.Quick Question (paging any Recruiters)

[Garbageman1776]

Hey guys,

So I’m meeting with a Marine Recruiter on Monday to get all my paperwork going to possibly begin my life as a Marine serving in the reserves until I finish school, then can hopefully have an easy process switching over to active. I love the idea of being a Marine. I would also like to have the opportunity to someday try out for MARSOC, but I have a lot of maturing and needed experience to get to that point. Anyways, a couple of months ago I was caught with a small amount of marijuana and alcohol in my dorm room (I’m a college student at the moment, looking toward doing reserves so I can finish college at the school I’m at), and what appears on my school record was that it was a disciplinary charge, but that I was still caught with marijuana, marijuana paraphernalia, and alcohol. I was not fingerprinted or arrested and I was not charged with a misdemeanor (it was basically the equivalent to a very small traffic fine). My question is, if I wanted to pursue a career in MARSOC is this something that would prevent me from doing so? I understand I’ll have to get a security clearance and I have since stopped smoking the Mary Jane, am not planning to start it up again, and only had prior occasional use with it (other than that one charge, my record is squeaky clean; also, it expires off of my school record by the time I graduate). Here’s a picture of the screening checklist that I was originally reviewing that confused me.

 

[Red Flag 1]

I'

 

[Ooh-Rah]

I've tweaked your thread title a bit to attract any of the recruiters we have on the board.

Best of success to you....

 

[Garbageman1776]

I'm not sure if your college has a PD or not, but there is a question that you have to give an answer to. The answers you give must be truthful. If you respond with false information, it can always come up later on and bite you pretty hard.

The second bit of information to ponder is the "expunged" charges and findings is a relative term. For the purposes of military service, "expunged" information is still retrievable for the purpose of security clearances. This means charges and court rulings are still there, no matter why or when events were expunged. Your situation with no charges does suggest that your mistake may be invisible. My question about the Campus PD comes into play for you. If there is a PD, what did they document? Did you appear in a court for a decision to be made?

Your question is worth asking and considering. As a site, and as a person the correct answer is to provide honest answers.

I wish you the best of luck on the road before you.

Yes I would be completely honest about it. And my school does have a police department but what appears on the police record is that they were called for this instance (I contacted the dean of students a couple of weeks ago with this exact question). I know the security clearance would definitely look at stuff like this. I’m just trying to figure out if it would completely bar me from MARSOC. I talked to an Army Special Forces recruiter a couple weeks ago about this, and he said there would really be no danger of me being barred from his service for this, as long as I can get the security clearance, so I’d be very surprised if I were banned from MARSOC for this.

 

[Garbageman1776]

Yes I would be completely honest about it. And my school does have a police department but what appears on the police record is that they were called for this instance (I contacted the dean of students a couple of weeks ago with this exact question). I know the security clearance would definitely look at stuff like this. I’m just trying to figure out if it would completely bar me from MARSOC. I talked to an Army Special Forces recruiter a couple weeks ago about this, and he said there would really be no danger of me being barred from his service for this, as long as I can get the security clearance, so I’d be very surprised if I were banned from MARSOC for this.

And I forgot to say this: it is expunged off my student record after I graduate but yes, still, I’d be honest about it.

 

[Hillclimb]

I wouldn't go into the reserves if active duty or MARSOC is your end state. Just spend the next year or two finishing college, then enlist if that's what you really want.

If you can get a secret clearance, and crush the standards, I don't think anyone will care that you did something stupid. If you have a pattern of doing stupid things, then it may become a problem.

 

[Gunz]

As @Hillclimb suggests, why not get your degree? Then there's also the potential of a Marine officer's commission.

 

[Hacksaw0621]

Make sure everything with the case is closed and verified throughout the recruiting process you don’t want to get to MCRD and start popping off new information and give them a reason to discharge you over stuff that has been taken care off. But even if expunged or not if you bring it up and due to it being drug related it is a Marine Corps Recruiting District Moral Waiver. If your goal is to be a Raider I wouldn’t advise going Reserves.

 

[Red Flag 1]

And I forgot to say this: it is expunged off my student record after I graduate but yes,

 

[Garbageman1776]

Thank you guys for all your help. I’m meeting with a recruiter tomorrow to get paperwork going, but I am still not signing up until I know all the facts about my possible future career. I am in no rush to get this process going and I realize that I can always come back to this after school where I can completely focus on this and go active duty. Going into the reserves appeals because I’d like to be a member of the Corps, and while my main objective is to finish college, I’d still like to serve my country and start the process of getting experience and time under my belt so that a MARSOC career would be foreseeable in the future. Again, there’s a lot that goes into it, though, and I am taking every step to make sure it’s the right decision for me to make at the moment. I’ll keep you guys updated and, again, thank you for your help.

Will

 

[Teufel]

You can always enlist in the reserves and commission into the AD force

 

[Garbageman1776]

That’s exactly what I was planning on doing after I finish school.

 

[AgroLion]

I wholeheartedly agree with @Hillclimb, I'm a Reservist now...and it's not easy to get back into full time AD. Let alone MARSOC, currently for FY 2018 they're not taking any reserve applications and when it will open up to us again i have no clue. Main thing is DO NOT rush, me being Gung-Ho about joining I rushed myself into a reserve contract in an MOS I did not want, but that was my decision even if it is one I regret. All I can do now is train and get as ready as possible so when the opportunity arises I'm able to take it!

Best of Luck in your endeavours.