Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 4/7/2009

Question
my son has a felony on his record for selling drugs, but was given probation for 5 years.  He is interested in joining the air nat'l guard.  Will this be a problem?  I think it would be the best thing in the world for him.  This happened about a year and a half ago.  thank you!

Answer
Lisa,
How old is he now?  Is his probation over yet?  Was he a minor at the time of the offense?

All branches of the military are different when it comes to recruiting standards, but they all have pretty much the same regulations regarding felonies. The military maintains a high "moral" standard for recruits and is the basis for not allowing most felonies. If the felony occurred when he was a juvenile he'll have a better chance of getting in the military, but if the felony occurred while he was 18 or over he most likely won't get in.
 
Obviously the more serious the crime, the less likely the military is to overlook it.  Some minor crimes may be overlooked if significant time has passed since he was convicted and if he has since had no other felonies.  But you said "selling drugs", which is viewed as a major crime, and "1 ½ years ago", which is still very recent.

In this day and age it's highly unlikely he'll be able to join.  The military has no difficulty in obtaining volunteers, and therefore is very picky about recruits and want only the best candidates they can get.  The age limit for the Air National Guard is 34 so given some time, he may want to try again in a few years.

Best of luck to him.
Colonel H