Amnesty Period on I-day

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planesarecool

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Hey all - I was wondering if I could get some information about what some call an amnesty period on I-day regarding drug/alcohol usage.

I know that cadets are required to fill out a 2030 form and an sf form on I-day which include questions about drug usage. If someone initially did not disclose any drug usage on the questionnaire on their application form and then came clean on the I-day forms, would this be held against them? What possible reppurcussions would there be for this? Anecdotal evidence would be helpful.

And is there any possibility of being turned away on I-day based on what you put on these forms (or conflicting information)?
 
planesarecool said:
Hey all - I was wondering if I could get some information about what some call an amnesty period on I-day regarding drug/alcohol usage.

I know that cadets are required to fill out a 2030 form and an sf form on I-day which include questions about drug usage. If someone initially did not disclose any drug usage on the questionnaire on their application form and then came clean on the I-day forms, would this be held against them? What possible reppurcussions would there be for this? Anecdotal evidence would be helpful.

And is there any possibility of being turned away on I-day based on what you put on these forms (or conflicting information)?
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Sounds like you're a gamblin' man!!
 
‘just do it’ (my mantra, always) now. Don’t gamble. Beyond amnesty day, there are other opportunities for this to come up. With not good outcomes. I’ve read about them here on the forums (‘anecdotal evidence’). It happens. Search the forums.

Come clean now.

And future readers, don’t lie in the first place. An SA isn’t expecting people who don’t make mistakes.
 
justdoit19 said:
‘just do it’ (my mantra, always) now. Don’t gamble. Beyond amnesty day, there are other opportunities for this to come up. With not good outcomes. I’ve read about them here on the forums (‘anecdotal evidence’). It happens. Search the forums.

Come clean now.

And future readers, don’t lie in the first place. An SA isn’t expecting people who don’t make mistakes.
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Any chance you could provide an example? I have spent a good amount of time looking through the forums, and the ‘not good’ outcomes you mention that I have seen usually come from cadets lying on every form and then being exposed by the security clearance investigators.

And thanks for the input everybody.
 
planesarecool said:
Any chance you could provide an example? I have spent a good amount of time looking through the forums, and the ‘not good’ outcomes you mention that I have seen usually come from cadets lying on every form and then being exposed by the security clearance investigators.

And thanks for the input everybody.
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Maybe it will come to me at some point, but I don’t recall where I read it. But rather recently, posters spoke to their mates having ultimately having consequences. Maybe you read the ones I’m recalling.
 
planesarecool said:
Any chance you could provide an example? I have spent a good amount of time looking through the forums, and the ‘not good’ outcomes you mention that I have seen usually come from cadets lying on every form and then being exposed by the security clearance investigators.

And thanks for the input everybody.
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A few things here:

1. Amnesty may have been offered in the past but there is no guarantee with will be offered in the future. Academy policy is often based on who is in charge and even then, generals change their minds. The pendulum swings...

2. I have not seen amnesty as an official policy, only rumors of it from cadets (who aren't always reliable sources of information because permanent party leadership doesn't feel the need to share all of the information with them). We don't know to what extent amnesty is or will be offered. Does it count if you lied on your app or only for instances since submitting the app? Are we talking hard drug use here or a couple of beers with a friend (rhetorical question)?

3. Do you really want to gamble with this? The USAFA app is very clear about drug-use from the point you sign it forward and lying on an official form is a serious matter whether amnesty is offered or not. Are you planning on lying on the SF-86 when you fill it out prior to I-day? Do you want this hanging over your head for the next 3.5 months? Or 6 months until you receive your clearance?

4. These forums are but a small snapshot of what has happened at SAs. I would not take the absence of an example as law.
 
I remember sitting in the Arnold Hall theater on or around I-day before the earth had cooled. The question came up and people who wanted to report prior usage were instructed to move to the back of the room to talk with cadre. I was literally shocked that 1 let alone 10 or more got up, walked to the back, and self reported. My shock was more that they had made it this far, but admiration for a commitment to honesty that I myself am unsure I could have done.

In the rear view, mature thinking tells me I would rather get something like that out of the way on day 1 rather than be 1/2/3/4 years into the program for someone from my past to report for me and have the house of cards come crumbling down. This happens. Recent rulings have changed the rules for cadets who have kids, but in the past, there were cases where an acquaintance from "back home" had a falling out with a family member of the cadet and that was how they exacted revenge - report the cadet for the violation and watch as he/she was expelled. I personally do not want to be looking over my shoulder the whole time I am there.

For context, I've seen some stuff - kid who left for being pregnant, kid who hid an iguana in his room, kid who left for cheating on an exam in MARCH of his SENIOR YEAR, kid arrested and convicted of murder. The list goes on, but I mic drop on murder.
 
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shiner said:
I remember sitting in the Arnold Hall theater on or around I-day before the earth had cooled. The question came up and people who wanted to report prior usage were instructed to move to the back of the room to talk with cadre. I was literally shocked that 1 let alone 10 or more got up, walked to the back, and self reported. My shock was more that they had made it this far, but admiration for a commitment to honesty that I myself am unsure I could have done.

In the rear view, mature thinking tells me I would rather get something like that out of the way on day 1 rather than be 1/2/3/4 years into the program for someone from my past to report for me and have the house of cards come crumbling down. This happens. Recent rulings have changed the rules for cadets who have kids, but in the past, there were cases where an acquaintance from "back home" had a falling out with a family member of the cadet and that was how they exacted revenge - report the cadet for the violation. I personally do not want to be looking over my shoulder the whole time I am there.

For context, I've seen some stuff - kid who left for being pregnant, kid who left for cheating on an exam in MARCH of his SENIOR YEAR, kid arrested and convicted of murder. The list goes on, but I mic drop on murder.
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Thanks for the story. I agree that not disclosing the information at all would be against the honor code of USAFA and would lead to a terrible few years of fearing that the truth will come out, which it has a way of doing.
 
planesarecool said:
Hey all - I was wondering if I could get some information about what some call an amnesty period on I-day regarding drug/alcohol usage.

I know that cadets are required to fill out a 2030 form and an sf form on I-day which include questions about drug usage. If someone initially did not disclose any drug usage on the questionnaire on their application form and then came clean on the I-day forms, would this be held against them? What possible reppurcussions would there be for this? Anecdotal evidence would be helpful.

And is there any possibility of being turned away on I-day based on what you put on these forms (or conflicting information)?
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The answer is yes, you can be turned away on I Day. It has happened before (I was there and observed it) and usually involved what you're describing. Think about it: the individual lied on an official government form (criminally punishable).

I've known cadets later during security checks to have real problems when "things were discovered that they'd not mentioned..."

You really do NOT want to play with this.


Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
I'm lazy, so I'll just quote myself.
parentalunit2 said:
When we lived at West Point it was not at all a rarity for there to be a random knock at the door from an agent doing a security investigation on a neighbor. Many of our neighbors applied to the Army War College as their next assignment, so they even continue to check into things when you’ve been ‘in the system’ for many years. When you read on this board that if you are going to lie about something in your initial SA application, be prepared to lie about it for the rest of your military career, they are not kidding.
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