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Expert: - 2/1/2012


Question
Good evening Commander Wagoner. My question is this. I have a Other than honorable discharge from the Marine Corps. I live in Las Vegas NV and recently applied for Corrections officer at High Desert State Prison. I have my physical test coming up in 2 weeks. A friend of mine has taken this test already and he said that one thing they told him is that you must have a Honorable Discharge, anything else would disqualify you. Should I still test?

Answer
Hi Francisco,

What I would do is contact the agency reapplied and simply ask them what their policy is on discharges from the military. You can do this by contacting the human resources division and asking to speak to a background investigator.

Well of course than Hon. discharge would've been better, most people who have not been in the military do not understand all of the different types of other than Hon. discharges. And some of the other than Hon. discharges are just as good as an honorable discharge in my opinion.

So give them a call asked them their policy, I don't think your friend is probably 100% correct.

Don't cancel anything that would be silly, you made it this far and so far they have your application and am sure somewhere on there it says that you have an other than Hon. discharge and yet they still are asking you to test.

Good luck with your process and I wish you the best. Also even though you get an other than Hon. discharge, thank you for your service to our country.

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Chris Wagoner

Expertise

I have been a police officer for 30+ years! I am the Police Academy Commander at the Santa Fe College, Institute of Public Safety in Gainesville Florida It is a full service Law Enforcement and Corrections training facility. I can answer most questions concerning law enforcement procedures, law enforcement training and general questions about law enforcment. I can also answer questions about becoming a law enfocement officer. I have a booklet and web page I have written that answers many questions about how to become a police officer called "So you want to be a cop (police Officer) in Florida?", which is free, Google it.. All you have to do is ask. I teach the following subjects: RADAR/LASER, Law Enforcement Driving, Law Enforcement Firearms and Patrol Techniques, Officer Safety, WMD's for Patrol Officers, Application of Law, Communications skills, Dealing with the Mentally and physically handicapped, and many more subjects. I have worked as a subject matter expert for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and helped to write the police curriculum for the State of Florida. I like answering questions about how to become a police officer, and questions about why did an officer do this or that type questions. I also like answering any questions you may have about police work in general. I do not mind helping with homework questions or trying to answer your questions about legal subjects that I have knowledge of. You will never know the answer until you ask! If you do ask a question, PLEASE take the time to at least rate the answer. I do not get paid to answer these questions and do it on my own time. If you ask, please rate it when I answer. Thanks!!! If its a question about becoming a police officer, it may be answered here: http://sites.google.com/site/flaleohelp/ My "hobby" website - http://www.youtube.com/user/3rdID8487 Military Videos on YouTube and Facebook!!

Experience

I am a 30+ year veteran police officer, I am currently the Police Academy Commander of an Academy in North FLorida. I have been training police officers since 1993 and have trained them in all aspects of law enforcement, including firearms, Driving and legal subjects including patrol techniques and others and training all over the world. I have trained over 5000 officers worldwide in the last 16 years of training.

Publications
I am a published author in Accident Investigation from the University of North Florida, Institute of Police Technology and Management. Also have written and published on the Internet, "So You Want to be a Cop (Police Officer) in Florida?" you can Google it..

Education/Credentials
I have 2 degrees, in Criminal Justice.

Awards and Honors
Phi Theta Kappa, plus 50+ Departmental Awards over the years. FBI Directors award for assisting in a Nationwide investigation into Child pornography.

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