# Pitting scum-sucking knuckle-dragging recruiters **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 3, 2004, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065 "2004-04-03T15:56:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065/41 "2004-04-04T21:28:14Z")
> [@drgnrdr07](#): > > **1010011010** Not getting the programming job didn’t have to do with my subscores on the ASVAB. I’ll grant that you might have blown the test away, and it’s all about your recruiter not bothering to put through the paperwork. I don’t know how things are done in the AF or for that particular job. However, they have a job sepecific test for what I wanted in the Navy, which I didn’t have to take because I did well enough on the relevant subsections of the ASVAB. I did get what I asked for, though, I think I’d be happy with Mess Specialist, in retrospect. Trust me, it doesn’t matter what you do in the military, you still have to do shitty work. Often literally (I’ve heard more stories about pressurized human waste… \). You’ll get out in a year or so with, as you said, an impeccable record and a bunch of awards. How many of those awards are due to the stature of your competition? Would your record have quite as much going for it if you had been a programmer? I’ve talked to some folks formerly in Naval computers and crypto… the military is a black hole in any field with significant civilian competition. They don’t recognize most of the various military qualifications, and all your non-military friends have 4 years worth of resume to talk about. Plus, you know how to cook. It’s good to be able to cook. Members of your preferred sex like it. Go read Dante’s Inferno… When they get to the part of the special place in Hell for those who make Lies of Omission, smile quietly when you realize it’s full of recruiters. ---
**Author:** ![drgnrdr07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71e660/32.png) [@drgnrdr07](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drgnrdr07)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065/42 "2004-04-04T22:05:14Z")
> [@1010011010](#): > > Go read Dante’s Inferno… When they get to the part of the special place in Hell for those who make Lies of Omission, smile quietly when you realize it’s full of recruiters. I can’t help but laugh at that last part. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065/43 "2004-04-05T03:32:58Z")
> [@](#): > > BTW, I know a few programmers here at Langley. They told me that most of what they do now has nothing to do with programming. Their job is to try and break programs so you might want to relay that to your son. He’s going to be at the Air Force Weather Service in Omaha, “testing” programs, so you may well be right. But he’s gotten some other good stuff already out of the military – his self-confidence has gone way up, first and foremost. He’s really grown up, rather remarkably. The military can really bring maturity, even though you may not recognize it in yourself. Papa Tiger being former Air Force, and Young Tiger’s dad also having been Air Force, we all had a pretty good idea of what he’d be facing. I did a lot of research online about what the situation actually is now, and between that and our knowledge of the system, his recruiter never even _thought_ about trying to lie to any of us. Plus, to be fair to him, he really is a good guy, plus his recruiting station is in a fairly blue-collar area that gets lots of willing volunteers so he gets all the folks he needs by telling the truth. But it’s not true that military experience is always a black hole: Papa Tiger used to run the computers at a military hospital, and he regularly hired folks just getting out of the military not just because they had the training he needed, but they also generally had a better work ethic and were far more reliable than their civilian counterparts. So even if you end up with four years as an Air Force cook, you’ll be someone who automatically gets a second look from employers because you’ve developed habits of self-discipline and courtesy and on and on that are highly desirable to employers. Plus there are still some old-fashioned patriots out there who just plain respect folks who’ve served. It won’t hurt to ask for cross-training, however. There was at least one staff sergeant in Young Tiger’s class who was cross-training. It’s not a lengthy training commitment; the class is only about 2 months long. No chance they’ll do it without extending your enlistment, eh? Well, good luck anyway! ---
**Author:** ![fushj00mang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@fushj00mang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fushj00mang)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065/44 "2004-04-05T04:28:34Z")
> [@](#): > > the point was I was stuck in a job that has the lowest asvab scored needed(I think it is tied with the cops) What’s wrong with being a SP? Just because two thirds of us are dropouts of their respective tech schools, doesn’t mean that some of us don’t voulenteer for the duty. (But you can always recognize us, we’re the ones with the stripes who don’t have to play “Guard the gate” or “Guard the nuke.”) ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065/45 "2004-04-05T06:22:24Z")
