Seeking Direction on Poor Choice Made

When DS received his appointment last year RC told him there were 3 things that would cost him that appointment, fail a class, get injured, break the law.


I was so afraid with him going to basic/ait that he would get injured and disqualified. NEVER did I ever think it would be either of the other two. My heart has been broken and only time will heal it I hope.
 
I was curious about this, revisited. OP refers to ‘offer being rescinded,’ and also that he has an LOA and that he is in the reserves and at basic.

I’m confused. Does he have an appointment? Or no? I’m thinking no. Only the LOA.

Curious how this will play out...


He got an LOA in Sept/Oct I think. . .. and he accepted his appointment in January.
It is only by God's grace that I can say, he will be attending the academy come July!
 
I am happy for you .. DS was very fortunate, I hope he takes advantage of this and goes on to have great experiences both at West Point and then serving the greatest Army in the world..
 
I am happy for you .. DS was very fortunate, I hope he takes advantage of this and goes on to have great experiences both at West Point and then serving the greatest Army in the world..
Thank you very much. I humbly appreciate your joy. We pray every day that he would not take anything for granted and do his very best in any & all situations.
 
What I've learned from my on sons' experiences and discussions with our local law enforcement and juvenile prosecutors in the last year or so (Mainly for lurkers): in many cases, a citation or arrest does NOT involve photo ("mug shot") or fingerprinting - particularly for juvenile offenses. Don't take the collection of photo or prints as the litmus test for whether or not there is a record (let's avoid the term "arrest" for now) of the encounter. And that's how I think such things should be viewed - as a law enforcement "encounters". In this day and age, police have to document every kind of interaction with a juvenile - for their protection and the protection of their police force. This becomes part of the permanent record. "Arrest" or "citation" are mainly semantics. Many police forces have become very proactive in addressing the most benign juvenile offenses because experience shows that early, meaningful interdiction in adverse juvenile misbehavior is the best indicator of recidivism prevention. What 20 years ago would go unrecorded by police now gets immediate addressing. It is the world we live in - and it's not all a bad thing.

I have to believe that SAs understand this and see this in the records of the applicants. If they disqualified every applicant with an encounter with the law, they would likely be turning away many terrific future officers. It is when we fall that we get the chance to show our character, not when we succeed.


Thank you for your response. He is good to GO! Only by God's grace!! I pray that this would be his first and his last encounter with standing on the wrong side of anything having to do with the law. Before this incident, he has always been a 'good' example for anyone to follow. . .we can only hope that after this incident he can now become an even 'better' example for others to follow and NOT do what he has done.


Thank you for updating this forum on the outcome of your DS situation. His experience will serve others, on this forum, for years to come. I am certain this was not how you expected your DS to initially impact this community, but as you know, HIS plan is perfect. I know this situation has stolen much joy from your family. I sincerely hope your family can now enjoy your DS accomplishment and put this situation in the rear view mirror.
 
Maybe if he hadn't gotten a job this "lapse" would have happened at a time with even more consequences.

I often suggest that young people get summer jobs...so if they need to learn lessons about the working world (the importance of showing up, of showing up on time etc) they do it in a low risk job.
 
Hello all, I am brand new to this forum site and new to forums in general so I am just going to lay the facts out and ask for your honest responses.

My son applied to WP in 2018. He received 2 senator nominations and got an early LOA. Over Christmas break he took a seasonal job in retail. What ended up happening is he marked an item down in order to purchase it at an extremely low price. This was obviously noticed and he was terminated and cited for retail fraud.

Because his employer knew he was a good kid and also knew of his future goals, they did not have him arrested but he was to complete an anti-theft class which then got the charge dismissed.

Although the case is dismissed, he now has a police record. We don't know what will happen at this point. He is not here to talk to anyone because right after his case got dismissed, he left to bootcamp as he had also joined the army reserve component.

I know he will have to submit a police record report and I am afraid his appointment will be terminated. . . .HELP

My DS had a similar incident, unfortunately his outcome did not have the same happy ending. He was out with friends in unfamiliar territory. They had been drinking and he was evidently pretty inebriated, and trying to get back to his friends house. He thought he was there but unfortunately he was in the wrong house. The police were called and he was found in the house passed out. He was arrested and charged with trespassing, but after completing the court ordered classes, the case was dismissed. He has regretted his decisions on that day ever since, and did not receive his appointment. He has certainly learned from this experience and knows just how much this has cost him. He has picked himself up and hit the ground running, starting his applications for next year all over again. He is still determined to get into an Academy and plans to apply to all of them this year. He has already owned up to the consequences this year and knows he needs to be honest on his applications as he reapplies. My question is, on the applications where you need to state any run ins with the law and describe the incident, how detailed does that need to be? Is it just the date/place/and charges and the outcome, or does it have to be a full detailed account of the incident?

When I read your original post, my heart broke for your DS, as I know how hard it was for me. My DS has always been a good kid, well liked by his peers and others and really had never been in trouble until this point. I am hopeful for him to be able to regain what he has lost and realize his dream of going to the Academy and starting his military career.
 
