Good Afternoon everyone,
First of all, I don't work in the recruiting center so I don't have any specific info on the number of candidates that they'll be hiring per board, but what I do know is that certain trades are in destress or in dire needs of people basicly from heresay on the base. So as for any specific trades...I don't know. I do know that all combat arms trades are in destress and so are Signal Officers. As for Mech Eng....I don't know what trade your refering to...either Mechanized Combat Engineers or maybe Electrical and Mechanical Engineer (aka EME). If it's EME then from what my collegues are telling me, the trade still requires people and yes it is open.
As for how long does it usually takes to get the call....well I was on the merit list last november when the board last sat and didn't get the call until 1st or 2nd week of December. From what I heard, I was pretty much the first guy on the calling list (because of my name not my results) so the offers won't come out until then, but definately before the 18 dec 2004 at which point the base basicly shuts down for the holidays.
Once you get an offer, start packing (at least get the joining instructions) and by the first week of Jan 2005 you will be sworn in. I had less than 1 week to pack so don't wait.
Cheers,
Jeff