[tharratt41]

Ok so I'm just going to be 100% honest. I don't want your opinions. Im asking for legitimate advise and I don't care if you think I'm a scumbag or if you think I could have done this different. I enlisted in the ARNG at the age of 17 in my junior year of high school. I was going through some really rough situations at home and in my neighborhood. I grew up on the streets of NY pretty much. Ghetto vill usa. I went into the recruiters office hoping to find a quick way to get the hell outa there. When I was talking to the recruiter he told me that I could enlist at 17 because I was emancipated and could only do that if I joined the national guard but not to worry I could immediately change branches to AD as soon as I got out of ait. I did really well in basic maxed my apft shot expert and scored top of my class in ait. When I got home an attempted to make the change to active duty I was told my recruiter lied to me and I couldn't change branches of service. So I was stuck right back into my crappy situation in my crappy little town with the threat of being stabbed always lingering in the back of my mind every time I walked to the gas station. Needless to say I made it to my first few drill weekends. I absolutely hated it. Now that didn't stop me from trying. As I tried and tried to find a job to support myself 28 days of the month to walk 15 miles to a the most ate up unit ion the planet I started to get really sick. I didn't have the money for food and I barely managed to stay indoors. I was registered homeless the entire time and eventually I couldn't make it to BA anymore. No one wanted to help. I mean there wasn't a soul who could be bothered to pick me up for drill in my entire unit. Eventually I started getting the Us. After I missed several battle assemblies and after I tried explaining the hardship aspect of my situation I was transferred to the irr and then generally discharged for continuos and willfull absence. I hate that unit so much. A year later I was contacted bey an Army career councilor who wanted to help with my issue (a year after my discharge) She said she couldn't help me go active but I could get in the reserves an go active from there. So I joined the reserves and was put in a unit 116 miles away from my house. On top of that because I was discharged ahead of my contract end I owed back my sign on bonus. Which I never even received. So in 5 years of reserve service I've never been paid. `my les is like one giant list of debt. Needless to say I fell back into the same slump. Even my CO and my Battalion commander tried to help but no one could find a way to help me just short of putting me up and handing me a job. Literally even mcdonals isn't hiring and my area has an outstanding rate of unemployment and welfare families. After a year or two of struggling running into debt and basically repeatedly getting into debt with the Reserves I requested a transfer to the irr to get my bearings. My friend offered me a place to stay in long beach CA I'm on the other side of the country now and would like to make up for my failiures in my previous attempts in the service. Is there anyway that anyone knows of that I can get into a brach of service that is active duty and excepting temporary irr and a dd368? Or any advise to fix my military career?

[Fr_Chuck]

I do not understand, why you did not just enlist in active and keep going into the reserve? But going active should not have been a real issue. There has to be more to the story.

Also if you never received bonus, that is easy, require them to prove payment,

[ScottGem]

First, you need to get the chip of your shoulder. I saw nothing in your post that would make me think you a "scumbag". I did see some mistakes in judgment, and maybe the need to do a little more research before jumping into something, but nothing more than that. But you don't dictate who can answer your post or how. Once you post a question here you open yourself up to any response that someone wants to make as long as it doesn't violate our rules (in which case you report it for the mods to deal with).

Now to your question. Unless you were dishonorably discharged, I don't know why you wouldn't be accepted back into some branch of the military. But you need to do more research. I would start with the office of your local congressional representative. This is the type of red tape they can usually help with.

But, as I said earlier, you need to start making smarter decisions. Most of your problems stem from your own actions, not the actions of others. You need to take responsibility for your actions. Live more within your means.

[smearcase]

Not judging you here, just facts and facts will govern what happens.
You said "and then generally discharged for continuous and willful absence." I corrected errors in your quote
I am a US Navy veteran from VN Era. Back then, there were more people trying to get out of the military, or avoid having to go in- then there were trying to get in. The military can be much more selective today, and is more selective.
You can try some other branches (Navy, AF, Marines, CG). Since you have had basic training they may be able to accelerate your enlistment, but you are fighting a very uphill battle with that wording on your discharge, and it understood by me that you may have had very little opportunity to avoid the overall predicament.
I agree with scott that appealing to your federal congressional (House or Senate) rep may be your only hope, but still a tough row to hoe.
First off, have someone help you write a much better letter than the case you have made here. If you prepare a draft of that letter and post it here, we could help you fine tune it, even. You have to stress the extremely difficult circumstances you were put in, how the military's inability to assign you to active duty as you were promised, made it just about impossible for you to succeed. If you can provide any documents that prove that you did well in AIT or other areas in the military, attach those to your letter.
Consider trying the other branches first, if you haven't already. If no success on that front or if you think that another branch is a non-starter, you can try the appeal to the politicians. You could also try to go through a local TV station or large newspaper. Don't underestimate the influence of media. A young lady who was discharged for drug use recently had that overturned (basically because she had a reporter following up persisitently) because they had refused to consider the prescription she was legally taking, and booted her out on the basis of a drug test. Good luck and if you want folks here to take a look at your draft letter, just post it here on this same thread so that those of us who have reviewed your original question will see it. One way you can get back to it is to click on your profile page from the heading at the top.
EDIT-ADDED NOTE: If you give us a letter to review, leave out names and other identifying info, of course.