Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 9/6/2009

Question
My question is about a previous reply that you had to another question.
"About a year ago I had to go to the emergency room for a wrist injury and I was currently on pain medication for another injury.  I had just stopped taking my medication and the doctor in the emergency room said that I had symptoms from withdrawal.  My girlfriend was there and she was mad at me for something, but she told the doctor, without my knowledge, that I was abusing my medication and that was why my withdrawal symptoms were so severe.  The doctor said, that by law he was forced to hold me in the hospital until I was accepted into a detox center.  I was not allowed to dispute any of this, nor were my parents.  I went from the ER to the detox center and was there for three days.  I don't have any record, before or after this incident, of any type of drug abuse.  I am very worried that this will disqualify me from enlistment into the Coast Guard.  Can you please help me?

Answer
Grant,
It depends upon how you approach the problem.  When you talk to your CG recruiter he will ask you about your medical history and if you have had any drug-related problems.  If you say no, that's the end of it.  Nobody will ever see your civilian medical records.  If you say yes, then you'll have to try and convince him, and more importantly, the Surgeon General that you're OK now and you'd like to have a waiver (which is hard to get).  Then you'll have to produce your medical records, get letters from doctors, statement from witnesses, etc."

I am kinda in the same situation, if I don't tell them I had spent some time under 2 weeks in drug rehab won't they find out any way?  If I need a Top Secret clearence or if I'm transfered to a base that I need to have a top secret clearence for? I want to join the Army or Airforce and I am debating on how much I need to tell. Can I be court marshelled or have a fellony charge.  Will they really NEVER check my med records?????  

Answer
Jarlene,
We're both right.  Normally nobody would ever know, but (as you said), if you ever need any kind of a security clearance to do your job, then the FBI does the investigating and they'll nose into everything and find out about a stay in rehab.  Nobody will really check your medical records because they don't know where to look.  What if your family moved frequently?  I'm quite sure you never gave the hospital your forwarding address.  If the FBI discovered a hospital stay then they could look at any records the hospital may have on you at that time.

When the military discovers you lied on official forms to enter the military, they discharge you on the basis of "Fraudulent Entry."  That happens all the time.  It's not a felony, but it's enough to get you kicked out.

Grant had previously sent me a "private" question saying he wanted to be a rescue swimmer in the USCG.  I've never heard of those guys needing a security clearance.  I can see now where it looks like I was telling him to lie, but I didn't mean it that way.  I meant if he admitted to it he'd need a waiver and they're not real easy to get.  Since he has no record of an arrest for drugs, nobody will ever know.  Therefore, most people simply don't voluntarily bring up that part of their past if they think it may hurt their chances of joining.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  However, if you're going into a job that you think may require you to obtain a security clearance the FBI will definitely discover anything you didn't admit to.  You don't want to run that risk.

Your best best is to wait until October 1st and then see a recruiter.  Because it's the new fiscal year, chances are they'll give you a waiver for something as minor as that.  Plus they'll be hurting for new recruits and will be lenient with waivers.

Thanks for wanting to serve.
Colonel H

PS.  Sorry for the delay, I've been off on a short-notice mission.