My DS had a similar incident, unfortunately his outcome did not have the same happy ending. He was out with friends in unfamiliar territory. They had been drinking and he was evidently pretty inebriated, and trying to get back to his friends house. He thought he was there but unfortunately he was in the wrong house. The police were called and he was found in the house passed out. He was arrested and charged with trespassing, but after completing the court ordered classes, the case was dismissed. He has regretted his decisions on that day ever since, and did not receive his appointment. He has certainly learned from this experience and knows just how much this has cost him. He has picked himself up and hit the ground running, starting his applications for next year all over again. He is still determined to get into an Academy and plans to apply to all of them this year. He has already owned up to the consequences this year and knows he needs to be honest on his applications as he reapplies. My question is, on the applications where you need to state any run ins with the law and describe the incident, how detailed does that need to be? Is it just the date/place/and charges and the outcome, or does it have to be a full detailed account of the incident?

When I read your original post, my heart broke for your DS, as I know how hard it was for me. My DS has always been a good kid, well liked by his peers and others and really had never been in trouble until this point. I am hopeful for him to be able to regain what he has lost and realize his dream of going to the Academy and starting his military career.

My heart goes out to you and your son. My question I suppose would be, had he not been caught in this situation would his behavior have continued? I ask, because our twins just graduated from High School with AP and IB Diplomas, never got involved with anything remotely questionable (one because they understood the ramifications, two because we kept a pretty close eye on what they did and where they went), and now one is headed to an academy and the other has a full scholarship and is doing NROTC. Unfortunately many of their "good kid" friends (their IB/AP Class only had 20 students in it and they were all close) started this year "partying", with alcohol and sometimes pot. Two of the group of 20 got caught and punished and are now stuck with colleges they really don't want and are sorry for their actions. The others that didn't get caught, are now looking forward to going to college and partying and a good time. All of these kids are under 19, and in our state if they get caught intoxicated in public their DL is suspended until they are 21 and they would have a misdemeanor record if they ever needed a clearance for a job.

I guess what I am asking is....was this the ONLY time your DS did this, or is there a pattern here, even if you were unaware of it? Kids will be kids, but seniors who desire positions of trust and show a history or habit of not doing the right thing may not be right for the military. IMHO, if he was arrested, charged, and completed a diversion program, I really don't know if he would be offered an appointment or not, people with far greater knowledge of the academy and how they thing about indiscretions would be better to answer, but from what you have said, you may need to have a heart to heart with your DS and find out the whole story and think about how much "rope" you allowed him and how he used those freedoms.
 
My DS had a similar incident, unfortunately his outcome did not have the same happy ending. He was out with friends in unfamiliar territory. They had been drinking and he was evidently pretty inebriated, and trying to get back to his friends house. He thought he was there but unfortunately he was in the wrong house. The police were called and he was found in the house passed out. He was arrested and charged with trespassing, but after completing the court ordered classes, the case was dismissed. He has regretted his decisions on that day ever since, and did not receive his appointment. He has certainly learned from this experience and knows just how much this has cost him. He has picked himself up and hit the ground running, starting his applications for next year all over again. He is still determined to get into an Academy and plans to apply to all of them this year. He has already owned up to the consequences this year and knows he needs to be honest on his applications as he reapplies. My question is, on the applications where you need to state any run ins with the law and describe the incident, how detailed does that need to be? Is it just the date/place/and charges and the outcome, or does it have to be a full detailed account of the incident?

When I read your original post, my heart broke for your DS, as I know how hard it was for me. My DS has always been a good kid, well liked by his peers and others and really had never been in trouble until this point. I am hopeful for him to be able to regain what he has lost and realize his dream of going to the Academy and starting his military career.

My heart goes out to you and your son. My question I suppose would be, had he not been caught in this situation would his behavior have continued? I ask, because our twins just graduated from High School with AP and IB Diplomas, never got involved with anything remotely questionable (one because they understood the ramifications, two because we kept a pretty close eye on what they did and where they went), and now one is headed to an academy and the other has a full scholarship and is doing NROTC. Unfortunately many of their "good kid" friends (their IB/AP Class only had 20 students in it and they were all close) started this year "partying", with alcohol and sometimes pot. Two of the group of 20 got caught and punished and are now stuck with colleges they really don't want and are sorry for their actions. The others that didn't get caught, are now looking forward to going to college and partying and a good time. All of these kids are under 19, and in our state if they get caught intoxicated in public their DL is suspended until they are 21 and they would have a misdemeanor record if they ever needed a clearance for a job.

I guess what I am asking is....was this the ONLY time your DS did this, or is there a pattern here, even if you were unaware of it? Kids will be kids, but seniors who desire positions of trust and show a history or habit of not doing the right thing may not be right for the military. IMHO, if he was arrested, charged, and completed a diversion program, I really don't know if he would be offered an appointment or not, people with far greater knowledge of the academy and how they thing about indiscretions would be better to answer, but from what you have said, you may need to have a heart to heart with your DS and find out the whole story and think about how much "rope" you allowed him and how he used those freedoms.

Wow. Professional virtue signaling here.

To the OP: best of luck to your son as he works to achieve his full potential and academy goals despite his setback.
 
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