Expert: Rod Powers - 3/26/2007

Question
Hey, I've read many of your articles and they've helped me out alot but I have a problem. I want to be a figher pilot-I know, who doesn't? Anyway, at the age of 16 I was charged with possession of marijuana(WAY under 30 grams) and never convicted. On August 24, 2006, I was arrested and charged with posession of controlled substance and failure to give controlled substance to law officer. I went before a judge and was found not guilty on those charges and my previous charge of possession of marijuana under 30 grams. I payed my fines/completed probation, etc,etc and I'm in no legal trouble now. If I have to get a waiver, do you have an idea of my chances of being able to pursue my dream of being a fighter pilot in the Navy?  

Answer
Hi SP,

Okay, I'm confused. When a criminal court finds someone "not guilty" of a charge, that means the court determined they didn't commit the offense. If such is the case, there probably wouldn't be a problem.

However, people who are "not guilty" do not pay fines, nor do they undergo probation. If you had to pay fines and if you underwent probation, this indicates that a court did *not* find you *NOT GUILTY* of the offenses charged (if one is *not guilty*, then one does not pay fines, and one is not placed on probation). *NOT GUILTY* means the court has determined that the individual did not commit the offense alleged, based on the evidence presented.

If you had probation and/or fines, as far as the Military (in this case the Navy) is concerned, that's the same as a conviction. It's called "Adverse Adjudication." The Navy's definition of "Adverse Ajudication" is: "Any conviction, finding, decision, sentence, judgment, or disposition other than unconditionally dropped, unconditionally dismissed, or acquitted. " (see my article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/navyjoin/a/navcrime.htm).

I've got to be truthful -- if you've served probation and/or paid fines for drug charges, your chances of becoming a fighter pilot (in any branch of the services) decreases dramatically.

As you mentioned, everybody and their brother (and sister) wants to become a fighter pilot. The few available slots are "competitive" (which means your records have to be better than others applying at the same time, for the few available slots).

Those fighter aircraft cost a few million dollars each. The competition to fly them is very, very, very tough, and the services are very, very picky on who they trust to fly these multi-million dollar aircraft.

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com