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Should I even try if I need multiple moral and medical waivers?


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Hello,


I am 30 years old and would like to fly helicopters in the army. In fact I've always wanted to. When I was younger I had a bad living situation, got involved with the wrong people, didn't know how to deal with my problems and made a lot of reckless decisions as a result.


I have an arrest record and it isn't pretty. I would like to know my chances of being granted waivers to serve.


Before I get into my arrest record, I would like to share that it has been 8 years since my last arrest. In that time, I have gotten my 4 year degree and am now a working professional. The pattern over the last 8 years I believe demonstrates that I have matured as a person and turned my life around. I can supply letters of recommendation and am willing to do any and all legwork required to get waivers approved.


For my arrest record,




  1. Arrested in 2003 for marijuana use. Released to my parents with no charges or citations.




  2. Arrested in 2008 for suspicion of underage drinking. I blew a 0.0 at the police station and was let go with no charges or citations.




  3. Arrested in 2008 for unlawful use of ID and charged with a misdemeanor. Tried to get into a casino with a fake ID. I did community service and the charges were dismissed.




  4. Arrested in 2009 for 4 counts of destruction of property and charged with 4 felonies. The charges were dismissed "Nolle Prosequi" with no stipulations and so I was not convicted.




  5. Arrested in 2010 on a search warrant. Released without charges after the search.




  6. Arrested in 2011 for assault/trespassing and charged with two misdemeanors. I did community service and the charges were dismissed.




  7. Not an arrest, but I have about 10 traffic violations, most of them from 2005-2010. I took care of all of them by going through drivers safety school.




In addition to my arrest record, I believe I will require more waivers for medical standards.




  1. I saw a psychiatrist in 2010 for 5-6 months. He put me on anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medication while we did therapy. I have been off those medications for almost 9 years now. I called his office a few months ago to get treatment records and was told they were lost, but that the psychiatrist remembers me and so instead he wrote me a letter stating I was rehabilitated and left his care in good health.




  2. I had PRK laser corrective eye surgery in 2015




  3. I hade a surgical procedure called a thoracic sympathectomy. This procedure is in the medical standards manual for WOFT and is considered disqualifying. However, earlier this year I had a reversal surgery for the sympathectomy and am not sure how that will affect how the army views me.




Physically, I am in great shape and know I can score high on the physical fitness test.


Like I said I know it isn't pretty. To save myself the embarrassment of meeting face to face with a recruiter I would like to ask on here if you all think I should even try. I know there are plenty of qualified people applying.


-Thanks


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Hey man,

Im an active duty Aviator. I always encourage people to try. You really never know what they may or may not accept waivers for. Literally every board is different. With that said youre going to have a really hard time with your history of anti-depressants. Also any surgery that is expressly mentioned in a reg is going to be hard to get past but if its been reversed that may be a different story.

Finally, I dont know you man and Im not judging, my history isnt perfect either but an arrest history like that leads me to believe you may have some problems with authority or aggression. I encourage you to look deep into yourself because if either of those statements are true than the Army may not be for you. Best of luck brother.

-Walk

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Ummmmm.....wow, dude. Nothing is impossible, but if say you have just a bit of an uphill battle. Look, we all make mistakes and we all screw up- I'm no different; most of us have some sort of history and at the end of the day learning from those mistakes is a part of life.

 

I'm sure you will get many negative responses here and probably anywhere else you post but here are my 2 cents:

 

- meet with a recruiter, they are the experts. If this is really what you want to do in life, man up and own your past.

 

- make sure you have all your paperwork including certified copies of your arrest record.

 

- the military looks for what is called adverse adjudication. That means that if ANYTHING happened (like doing community service) before your case was dismissed or not procedures its pretty much the same as a guilty plea.

 

- ask yourself if you really have matured. The military in general, and special programs specifically have zero tolerance for bullshit. On the off chance you get accepted (and honestly, it really will be an uphill battle to prove your merits outweigh your past), you will undoubtedly be held to a special standard. Are you ready for that kind of commitment?

 

Sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear but it will probably be the most encouragement you'll get on any forum.

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Spend some time doing research into what the Army life and aviator job is like and decide if you think that’s something you want to do. There is a lot more to it than just flying a helicopter. If you still think it would be fun give it a shot. The worst that happens is you waste some time and either get disqualified during the application process or not selected by the board.

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You passing the Army WOFT board and MEPS is almost beside the point.

 

You won't be granted a Security clearance with a record like that, which will kill most of your choices right off the bat and is an absolute requirement for WOFT specifically.

 

Even with the amount of time that has passed since then, you'd still have to report it and your Criminal History report pulled via your finger prints will give them your entire rap sheet. Your past issues can be mitigated with a decent amount of time passed, unfortunately the time it would take will put you well over the age limit to apply.

 

I am usually the most pessimistic one on this forum when it comes to issues that will prevent you from being picked up so take that for what its worth, but I don't see any chance.

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You might as well give it a shot. If I read that correctly you have zero convictions and had a rough time as a teenager, and nothing on your record since 2010? The SF-86 has some limitations on how long they care about arrests and charges depending on what they were related to. Being a dumb teenager who went to a party is usually not a security concern. You will definitely need to put a lot of work into your packet and study hard to score well on the tests. I have no idea about the medical stuff, but the worst that can happen is they tell you no.

