• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

Will felony charges keep you out of marine corps?

A

AirDrop

New Member
Hello AirWarriors,

I am very eager to become a Marine Corps officer and pilot. I am very well qualified to do this according to the requirements and I believe I would be a competitive applicant. However, I have been arrested 3 times during teenage years as I was a troubled youth. There were 2 misdemeanors and 1 felony. For the misdemeanors, I took care of them by doing community service and they were dismissed. For the felony, I did not commit the crime and the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence.

When I contacted my local Marine Corps OSO, he asked me to fill out a background questionnaire and then responded back to me by email:

" I appreciate your honesty by disclosing all of your criminal charges.
Unfortunately, we do not differentiate between a charge vs. conviction and are
not accepting any felony charges on applications. I am not sure about the
other services, and highly recommend you contact them for further
clarification. I wish you the best of luck!"

I would like to say that I am a good guy. I got good grades in school, am athletic, have civilian flight experience, and volunteer experience. Furthermore, I have great respect for the Marine Corps and it would truly be an honor to serve alongside you all. I just made dumb decisions in the past and hung out with the wrong crowd but I have since gotten my act together and haven't gotten into any kind of trouble for 5 years now.

I was not able to find anywhere on the internet if the Marine Corps as a whole doesn't differentiate between a charge vs. conviction or if just this particular OSO does. Would anyone be willing to give me some pointers on what I could try next? Should I contact a different recruiter and try with them? Should I wait until another conflict starts brewing and entry requirements get more relaxed? I am fully prepared to be told and I accept the fact if my past disqualifies me from service.

Thank you for your time.

-AirDrop
 
E

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
The military rules are different than the civilian rules, I am surprised that the felony considering it was dropped would cause him to just turn you away without further inquiry, I was thinking the misdemeanors depending on what you were convicted of would be more of a show stopper. There are some misdemeanors that are waiverable and others that are not.

A CO can also put out he won't be given waivers for certain things.
 
A7Dave

A7Dave

Well-Known Member
pilot
Considering how competitive the applicant field is for potential pilots, you'd be an easy "reject". Just being honest.

You'd have to be stellar in every way and have some serious recommendations from pillars of your community to overcome those strikes. What else have you "done for your country" beside be a (now) good guy?

An option might be to enlist (if they will take you), get several stellar years under your belt and then push for an academy slot (or OCS if you already have a Bachelors Degree). No guarantees however.
 
Spekkio

Spekkio

He bowls overhand.
AirDrop said:
I would also like to add that the felony charge was dismissed "nolle prosequi" due to a lack of evidence. According to this waiver guide:

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/marinejoin/a/criminal.-um-_2.htm

A "nolle prosequi" due to a lack of evidence does not get treated as a conviction. Perhaps I will contact the recruiter and point this out and see what he says.
Click to expand...
According to your link, 'nolle prosequi' is indicates an unresolved case and not treated as a dismissal until *someone* (who?) reviews the case and determines that the prosecution decided not to pursue because of lack of evidence. This goes for both O and E. I'd be surprised if anyone was willing to put in that kind of effort on either end if they are making their numbers, and that doesn't even address the other two misdemeanors you have.

Also, according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, it's not abnormal for a judge to issue a dismissal order following a prosecutor's motion for nolle prosequi, which is what actually officially clears you of your charges. And according to another site on a quick search, you are still subject to re-prosecution for the crime.

Therefore, if you are interested in military service, I would call your lawyer and ask if he can get a judge to issue a dismissal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top