Hello,

For the past couple of years I believe I have been the victim of having misinformation fed to me by recruiters who may be lacking in the knowledge of what I must do to be eligible for enlistment in the U.S. Army. A few years back peer-pressure got the best of me and I got involved in the street-racing crowd and managed to get a substantial amount of traffic tickets out of that whole ordeal, all misdemeanor traffic tickets. I have my GED, but one of my recruiters said that I had so many traffic tickets that I had to have a High School diploma or 15 college credit hours to become eligible to enlist, of course this higher learning is not much of an option to me because I have no way to get to a school or enough monrey to sign up for online college classes to get the 15 college credit hours.

Recently I spoke to a cyber recruiter from the goarmy website and he informed me that only a score of 31+ on the ASVAB and a GED was required for me to be eligible for enlistment. This was a different story from what my last recruiter told me. When I informed the cyber recruiter that I had quite a few minor traffic convictions on my record he immediately told me I was disqualified from joining. Now, even this sounds suspect because I have seen mention on the internet of some type of waiver I could ask for that would allow me to join. So I am at my wits end here with what to do, I feelthat the Army may be the only thing that can put me on the right path in my life and if I fail at obtaining eligibilty to join then my life may not lead to much, having no license and being in a part of town that offers no public transportation is really hard on a guy like me. I would, however , like to add that I no longer hang out with bad crowds and haven't been in trouble with the law in years.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do? It just seems like i'm not getting all the facts here.

join the Army National Guard.... they can get you waived for things like that.

For US Army, I hear there are waivers for that stuff, once you have it squared away, fines paid, etc...

Never heard of any college hours to make up for traffic tickets... Do the GED and this will get you over the gameline.... Recruiter doesnt sound good you are talking to.. Id get another... Good luck...

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"Barrel High, Powder Dry!"

"Illic est haud effrego ex Veneratio"

The National Guard is more strict about waviers than the active Army - careful of the information you pan out.

As for your tickets, Joel - a large number can in fact prevent you from joining. There are waivers, but depending on the amount you have will depend on if you're eligible. If it were one or two, sure .. easy waiver. Five and up is going to prove a little difficult.

If they aren't paid and are still pending - you are a 100% no-go, you can't join with open judgements/tickets.

It's so disheartening to know that some aspects of the Army judge you on the person you used to be and not the more responsible and respectful person you are today. Sure i've made mistakes in my life, but if I never made those mistakes then what would I have to learn from. I hope there is a place for me amongst the people that fight for our country and helps its citizens in their time of disaster. I really do hope that I can find a recruiter that is willing to help me through all this and not someone more focused on meeting their goal of enlistments; they look at my situation and see me as a challenge so they go to the next guy to get the quicker and easier signup.

To know that I may not be eligible because I at one time got alot of tickets because I was influenced by the wrong people (since in the eyes of the Army that is supposed to show that I somehow have bad morale or something) and then see all the news about some American Soldiers raping and torturing Iraqi citizens and using their pets for target practice is a real slap in the face to a guy like myself..can't let me in because of some damn traffic tickets, but you don't mind letting nutjobs like those that pick on the poor and defenseless slide through the system. It's all just so frustrating . I just wish the Army would focus more on the change i've made in my life and maintained through the years then fault me for falling victim to the trappings of being a kid and getting in trouble..the situation is easily comparable to being an overweight person and losing the weight, yet people still call you fat because at one time you were regardless of the fact that now you are in the best physical condition you have ever been in. The prejiduce against reformed citizens in the Army really needs to be stopped or reevaluated and create special conditions for people like me that get their lives back in focus and want to dedicate their lives to the cause of something great.

you can join the British army as long as you have no spent convictions

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One day President Roosevelt told me that he was asking publicly for suggestions about what the war should be called. I said at once 'The Unnecessary War'.
Sir Winston Churchill, Second World War (1948)

Why shouldn't we judge you on all aspects of your life? If you are going to be responsible for millions of dollars worth of equipment and priceless classified information, shouldn't we want to know every aspect of your character, past and present?