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I don't know what to tell you other than, apply, do your best and put your best foot forward. Let them say no, don't say no to yourself. Now, do you really want to fly? After a bit, it just becomes a job and hard work with little thanks for it. But you get to work in interesting places flying. I don't have any regrets but after a while, it's just that a job with a lot of roads bumps along the way. So go for it all you will be out is some of your time and effort and you will not look back and say to yourself I should have tired.

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  • 2 months later...

I talked to one recruiter last week. He would not entertain the idea of me applying for WOFT based on my background. I asked if I could enlist and he said I was disqualified from that as well. I brought up applying for waivers and he just said I'm not qualified and that was it. I sent him a follow up text message asking again to try and he didn't respond.

 

I'm not surprised. I understand and accept that I screwed up and made my life harder than it needed to be. Since time machines don't exist I just have to live with the consequences of my actions.

 

However, I'm not ready to give up yet. I will get in touch with another nearby recruiter and will send a few emails to WOSM's in guard units as well. In the meantime, if anyone can suggest ideas on how to approach a recruiter given my background then I am all ears.

 

Thank you all again for being rather supportive. Pilots have always been good dudes in my experience.

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Sounds like your recruiter is just lazy unless there is something you aren't telling us. Perhaps I'm wrong... But I know people who enlisted with OUI convictions in their very recent past. I'd be shocked if your arrests with no convictions kept you out of the military as a whole. As far as before an aviation board, who knows. I do think it being so long ago, and everything in between suggests you grew up.

I'm with everyone else here saying if it is what you want, fight for it.

 

Mike

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I've never been a recruiter so I'm not sure what guidance they are given during their training but recruiters vary a ton so check out a few of them. Not trying to give you false hopes but don't count yourself out because one recruiter told you no. What you need is a sharp recruiter who knows how to navigate regulations.

Edited by SBuzzkill
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Looking for some community advice as I am in a slightly similar situation to the poster. My issues were a MIP and disorderly conduct from 2010 that were expunged after pleading no contest and doing community service, and some admitted experimental college drug use (no convictions or legal intervention).

 

Since beginning the WOFT application process I have checked all of the boxes and filled out all of the forms along the way. I even met with an ASAP/SUDCC counselor and received a go from him on the drug use for an aviation waiver. After knocking out all of the testing and physicals I was denied a clearance by the regular army. A couple of the recruiters I've worked with have suggested enlisting to "prove myself" and drop a packet from inside the service. Unfortunately from my research the drug use appears to disqualify me from all of the other 15 series MOSs, except for 15W (which requires a clearance as well).

 

I want to be a soldier and serve in the army, but I also want to be passionate about my position within the army. Does it seem to you all that enlisting in another MOS would actually better my chances of being approved for a clearance, or is it more advantageous to let more time pass since my indiscretion and try the WOFT packet again later, still as a civilian? For what it's worth I'm 28, so I have a few more years before I would need an age waiver. Without a security clearance the only MOSs I could qualify for that remotely fit my interests would be 19K or 68 series. These are both significant departures from aviation. If it would help my chances though, I'd consider enlisting in the guard or reserves.

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Looking for some community advice as I am in a slightly similar situation to the poster. My issues were a MIP and disorderly conduct from 2010 that were expunged after pleading no contest and doing community service, and some admitted experimental college drug use (no convictions or legal intervention).

 

Since beginning the WOFT application process I have checked all of the boxes and filled out all of the forms along the way. I even met with an ASAP/SUDCC counselor and received a go from him on the drug use for an aviation waiver. After knocking out all of the testing and physicals I was denied a clearance by the regular army. A couple of the recruiters I've worked with have suggested enlisting to "prove myself" and drop a packet from inside the service. Unfortunately from my research the drug use appears to disqualify me from all of the other 15 series MOSs, except for 15W (which requires a clearance as well).

 

I want to be a soldier and serve in the army, but I also want to be passionate about my position within the army. Does it seem to you all that enlisting in another MOS would actually better my chances of being approved for a clearance, or is it more advantageous to let more time pass since my indiscretion and try the WOFT packet again later, still as a civilian? For what it's worth I'm 28, so I have a few more years before I would need an age waiver. Without a security clearance the only MOSs I could qualify for that remotely fit my interests would be 19K or 68 series. These are both significant departures from aviation. If it would help my chances though, I'd consider enlisting in the guard or reserves.

 

Unless you are willing to accept the possibility of three to six years as an enlisted soldier with no chance of going to WOCS and being a pilot don’t enlist.

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  • 7 months later...

I'm at it again after almost a year. Got busy with work, school, and flight training I've been doing. I contacted another recruiter this week and again was told I am not qualified. He even asked his recruiting battalion commander and was told no.

 

I sent out an email to another recruiter located a few hours away. I will just keep contacting different recruiters and keep my fingers crossed that someone will be willing to work with me.

 

It's crazy how I just can't let this go. I am so determined to do this and yet hate myself so much for my screw ups in life.

 

Just updating in case any gives a sh*t and of course I'm still open to input and advice on how to go about applying.

 

Will keep you all posted.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got my flight medical waivers approved for a shoulder surgery I had and I was approved for mild asymptomatic pulmonary stenosis in my heart. Most of the time as soon as any defect is mentioned about the heart most people say it is game over. Not in my case. When I went to my first recruiter he said the heart murmur would almost certainly be a no go. I went to another recruiter, made it through MEPS, made it through the flight physical pt1 and 2, and did well on my APFT. Stay the course. The only people that can say whether or not you can get waivers for your stuff are the people in the waiver department. Best of luck to you.

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  • 3 years later...

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