You are here:
- Home
- News/Issues
- U.S. Military
- Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard
- Possesion charge in the military
Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Possesion charge in the military
Advertisement
Question
Would you have any idea on how long these bans on marijuana misdemeanor waivers usually last? I got a 76 on the ASVAB, but I was informed in this moment I could not join because of my charge of when I was a teenager.
Hi Robert,
It depends. First of all, the Air Force and Coast Guard almost never waives a prior drug offense.
For the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, criminal history waivers for marijuana possession are possible (see my article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/moralwaivers.htm), just not very likely at the present time.
In general, a service is more likely to favorably consider a criminal history waiver, when they are having troubles meeting their recruiting goals.
Right now (and for the past several months), all of the services have been exceeding their recruiting goals (see: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/2009recruitingstatistics/FY_2009_Recruiting_Stati...). This is probably due, in large part, to the poor civilian job-market). From the service's point of view, why should they consider a waiver, when they have plently of folks, lined up who want to join, who don't need a waiver.
I expect this situation to continue, until the civilian unemployment rate improves significantly.
For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my military information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
Related Articles
Answers by Expert:
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).
©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.