I will keep this somewhat brief, because I am extremely ashamed and need to get a clear answer of how to proceed.
Recently, I was extremely stupid and drank a bit too much, which led me to hitting a bong exactly one time. It was one of the worst experiences of my life, as I got extremely sick and paranoid, pushing me to the point of a panic attack. I regret it with every fiber of my being, as I want nothing more in my life than to serve in the United States Air Force as an officer. I am deeply ashamed of my actions, as I may have just thrown out my dream over something as stupid as this. It was completely out of character for me and I absolutely hate myself for it. I am currently going into my AS200 year and I am non-contracted. I am not afraid of the short-term, since I was a first-time smoker, it should be out of my system long before I return. I am however, scared of how to approach this long-term, such as when the DoDMERB and TS Clearance application come up.
Some people are telling me that if there is no record of me doing it, I should deny everything and that it will not come up unless someone other than myself brings it up. However, other people (and I am more on the side of these people), are telling me to come clean and state that it was exactly a one-time thing. There are a lot of ways this could go though, from what I have read, and I am unsure how to proceed.
I am fully for admitting to my actions, the question is of how and when. I have been told that I could either be given a slap on the wrist and an open eye kept on me for the rest of my time at ROTC, or I could be given the boot with no questions asked. Do I directly ask to speak to my cadre privately and just spill? Or do I wait for the DoDMERB to come up and admit it then? Some people who have already completed the program and have dealt with this before have told me that I should be fine admitting to my actions, as the DoD will not completely throw me out for a mistake; they will throw me out if I am caught lying. This is one of the worst and most stressful situations of my life and I have no idea what to do. Yes, I am a *******, irresponsible, and an idiot, but what is done is done, I cannot go back in time to beat my idiot self no matter how much I cry about it. I can only decide what happens next, so here I am.
Recently, I was extremely stupid and drank a bit too much, which led me to hitting a bong exactly one time. It was one of the worst experiences of my life, as I got extremely sick and paranoid, pushing me to the point of a panic attack. I regret it with every fiber of my being, as I want nothing more in my life than to serve in the United States Air Force as an officer. I am deeply ashamed of my actions, as I may have just thrown out my dream over something as stupid as this. It was completely out of character for me and I absolutely hate myself for it. I am currently going into my AS200 year and I am non-contracted. I am not afraid of the short-term, since I was a first-time smoker, it should be out of my system long before I return. I am however, scared of how to approach this long-term, such as when the DoDMERB and TS Clearance application come up.
Some people are telling me that if there is no record of me doing it, I should deny everything and that it will not come up unless someone other than myself brings it up. However, other people (and I am more on the side of these people), are telling me to come clean and state that it was exactly a one-time thing. There are a lot of ways this could go though, from what I have read, and I am unsure how to proceed.
I am fully for admitting to my actions, the question is of how and when. I have been told that I could either be given a slap on the wrist and an open eye kept on me for the rest of my time at ROTC, or I could be given the boot with no questions asked. Do I directly ask to speak to my cadre privately and just spill? Or do I wait for the DoDMERB to come up and admit it then? Some people who have already completed the program and have dealt with this before have told me that I should be fine admitting to my actions, as the DoD will not completely throw me out for a mistake; they will throw me out if I am caught lying. This is one of the worst and most stressful situations of my life and I have no idea what to do. Yes, I am a *******, irresponsible, and an idiot, but what is done is done, I cannot go back in time to beat my idiot self no matter how much I cry about it. I can only decide what happens next, so here I am.
. You don't necessarily havew to come clean right now, that's up to you. But when you have a form to complete, be honest on it. Don't lie on a form. They'll see that the answer to trying weed was different than what you put on your app and ask you ab out that. Then you need to be honest. From what I've been told and seen, the military knows that kids will experiment. But it's the lie that they don't like. If you feel you want to speak up now, talk to your commanding cadet first for guidance.