Replies

At the risk of repeating what others have said, here’s my advice for your son. I offer it as a retired Air Force officer who spent part of his career in recruiting.

First and foremost, it is now a recruiter’s market. With budget cuts, the exit from Iraq and looming cuts in our military forces, the various branches can be extremely choosy about who they will accept as an enlistee. For example, if you son’s DWI resulted in a minor felony conviction, his chances for enlistment are virtually nil. That’s just one more disqualifier in today’s recruiting environment.

Here are some other disqualifiers. If your son is more than a few pounds overweight, he won’t be allowed to enlist. A few years ago, recruiters would wait on a young man or woman to lose the weight, but not anymore. Additionally, it might not be a bad idea to review your son’s medical records. If he was ever prescribed certain drugs for conditions like ADD/HD, that’s an automatic disqualifier. Ditto for certain types of past injuries or illnesses.

In terms of academics, your son must have a high school diploma. The days of the services taking GED grads are over. Additionally, the military does look ( HS transcripts. If they see a pattern of under-achievement, they are less likely to take that prospect than someone who was an average student.

And, as others have pointed out, your son’s ASVAB acore is critically important. Officially, you need a composite of 30 to enter the Army; 31 for the USMC, 40 for the Navy, 45 for the USAF and 50 for the Coast Guard. For the Navy, Air Force and USCG, I’d add 20 points to those acores—at a minimum. The higher the ASVAB acore, the more competitive the candidate is—it’s literally that simple. I highly recommend advance study/preparation for the test, particularly if your son hasn’t been in school for a while.

I also recommend shopping around, particularly if your son emerges as a strong candidate for enlistment. Find the branch that will offer him the best options and put it in writing. And remember: recruiters can make any job/MOS/AFSC sound exciting. If you live near a military base, ask the recruiter to introduce him to someone in that job, or come back to the boards here at FR. I guarantee you can find someone here who held a military job your son might be offered and can give him unvarnished info on that career field.

Best of luck to you and your son. One final note; if your child qualifies for enlistment, he should be very proud. Only 28 percent of young men and women in his age group currently meet the criteria for military service. That would put him among the nation’s elite.