Part of growing up means accepting responsibility AND consequence for your actions - even those you did when you are young. Do not blame the military because you are not eligible to enlist, blame yourself. Even now you make excuses for the tickets by pawning the blame off on other people, ie "Influence by the wrong people." Just say you ****ed up and move on. If you ever have to get a clearance, trying to push off some of the responsibility of past actions will get you denied faster than anything else.

It seems to me you aren't ready to accept the consequences of your actions, and want to blame others for YOUR decisions. Perhaps you are not as mature as you believe.

You also seem pretty quick to give up and blame the military - if I want something badly enough, I plug and plug until I get it. There is a young man attending our Q course right now that worked for FIVE years trying to get back into the military, he didn't give up and he certainly didn't blame anyone for not being able to get back in easily. He just did what he had to do.

Btw, just for your education - the military is a microcosom of society, in other words - we are a micro image of the civilian citizens of the US. Just as in the civilian world there are criminals and ****bags, we get them too, it is pretty normal and doesn't reflect on the majority of those serving. Just as gang bangers don't reflect on the majority of civilians living quite, law abiding lives in the US.

People have the ability to change their ways and I have changed mine. I've been out of trouble way longer then I was ever in it, I even stopped smoking, drinking and doing drugs all on my own for the purpose of bettering my life and I have been absolutely clean for 6 years now. Being a kid with a father that is never there and a mother who barely even acknowledges your existence is hell on a kid looking for a good role-model in their life, so I got involved with the wrong crowd because I wanted friends and there were no "good" kids that lived in my area, I acknowledge I was responsible for my own actions and messed up, but to claim peer-pressure had nothing to do with it at all would be far from the truth, I was just an impressionable young kid at the time. I never said I didn't accept responsibility for my actions, my argument is that if I wasn't involved with that crowd I wouldn't have gotten those tickets.

The point is that if people can not be given second chances to show they can change then what motivation is there for them to? I'd like for someone to focus more on the fact that I volunteer down at the Salvation Army and the soup kitchen and that I run marathons that are aimed at funding cures for aids and cancer and that I do not smoke, drink or do drugs then for someone to just look at my record and tell me "well oh it just looks like you are an out of control person". or "looks like you are a menace to society". Mistakes are meant to be learned from and I have learned from the foolish ones I made, but when that is all people want to look at and not take into account the whole new person you are then you can not help but be upset.

Regarding my eligibility, i'm not stopping until i'm enlisted..that was the whole point of joining this forum...to learn from others on what I can do to improve my eligiblity. Later today I also plan on calling around and exploring a higher education just to put me closer to my goal of making myself eligible..so I think lack of motivation is something I surely do not have

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Pogue Colonel: You write "Born to Kill" on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What's that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?

The Army divides criminal offenses into one of four categories. Applicants with six or more minor traffic offenses (where the fine was $100 or more per offense), or three or more minor non-traffic offenses, or two or more misdemeanors, or one or more felonies, requires a waiver.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/armyjoin/a/criminal.htm

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We view ourselves on the eve of battle. We are nerved for the contest, and must conquer or perish. It is vain to look for present aid. We must now act or abandon all hope! Rally to the standard, and be no longer the scoff of mercenary tongues! Be men, be free men, that your children may bless their father's name. - Sam Houston

Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee

[QUOTE=Joel;35929]I never said I didn't accept responsibility for my actions, my argument is that if I wasn't involved with that crowd I wouldn't have gotten those tickets. [q/uote]

And once again, you place blame on something other than yourself. It is a lot more forgivable and a lot more belieable to simply say "Yeah, I did it .. I screwed up. I made the choice to screw up and I accept responsibility for it."

It seems to me like you would want to strive not to be a ****bag for yourself, not anyone else.


Consequences are a reality of life. The choices you made yesterday do impact tomorrow.

Good luck. You definitely has some maturing to do, and you need to start taking full responsibility for your actions. "Peer pressure" is never an excuse. Once you start doing that, you may find you have an easier time of things.