MORAL WAIVERS (RECRUITERS ONLY PLEASE,SERIOUS ANSWERS ONLY NO B.S.!!!!!)?

i was arrested for Domestic violence whn i had just turned 18 for breakin a phn, but all the charges were dropped and dismissed and should no longer be on my record, (my lawyer told me). and well the thing that really upsets me is that from the beginning my recruiter knew my situation, and yet after i would ask him numerous time if any of this would effect me and keep me from joining and he would tell me no, that i shouldn't worry about it and that it would be approved simple as that...i just feel like i was mislead and filled with high hopes...

Q's:

1.if my moral waiver gets denied (which it most likely is going to be denied) in the army can i try to join the national guard right after or would i have to wait to try and join any military service?
2.whn is the best time for me to try again for the army? ( my recruiter told me that i could resubmit my waiver in a few months if it was denied)
3.wht if i was to move to a different state would that effect the chances of my waiver being approved by a different recruiting station?
4.is there anything tht i can do to get it approved after being denied? (who do i have to talk to?)
5.why would they have put in the time for me to go through all the testing and stuff at meps to deny my waiver, i mean they had to have known that it wasnt going to be approved wouldnt they?
6. is there anywhere online that i can look to see wht kind of waivers are being approved in my area?

please help, i need detailed answer, no B.S. answers BY PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT!!!!
Additional Details
I DID HAVE TO GO THROUGH SOME PROGRAM, BUT DUE TO THIS PROGRAM I NEVER HAD TO GO TO COURT OR ENTER IN A PLEA.... THIS PROGRAM WONT EVEN SHOW UP ON MY RECORD BECAUSE IT WAS THROUGH THE D.A.'S OFFICE.... SO BASICLY I DO WHAT THEY WANT FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS AND THEN THEY FILL FOR A DISMISSAL OF ALL CHARGES (WHICH THEY DID), AND THE ONLY THING THAT WOULD SHOW UP IS THT I WAS ARRESTED AND RELEASED.....

Phil

Your recruiter has nothing to gain by you being denied and would not have wasted his time taking you through the process if he didn't think it was at least possible for you to be approved.

1. I don't know about Army NG but you can apply to any other service immediately; whether you are eligible for a waiver I can't say. I am surprised you'd need a waiver if the charges were dropped.
2. Your recruiter knows
3. No, MEPS has your records and if you go to another state you will have to go through the same thing. You will however see a different officer about the waiver than the one who wouldn't waive it earlier.
4. I don't know
5. They wouldn't but until you see the waiving authority no one knows.
6. None I now of, you might check about.com and read up on the waiver process.
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/u/joining_up.htm

EDIT: Your added info plus the Doof post help. You weren't convicted so you are not legally barred in absolute terms but you did a diversion program so the military regards you as convicted of the offense. Thus the need for a waiver, and they aren't granting a lot of them right now. When they will be granting them is when they are having trouble with filling quotas, and that will be when the economy gets cooking. Otherwise you can keep trying, and as TheDoof suggested you might shop for another recruiter, but it doesn't look real good at this point. Sorry. My son was charged with this but the charges were completely dropped and he maintained that he was a victim of DV and that his family lied to the police to shield his brother (this is his mother's side...). He did not require a waiver for this at all since he maintained innocence and did no diversion.

And expunged records sometimes get discovered but sometimes don't. In this case I think they'd find it anyway but your on record now anyway so moot point.

Mrsjvb

any sort of program to get charges dropped, dismissed or pled down is considered a guilty vberidct ofr the original charge to the Military.. so as far as they are concerned, you were comnvicted of DV. as such you have no hope of getting to any branch or component of the military at this time as NO moral waivers for anything more than minor traffic tickets are authorized.

1: NG would be a remote shot at best.,. for a while they were granting waivers for things of this nature but haven't in some time. Navy CG and AF will NEVER take you.

2: honestly right now, all you can do is keep trying every few months. recruiting is very high so waivers are just plain not being granted.

3: won't help at all the database is national.

4: nothing you can do. they will either give you a chance or they won't. they are not required to bend the rules for anybody.

5: Not necessarily. at the time the process began they still have been granting themn sporadically. they can literallly get a phone call at 3 po saying no more waivers allowed and you started the process at noon.

6: waivers are not approved by area Unless you are talking the Guard. and even then no they change that daily.. hell hourly sometimes.

TheDoof

Sorry, my specialty is Navy, not Army, but I have some info (from both branches) that may help. The Navy recruiting manual says nothing about moral waivers for arrests... only convictions. Although the military is concerned with prior arrests, you should not have to get a moral waiver. Convictions and "adverse dispositions" mean you either plead guilty, or were found guilty of the alleged crime. If you plead "not guilty" and your charges were dropped without a pre-trial deferment program, you should honestly not be going through a waiver process.

As far as who you need to talk to, every branch has its chain of command. Start walking it up if they can't help you at the bottom. Also, MEPS doesn't approve/disapprove waivers: that is the job of each individual branch, so MEPS will do all the testing they can, but the waivers are the duty of the branch/es concerned. If the Army can't help, maybe talk to another branch at MEPS.

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COMNAVCRUITCOMINST 1130.8H, Volume II:
http://navygirl.org/QA/docs/1130.8HVOL%20II_EligibilityRequirements.pdf

According to Section 8, Chapter 2, Pages 2-3:
"i. Domestic Violence. Domestic Violence is incompatible with military service and contrary to the Navyâ€™s core values. Waivers for domestic violence convictions (misdemeanor or felony) are not authorized, per the Lautenburg Amendment to the Federal Gun Control Act of 1968 for Military Personnel, unless the applicant has the conviction expunged.

(1) The term conviction means a judgment of guilty was entered against the applicant in court. Unlike usual waiver criteria, adjudication in the juvenile system, pre-trial diversions, or cases resulting in deferred judgments do not count as convictions for the purpose of this law."

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So if they think you were convicted, they should never have offered a waiver. Likewise, if you were not convicted, then whence the waiver? Something does not add up... You should not need a waiver for a conviction that never happened.

*Your record is still there whether it has been dismissed or even "expunged." You should never lie to get in, as it will come back to bite you hard later, and you'll regret it. So don't go to another recruiter in the hopes of covering it up. However, you MAY go to another recruiter not telling him how the other recruiter has dealt with your situation. Recruiter "shopping" is sometimes necessary to avoid an idiot who doesn't know his job from his elbow.

From http://usmilitary.about.com:
"Recruiters themselves, do not have waiver approval/disapproval authority. Some waivers can be approved/disapproved by the Recruiting Battalion Commander, other waivers must be approved/disapproved by the Commanding General of the Army Recruiting Command."

*** I don't know what to tell you. If you didn't do it, you can't be considered guilty, especially if you plead not guilty. Just say it was a misunderstanding, and the way California laws are written (I'm assuming California), cops basically have to arrest someone, and it's usually the male regardless of fault. It's okay to admit regret, but not guilt. If this is your first enlistment, you shouldn't have a problem, but obviously you do. If you choose to wait, recruiting goals are based on the fiscal year, which ends September 30. So wait until October 1 to reapply, and they may sing a much different tune.

I have a friend going through the same thing, but he hasn't found a recruiter who will even talk to him because he admitted it up front, and they said they're able to be selective due to high retention for the year.

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For more info:
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/armyjoin/a/criminal.-u59.htm
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/l/blwaivers.htm
http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/joiningup/a/recruiter2_4.htm

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