Hospitalized in High School for Drinking

Anon6755

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Hi, as the title says I was hospitalized in high school once for drinking too much. There was no police involvment and I was not cited. I made a couple of horrible mistakes in high school that led me to hanging out with the wrong crowd and being peer pressured into those mistakes, not making excuses. I also smoked 2 times freshman year but have not since. I no longer associate with those people and do not drink anymore.
I was wondering if my hospital visit will come up when I am under review and also how will these previous incidents affect my chances of getting into a service academy?
 
When you do the DODMERB physical you are going to have to fill out DD Form 2492. Your issue is going to be question 77. This asks "have you consulted, or been treated by clinics, hospitals, physicians, healers, or other practitioners for other than minor illnesses?" The question is your hospitalization minor? If it was me I would not report it, because I would classify it as minor. DODMERB will only request medical records for self reported issues or issues found during the medical exam, so if you don't report the incident the records will never see the board. They will never ask for you entire medical file. Some on this board will attack this and say you have to report it. In the end it is up to you.
 
I am one that disagrees with davejean. Being hospitalized for alcohol is not what I would consider minor. I am 52 and in my entire life I have yet to meet anyone personally that has been hospitalized for alcohol. The BAC level had to be pretty high for hospitalization.
~ To me minor hospitalization is going in with a concussion and being released a few hours later.

Plus, if I recall correctly they do ask if you have ever imbibed, so of course your answer will be yes. Now, from there at the exam the doc may ask about your drinking. You need to come clean there if they ask by stating you were hospitalized for alcohol poisoning (I am assuming it was that since you were hospitalized)

Additionally, when you go for your TS clearance this issue will come up again. Not only will it be on the questionnaire, but the people you give as references will be asked directly if you have or ever had alcohol or drug issues. If they acknowledge that as a teenager you were hospitalized and you did not than you could be in very big trouble. There are kids that have been disenrolled from ROTC for an action like that because they will go back and pull your original DoDMERB exam. To them they will than say you falsified (lied) on your questionaire. I am not sure what happens to an SA cadet, but just saying there are several here that said no to smoking on their DoDMERB, knowing they smoked 1 or 2x in HS, fearful that if they said yes, than they would get DQd. Well 3 years later when they went up for their TS and answered yes this time and gave the dates, it created the ball rolling.
 
My DD wanted to lie on her DoDMERB questionnaire about experimental smoking pot and drinking; I did not want her to do that. I insisted her answers be simple but truthful. She provided additional info as required for each item she answered yes to. No problem on any of these items with being medically qualified at DoDMERB. Now that she is getting ready to contract, I printed another copy of the questionnaire and put in a file for her so when she does more paperwork, such as security clearance, she can make sure all the dates and information match - just in case she might not remember and/or could have a tendency to "fudge" that truth once again. I've seen many stories on this forum of students either on purpose or accidentally giving conflicting information on different questionnaires and getting into trouble for that.
 
Two Stories that may be relevant:
(1) My DD received a national scholarship. She "fudged" (to borrow from the above post) on her DODMerbs about MJ use. That didn't sit well with her so when she reported in on day 1 of freshman year to her Det she self-reported. On day 2 (I kid you not) of her freshman year she lost her national scholarship. But her commander said that because she was honest and self-reported it they would not kick her out of the unit and would let her have a chance to earn an in-college scholarship. You can imagine how heartbreaking this was but on the ROTC website it says in big black letters that failure to be honest on your ROTC is grounds to lose your scholarship. You have received it fraudulently. She worked very very hard and by the end of her freshman year she was back on scholarship. And now she is free from the guilt. Her commander said she showed the integrity the AF is looking for. Look, they know kids make mistakes. People that make mistakes and learn from them become great leaders. They want to see how you learn from that. Her MJ use was a one time thing, she hated it. Different between trying it and being a user is a fine line but I believe a couple of times does not qualify as a drug problem.

