SG Prescreen Waiver and Patience

[Milchstrasse]

The recruiter I'm working with submitted our SG Prescreen Waiver for a PDQ Relook about 60 days ago (this is for a guard slot).

The PDQ was for minimal mitral valve prolapse in an echo I had done. I saw a cardiologist more recently, and there was no prolapse or leakage indicated in any of the valves. This report, a supporting letter from the cardiologist, and my entire medical history in the past 5 years were submitted in this waiver.

My question isn't so much about the medical issue, but about how patient I should be, and how much I should or shouldn't pester my recruiter. If I were 24, this wouldn't be stressing me out so much, but I'm freshly 28, and feel the pressure of time heavy on my back.

My e-mails often seem to fall on deaf ears and go unresponded. Getting in touch by phone is greatly hit or miss -- either the line is busy, or he's not in the office. If we weren't on opposite coasts, I might just stop by the office and see what's going on.

I definitely don't want to circumvent him by sending my request to someone else, but I also want to look out for my own interests. Is there anything I can do to improve communication in such a situation?

[xcraftllc]

Deaddebate will probably see this soon but just to be sure, send him a PM. He's the expert on this stuff. Stay persistent with the contacting issues but be careful not to piss anyone off. No one in the military will argue that paperwork sitting stale on someone's desk isn't an issue,it screws people over all the time. 28 is older but you still have enough time to work this issue.

[Guest]

I'd recommend calling or e-mailing somebody about once a week just for a status update. More frequently than weekly will likely just piss them off, but weekly always keeps you somewhere in the back of their brain and aware of your request.

I don't have knowledge of the Guard, but my experience with AD and Reserve show a trend of ~30 days from submittal to answer. I'll PM some Recruiters at afforums.com and see what they say.

Edited July 20, 2015 by deaddebate

[Milchstrasse]

Seems reasonable. I do a pretty good job of not reaching out to them more than once a week, and if I actually talk to someone, longer. I'll keep calling this week until I get in touch of someone, I'm sure they're busy.

[Guest]

Here's excerpts of 2 messages I got from the Recruiters at afforums.com. Hopefully I'll get a bit more info in the near future.

I know AD 30 day turnarounds are currently 45 and they are super busy. Changing recruiters will do little more than start a lot of the process over. Contacting other recruiters to get the flight chief's information might be helpful. Going to the boss lends a better chance of getting things done in these situations.

I sent a message to a friend who is a guard recruiter so I'll let you know as soon as I hear back. I would suggest going up the chain in the meantime. The Guard flight chiefs are called recruiting supervisors generally and the person above that is the retention supervisor. This might vary by state but that is how it was in Alabama. I'll let you know as soon as I hear back though.

[Milchstrasse]

Thanks for getting that info for me.

The person I'm working with is indeed the "flight chief" or the Recruiting Supervisor. I called the office yesterday, and talked to someone that said hey'd leave him a message and he'd call back. I have little faith that this will ever happen. I'll call again at the end of the week if I don't hear back.

If there's someone above him, like a Retention Supervisor, I could talk to them, but I also feel like I'd be pissing off the Recruiting Supervisor in the process.

Is it possible that I'm getting the run-around because it's easier to hire someone else than to push waivers?

[Milchstrasse]

Update: A little good, but mostly bad news.

Good: The waiver was approved.

Bad: They hired more pilots while they were waiting and don't have a slot for me anymore.

I'm 28 (28.2), with a approved SG Prescreen Waiver in hand, and may even be able to go get the MEPS prescreen stuff taken care of now -- do I have any shot in hell at another board with a different unit?

[Guest]

do I have any shot in hell at another board with a different unit?

Sorry for not responding sooner.

Are you only interested in ANG or are you considering the Reserves? Have you considered applying to the Reserves UPT as an Unsponsored applicant?

[Guest]

Got a final reply from the Recruiters:

30 to 90 days depending on if they ask for more info

So considering how quickly you got a response, I'd say you lucked out.