credit history

[Chris_25]

Thank you inkking, i appreciate your advice and thank you for your service. i don't like the fact that i look like a ***** for not going to iraq but my unit wasn't even scheduled to go to iraq anytime soon anyways. the main reason i got out was financial reasons. i understand i didn't ful fill my commitment and i take reasponsibility for my actions. I understand completely where you guys are coming from now. at first i didn't think cuz of my discharge it wasn't bad but now i realize differantly. thank you all for your replies but i don't think it looks to good for me. maybe being a police officer will just always be a dream. good luck to the rest of you. you all deserve it more than me. you served your country and i didn't. You all probably don't like me for my choice and i apologize, but there isn't anything i can do about it now. its already over with and i've been discharged

[mcsap]

Going in the military is a COMMITMENT. It is not some sort of option. You knew that in advance and chose ( for whatever reasons you have) to break that commitment.

Whats the difference between you and your 2nd best discharge and the person who honorablyserved his full commitment and got an Honorable Discharge ?

Answer ....a lot !

It shows character and determination. You may be able to self justify why you did what you did but you still failed to live up to your end of the deal.

And hiring departments will take notice of such things during the hiring process. Some if not most , require a full Honorable Discharge to be hired. Not a 2nd place discharge.

This may sound cold but it is for real.

[Chris_25]

I understand and i didn't look at it from that perspective but you guys helped realize that. That is the reason i posted my question on here. thank you all for your help. I'm just gonna go to college and become a mechanic.

[Melbatoast2008]

Nothing you did in the past should hold you back. Timing is everything. Be patient and take care of your mistakes - show signs of reconciliation. If a dept will not hire you now b/c of your past - use that to your advantage and allow it to motivate you to clean up your shortcomings. Do not get in a hole and give up on your dreams, before you know it, you'll be dead and this life will be over. Police officers have a tendency to be matter of fact - like you have read - be thankful the strong survive and protect us - dont be offended by what you perceive as slams or negativity - use it! Rise up and persevere. Good luck, and move forward.

[Chris_25]

thanks man, it really means alot what you said. i am trying to change my mistakes. it just seemed from what everyone said cuz of the mistakes i've been no department would hire me so i started thinking what is the point. I mean we are all human and all make mistakes but if we are honest about them and show we have learned from them and moved forward i don't see why they wouldn't consider hiring you? you know what i mean

[retdetsgt]

Chris,

If I've learned nothing else in my 60+ years, it's that everything happens for a reason. And it ain't important for me to know that reason. Looking back on my life, everything that happened to me in my life evidentually worked out to my advantage. Sometimes it took a while for me to realize, it but that was the final outcome.

Good luck;)

[Joeyd6]

Chris,

If I've learned nothing else in my 60+ years, it's that everything happens for a reason. And it ain't important for me to know that reason. Looking back on my life, everything that happened to me in my life evidentually worked out to my advantage. Sometimes it took a while for me to realize, it but that was the final outcome.

Good luck;)

Very well put Sgt. Very well put!

[MP_Steve]

i'm not too bad in debt though. i can get out in a couple months but i still don't see why my discharge is so bad. its not a bad discharge. its general under HONORABLE conditions. its the second best discharge in the whole military. I know your not digging on me and i appreciate your advice but i'm still confused to yet what is so wrong with my discharge. its not for misconduct or drugs like a lot of people have gotten. some people are just not cut out for the army or the lifestyle. thank you for your advice. its just alot of departments say the just don't want people with other than honorable, dishonorable or bad conduct discharges. and mine is above all those

Most departments wont hire you unless your discharge is Honorable. Other under honorable conditions doesn't cut it.

I'm curious to know how your unit knew you were in debt to begin with, and why you were discharged for only $2k. If you were in a position that required a security clearance, and lost it for financial reasons, you'd be reclassed... not discharged.

