Expert: Aaron Shifferly - 4/27/2009

Question
my son recently joined the national guard, he previously had 2 juvenile offences for fights and one misdemeanor charge of a 5 dollar bag of pot, he was totally honest with the recruiter and has been going to drills the last few months he was months to go to basic in months, now he just got a letter of months saying he did not disclose criminal background, what can he do, he has not been in any other trouble

Answer
Your son should read the letter and see what they actually say, as in if he has failed to report an offense that he acknowledged/remembered committing or one that they think he committed due to a clerical or records error.. He needs to ensure that his recruiter actually put the offenses committed as an adult (the juvenile ones should be sealed if he's over 18)on his application for enlistment that your son signed.  He could also take it to his legal office during drill and have them give him an opinion.  Most likely he can submit a rebuttal to the letter and ask them to forgive his oversight (if indeed that is the issue). Just check with his legal office and unit to see what the Guard/Reserve unit has said about it.