol belt is for.
20. (+) See 16. Doesn't prevent hypothermia this time but it can help prevent frostbite and blistering.
There are other changes not listed there. One of the monumentally stupid ones is taking the officer's branch insignia away for MORALE reasons. Look, if some dipshit cook feels bad when a combat arms officer walks into his mess hall, boo fucking hoo, he should have become a combat soldier himself and not pussed out. This is fucking stupid. One of the good changes is the camouflage pattern. Not so much that camouflage they're suggesting but the fact that they're looking at changing it at all. I personally think the camo they have right now is moronic, and they're also trying to
cut costs by having only a few different patterns to match a wide variety of environments. If soldiers start dying because some faggot ass colonel at Natick wanted to save a few bucks and not come up with more/better camouflage, heads had better fucking roll.
All in all I hate this new uniform. It's expensive and idiotically conceived. Velcro and zippers have NO FUCKING PLACE on the battlefield. They're incredibly loud and unreliable. Buttons are the optimal choice here, and until they come up with electromagnetic fasteners or some shit nothing is ever going to replace them but inferior designs. It's like trying to improve on the wheel. Give me a call when they get large scale levitation going. Until then I'll take my wheels, thanks very much.
I don't know if I've talked about the XM8 rifle before, but I'm contemplating ranting about that next. I'm in the writing mood today.
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More Gun Stuff
Interesting
article I found on the Ruger website. Apparently the Army ordered 5,000 Ruger P95 pistols (in stainless too, apparently, wtf?).
Interesting, and an overall good choice in my opinion. The Ruger is very rugged, more reliable and durable than the Beretta 92, and very accurate. It's not fickle about ammunition at all; I've loaded a magazine with six different types of ammunition, with varying bullet design and weight, and it didn't even hiccup. The recoil is slightly harsher due to a polymer frame but it barely flips in my hands. Yeah, I own the gun, in case you're just tuning in. The only thing I don't like about this decision is A: it's 9mm and B: it's stainless. Stainless = not stealthy. Maybe the armorers will parkerize the slides, but Ruger DOES make the pistol in a blued finish. Or maybe it's going to be used by REMFs only. I dunno, but it's typical Army bullshit, if you ask me.
Oh, and it's quite a bit lighter than the Beretta 92. The P95 is 27oz unloaded and the Beretta 92 is 34.4oz, while the loaded weight should be increased by the same amount since they both use steel magazines with the same capacity.
Update: Agh, I thought of another problem. C: the grip is slick. I added skateboard tape to mine, which made a huge difference in positive control. People with smaller hands might have a problem shooting it, but then, that's true of all double stack pistols.
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Olympic PCR-9GL / PCR-40GL
I'm very, very interested in pistol caliber carbines that match pistols. If the rifle and pistol share a magazine too, that's an order of magnitude better. Kim du Toit planted this obsession with matched rifles and pistols in my mind a long time ago. Until recently my options were the Marlin Camp Carbines, the Ruger PC series and the Beretta CX4 Storm. I don't like the looks of the Camp Carbine and I'd prefer a higher capacity, the Ruger rifles are
fucking ugly even though the PC9 matches my pistol (P95), and the Beretta CX4s, while interesting, are pretty scarce due to high demand. I might buy one in 40 S&W someday to match a Beretta 96 Brigadier, but that's probably not going to happen until 2006 anyway.
Inside the AR-15 family and ignoring Colt, Olympic Arms makes pistol caliber uppers in 9mm, 40 S&W, 10mm, and 45 ACP, but they are designed to be mated with regular AR-15 lowers and use expensive modified Uzi or Sten mags, which retail at about 65 bucks a pop. They made a 30 Carbine upper for a while (I believe it's out of production now) which utilized a magwell block on a specially modified lower and accepted M1 Carbine magazines, but no pistol matched it (I don't count the Ruger SA revolver). Rock River Arms makes a 9mm upper that uses a magwell block and modified Uzi mags (a lot more simple than the OlyArms version), which is what I was looking at when I found the new PCR-9GL.
