Name Change (Pre-Basic Training) 105 Days until Basic

Unlike most males out there I have actually had my name changed… not once, but twice! When I was a teenager my stepfather hated when the school would call and ask for Mr. McGuire because his last name was different. Well my mom and stepfather thought it would be a good idea if I just changed my name to my stepfather's last name (we'll use "Smith" for the purposes of this blog).

Without any legal paperwork of any kind, they told the school that my last name was now "Smith". I ended up with a diploma with the last name of Smith even though my legal name was McGuire. I had gone by Smith so long that I ended up just legally changing my name through the courts. Turns out that a few years after high school my stepfather decided to be a total ass and left. After all that drama I didn’t want to keep that last name, so I went back to the courts and had my name changed back to my "maiden" name if you will. During the process though I changed my middle name the first time, but did not change it back the second time. This ended up giving me a legal name that did not match my birth certificate. 

This was also not even noticed until the day I was heading to MEPS the second time. The recruiter called freaking out “we need to have this taken care of today”. I called the courts to see if they had any records dating back that far and to find out if they could fax them to me. Turns out that everyone I needed to talk to was away from their desk. I ended up taking a break and going home to search for my old paperwork. Luckily I am somewhat of a pack-rat and I was able to find the 18-year-old documents. So I was able to fax them over to the recruiter and this obstacle was completed. Crisis averted!