(2) DD's roommate, who was a in her first week of her sophomore year and joined AFROTC the semester before, over-imbibed and was reported to Campus Police and sent to the hospital. Per policy they kept her overnight. She had to report it. Obviously not reporting wasn't an option. My DD was there when campus police were called and she had to report that contact as well. Even though the school just gave the roommate a warning, AFROTC gave her the boot. I know the AFROTC will do one in-detachment waiver for alcohol, but hospitalization because of alcohol is a different thing and it has to go to AFROTC Command for a Waiver. I think it says it in the AFROTC manual about alcohol use that if you have been hospitalized or your BAC is over a certain level it is a disqualifying event. They tried and sent it up to Command with a waiver request and Command came back and said it was disqualifying because she was hospitalized for alcohol use. BUT that was while she was already in the program and I think that makes a huge difference than something you did a couple of years ago.

I also think that that you have to report it, and the MJ use, and see what is what. Go in clean. Integrity is the first word of the AF Core Values. I have a feeling you will be fine but wouldn't you rather find out before than wait and get caught your senior year when security clearances come out? and they never STOP asking you about drug use. Ever. My brother is a 30 year CMSgt. He said eventually they find out and the longer it takes the harsher the response. Some clearances require lie detectors and you don't want them asking that question on a lie detector and not having it disclosed.
 
From what my DS tells me the underage drinking is rampant. There's a good number of cadets who will any chance they get. On an official visit to Air Force the cadets he stayed with talked about how much marijuana was around, even catching it in the air on campus. Colorado Springs is pulsing with it.
 
From what my DS tells me the underage drinking is rampant. There's a good number of cadets who will any chance they get. On an official visit to Air Force the cadets he stayed with talked about how much marijuana was around, even catching it in the air on campus. Colorado Springs is pulsing with it.
It is rampant in High School. Cant even imagine what happens in college. Now I know my idiot son never drank or did drugs in high school. I know this because he rarely went out, which of course is another issue. Luckily, he is making up for in college
 
Even if you consider your hospitalization as minor and answer no, you will have to explain the "treatment" when you answer have you ever used Alcohol (Amount, frequency, treatment, if any).
 
The choices we make in life always have consequences. Its too bad that we don't learn this lesson while we are young. All we truly have in life is our character, our moral compass and our reputations. Everything else is out of our control and borrowed. Just a thought.
 
Thanks for all the morality statements - but the OP asked if a single hospital visit for over consumption should be declared and how it and the use of MJ would be viewed by USAFA. He did not ask if he should lie about it.

Teenage kids do dumb things. Hell, the SA's have even modified the Honor Code to take that into account rather than simply boot people, they are often given a chance at redemption vs separation.

OP - you got drunk one night when your were 14 and had to get your stomach pumped - disclose it. You smoked pot a couple of times when you were 14 - disclose it. It is unlikely USAFA will hold either event against you especially if you can articulate how you have grown from the experience and over the years.

I don't think I had very many classmates that at least once in their young adult lives they drank too much. I was shocked to learn over the years the number of my classmates that smoked pot a time or two in high school. They admitted it on their DoDMERB and were appointed. 34 years ago USAFA was able to look past that indiscretion and move on.

For the record: I have never done illegal drugs and I don't drink nor do I condone illegal drug use or underage drinking.

Honor is not about never having made a mistake. Honor is about owning the mistakes you make, accepting the consequences, and growing from it.

I've heard about some guy named Jesus Christ - he hung out with some real derelicts - once they figured it out they went on to do some pretty incredible things with their lives.
 
I am one that disagrees with davejean. Being hospitalized for alcohol is not what I would consider minor. I am 52 and in my entire life I have yet to meet anyone personally that has been hospitalized for alcohol. The BAC level had to be pretty high for hospitalization.
~ To me minor hospitalization is going in with a concussion and being released a few hours later.......

The service academies do not consider concussions to be minor - they would want them reported. Frankly - concussions probably get more attention than having smoked pot a few times or drinking beyond excess one time.
 
The service academies do not consider concussions to be minor - they would want them reported. Frankly - concussions probably get more attention than having smoked pot a few times or drinking beyond excess one time.

Eh...

I disagree, but I don't have any objectionable data to back it up. Also we call concussions mild traumatic brain injury.
 
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