The PCR-9GL/40GL is an innovation by Olympic Arms that is based on a specially designed lower receiver with a magwell that only accepts Glock magazines. I was instantly taken by the desire to own one. Common pistol calibers, accepts popular pistol mags with capacities up to 33 in 9mm and 29 in 40 S&W supported by the AR-15 aftermarket? What a fucking brilliant idea! I'll say that I'm not that into Glock pistols, and only two models caught my eye previously (the Glock 20 in 10mm and the 36 in 45 ACP), but I would buy a Glock 17 or 22 to go with this rifle any day. It's unfortunate that they don't offer it in 10mm or 45 ACP, but I'll be willing to bet that by next year consumer pressure will push them into producing the lower that accepts those size magazines. I'd take the Glock 20/10mm CAR-15 over any other combination of pistol/carbine any day of the week and twice on sunday, but if they don't come around the 40 S&W will have to suffice.
In case you didn't catch it, this is easily the most exciting development in the market for me in a very long time. I want one so bad it hurts; the only thing I would like better is a lower that accepts Tanfoglio Witness magazines and a manufacturer out there somewhere to make high capacity (20-25 round) mags for the Witness (in 10mm!). In 9mm, 40 S&W, or 45 ACP this carbine is in my opinion the non-shotgun paragon of home defense. In 10mm, I'd not use it for home defense but in a CQB/urban combat situation I'd take it over anything else, MP5 included.
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New Toys
It's like Christmas all over again for me, except more exciting. I've been buying all kinds of new things to play with in the last week or so, from my new knives to rucking gear. Today I'm going to pick up an Armalite AR-180B rifle at a shop in East Rochester and see about an AR-15 stripped lower receiver; either they will have one for me or I'll have them order it. Not Colt, though. I'm going to build a NY legal AR-15 carbine on it, probably with a combination of Rock River Arms and Bushmaster parts. I'm going for practical value here, not a tackdriving match gun, so reliability and weather resistance are priority. I'll have a collapsible stock and probably a pre-ban (AKA normal) upper for when I'm shooting in PA, but in NY we have our own state copy of the AWB so I'm getting to spend an extra 600 dollars on shit so I can use it here. Fucking liberals.
I'm a little lukewarm on the boots, simply because they're not the most comfortable things in the world (Altama 10" all leather combat boots--what I'll probably be issued at Basic, assuming they don't switch to the brilliantly moronic suede type of the new Army Combat Uniform by then. I'll bitch about the ACU later.) I could have bought a nicer pair, like the Belleville 700s or some Corcoran or Danner goretex/leather boots, and I might still, but there's no point in getting used to really good boots exclusively and then ruining my feet with lower quality footwear once I ship. That stands true for my rucksack and LBE too; there is much better stuff out there, but it's a waste of time and money if it's not going to prepare me realistically for the suckfest of 15 mile roadmarches with a 65-80 pound pack and no hip pad because your LBE is in the way.
Obviously I'm excited about the AR-180B, which for all of you uninformed folks is Armalite's improved version of the AR-15, with a gas piston system. I'm not going to list all of the changes here, but let's just say that from what I've heard it's at least as accurate, if not more, much cleaner firing, cheaper, and lighter. It uses AR-15 mags and is more reliable. It's not chrome lined. That's not that big a deal, and I could always have the chamber and bore lined if I felt like it later. The aftermarket for the AR-180B is nowhere near as big as that of the AR-15, but I'm not looking for a tactical toy, just a good rifle. If ever I feel like putting on the 5.11 pants and drop thigh holster I'll build an AR-15 to match.
Some of my sharp toys of recent acquisition include a Gerber AR 3.50 semi-serrated folder, Cold Steel Safekeeper II, a basic Ka-Bar 7" knife with a plain edge, and a Benchmade Rant DPT fixed blade. The Gerber took me a little while to break in--the liner lock makes one handed opening a bit harder than some of the other locking folder designs--but I love it. I'd've preferred the satin finish on the blade, because the black finish is starting to get a little rough on the spine of the blade and it shows dust really well, but I really like the knife anyway. It's my tool knife, carried with me everywhere but federal buildings clipped inside my right pants pocket. The serrated edge cuts rope very impressively, I might add. I'll probably buy a satin finish version of either the AR 3.50 or AR 3.00 eventually.
