Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 6/11/2010

Question
Hello, My name is James I just turned 27. I want to enlist into the navy or army. When I was young I has 4 misdemeanors, two years ago I was charged with robbery, 2 burglary's of non occupied space and 2 grand theft. I took two computers. I completed a special program and had "adjudication withheld" finished my probation early, healthy, clean and wanting to go into the service. My probation was terminated last month. I read that before being accepted you have to wait 6 months to apply. With my prior record even though it's "clean", I understand the Military will see my mistakes from the past. Would it hurt to try to contact a recruiting office to get the ball rolling? Do I have too many charges? I understand the cut off age is 28 I am trying to live my life down a better path, and have structure in my life.

Answer
Dear James --

The military services are accepting enlistments of qualified candidates up to age 42 so your age is not the issue here.

To enlist, you would require multiple morality waivers.  Any candidate is only allowed three waivers.  Depending on how you were charged, it appears you would require at least one waiver for your juvenile misdemeanors and 4 other waivers for your adult felonies.  It appears you need five waivers, and so would be disqualified for service.

However, if you require a single waiver for juvenile offenses and a single waiver for your adjudicated adult offenses, then that is two waivers and you might qualify for enlistment.  

You can talk to a recruiter at any time, but right now a lot of well-behaved high school graduates are enlisting, and so your file will not look as attractive as it will if you wait to a slower time of year (after 1 October).  I recommend waiting until this fall and then discussing your case with a recruiter.  

Good luck to you.