Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 2/1/2010

Question
Dear Col Bedell,
I am a parish pastor who is working with a 25 yr old female who is currently incarcerated from a conviction of aggr. assult and recieved 5 years. she will be released in Feb 2011. In my opinion she has turned her life around and would like to enlist in one of the armed forces. She does not have her GED but is close to earning it. What are her chances of being accepted in the military. She has no family, no home, but she really is a good peron.

Answer
Dear Pastor --

Sometimes enlistment candidates can get a waiver for prior criminal offenses.  However some offenses are not waiverable.  I cannot tell you whether her case is waiverable or not.

If her offense is waiverable, it will help her case, if she gets her GED and takes some college classes while incarcerated.  However, even if she were to get her associates degree (increased recruit quality), she might not earn a waiver, if the economy remains weak.

Availability of waivers, especially morality waivers, fluctuate with availability of quality candidates.  When jobs are scarce, high quality candidates are easier to recruit and waiver availability goes down.

Please write back, if you have additional questions.