The Safekeeper II is about the coolest damn knife I've ever held--it's a push dagger--and for about three days after I got it I played with it constantly. My only complaint is the sheath; when the knife is fully in the sheath it's very hard to draw, requiring both hands and a lot of grip strength. I carry it with me everywhere, mostly in the sheath but not entirely, enough so it's secure but easily drawn. Very easily concealed, even under a plain white undershirt, and easily accessible. I ordered a new sheath from Survival Sheaths, which was recommended on a knife forum somewhere to a guy with the same problem I have. It cost more than the knife itself, but it's definitely worth it if it fixes my problem. I've had the knife leave the sheath twice in the car, and given how sharp it is I don't want it wandering around my ass on the seat unattended.
I lied about the Ka-Bar. I don't actually have it yet, it's coming today by UPS. It's a classic knife, though, so there's little to say. I wanted one, and even though I have other knives that are arguably better, my collection will never be complete without a Ka-Bar.
As for my Rant DPT, I don't like it quite as much as I thought I would. The blade is a little broad for my taste and the grip isn't as secure as I'd like. It feels like I always have to squeeze just a little harder for a good hold on it. I'd thought the Kraton handle would be a little firmer, though if it was checkered more along the lines of Cold Steel handles (finer LPI) it would be an excellent grip. So basically either one of those flaws would be fine if the other had been done correctly; firmer grip and the same checkering or the same grip and finer checkering. Despite that, it is an excellent knife in terms of fit and finish, and it holds an edge amazingly well. The blade is N690 Stainless Steel, about like 440C Stainless, or so says the Benchmade website.
For fun I bought some Zytel weapons from Cold Steel, the CAT Tanto and Delta Dart. They're made entirely out of a very hard plastic (Zytel...) and are extremely light. I'm disappointed in the CAT Tanto because the handle is really slick. Grip tape might help. It's not sharp, really--it'll cut tape easily enough but not cardboard. While you could slash with it if you needed to you'd be better off just stabbing. I stabbed it through about eight layers of cardboard with the same ease as any of my knives but my Fairbairn Sykes dagger. The Delta Dart is designed specifically for stabbing and it is very, very good at it. Much easier to control than most any knife when stabbing through thick material because the three sided spike equalizes the force of the stab laterally. The Cold Steel website says it can be driven through a half inch of leather by hand, which I hesitate to believe, but it's still extremely good at what it was designed for. I'll try the leather stab test some day and tell you about it.
I have a few more knives I'm interested in buying: a Cold Steel OSS, Cold Steel Kobun, Columbia River Hissatsu, and one of these three: Randall No. 1, Cold Steel Military Classic, or Cold Steel ODA. Some folders could be thrown in there, like the Emerson CQC-7 (I don't know why anyone would want a chisel ground folder, but I've heard good things and it's immensely popular) or a nice balisong. A khukuri, perhaps, and a fixed blade karambit. Unfortunately I've about expended my knife budget and since I have all the knives I actually need for now, I can't indulge myself. That's why God invented enlistment bonuses though. Airborne school = toy time.
A few more toys are coming in the future, probably, like a pistol or two if it looks like I'll be able to get to PA enough to make it worth my while, or if I can shoot at ranges under my father's supervision or something in NY. We'll see, but I'm not spending a shitload of cash on pistols I can't even use for years. I'd be better served spending that money on rifle ammunition.
I'm not spending all of my money and time on weapons stuff, just to be clear. I have tons of shit I am doing and am going to do and weapons training is a small part of it, it's just the most interesting to talk about for me.
Update (1/12): The AR-180B's barrel is chrome lined, apparently. I was wrong. Good. Unfortunately I didn't buy it last night because the price was higher than I thought, $750 total. If I can order it at a different store or online for, say, 25 bucks cheaper I'll do that. If I'm not going to save at least $25 the wait and hassle is not worth it to me.
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Contract
So, about my contract. I know I've talked about what I wanted, but who knew if I would actually get it? I'll try to explain what it means and how my life will go once I ship out, in case anyone is interested. If you're not, skip this post.
My MOS is 11X, or the Infantry Enlistment Option. I have a few options attached to my contract, one being the Option 40, and two others which are bonuses and the Army College Fund (I was wrong about the amount for the ACF, by the way, it's only about $70,000 total.) The Option 40 guarantees me a slot at RIP, Ranger Indoctrination Program, and includes Airborne. My enlistment period is officially 4 years 19 weeks, and I ship out officially on June 20th but MSG Pierce said it would be realistically the 15th or so. I believe I'll get another bonus for having more than 30 credits and depending on what I do while in the Delayed Entry Program I will ship as an E-2 or E-3. E-2 for sure, but possibly an E-3. That's a pay grade, in case you don't know; E for enlisted an 2 or 3 for grade 2 or 3. E-2 is Private (above E-1) and E-3 is Private First Class.
