Dropping out of the Army DEP?

Question

Thank you for your time, I will try to keep this short and sweet.

I just graduated high school and its now summer. I've been in the DEP for about 5-6 months(I went to MEPS and everything). When I joined, I was told I could leave up until the second I get on the bus for basic training. I joined, but I also told the recruiters it was a back up plan and not to expect me to go for sure. Lets skip forward to now...

Its exactly 30 days till my ship date. I've been 100% sure I didn't want to join for weeks now(and they knew). The recruiters are being shady, exhibiting poor communication, becoming extremely angry and cussing at me when we do talk, things like this. I've been told that I have to have a meeting with the commander and he will decide if I can leave or not. Also, I've been told I will be fined $30,000 to pay for the seat that the army will lose. Finally, I've been told that I can only leave the DEP if I have an acceptance letter from a college or if I actually go to boot camp and receive a "Failure to adapt."

I guess my question(s) is pretty simple. Is any of this true? Will I be fined? Do I really have to have meetings with the commander to get out? and if so, does he really have the power to force me to stay? ect?

Thank you so much.

Also, I went through MEPS while on accutane, which is illegal. My recruiter, and all the recruiters, including the station commander, knew of this.

Please no hate as well. I'm not a pussy or dishonorable. I'm just a young man trying to figure out what will make me happy in life and I truly believe the Army, or military for that matter, wouldn't give me what I want.

Answer 1

You are in the driver seat. You are NOT in the US Army, you are a DEP. The first time you swore in was into the DEP, if you go up to MEPS to ship you will swear in again at that point you are in the Army. Tell your Recruiter and the little weasel Station Commander that you are not going to ship. Tell them that you want to be a DEP loss.



You don't have to show them anything from a college. You will have to sign a DEP loss form. This will not even affect you to join later on if you change your mind.



Also, any Recruiter/Station Commander that threatens a DEP with fine or imprisonment is guilty of a Recruiter impropriety. Inform them of USAREC Reg 601-45 that deals with these corrupt recruiters. Look it up, it's in there. I bet they will back off. If they become hostile call there Battalion HQ's and speak with the BN XO.

Answer 2

No one cares if you were high or on anything when you went to the MEPS. Obviously it wasn't caught in a drug screen so don't worry about it.



You heard correctly. You can drop out of the DEP at any time up till the day you leave. I really would not recommend you wait any longer than TODAY to make the official announcement, because if you send them a note, call, or whatever July 5, they will still have time to send someone who is still waiting on DEP in your slot. If you wait until the day you leave, that slot will go empty, and the military wants FULL classrooms and barracks when it comes to BCT and AIT.



You can NOT be fined if you change your mind. They have people change their mind all the time, it comes with the job as a recruiter. I doubt you signed anything agreeing to a 30k fine if you drop, and if they say that again, tell them, "I am going to give you one chance to show me where I agreed to that in writing or where there is a regulation that says that I am on the hook for that kind of money that I am supposed to realistically know - and if you can't show me that, it is time to move on, or it is time I get the battalion recruiting commander involved and or a lawyer and inform them I am being harassed by some recruiters and they are trying to extort me into going against" - and that will be the last you hear of that. Unless you received a 30k bonus - but that wouldn't be paid out until you left anyhow, and I don't know of too many programs where there are initial enlistment bonuses any more.



You do not need an acceptance letter from a college to get out of DEP. You are not officially IN the military until you swear in on the day you leave. They cannot 'discharge' you, they cannot give you a 'failure to adapt', and they are yanking your chain! you do not need a reason, you can simply say, "I don't feel this is the right time for me to join, I am going to disenroll for DEP, thank you for your time, if I change my mind, I’ll be back in a year or two".



However, to be fair to the Army - don't delay any longer. if you say you have told them you no longer wish to go, and they are still giving you grief, send a short note saying you are disenrolling and they are not to contact you for any reason other than to acknowledge receipt of your letter, otherwise you will pursue harassment charges through their chain of command" and send it certified, so someone has to sign for it, and that will be it.



Don’t delay and be careful about burning bridges! recruiters talk, and if you wait until the week or day before to blow them off, you are going to have your name marked down in a little book and if you try to change your mind later and try again, it will be like the boy who cried wolf, and you will have a hard time going back.

Answer 3

No, it's not true.



They say this to scare you into changing your mind. I don't think your dishonorable at all. People have their reasons for leaving DEP, and you told them not to count on you whole heartedly. I know someone who's army recruiter said the same thing when she called him to say that she no longer wanted to join; she came into some money to pay for school.



She just never answered the phone when he called her again. sure enough, he stopped calling her within a week or two. No fines, and no meetings.



*edit* she did email him a letter of "dropping out", screenshot the sent email, and kept a copy for herself.

Answer 4

The truth of the matter is if you signed the contract and got sworn in you are stuck. Now if you have done neither of those you can tell the guys giving you hell to go pound sand. If you have any paperwork you need to look through it very carefully though. Good luck either way, the military isn't for everyone and even the guys giving you hell know this they are just trying to make their quotas.

Answer 5

Listen to Saatch. You definitely can get out of DEP and the threat with the fine is complete bullshit.

Answer 6

US army is voluntary. and once you quit they won't let you back ever.

so if you are sure do it. for example after ppl finish the CBO training they will be given one more chance to quit and if they do they are done, because they rather have you quit here then quit in the battle field where ppl may lose their life.