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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Honorable with RE-4
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Okay, I see many questions that are very similar, but not quite the same. I was in the Coast Guard until almost 4 years ago and did exceptionally well. My ASVAB going in was a 92 (I think that was what it was) and I put on E-5 in 19 months from when I went in (I went in as an E-2 with guaranteed RD school). In 2002, however, I was arrested on an assault charge. There was a lot of grey area on my arrest, but I was advised by my command to plead guilty on a plea bargain if I wanted to salvage my career. I plead guilty to Assault in the 4th Degree, which was to be considered a Felony until Oct 2005, at which point it was eligible for expungement.
I was discharged Honorably (without any "other than.." or General or anything like that) because I had an exceptional character of service.
I was given a re-enlistment code of RE-4, however. When I was separated, my command had informed me that once the legalities were cleared up and my record was expunged, I should come back into the service as there would be no reason to leave me re-enlistment code as RE-4 once my record was cleared. I have had little luck so far, but I have not taken the bull by the horns, as it were, because I am a little nervous about the whole thing.
Is there any chance of getting this changed / upgraded?
Any other advice?
Hi Matt,
RE Codes (Re-Enlistment Eligibility Codes) have nothing to do with the service characterization (ie, "honorable," or "other than honorable"). They are tied more into the reason for discharge.
An RE Code is basically your command's recommendation about whether or not you should be allowed to reenlist.
See: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/l/blcodemenu.htm
An RE Code of "4" generally means you are not eligible to re-enlist/re-enter any of the militay service. I have seen (a very few) waivers for "4" re-codes, but they have been very, very, very, very, very, very rare.
The only way to change an RE Code is to request a change to one's military record. Details about how one can request this can be read in my article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/airforcebase/a/chgrecords.htm
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
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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).
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