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Rod,
I read a lot of your articles and they answer a lot of questions. To get to the point, I am trying to join the Navy and am very stressed about a criminal record. I am not a person who seems that they would have a bad record, but it sounds worse when adding it all up. I have a few speeding tickets, a failure to use a turn signal and a parking violation (these added up within 10 years). I also have an OVI conviction in 2008. I have read a lot about waivers and want to know if I am wasting recruiters times with my attempts at enlisting as an officer (I have a bachelors and masters degree and three professional certifications). As I am very physically fit (national athlete in weightlifting and US bobsled) and have not been in trouble with the law in nearly 2 years (other than the parking ticket) and never before the OVI (other than speeding), do I have a chance in joining the Navy at all/as an officer? I hope you don't see this question as a burden and I thank you in advance for your response and your time.
Hi Derek,
I'm not sure what "OVI" means, but I assume it's similar to a DUI/DWI?
If so, it will require a waiver. You can read about criminal history waivers at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/moralwaivers.htm
Unfortunately, neither I (nor anyone else) can tell you what your chances are of waiver approval. On average, it's harder to get a waiver approved for commission, than for enlistment.
However, each and every waiver request is evaluated individually, and depends on individual factors which can change from one year to the next. Factors include your other qualifications (such as physical, fitness, test scores, and -- for officer -- degree and grade point average), as well as how bad that particular service needs recruits (or officer candidates) at that particular point in time.
For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my US Military information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
About.com US Military Guide
http://usmilitary.about.com
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| Rating(1-10) | Knowledgeability = 10 | Clarity of Response = 10 | Politeness = 10 |
| Comment | Thank you very much Rod. Your advise did help ease a little bit of my frustrations. I will get with a local officer recruiter ASAP and attempt to go forward with this situation. | ||
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Rod Powers
Expertise
Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.
Experience
Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.
Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).
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