[furry]

Finished law school in May, taking the Colorado Bar Exam next week. I was all squared away to sign a Rep63 contract with the 19th here in the Front Range. Went into MEPS a few weeks ago and discovered that despite a thumbs up from the ortho consult and assurance from the MEPS doctor that my waivers would be "a slam dunk," my previous ankle, knee and shoulder surgeries will all require waivers, no two ways about it.

As many of you may be aware, right now there is apparently no way to get an Airborne contract with a med waiver, so my plans of a Rep63/18x are out. Frustrating to say the least.

My recruiter is telling me I could sign up as an 11B, and once I got back from Basic/AIT they would virtually guarantee me (although not in writing of course) a transfer into the training detachment and then an SFAS date as soon as possible - which he predicted to be anywhere from 3-9ish months. He understands my reservations about going this route, and to his credit I don't feel any pressure from him to just sign up for whatever I can get.

Basically my question is this: to those of you out there with the applicable experience, does this sound like a realistic and optimal route to pursue from my current situation?

I was told a similar story by an active duty recruiter, who said I could go in as an 11B, contact an SF recruiter while still in Basic/AIT, and possibly get orders to Airborne and SFAS before even being done with training. My concerns about this avenue were validated by others and I was advised against it.

Another possibility is to reconsider JAG. I had a Marine JAG contract last year but felt SOF was more up my alley, so to speak. If I were to put in a few years as a JAG, are JAG officers eligible to attend SFAS and lead an ODA?

Thanks for reading, a bit lengthy I know, but wisdom from guys who have been there, done that, and seen it all is invaluable.