Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 10/4/2011

Question
Hey Mark, my son was 16 and he thought he would put on a USMC Gunnery Sergeant Uniform and say he was, he is now 18, he has grown up, and actually became very involved with the wounded warrior project, he was a dumb 16 year old looking for attention on Facebook, now he is worried it will keep him out of the Marine Corps, we have all told him he will probably be brutally trained by his instructor, when they find out what he did, he says that's what he wants and deserves, and I can vouch he has been physically training for it, he's at at 4 am and works out until 700 daily, he is graduating soon, and he is going to walk into the recruiters office without making one phone call to find out, does he even have one chance of getting has looked at by a recruiter, he was not charged with anything for doing it, like I said, he was a dumb 16 year old, and even though he has grown up and become a likable and intelligent (Scored 680 on his ASVAB) person, does he have a chance of getting in the Marine Corps. Or any other US service?

Answer
Patt,
How's anyone going to know about it?  Especially if he was never arrested or anything.  If I were him I'd just keep quiet about it.  Granted, it was a dumb stunt, but it didn't hurt anything.

He should go see the recriter now and get into the Delayed Entry Program so he can go when he graduates, otherwise he may find himself on a 9-12 month wait after he graduates.

Thank him for his patriotism.
Colonel H