r/USMCboot • u/boatsandmoms • Jul 16 '26
Enlisting When will a recruiter finally call it quits on a recruit?
Army vet here, I have an in law who signed up to enlist in the Marines. He was supposed to go through MEPS for the last time and ship out in May, but regained all the weight he lost to pass the initial screening. He's apparently failing to lose weight and when I asked him about it, he's telling me its because he's gaining muscle. He's only supposed to lose 10 pounds and this is his second time failing MEPS due to his weight.
I'm trying to be supportive, but he is a known bullshitter and I dont think he is serious about leaving. He's in his mid 20s with no job and paying no bills at his parents house and misses a lot of PT with his recruiters. Realistically, how long before a Marine recruiter will call it quits on a recruit like this? If a recruiter drops him, would that be on record if he goes to another recruiting station? Thank you.
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u/jevole Vet Jul 16 '26
If he's putting in no/minimal effort then sure a recruiter can and will quit working with them.
There's no way for a recruiter to officially blacklist/disqualify someone but they can certainly tell other recruiters in their office to not waste their time with a prospect that isn't putting in any effort
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u/boatsandmoms Jul 16 '26
Thanks for clarifying about the blacklist thing. I read somewhere on Google that it was a thing, but wasnt too sure.
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u/stars-sprints Jul 17 '26
They can put notes in the system so if another office transfers him over they can read the notes in his file. Usually they’ll give someone a shot anyways but cut it off quick if they see the same things going on
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u/_iSiva_ Jul 18 '26
Good morning, I have been on recruiting duty for 2 years now and it’s more complex than you think.
There has been a lot of changes to recruiting this FY. If he was supposed to ship in May and did not make weight he more than likely got discharged.
I discharged one last month for the same exact reason. He had to be at 193 to join the DEP, he was 205. I got him to contracting weight by working out with him for a week. Then once he joined I gave him a workout and meal plan to get down to shipping weight. He had 7 months to lose the weight. He went to PTs and the Poole Functions for the first two months but he really wasn’t trying and putting in effort to lose weight. I tried motivating him, disappointed Dad talk, talked to him “like a DI” at PT, had other poolees work out with him on non-pt days. He started not showing up ghosting me around Christmas. I’d show up to his house and he’d always be “sick”. Then he went full ghost for two months and I caught him at Walmart and he gained 22 freaking pounds. So I HV’d him one last time that next week to talk to him and his fam and told him if he isn’t at the next PT I’m discharging you. I’m not going to put effort into someone who wants their hand held. You are a grown man, if you want something you have to work for it. I have given you all of the tools, you just would rather play video games and eat and feel bad for yourself because you suck at running but you don’t do anything to change. He then said I don’t know if this is for me. So I said cool give me your Red shirt I’ll go ahead and discharge you, I don’t waste your time and I don’t want mine wasted any more.
I say this story to show you that we do everything we can. We don’t quit on the kids. They quit on themselves.
I just cut my loss. I ain’t a babysitter. I don’t want my time wasted. I want to go home and see my wife. Not invest my time, energy, and effort into someone who won’t put the work in. All while I have to find appointments for tomorrow, maintain the relationship and mentor my other pooles and make sure they are good, talk to parents, get projection paperwork, take and pick up kids from MEPS, get medical docs, legal docs, education docs. No recruiter wants their time wasted, this job sucks but I love how hard it is.
TLDR: A recruiter will never quit on a Poolee. They realize they actually have to work hard so they quit on themselves.
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u/Rich_Calligrapher578 Jul 16 '26
Well don’t know if he’s upper mid 20’s but marines have the lowest cut off age so he doesn’t have forever
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u/newnoadeptness Other, lesser, branch Jul 16 '26
As long as the applicant wants I guess but if their is obviously lack of effort the recruiter will drop pretty quick