Expert: Aaron Shifferly - 8/26/2009

Question
I am 25 yr old with a Bachelors and a Masters degree; graduated with my MSW in May 2009. I have been considering joining the Navy for quite some time but have put it off. In high school I was in ROTC. Recently I was arrested for retail theft during work; currently the charges are felony retail theft. My lawyer is working to get it reduced to a misdemeanor. My question is whether I can even still consider the Navy as an option, now that I have this incident on my record. I have no priors and live in Illinois. I have looked up the recruiting offices in Chicago. What can I do? Is a waiver possible in my situation (if it goes either way; felony or misdemeanor)? Also, should I start to talk to a recruiter now as I am going through this process of finding the outcome of my case?

Answer
I can only answer this from the Army point of view, as that's all I'm familiar with.  You can join the Army with either the felony or the misdemeanor, but if you have a felony conviction you will have a harder time getting in than if you had the misdemeanor. The requirement for a moral waiver and the hoops you'd have to jump through go up exponentially with the severity of the issue. You should talk to your recruiter immediately about the situation but realize they will want to see its resolution prior to committing to any terms with you on entrance to the military. Be honest and consider other options such as the Army who is more in need of personnel than other branches and, therefore, easier to get into.