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So I just signed my name on the dotted line and I'm looking for your guys' thoughts and advice. I'm 26 and in good shape, and I've been thinking about going SF for a long time before finally deciding it was time to pull the trigger on this thing. After all, I'm not getting any younger. Long story short, a shoulder surgery from a few years back was waived, but it disqualified me from an airborne physical at MEPS. I was left with the choice between 11X or 35P (I'm fluent in Chinese) and chose the latter.
I was a little disappointed, but the guys at MEPS sold it to me like this: I already get a TS clearance and my AIT is a year at the Defense Language Institute. They recommend that if I still want to go SF, I complete basic and AIT, spend a few months training and preparing while I'm with whoever I get assigned to, pick up airborne somewhere along the way, and then apply for SFAS. If I make it to the Q Course, I get to skip the steps of getting a clearance and the entire language portion of the course. How does this compare to the 18X pipeline, and is this a reasonable path to take? Looking forward to your guys' take on this!
Edit: also does anyone have any experience being/working with 35Ps? I haven't heard much about this particular MOS until today.
Literally have never heard of SOT-A before reading your comment, but it looks really cool! Nice to know that I have some options should I perform well
Thanks! I actually know a guy who just got out who was an 18B. I'll talk to him and see if I can't build up some connections from there. Out of curiosity, why do you think I'd enjoy those other options more? And not to worry, I'm confident in my abilities but also trying to be realistic about the washout/recycle rates
Hell yeah haha! Even gave my ass to the Army for an extra year than I originally intended just to get the whole bonus
I'm first generation Chinese-American so I grew up speaking it, though I haven't spoken to any of my extended family in years. There's another guy in my area who's also in the same boat as me: Chinese-American and just signed on as 35P. Maybe something has changed?
So to clarify, when they asked you to go to a group it was as a SOT-A right? Or did they straight up offer to send you to SFAS?
Damn this was really encouraging to hear! Someone else also mentioned SOT-A which I've never heard of until now, but it's something that definitely seems worth pursuing. And yeah I speak Mandarin
Got it, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks man
Ah I see. I'll give him a call, but if my immediate family are all US citizens it sounds like it should be fine right? Because they're all naturalized
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Yeah I've heard some horror stories of 18X washouts who end up as cooks and other random jobs, so you're right in that at least I have that peace of mind. I'm glad to hear that it sounds feasible, definitely encouraging to hear