Glad I never had any plans to join armed forces, although I recall a very very stupid early computer “help fit you into a career path” program that did suggest an armed forces career, OR to become a minister/clergyperson of some kind, _without_ establishing at all how I viewed either of those options. The third suggestion was equally sillly, so much so that I cannot remember what it was. > [@](#): > > Oh sergeant, was this the adventure you meant > When I put my name down on the line > All your talk of computers, of sunshine and skis > I’m asking you, sergeant, where’s mine [http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/s/sergeant.html](http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/s/sergeant.html) That’s a bad deal, **drgnrdr07** but it sounds as though your time is drawing to a close. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065/46 "2004-04-05T19:52:21Z")
My father was called up “for the duration of the present emergency” in 1946. He was allowed to state his preferences as to service. The Royal Navy was his first choice, the Army his second. So they put him in the RAF. My father was an intelligent man, but had something of a blind spot when it came to technology. (Once, when my mother was away on holiday, I had to explain to him how a rotary tin opener worked … ) So they gave him a battery of aptitude tests, and … … put him to work in the technical branch. Servicing Spitfires. \*Plus ça change … \* ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065/47 "2004-04-06T16:54:45Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Disclaimer: I’ve never been in the miltary. > > But I’ve had many family members and friends who were, and what I always heard from them is that one enters the military to serve said military; never expect the military to serve you, except by sheer happy coincidence. So I always had the default belief that once signed up, said enlistee was used in whatever way the service thought best. > > Was it ever a reasonable expectation that the enlistees wants and desires would be not only listened to, but acted on? > > I have no axe to grind here, but I am curious. The OP answered this well enough. I just wanted to add that, since job experience is one thing that motivates people to join the armed forces, they do offer guaranteed jobs to people who do well on the ASVAB. Of course, that guaranteed job might not turn out to be the dream job the recruiter described. It sounds like the OP got screwed because there wasn’t time to take the specialty test again. It might have been worth asking the Air Force Inspector General to look into, except that three years have gone by. Three years is the point at which you can cross-train, unless you’re in an undermanned AFSC - at least, that’s how it used to be. Any chance of that, **drgnrdr07**? ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065/48 "2004-04-06T17:01:22Z")
And I forgot to add, Thank you for doing your jobs conscientiously, even though you hate it. That’s commendable. ---
**Author:** ![drgnrdr07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71e660/32.png) [@drgnrdr07](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drgnrdr07)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065/49 "2004-04-06T18:35:26Z")
> [@heresiarch](#): > > And I forgot to add, Thank you for doing your jobs conscientiously, even though you hate it. That’s commendable. No problem. I am not going to take out my frustations on good people that just want to eat. I was thinking of cross-training but then I would have to extend my enlistment about a year and a half. I would rather just bid farewell to the military and continue my college education. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065/50 "2004-04-06T18:43:18Z")
Don’t remember seeing this, if so, apologies. Did the Air Force pay off any student loans? ---
**Author:** ![drgnrdr07](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71e660/32.png) [@drgnrdr07](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drgnrdr07)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065/51 "2004-04-07T01:27:40Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Don’t remember seeing this, if so, apologies. > > Did the Air Force pay off any student loans? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065/52 "2004-04-07T19:31:04Z")
Got me a 99 as well. i remember being horrified on inprocessing day at MEPPS. While we were all waiting for our breathalyzer test I overheard a coupla people comparing their scores: 74, 66, 83…and poor Bobby didn’t make it–he failed to get a **50** “yeah…what a dumbass.” And I thinks to myself…these guys are gonna get GUNS! :eek: Me? I talked my Army recruiter out of that really cool job in supply and into the linguist job my frined John had in the Marines. He was good: “Uh, we don’t have a linguist job.” But I knocked him over with, “ok, I’ll go check with the Air Force.” 4 months later I was in Monterey CA getting some language…But in the spirit of the OP, I didn’t get Russian, which I wanted. Wound up with Arabic. It was mentioned earlier–wrap your ass in paper. That is just so true. I watched a guy not get promoted to sergeant because he took his eyes off his PLDC paperwork & promotion info. Handed it over to the personnel clerk who said he’d forward it through the proper channels. I had better instincts and never let go my deathgrip on the paper. Got my promotion in a couple weeks. When I left, my buddy was still struggling for his promotion–a year after he was supposed to get it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-scum-sucking-knuckle-dragging-recruiters/238065.md?page=2)