How to Join the Navy Easily

If you can meet the criteria, you can also become a sailor.

Enlistment standards for the U.S. Navy are high but it is easy to make yourself available and submit to the examination process. As with any branch of the U.S. military, candidates face an examination process to ensure they fit the profile of a successful soldier. The process for the U.S. Navy involves a series of standard steps.

Things You'll Need

• Social Security card
• Birth certificate
• Driver's license or state ID card
• Marriage license, if married
• Medical records
• High school diploma or high school transcripts; GED

Instructions

1. Visit a recruiting office. If that individual is unavailable, pick up his business card or get his contact information from the sign out front. You can also access the Navy's website and request more information (see Resources).

2. Submit to a prescreening interview with your recruiter. If you pass the current enlistment standard criteria, then you will be allowed to take the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) test. This is basically the entrance exam into the military, no matter which branch of the Service.

3. Submit to an initial interview. If you want to streamline this process, make sure you bring all necessary documents when attending your initial interview with the recruiter. Your recruiter may want to give you a practice ASVAB test to see where you stand academically. Hopefully, you will do fine on the real test regardless of how you do on the practice. You can expect to see algebra, word knowledge, paragraph comprehension and arithmetic reasoning.

4. Take the physical. After you successfully pass the ASVAB, a physical exam is all that stands between you and your new Navy career. Your recruiter will set up an appointment for you to go to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station), where military doctors will examine you, looking for any sign you may not be a suitable candidate for a soldier.

5. Sign your contract and raise your right hand. After you repeat the Oath of Enlistment you are now officially a soldier in the Navy.

Tips & Warnings

• Be open and honest with your recruiter. If there is something you reveal, then do so upfront. It will also make your enlistment process go a lot faster.

• Be sure to go over your contract before signing the paperwork. You would hate to find out you will be a cook when you were talking with your recruiter about going Navy Seals.

• If you have a medical condition you know will cause future problems, notify the doctors at MEPS so they can evaluate whether joining the military will place you in any serious danger. Your life and welfare is very important. Do not lie just to be allowed to enlist.

• Try not to disqualify yourself speaking too carelessly at MEPS. Your words will be taken seriously, even if you are just joking.

References

• Navy: Joining the Navy
• Military: 10 Steps To Joining The Military