OSUT (One station one unit) Training will take place at Fort Benning, Georgia, home of the infantry. That's 17 weeks. Next I'll get to stay at Fort Benning for Airborne School, 3 weeks. After Airborne I get to go through RIP, another 3 weeks at Benning. Somewhere between schools I'll probably have a holdover or two, depending on class schedules. I'll be going through RIP in the best (kind of) period of the year in Georgia, where it will be somewhat cooler and a relief from the heat and humidity I'll enjoy throughout OSUT. After RIP, I pray to get assigned to 2nd Battalion at Fort Lewis, WA. I'll let you know when the time comes.
I'd thought I'd have something worthwhile to say, but I really don't. I have six months to get ready for the buildup to the toughest damn thing I'll ever do; people like to say how tough basic is, but compared to RIP and then Ranger Battalion life it's a cakewalk. I'm progressing into a serious training regimen in the next few weeks and so I don't know how much I'll be posting, especially once school starts in two weeks. I have some stuff to say but often I'll try to write about it and come out more confused than I was when I sat down to focus my thoughts. Hopefully I'll get my act together soon.
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MEPS
I went to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) the other day, Wednesday actually. It was an interesting experience. My recruiter stopped by at 9 AM and woke me up after only 1.5-2 hours of sleep and asked me if I wanted to go, and kind of foolishly I said yes. We left at 1 pm, after I got no more sleep, and got to Syracuse around 2:30.
I took the ASVAB (Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Battery) when I got there, which is not as I described it earlier. Basically there are 4 sections that make up the AFQT, or Armed Forces Qualification Test, which is a lot like the SAT. They are Word Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension, Mathematical Knowledge, and Arithmetic Reasoning. Easy stuff, I got a 99th percentile on that. There are six more sections, things like science knowledge, shop/auto knowledge, electrical, etc. I guess I did well on those sections but I don't know what my scores were, and they don't matter for me anyway. After the ASVAB I sat around for 2 hours and watched TV while I waited alone for a Holiday Inn van to come get me. Eventually I got to go to the hotel and check in, and I crashed at 6 pm.
The next day, wakeup was at 4:30 (I got up at midnight after only dozing all evening, so I was totally screwed all day--I almost fell asleep every few minutes after about 8 AM. Breakfast was pretty good, they had the choice of cereal, french toast, or more robust food like bacon, sausage, and spiced hash browns. I took the meat and potatoes, since I hadn't eaten the day before--I didn't eat anything before I left with SFC Hartley and I slept through the dinner they offered. Two full plates of food later I was good to go. A taxi took us to the Federal Building and dropped us off at a loading dock type area for check in with security. They scanned our bags, asked about camera phones, and checked us for weapons and such.
Next we got to check in at the MEPS desk itself, and got our pictures taken for a quick visual check in our medical folders. They brought us one by one into a meeting room, where I got to see how many people I would get to spend the day with. Only five of us were there for physicals and such, with about a half dozen guys and one girl shipping out that day in the reception area. Major Downs, the Syracuse MEPS commander, gave us a briefing on our day, and then we filled out a great many medical pre-screening forms. Basically this is to determine if they need further medical records for you or a medical waiver, and I believe it determines whether or not you get a rectal/pelvic exam, which I thankfully did not.
Upstairs to the Medical floor we went, and they ran us through a gauntlet of tests. Urinalysis, blood drawn, visual acuity and refraction, blood pressure and pulse, a hearing test, and finally we got to meet the doctor. All of the shit before the doctor took about 2 hours, mostly sitting around. The doctor was a old, eccentric oriental man. He gave me a rapid fire physical, and he was none too gentle either. I won't go into detail here because frankly it's not important, the point is he was content with my physical condition.
