I was arrested..are my chance for USNA ruined?

Are my chances ruined?

  • Yes

  • No


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I think it may at least partially depend on how competitive you are as a candidate. Are you a recruited athlete, have an LOA already in hand or do you have a Principal Nomination?
If so, I suspect the Academy might be a little more tolerant.
If you are on an Equal and Competitive Nomination Slate with up to nine other nominees odds are you may well end up in the fairly massive National Pool where I suspect relatively small negatives separate the eventual Appointees from the also-rans as all the Service Academies are able to access pretty much all court records as are most other DOD agencies in doing background/security checks.
I'm basing this observation by your comment of a second misdemeanor and a sealed court record which I'm interpreting to mean that you had another legal incident in the past. If this wasn't a second run-in and you got all the incident records back in your hands related to this arrest, you may well be OK.
Just my thoughts.
 
Being arrested is not, per se, a crime. Thus, your situation depends heavily on the outcome of the proceedings. If charges are dismissed or you are adjudicated not guilty, your situation improves greatly. If you take a plea or are adjudicated guilty, the situation is more dire.

If found guilty (or you plead "no contest"), then I agree the nature of the offense comes into play. Issues related to violence, drugs, and alcohol will be viewed very unfavorably. Thing such as vandalism may not be quite as bad (not condoning vandalism, BTW).

I assume you're a senior. If you are younger and the issue is relatively minor, you may be ok. However, in this hyper-competitive environment, any negative hurts.


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Most candidates aren't arrested. Its save to say this won't improve your chances, and it could really REALLY hurt your chances.
 
I just checked the NROTC application my DS filled out 4 years ago (dated information) but it clearly asks for you to self identify if you have ever been "arrested, convicted, or fined for any violation of the law" - and states that failure to report these infractions could be grounds for dismissal from the program. It also states that in order to get a security clearance a complete background investigation will be made. So no matter how things go, this will be part of your application/ entry into the service.
 
As 1985 noted, there are a lot of factors to be considered in how an arrest may impact your competiveness, and given the fact that you are in a super competitive situation any blemish can be deadly to your chances for selection.
Relative to a side question that arose a couple of posts ago, midshipmen will be required to have security clearances at some point in their tenure at USNA, and commissioned officers will be investigated on a relatively frequent basis to update and upgrade their clearances. Generally it is reasonable to assume that inability to screen for a clearance pretty well renders one useless in/to the fleet.
 
I'd say your chances will be hurt by your lack of communication skills.

How would you answer if someone posted: "I'm sick. Will I die?"
 
Yep my bet is that it didn't work out since they have gone silent.
 
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