The MEPS Experience

Damion Williams, his father, and Staff Sergeant Albright after Damion swore into the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Damion Williams, Staffer

When someone wishes to enlist in the United States Armed Forces, they have many obstacles to overcome, the first of them being MEPS. MEPS is the the Military Entrance Processing Station, a long grueling day that consists of medical exams, background checks, and paperwork.

I arrived at MEPS on January 27th, 2020. When I arrived, we were put into lines and told to unload all possible contraband into a bucket and walk through the metal detector. We put our belongings into the luggage room and continued to the briefings, where we were informed on the events that would be taking place. The first of the tests was our general medical exam and physical. We had an eye and ear test, got blood drawn, and then had to perform ten exercises that exhibited our physical movement capabilities. We were then led to our service branch counselors, which was the National Guard for me. They had me take a TAPAS test, which is a government personality test. We were then fingerprinted, given background checks, and had our contracts reviewed.

At the end of the day, we were able to swear in if we had passed all of the exams and checks. Out of all 30 people who showed up that morning, only 4 got to swear in at 2:00 PM, including myself.