Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 1/22/2009

Question
QUESTION: miss bedell,

I have tried for almost 7yrs to become a member of the armed forces. I have gone through many hardships and have even gone as far as sleeping on park benches, hich-hiking across 3 diffrent states for doucuments needed for waiver reports, and even tried offering cash incentives to recruiters just 2 run my waiver. I understand that because of the severity of the situation that I have a lesser chance of being accepted, but i feel as though the system is in need of revamping. How is it that a man with a aggrvd. burglerary charge with the value to be known to public record to exceed a sum of $50,000 can gain entrance
to one of the world's most reknownd institutions, but someone such as myself who is more than willing to uphold the traditions, values, and morales of the same establishment, after serving my time 2 society, and frurthering my self with both a college degree and a family of my own, can be turned away from not one but 9 different recruiters, for a bad check under a thousand dollars, that has been expunged at the state level for almost a year now.

Colonel, I despratly could use any advice you may have in thying 2 follow the chain of command to gain an audience with someone who would have the power to aprove my waiver, or @ the very least, let me plead my case for consideration

respectfully,   josh rodriquez.

P.S. all of my info can be found under www.jococourts.org under my name.

ANSWER: Dear Josh --

A single morality waiver is considered a single morality waiver whether it is for a big offense or a small offense, as long as the offense is waiverable.  Any one recruit is allowed no more than three waivers, but each waiver needed reduces their "quality" as a recruit.

The services offer waivers when the candidate is otherwise highly qualified, and in the eyes of the waiver board, has demonstrated that their criminal days are behind them.  Is the board always right? No.  But most often the individual who received the waiver has turned their life around and does make good in the military.

Generally, if you are physically fit, if you have good Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) scores, are a high school or college graduate, and have held down a job, most recruiters would jump at the chance to help you, even if you needed one waiver.  If I were to guess why no recruiter will take your case and help you build an enlistment packet with a waiver, I would guess that you come on too strong, and accuse previous recruiters of being "against" you.  No recruiter wants to work with a recruit that already has a chip on his shoulder.

Please do not offer a recruiter an "incentive."  We consider that a bribe, and accepting it would be criminal behavior on the part of the recruiter.  That is another reason they will stop working with you, if you are trying to bribe them to get around the rules.

I recommend you spend a year working at any job you can get, and being reliable and hard working.  Then after a year has passed, visit the local recruitment office, and calmly begin the process of enlisting.  Understand that because you need a waiver, you will continue to have lower priority than recruits that do not need a waiver.  Further, recruits with special skills that require a waiver are higher priority than unskilled recruits that require a waiver.

I wish you good luck with achieving your dream, but please work within the system, and understand the system can move fairly slowly.







---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Colonel Bedell,

thank you for your speedy response, I do however need to clarify that I AM currently both phys.& ASVAB qualified
with a base score of 69, as well as having achieved the rank of company commander through the JROTC program in high school. If you could plz clarify as to what "special skills" may come to be considered that would be greatly appricated.

I also should mention that the charater references I had listed included a full bird uncle, the prosicuting disctrit attorney, and a friend  of the family who is still on the white house's kitchen staff. Do any of these
hold any merit or do i need to rely more on my self and my ablities as an out going person to show why it is that I desrve a chance at this.   

You should probably know that the check charge is not the only thing I have. I also have 2 juvinile mis.  that are at this point over 10yrs. old. but, never the less, I have
been with the same company for more than 3yrs. and would be grateful for any further information regarding the USREC
level "board" as i was under the impression that a 2star was where the final decision was made. Its because of this and what i feel to be the unfair fact that you're not able to have any contact with that level of the process, that I would like to know if there is a way, once it has reached that level of the process to give some kind of statement for consideration so that i know that I did EVERYTHING possible to plead my case.

Answer
Dear Josh --

If you have one adult offense and two juvenile offenses, then you require three (3) waivers.  That is the maximum number of waivers you are allowed for enlistment, and many recruiters decline to take on a packet that requires that many waivers.

An ASVAB of 69 is neither good nor bad, but it does not make you stand out as an exceptionally desired candidate.  You could work on some of the ASVAB practice tests and try taking the ASVAB again to get a score above 80.  That could help your chances.  

A special skill means you have some civilian expertise that they need in the Army and that transfers well.  Typical special skills needed now are any of the medical assistance fields, especially Nursing and EMTs.  If you were communications or electronics qualified in civilian life, that can transfer into the military.

All the waiver requests are reviewed via documentation only.  No one gets to appear before the decision authority and plead their case.  It is not like the court room.  Your qualities as a potential Soldier, your schooling, your offenses and the waiver justification are all weighed against the likelihood you will transgress again while you are in the military and shame the service while wasting valuable training resources.  

The fact that you transgressed as a teenager and then did so again, over ten years later, will weigh heavily against you.  It appears that you have a pattern of breaking the law when life gets stressful.  Military life is very stressful, so the belief would be that you will resort to illegal behavior when military life gets difficult for you.  What have you done that can show the decision authority that you are no longer the man that breaks the law as a juvenile prank, or when the chips are down?  That is what you must use to convince the military you are worth their time and effort to train, and that you will not let them or yourself down, if given a chance to enlist.

Your character references are good, but you should also have some references from people with whom you currently work or with whom you recently worked.

Finally, enlisting in the reserves or National Guard would likely be easier than enlisting in the active service. Once you are in the Guard or reserves, and you have completed your initial entry training, you can request to be activated into a full time position.  If successful, you can re-enlist for active duty towards the end of your first tour.

I hope this clarified some issues for you.  Good luck with your efforts.