Salutations all, I am curious if anyone's son or daughter successfully enlisted in the Navy with a criminal record? I am asking because I am currently attempting to enlist and have a DUI and a Driving on a Suspended License conviction from 2007, both misdemeanors that are in legal determ. From what I understand, meaning the written statements have all been submitted and are awaiting review. In the eyes of the Navy are these serious, disqualifying conditions?
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Mark,
Indeed that is the most honest advice I have received and the most common since I began my enlistment. Everything in my criminal history has been openly discussed and documented with my recruiter. The last thing I would want is to go through all of this only to be disapproved for service because I couldn't own up to a mistake I made in the past. That has indeed been a huge part of my decision to enlist, to make an effort to take responsibility for my past decisions.
Sammy Young, thank you for your responses to Sean Jones you answered questions that I had floating around in my head. I truly like the honest and direct approach you used.. I wish I had found this site when my Sailor was a future recruit. Carry-on Thanks again..
Sean, I spent many hours hanging out at my son's recruiting office during his one year of DEP. My observations and discussions with the recruiters and advice to you is to be completely up front with what happened. Own up to your mistakes because they will find out. You will have to provide a written statement to explain what happened. Learning from your mistakes is an important part of life.
Good luck
If the waivers are not approved, I wouldn't bother going back- once they find a reason to not accept you, they will flag your record so you can't go to another Navy recruiter and try them instead. So, if they disapprove it, I'd go back to the Army guy and tell 'em you're all his. Please understand that the Navy has different thresholds for what they determine as minimum enlistment qualifications than the Army does (as do the Marines and Air Farce). Not saying that the Navy is better for it or the Army is more "lax" or anything- just sayin' they are different, and if one says "no" the other may say "yes". So, what the heck, right? Either way, you're serving our great country!
Thank you so much for taking an interest in this. Your information is greatly appreciated. In the case that the waivers are not approved, any ideas as to how final it is for my potential Navy career? Does that end it, once and for all? Or is it a matter of resubmitting and trying again?
The answer is yes- maybe. You will definitely need to get waivers for them. To quote the Navy regulations, it says: "Even one violation for "Non-Minor Misdemeanors" requires a waiver. Waivers for up to three violations can be approved by the Commander of the Navy Recruiting Division. Waivers for more than three violations require approval of HQ, Navy Recruiting Command." So, in your case, I have confirmed that both the DUI and the driving on a suspended licence are considered as "Non-Minor Misdemeanors" by the Navy, and since there were only 2 so you should be able to get a waiver from the Commander of your local Navy Recruiting Division. Emphasis on the word "should" because it all depends if the Navy needs your particular skills at that time. If they have someone else in the wings for the same slot as you, but has no waivers, he/she will get it before you do. So there you go- you have a better shot than you thought, and I wish you good luck.
On both charges I was 19 yrs. old.
Rodger that the Recruiter sucks- many of them do. And like many of the other posters have noted, many of them lie, too. Not all- just a bunch. Anyway, the only other question I have before giving you a thumbs up or thumbs down is how old were you when these occurred? It makes a huge difference if you got them as a minor or not.
Sammy,
The good news is I have no criminal cases pending or active. The two convictions occurred over 5 years ago and all orders from the judge (DUI classes, community service, fines etc.) were finished over 2 years ago. Currently my only issue is that the Chief Medical Doctor at MEPs is reviewing my medical history for any indication that I may have asthma because of a case of bronchitis more than 4 years ago where an inhaler was prescribed. It's been a very slow process, having to receive a physical from my own doctor, submitting it only to have them send back a request for something else. It takes about 2 weeks to get a new response from them.
I had recently went to an Army recruiting office and explained my situation with my Navy recruiter among other things. He had informed me that for it to take this long was quite surprising and that any recruiter with some experience should be able to anticipate what MEPs will ask for and have the recruit get all the necessary testing and medical examinations all at once.
The Navy (or any other branch of the service) will not accept ANYONE with ANY legal issues pending. They must be resolved completely by the courts, regardless if it is a traffic ticket for speeding or in your case a DUI on a suspended licence. Sorry to tell you but you're right- the Recruiter seems to be rather weak, too, and is only getting your hopes up only for them to be dashed-away. Once your case has been fully disposed of, then go back and this time hopefully someone that knows what he/she is doing can help you at that time.
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