I want to join the army but when I was a naïve young stupid 16 year old kid I got arrested because I stole 20 bucks from a kid and got in a fight at the beach with him and his friends, I had to go to court my lawyer told me to plea guilty which I did and received no punishment and my record stayed clean but would the army see the guilty plea as a conviction to the original offense... I am now almost 18 and I want to join the army, does anyone know if I will be able to enlist? I mean can I enlist without a waivor, I have also heard that if you were a convicted juvenile that the military would dismiss the offense after 5 years with no other offenses committed in those 5 years. If anyone has an idea about this I would greatly appreciate your help.

Yes, the Army can see your entire record and, yes, your record appears to contain a "guilty" to whatever you were charged with.

The person to advise you is an Army recruiting officer. I have seen posts where people WERE accepted into the Army and posts where people were NOT admitted into the Army.

Why are you hesitant to ask the recruiter?

Hello a:

$20?? Dude, the Army will LOVE you. You just got to tell the truth.. That's PART of being a good soldier - TELLING THE TRUTH!

excon

... i have also heard that if you were a convicted juvenile that the military would dismiss the offense after 5 years with no other offenses committed in those 5 years. ...

The'll just march into the courthouse and "dismiss" it? I don't think so. They may choose to overlook the conviction, but the DOD doesn't have any say with respect to the state court record.

Hello a:

$20????? Dude, the Army will LOVE you. You just gotta tell the truth.. That's PART of being a good soldier - TELLING THE TRUTH!

excon



My feeling is it's more about the fight than the $20. Of course, the Army is looking for people with attitude so...