ROTC drugs

Hi everyone,
I recently started doing arotc, non scholarship right now. I have smoked marijuana in the past during my freshman year of college (currently sophomore). When I went home over that winter break I had a physical and told my doctor that I had smoked. On my paperwork for rotc I indicated that I had never done any drugs because I panicked in the heat of the moment and didn't think about the potential consequences. When they look at my medical history will this come up? I do not smoke any more, as I have matured quite a bit since last year and have no desire to do so anymore, especially not after starting this new chapter in my life.

I appreciate any help you can offer me.

Thanks.

Come clean proactively, as many others on this forum have (do a search). Better that than to be found out later, with potentially dire consequences. The truth shall set you free.

OK I know this will not be the popular option for some on this board, but here I go. The military is NOT going to requisition you entire civilian medical file. Military physicals essentially start from scratch with a self report questionnaire. If there is something you self report on that questionnaire, the military may ask for supporting medical records that concern the issue you self reported. Also, you will be given what I consider to be a very quick physical. The doctor giving the physical may find something and then the military may ask for medical records specific to what the doctor found. So, if you don't self report something or the doctor doesn't find anything, the military is not going to look into you entire civilian medical record looking for trouble. Now in your career you may be asked, for a security clearance or something else, if you used illegal drugs. I would not lie on that form. However they will not then look up every form you ever filled out, especially as an 18-19 year old kid, to determine whether you lied in the past. Military lore is filled with stories of memorizing eye charts, lying about your age, or finding a friendly doctor to give you a clean bill of health in order to move through an obstacle to military service. As you learn and grow you will find how important it is to tell the truth in the military, but I think it may be unrealistic to expect that high standard to be practiced 100% of the time by a 18-19 year old kid. West Point has had so many issues with lying on the CFA results, that they were forced to require candidates to video the pull-ups. I am sure there are current cadets at West Point and dare I say graduates who are now commissioned officers who "fudged" the pull-up test results. My advice is to move on and sin no more.

I can't agree more. I would inform the cadre as soon as possible. You are not the 1st cadet that lied about marijuana use, and you won't be the last. However, by letting them know now they can get in front of this if it becomes a DoDMERB DQ requiring a waiver.

I also agree that you should let them know. Better to be honest. Like most things in life, it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to be caught. I dont know how Arotc works, but in AFROTC, no one has asked for my sons medical records at any point including when he went for his comprehensive 2 day pilot physical or when he went active duty. The only thing they ever asked for after he commissioned was his immunization records. He could have gotten away with that also, but then they would have given him every required missing vaccination which isnt something you want to go through again. . My point isnt to tell you that they may never see your records and therefore dont worry about it. My only point is to say that dont assume that they will request it. AGain, dont know ARotc, but in the AF as far as I know, they only ask for records if there is a medical issue. Of course they may never ask but then 10 years down the line you have some medical issue and they may request all civilian and military medical records and where will you be.

DoDMERB won't look at your doctor's records unless there is a reason to. If your doctor did not physically write down that you smoked weed and did not drug test you, from personal experience, you are okay. With that being said, I have had friends who lost scholarships because they failed their drug tests. If you have smoked recently, and you would in fact fail a drug test, come clean to cadre asap.

Tell the truth. Experimental usage of alcohol and marijuana is not out of the ordinary for many youth. If you have not smoked since you began ROTC, this is not going to become an issue.
My DD wanted to fudge and put NO on the questionnaire to be safe. You're going to be asked this question numerous times going forward - tell the truth all times and there will be no possibility of your past coming back to haunt you, nor will you be caught up in unnecessary lies.

Do they ask about drug use in your AFROTC interview or is it only online?

Amber#1999 said:

Do they ask about drug use in your AFROTC interview or is it only online?

Click to expand...

They ask on the DoDMERB medical exam questionnaire, they might ask during the medical exam, they could ask at any time during your ROTC years at college, and I believe there is another questionnaire and medical exam to pass right before commissioning. The question could be asked again at annual physicals during years of service - if you tell the truth in the beginning, there is no way to get mixed up on the story you fudged first time around, etc...

In addition to DoDMERB questionnaires, there are also a number of questions regarding illegal drug use on the SF86. You will complete/update your SF86 regularly through your career to obtain/maintain the security clearances required for each of your duty assignments. Coming clean now is the best way to reduce the impact that this marijuana use will have on your career.

Building on the point made by @FMHS-79, the SF86 asks for personal references (i.e. friends) whom the military can ask about your past behavior. Would not be good if you claimed “no” and a reference said “yes.”