Hey guys, Im new
Ok so I want to join the Marines or Army…My junior year I got caught with 3 grams of cannabis. I recieved the deferred probation for 6 months and that was the end of it and me getting in trouble. What are my chances from what what youve seen and experience of getting in and even further get in a Speciall Operations? And if I do get in the military with a waiver will that slow me down or hold me from being Airborne?
Have you visited http://www.goarmy.com?
They have a forum there “Ask A Soldier” where you can post your questions. FWIW, I briefly looked at some threads and found prior drug use (with law enforcement intervention) may disqualify you from serving at all, and practically guarantees disqualification from Special Ops.
Depending on the laws of your jurisdiction, you may qualify to have your record expunged–ie, basically wipe the conviction from your record except for certain limited purposes. Check with a local lawyer to see if it might be an option for you. If you qualify for expungement, a recruiter may be able to advise you on whether it would help you join the military.
So many guys, like the OP, seem to want to be “Special Ops” even before they’ve applied to enlist in the military. They always want to go in expecting to be elite badasses right away.
It’s never, “I’ll enlist in the military, discover how I adapt to the environment of having to work as a team and follow orders, learn some things about myself and my own abilities, then if I make it through, go on to my specialty school, continue learning, then serve in that field as competently as I can, then after I have spent several years doing this, and if I have attained exceptional performance ratings, then maybe consider applying to join an elite group like Rangers, Force Recon, etc.”
It’s always “I want to join the Marines and be a Force Recon Scout/Sniper!!!”
Realize that these guys in the elite forces are chosen from the absolute top of the class guys, physically and mentally - and they have to work their asses off to get to that point.
Withholding information from the military about expunged offenses is not the way to go. One guy I knew did that and got his security clearance yanked, making him ineligible for the MOS he wanted.
[quote=“Argent_Towers, post:4, topic:590355”]
So many guys, like the OP, seem to want to be “Special Ops” even before they’ve applied to enlist in the military. They always want to go in expecting to be elite badasses right away.
It’s never, "I’ll enlist in the military, discover how I adapt to the environment of having to work as a team and follow orders, learn some things about myself and my own abilities, then if I make it through, go on to my specialty school, continue learning, then serve in that field as competently as I can, then after I have spent several years doing this, and if I have attained exceptional performance ratings, then maybe consider applying to join an elite group like Rangers, Force Recon, etc.
I’m initially joining to push myself hard and know that I can be a soldier ever since I questioned myself if I had the balls to join. It’s just that I need help about special operations! So what if everyone wants to be Force Recon Sniper? I don’t. I’m all about Airborne. I see how some ignorant future or fresh out of boot soldiers think they’re badasses because of some weeks of training. All of sudden they’re unstoppable killing machines.
That’s neither here nor there. You still would be better off talking to a recruiter than asking on a message board. As other people have said, lying about previous convictions is a sure way to get your security clearance yanked at best.