I was the last one done with the doctor, so I went down the hall to strip to my gym shorts--this is important if you don't regularly wear underwear: wear at least gym shorts or you'll be screwed--and join the rest of the guys. I got weighed, measured heightwise, and admonished not to gain any weight (in the next six months--right) because I was only 7 (only?) pounds under the limit for my height, which is 189 pounds. Remember how I thought I'd never be this light again? Well, I am now. Anyway, they lined us up and made us do a series of movements to test for joint pain, range of motion, etc. The duck walk gave me some trouble, but the rest of the stuff we had to do was no big deal.
After we got dressed again, they sent us down the hall to have our medical folders reviewed and graded and stuff. I got all 1's on the PULHES grading system, which basically tests your physical stamina, eyesight, hearing, sanity, upper and lower extremities. Each factor, like P or H, is rated from 1 to 4. The standards are available elsewhere, but basically all 1's is good. It's called a picket fence when your PULHES is 111111. Logical. I needed a picket fence to get my contract, so I was relieved when I heard that; I had been worried about my eyesight, but it was no big deal apparently.
Our medical stuff was effectively done at that point, and I was sent back to the MEPS floor to move into my next stage of the day, which was talking to a career counselor. I went to see MSG Pierce in the Army Liaison office across the hall as instructed but he had me wait in the reception room until the shippers were done being processed. Twenty minutes later he came and took me into his office.
His first question was how long do I want to wait to ship, which was obviously a set up question since when I offered my tentative 'at least three months' he immediately said 'not gonna happen' and said I had to ship within two months, and realistically by Jan 31. I told him that there was no way I was shipping with an Option 40 on Jan 31 because I wouldn't be ready, at which point he tried to be a hardass and intimidate me into that contract. I held my ground, and he said he might as well call my recruiter and send me home and I said fine, I'll come back next month. At this point I inquired as to whether or not going to college this semester would make a difference, and he ran some searches and pulled some strings and to make a long story short I ended up with an 11X Opt 40 contract leaving June 20th, as long as I go to college full time this semester.
I'm kind of fuzzy on what happened next because by this time I was getting incredibly tired. I know I had an interview with a sergeant who ran through my information several times, I suppose trying to catch me in a lie, and I was truthful about everything so my interview was very quick. She had me wash my hands and took my fingerprints electronically, which was pretty cool. Next I got to sit for several hours while the other guys, including some moron who came in late and held the rest of us up by about 90 minutes. Eventually we were sworn in by a Naval Lieutenant, who was a pretty cool guy. We signed our contracts, I got sent to MSG Pierce again, and soon after I got to go home. My recruiter, the poor guy, had to wait for me for three hours past when I should have been done.
One thing that struck me the most about the servicemen I met was their handshakes. Very firm and confident. I can't stand limp handshakes.
I crashed at about 5pm when I got home thursday afternoon, and slept all night until 7am, 14 hours straight without waking once. I was left with a few tasks to do, which I got done yesterday (Friday). I enrolled for 16 credits and got a letter of enrollment verification and faxed it to MEPS, which means for the moment I'm all set. The End of my MEPS story.
I guess in case any aspiring soldiers read this, I'll leave a few pearls of wisdom:
Wear underwear or gym shorts. Don't wear a plain white T-shirt in MEPS, it's considered an undergarment and thus inappropriate.
Get plenty of sleep before the ASVAB and don't fuck around at the hotel, just get some sleep. You are not allowed to sleep in the lounge.
Bring a book or magazine, or two. You'll do tons of sitting around.
Be 100% honest about your criminal record. Juvenile record, expunged, whatever, it doesn't matter, the military can still find it.
Be 100% honest in answering questions about your medical record, but do not volunteer information beyond what they ask you. Sometimes it's fun to talk about all of your past injuries, but that is NOT the time to do it.
Don't sign anything but what you want. Don't let them intimidate you.
Don't take promises, and make sure you get everything in writing. READ your contract.
When you're in your interview, don't act shifty. Keep eye contact, don't fidget, answer truthfully.
Oh, don't bring knives or anything that can be seen as a weapon. Common sense, but some people carry a knife or knives all the time (like me) so it's easy to forget.
Be polite to the MEPS personnel; if you fuck around or aren't there when they need you they might leave you waiting all day. They have to be there anyway, they don't care if you wait. This happened to me when the other guys left to go smoke outside; I was the only one there when the Air Force E-3 came by to get us sworn in and we got to wait another two hours.
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