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How do waiting lists work for the military?

I'm planning on enlisting in the Air Force or Coast Guard after I graduate in a year, but I've been hearing every branch has a waiting list just to join. How does that work? Is it first come first served, or can more qualified people (like someone with a great ASVAB score) jump ahead of people? @Joshua I don't think that's true, I've heard every branch is easily meeting their recruiting targets and they've got more applicants than slots so you gotta wait for a job to open up before you ship out. at least for the AF and CG, I don't know about the Navy, Army, or Marines.

Public Comments

1. What do you mean "Waiting List",They get you in as fast as they can, They are always in need of soldiers, Maybe you mean the Shipment List, They can't ship everyone out in 2 seconds,so the time is spread out over a course of months.
2. Doing well on the ASVAB, having a high school diploma, no medical problems and having no criminal backround will definitely be a plus. It will boost you over those that need waivers and such but there are still equally qualified applicants so your recruiter will get you squared away you just might have to wait a while to get going.
3. The "waiting list" does depend on your qualifications and what school you want to attend. Most of the services also have a quota they are working off of for recruiting. Your recruiter may have to put you off for a little while as they work with their current recruits. If you want to join be patient - it isn't usually a very fast process these days. Good Luck!
4. Hello "who are you?" The Air Force doesn't play the game by first in - first out. They rate each candidate and only choose the ones that are scoring as high as possible to meet the quotas each month. Just because you make the minimum 36% qualification score on the AFQT to enter the Air Force doesn't mean that the recruiter is going to take you. Today, the Air Force is only going to take people who score "at least 50%" on the AFQT portion of the ASVAB. The AF can pick and choose whom they want. There is no Constitutional guarantee that the military has to take everybody who wants to sign up. We did away with the active draft in 1973. It is all-volunteer now and just because you do volunteer doesn't mean you get picked. That is why you need to buy an ASVAB study book and work it for at least 30 days before you decide to even visit a recruiter. The highest score you can obtain on the ASVAB/AFQT the better your chances of being selected to be in the Air Force. Yes, it is true that more people are trying to get into the military because of the wrong reasons. People are trying to enter the military to get a job and benefits. That is NOT why you want to join up. You join up to SERVE. That is the only reason. And, don't get married until you reenlist after 4 years and make NCO or Petty Officer (Navy) status. Be single and free to go anywhere in the world without worrying about a family to take care of. You have plenty of time to work all 5 ASVAB workbooks. Each one cost about $20 bucks. Buy one, work it. Buy a second one, work it to verify the first one. And, buy all 5 published ASVAB books. Especially study and work them during the summer months instead of wasting time on video games, MTV, sports and summer fun. Your future is calling you. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. And, the Coast Guard is even harder to enter than the Air Force because they have fewer people than the AF does. Best wishes, Larry Smith Senior Master Sergeant, USAF (Ret.) First Sergeant
5. too many variables. the waiting list is to get into follow on training after basic/boot camp. so it is conceivable that someone who enlists on 1 May chooses job A that ships out in 8 months( max allowed time in DEP is 12 months) but somebody who chooses job B on August 1st ships in 4 weeks. it is neither FCFS nor is it 99 ASVAB scores jump to the head of the line. in fact it is not out of the realm of possibility that kids with 99 ASVABS are unable to secure ANY job at all as there are no openings within a 12 month period. you will only be offered a job that you qualify for that they have need of when you sit down with the Classifier. the guy who goes in ahead of you may have a 65 raw score but has 5 jobs to choose from. you may go in after him with an 90, and only have 2. the LINE scores determine which jobs you qualify for. now, if you are willing to go Open general and NOT have a clue as to what you will be doing until you complete Basic Training, it is possible to ship out within a couple of months. but of you want control over what you will be doing for 4-6 years, you can be waiting a year. or longer as the time it takes to get everything processed and send you to MEPS does not count.. and that can be a 6 month process all by itself. In fact both AF and CG prefer this method currently. it is nearly impossible to get an A school guarantee for CG and you will go to the Fleet for a good year before you can even THINK about requesting a rating. and since the CG is the Smallest Branch it has fewer boot camps so fewer people get in. think the number this year was 1200 TOTAL nationwide for the entire fiscal year. last year, they had met their goal by June and the new Fiscal year did not start until October.. so from June through October they processed people only to ship out past 1 October. if they even took anyone at all. AF is downsizing big time and cutting loose thousands of enlisted and officers.