Monday, June 25, 2012

Joining the Military With a Felony or Misdemeanor

Joining the military is an involved process regardless of your background. Stacks and stacks of paperwork are necessary just to get you in the door, much less qualified for a security clearance. Most people with a substantial criminal history find themselves dealing with a bit more paperwork than those without a record, but many are able to join in spite of it.
The question, "can I get into without a spotless legal history?" is straightforward enough, but the answer is a bit more involved. To put it simply, it goes something like "it depends." The military expends plenty of time trying to filter through its possible candidates, in the interest of keeping a distinct standard of morality and character. Does that necessarily suggest that an individual with a record can't get join? Definitely not. It just means that your success in starting your time in service mostly depends on the nature and variety of those charges, court action taken, and possibly a waiver to get you in the door. On the flip side, it almost goes without saying that a large number of repeated offenses, and certain crimes will just invalidate you from getting into the Armed Forces almost instantly.
With regard to security clearances, however, the stakes are inclined to increase somewhat. The U.S. goes to great measures to make sure that its interests and pursuits are safeguarded and seen by people not only with clean histories, but also clean credit scores. The rationale here is also pretty simple. Envision being in debt, but also having access to extremely sensitive data. Then sometime down the line, you're contacted by an individual who might be proposing you money in exchange for specifications, data, and information you're accustomed to seeing all day everyday, causing you lose sight of its significance. Between being hard pressed for money, given your finances and a degraded perception of the information you have access to, it can easily be a recipe for disaster.
Credit rating aside, felonies and misdemeanors are quite a concern when it comes to landing a military occupation with a security clearance. Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules stating which set of conditions let you to get this job or that. It's often treated on a case by case basis.
The best course of action is to simply discuss your concerns with your recruiter. All the things outlined regarding your previous experiences is privileged information and will be kept between you and the guys trying to get you signed up. Of course, certain thing such as thinking about committing suicide, confessing to any type of child abuse are issues that recruiters are obligated to report. Otherwise, details exchanged will be maintained in strict confidence. Talking about past offenses candidly moves the process along a great deal more smoothly. It's substantially better that past crimes are talked about in a pre-entrance environment than a Federal background check, which is bound to happen sooner than later. In addition to a pre-screening with a recruiter, you'll also undergo an evaluation at the Military Entrance and Processing Station (MEPS).

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