Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 5/6/2008

Question
Ma'am.  As the son of a retired Navy 0-6 reservist mom (with 3 years active)and a retired USMC Warrant Officer (all years reserve), I spent many weekends at Alameda NAS (now de-com'd).  

The thought of joining the military has always been in the back of my mind, and often in the front of it.  In college I spoke with a Marine recruiter about PLC.  I chose instead to live the "typical" life of a college student.  After college, in that period of time where one finds themselves contemplating what to do with their life, I spoke with a Marine recruiter about enlisting, as I had made some "mistakes" during my "typical" college career.  And then again last year I spoke with a Navy recruiter about enlisting as a reservist.  

Each time I wasn't quite sure of whether or not it was the life for me, at that point.  One of the things that really kept me from joining, not including the PLC option in college, was that I was told I would have to enlist due to my previous transgressions; at the same time I was told repeatedly by my mom, dad, and by employees I supervised at work who were members of the STA-21 program and hence prior-enlisted, that with my education, intelligence, and personality, I would find myself frustrated with enlisted life.

Well, because of her career, my mom is in somewhat frequent contact with Captains, Admirals and Generals, including Brig. Gen. Angela Salinas, commander of MCRD.  She recently told me that one of the people she spoke with told her that in fact I would be eligible for OCS, despite my age and unfortunate past mistakes.  

I reviewed most of the questions that you have answered on this board and saw several questions/responses that were similar, but did not specifically answer my question.

That being said, my question for you is: how likely would it be for the Navy to accept me into OCS?

Some background:

-DUI 22 OCT 2002
-Misdemeanor Petty Theft (I believe 2001)
-BA 2004, app. 2.2 GPA
-Currently working on my MBA in San Diego, app. 3.6 GPA
-Work experience: Internship in Supply Management during MBA; supervised 20+ prior enlisted personnel at University in the Public Safety dept. as supervisor of Parking.
-DOB 9/30/80
-Physical: good, but would need some training
-ASVAB: Took each time I worked with recruiter (twice), score-99

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my email and answer my questions.

Very Respectfully,

Tim

Answer
Dear Tim --

Your Mom is right.  With a college degree and an ASVAB score of 99, you are a high quality candidate, and should be able to get an OCS rider on your enlistment contract.  You will be even more attractive as a recruit if you finish your MBA with a 3.5+ GPA.

Now, for the hard part.  Your petty theft and DUI might require a waiver.  I say might, because as you approach 5 to 10 years beyond the transgression, the transgression become less pertinent.

You have a couple of options.  

1) You could finish your MBA, and try to enlist, understanding that you might need a waiver, and a waiver might keep you from OCS.

2)  You could contact a lawyer and work to get your record expunged.  Then you would not need a waiver, and would be more likely to qualify for OCS.

If you go either route, I recommend you try to enlist during the recruiters' "down season."  So you could do a delayed entry program and enlist up to a year before you plan to graduate.  I recommend the late fall or early winter before you graduate.  You would negotiate with them when they are not busy with recent graduates.  

If you don't want to enlist delayed entry, then plan to enlist just before or just after the winter holidays when the recruiters have less business.

I wish you the best of luck achieving your goals.