son wants to become recruiter

[mac105]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

My son is a Sgt. in the Army. He was telling me that he would like to be a recruiter. This question is mine really, not his, although he did call me asking advice. In the online questions, one of them was 'have you ever received a letter of indebtedness?' After discussing the meaning of the word, we decided he should mark yes b/c years ago, when he first enlisted, he was behind on car payments. The loan was in a bad state for quite some time and went to collections. Through perserverance, budgeting, and the bank finally recognizing the SCRA, he did pay it off and has the car to show for it. As he says, he was young and foolish way back then. Yet, in that case he did receive a 'letter of indebtedness' being late notices. Having matured a LOT, he and his family of 4 have a new home, and new vehicle and can pay their bills. I understand why the government would want you to NOT be behind or in debt over your head. That would make one an easy mark to be 'bought off'. Except for putting a date of the indebtedness, he said there was no place to explain that it had been satisfied. So he marked yes, and then just stopped with the 'paperwork' saying that he was told it would be held against him. In this day and age, many screw up at some time in their lives financially. if he completes the 'paperwork' on line, does there come a time when things will be seen by the upper echelon as being way in the past and satisfied? Do 'they' check to see that his credit is good now and has been for many years? Or is this job possibly out of reach for him? Thanks.

 

[fozzy2]

I'm not certain what the "legal" question is here. Generally, the military bureaucracy can be as forgiving or unforgiving as it chooses. The military may or may not have a policy that anyone ever having received a 'letter of indebtedness' can not be a recruiter. It seems like it would be a silly and far to broad rule, but that wouldn't necessarily make it illegal. The military is free to do stupid, misguided, mistaken, and just plain 'wrong' things. Only when those things become "illegal" does the legal process usually provide an answer.
As a practical matter, did your son carefully read the instructions for the form (it may have qualified "received within the last 3 years" for example). When preparing "packages" in the military you often can't rely on just the wording of the forms but must consult the complete instructions. It does seem a bit excessive to automatically dismiss everyone who ever got a letter of indebtedness. In a typical year the Navy alone handles over 125,000 such letters. Clearly they are not a rare thing.

 

[mac105]

Thanks, fozzy2

mac105 was kind enough to allow me use of the log in to ask my question ... and asked me today, nicely, did I remember that I was told this was a 'legal question' site. Just got carried away and I apologized to mac105 and now to you. But I thank you for the reply. I will read it to my son and tell him not to back off. Thanks again very much for your patience..