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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/dui..and going active duty
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Question
I have 2 questions here. My son is 18 and has been in the coast guard reserves for over 1 year. He got a dui a week ago.He has been trying to go active duty , which by the way , he has been trying to do since last aug. Will this affect his active duty application? I believe his dui will be tried as a juvinile one. And also, why is it so hard to go active duty as a member of the Coast Guard?
Hi Linda,
It most certainly will affect his active duty application. In addition to being a "Military Service," the Coast Guard is also a "law enforcement agency." Therefore, they are much more "strict" when it comes to criminal offense records than the other services (just as police agencies are more strict in their "hiring practices").
The U.S. Coast Guard falls under the Department of Homeland Security, and not the Department of Defense. The active duty Coast Guard is the smallest of the active duty services, and therefore, need the fewest new active duty applicants.
In any given year:
The active duty Army needs about 80,000 new recruits
The active duty Air Force needs about 28,000 new recruits
The active duty Navy needs about 37,000 new recruits
The active duty Marine Corps needs about 36,000 new recruits
The active duty Coast Guard needs about 5,000 new recruits.
The above statistics should explain why it's so hard to go onto active duty as a member of the Coast Guard Reserves, and why the DUI is going to be tough to overcome.
For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
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Answers by Expert:
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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