To compare situations, it should be noted that reservists who decide they want to repeatedly skip weekend drills and not show up for annual trainings are discharged under the same characterization in which you've described: "Other under honorable conditions," which by no stretch should actually be considered anything close to honorable (more like horrible).

I've never heard of anyone being just tossed out for a few grand in debt. Perhaps you thought you couldn't afford to attend drill and stopped showing up? That's the only thing that comes to the top of my mind and as a result, that's the kind of discharge you had received.

What you're saying just doesn't make any sense to me.:confused:

[Roger Dat]

Left halfway through bootcamp as an uncharacterized general discharge and got hired. HUGE hurdle to overcome, as it was in my hiring process but there are departments that will hire someone who can articulate it and can overcome with other strong suits, like degree, work history etc.

[MP_Steve]

AR 135-178 (13 March 2007)
Chapter 13
Unsatisfactory Participation in the Ready Reserve
13-1. Basis
a. A Soldier is subject to discharge for unsatisfactory participation when it is determined that the Soldier is unqualified for further military service because:
(1) The Soldier is an unsatisfactory participant as prescribed by AR 135-91, chapter 4; and
(2) Attempts to have the Soldier respond or comply with orders or correspondence have resulted in
(a) The Soldier's refusal to comply with orders or correspondence; or
(b) A notice sent by certified mail was refused, unclaimed, or otherwise undeliverable; or
(c) Verification that the Soldier has failed to notify the command of a change of address and reasonable attempts to contact the Soldier have failed.
b. Discharge action may be taken when the Soldier cannot be located or is absent in the hands of civil authorities in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2-18 and chapter 3, section IV.
c. Commanders will not take action prescribed in this chapter in lieu of disciplinary action solely to spare a Soldier who may have committed serious misconduct the harsher penalties that may be imposed under the UCMJ.
13-2. Suspension of favorable personnel action Favorable personnel action will be suspended in accordance with AR 600-8-2 upon initiation of separation processing under this chapter.
13-3. Characterization of service
a. Characterization of service normally will be Under Other Than Honorable Conditions, but characterization as General (under honorable conditions) may be warranted under the guidelines in chapter 2, section III.
b. For Soldiers who have completed entry level status, characterization of service as Honorable is not authorized unless the Soldier's record is otherwise so meritorious that any other characterization clearly would be inappropriate. In such cases, separation for unsatisfactory participation with an Honorable characterization will be approved by the separation authority (para 1-10). As an exception, the separation authority will approve separation with service characterized as Honorable when an administrative separation board has recommended such characterization.
c. When characterization of service as Under Other Than Honorable Conditions is not warranted for a Soldier in entry level status under chapter 2, section III, the service will be described as uncharacterized.

The discharge the original poster described and the reason he stated he was discharged do not fall in line with current standing Army regulations as I have posted above.

I call BS on his statement.

Also for the record, I know people that were in my reserve unit who had financial difficulty and literally couldn't afford to attend drill so the commander just made them burn up their IRR time in the beginning. No one was ever discharged for that.

[retdetsgt]

Thanks for posting that. I was wondering if the army had changed that much since I got out. Jeez, I couldn't imagine walking in and saying "Hey, guys, I have a personal conflict, I don't think I'm going to be able to go over to Vietnam! Catch ya next time!"

Appreiciate you reassuring me.

[MP_Steve]

Thanks for posting that. I was wondering if the army had changed that much since I got out. Jeez, I couldn't imagine walking in and saying "Hey, guys, I have a personal conflict, I don't think I'm going to be able to go over to Vietnam! Catch ya next time!"

Appreiciate you reassuring me.

If you are ordered to active duty that's a completely different subject. You can be criminally charged under the UCMJ for that. But not for skipping drill.

As it has always stood, reservists and national guardsman are not subject to the UCMJ whether as a civilian or at drill weekend. The only time they are is when ordered to annual training or federal active duty service.

[H.R. Cufnstuf]

Well, we do have the option of discharging someone who's financial readiness makes them a burden to the service but clearly I have no idea how the Army works.