Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 1/5/2010

Question
When I was seventeen, a minor, I got arrested and charged with felony possession of marijuana with over an ounce. That was my original charge but got it reduced to a misdemeanor possession charge of under an ounce. When I got off probation I got it expunged from my record. I no longer have traces of anything on my record because everything got erased. Does this mean that when i apply as a waiver applicant that i admit to it being a misdemeanor or a felony? One of my friends has been in the navy for twenty years and is an O-5 and wrote me a great letter of recommendation. Do I have any chance of getting in?

Answer
Juan,
In short, I think you're OK.

I'm sorry to hear you were using drugs but it's good that you were able to have your record expunged.  I hope you're off them now.  Expungement is a great thing in the civilian world and will help you greatly later in life.  It's not cheap or easy so I'm glad to see you were successful.  However, in the military world it doesn't do much good.  Expungement basically purges your record from any public eyes.  However, it does not prevent it from being seen by a Federal government agency.  Guess who does investigations for the military?  The FBI, a Federal government agency.  The good thing is they see you've taken the initiative to have your records expunged which means you fulfilled your punishment.  So when the recruiter asks you if you have a record you must say YES, even though it's expunged.

They won't hold it against you as long as you don't lie about it.  The letter from the Commander will certainly help.

I believe your chances are very good.
Thanks for wanting to serve.
Good luck in the AF.
Colonel Howell