Pretty upset with Active First...

[jmorgan24]

Hey,

I enlisted in the ARNG back in January as a 25B. Later on I decided that I wanted to go active duty so I was able to get Active First on my contract and I thought all was well.

Well, I just found out recently that although I was okay for the security clearance going in the Guard, the active Army apparently has different standards and I am denied because of a DUI charge I had several years ago when I was a minor.

So now I am being told that if I want to go into active duty I am forced between 88M, 92G and 92F, none of which I want to do at all. I feel I'm being screwed over because the Guard knew I wanted to go active duty at MEPS and needed a clearance, and told me I had a waiver and everything was fine.

This all seems ridiculous to me. I make the decision to serve my country full-time instead of just once a month and that is being made as hard as possible for me to do. Basically I'm being told I can ship to basic April 21 with one of those MOSs, not get to go active, or get discharged from the Guard. I made a 99 on the ASVAB, have college credits and apparently the only thing I am now good for is driving trucks and cooking.

Something tells me I made a mistake with this Active First business (which doesn't even exist anymore, I barely snuck in) and I should have gone through a regular Army office.

[notyetdead]

Well, I just found out recently that although I was okay for the security clearance going in the Guard, the active Army apparently has different standards and I am denied because of a DUI charge I had several years ago when I was a minor.
Do you mean that you were granted a security clearance in the National Guard that the active Army isn't recognizing, or the Guard told you you'd be "okay" for a security clearance, and now that you're applying to go active, it turns out you aren't?

Do you have the clearance so that you can stay 25B if you stay Guard or is that possibility gone as well? I'm wondering if the tightening of waivers is true for security clearances as well. And since the security clearance is federal, I'd be suprised if a National Guard security clearance isn't recognized by active Army.

Anyway, sorry about your troubles, jmorgan. The Army's definitely feeling like a sellers market right now....

[dnall]

It would not have mattered if you went through an active recruiter, they would have told you the same thing.

The moral waiver you got was for enlistment purposes, it doesn't have anything to do with what MOS you selected or ability to get a clearance. That's DoD (not exactly, but let's not make this more complicated), not the Army & not the Guard. The chances are if you stayed with the guard in your original MOS that you'd either not be denied a clearance & not able to attend that AIT or complete that AIT not be awarded the MOS, in which case you'd come back to your unit and be given the choice to retrain into something else or be discharged.

I am sorry you find yourself in this situation. I know they bureaucracy is frustrating, but you are the one that made this mistake in your past, not the system.

Now, if you're going for MP, then I understand why you wouldn't get that MOS with this offense, maybe a couple other things I'd understand also, but other then that I don't understand why it would prevent you getting a clearance. I've seen a lot worse clear in every branch of service.

If you have at least 60hrs, I'd tell you to look at renegotiating to attend OCS with the guard. If you take a discharge, you will not be able to get into active duty unless you're going infantry, and that may require a clearance (I don't remember).

[mwines]

dnall is right on this one. The requirements for most positions in the guard or active for that matter, do not require very high clearences - most people get them, unless they have done something serious. If you ran someone over while drunk - maybe thats why. If its a standard DUI charge, I do not feel that that is the main reason you got denied your clearance. The OCS route requires a clearence, so you would have to retry for a clearence