I am 23 and recently decided I would like to enlist in the navy. I am looking towards a job as “air rescue swimmer”, which requires a security clearance. I have serval tickets and have been arrested twice before. Once for driving with a suspended license in which I forgot to appear in court for. So I turned myself in, bailed myself out, and was released the same day. I believe the judge was pretty nice and I paid a nominal fine and that was the end of it. The second time I was arrested for assault and battery under a false accusation. I was excepted into pre-trial intervention. I did 15 community service hours paid a nominal fine and the charges were dismissed by the state. I also have like 7 tickets all for different reasons like speeding and no registration.Three of them were dismissed by a judge and non involved any serious offense like violence, drugs, etc. My question is am I completely naive to think that I would get a security clearance? I spoke with a Air Force recruiter a year ago which is one of the hardest branches to get into from my understanding. And was told I would only be able to get security clearance for “mechanical jobs”, and should go talk to a Army or Navy recruiter. So again am I fool to think that I would have a chance at become a Air rescue swimmer?
Anything is possible. You have a demonstrated history of not following the rules of society. Does that indicate you will or will not follow the rules regarding classified material? How long ago was the last ticket? How many of these were youthful indiscretion? Are you still living a high risk life? These are character questions and do come into play, just like criminal charges, bad finances and recreational use of drugs. The good news is this can be overcome. Simply start cleaning house on behavior contrary to good order and discipline. Rescue swimmer or not you would need live by the UCMJ and not collect 7 more tickets. I cannot answer the question regarding if you are qualified for the position. From time to time recruiters need seek waivers for certain types of behavior. But the clearance has its own rules. The services can each reject you for the traffic issues if they feel you do not meet their needs and standards. Step one is applying to the branch you want, and only answering the questions asked on the SF86. Be honest if the recruiter asks about driving records. If the subject doesn’t come up no need to tell them. You are in the best position to know if you put this lifestyle behind you. Time is a great mitigation. The more time between you and these tickets the better.
You are right. We should be deleting all of those useless replies. Unless you are a Navy recruiter and can answer their real question “So again am I fool to think that I would have a chance at become a Air rescue swimmer?” its all just guessing.
Velcro . . . they are not hard to find and the advice to “go talk to a recruiter” seems to miss the point of the OP’s question. As we know from previous posts, recruiters are not clearance experts. They often encourage recruits to lie or obfuscate on their security forms or fill them out themselves with little concern for the recruits factual presentation of issues. The job of a recruiter is to get young men and women to sign the bottom of the pages and get them into the pipeline.
I replied to OPs question on “So again am I fool to think that I would have a chance at become a Air rescue swimmer?” Whether he can get a clearance or not doesn’t matter if the Navy will not grant him the waivers required for his extensive criminal record.