Military service question

[ShabNasty]

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I have a question regarding the Military Service section on the AACOMAS application.

I was in the Army Reserves from 2002-2005 (joined out of high school) and received a General (under other than honorable) discharge for missing some drills. Long story short, I was young, immature, and trying to balance a full time job with a full time class load and regretfully made some poor decisions. I have learned from my mistakes since then and I am certain that my situation needs to be addressed to adcoms.

Should I offer an explanation on the military service section? The section only says "Please list branch/dates of service/terms of discharge: ", but it does offer a 750 character limit. Or should I only list what they are asking for and wait for them to ask if I were to get an interview?

Also, does anyone know if the background check when you matriculate includes a check on military service?

Thanks for any advice and responses.

 

[Member000000]

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[Spderjhn]

I was an Infantry platoon leader in the Army, and when we put out Soldiers for being AWOL with a General Discharge we had to counsel them on the negative effects of this type of action because it is pretty bad. You were most likely barred from reenlistment, but there is hope - you can request that the discharge be changed. Good luck.

 

[NightGod]

Man, they give General discharges for U-ing out these days? Back in the 90s you just got transferred to IRR and got a pretty little honorable certificate in the mail when your contract ran out.

Spderjhn, not sure how it is now, but being AWOL while Active was treated far more severely than U(satisfactory drill attendance)-ing out of the Reserves. Of course, the service wasn't in an active deployment phase back then, either, so that could factor these days.

 

[ShabNasty]

A friend of mine in the same unit missed some drills as well and he was discharged with an honorable discharge so there was no consistency in my unit.

 

[Spderjhn]

A friend of mine in the same unit missed some drills as well and he was discharged with an honorable discharge so there was no consistency in my unit.

I would look into having the status changed, so that this doesn't follow you.

 

[ShabNasty]

I think since it's not dishonorable that it won't be that big of a deal for you. I would just state the minimum and then if they ask, let them know.
I do believe the background check would show, but you'll only have a problem if it's dishonorable.
I can ask one of the people at drill this weekend for sure though.

That's what I was thinking of doing, but I was just worried that if they saw this on my AACOMAS application without having any sort of explanation or context, they would be concerned by the red flag and just pass me up for an interview.

I was an Infantry platoon leader in the Army, and when we put out Soldiers for being AWOL with a General Discharge we had to counsel them on the negative effects of this type of action because it is pretty bad. You were most likely barred from reenlistment, but there is hope - you can request that the discharge be changed. Good luck.

From what I have heard and read, it is very difficult to get this type of discharge changed. I don't know though if it makes a difference for Regular Army or the Reserves.

 

[ShabNasty]

I would look into having the status changed, so that this doesn't follow you.

This is definitely my long-term plan, but with my pending AACOMAS application, I need advice on whether or not I should address it if I am asked or offer it up anyway on the app. 750 characters isn't a lot of room to explain, but probably enough to get the basic details across. I just don't know which option is more of a risk of not getting interviews.

 

[ColeMine]

I'd just put the service and the date in and out. I wouldn't bother putting down the type of discharge. Your discharge status isn't public knowledge as you're DD214 is private info. It's not like they send it to credit bureaus and tack it on to your criminal record.

I'd provide as little info as possible. They'll most likely have to get some form of release in order to dig deeper at which point I'd worry about answering hard questions, but I'd not worry about it now.

 

[Spderjhn]

This is definitely my long-term plan, but with my pending AACOMAS application, I need advice on whether or not I should address it if I am asked or offer it up anyway on the app. 750 characters isn't a lot of room to explain, but probably enough to get the basic details across. I just don't know which option is more of a risk of not getting interviews.

I think ColeMine has a pretty reasonable plan for you. I would NOT offer the info on the app, but if you are asked specifically, then I suggest you tell the truth about the mistake you made and how you have learned...and so on.