Friday, July 27, 2007

Projecty goodness!

As I was driving home late last night I had a thought for something which might be a fun project. This is something anyone can do, but because it's my idea I might as well start.

Let me introduce you to AR 601-210. It's the USAREC bible, including a lot of fire and brimstone. Chapter 4 in 601-210 lists all of the charges which disqualify someone for the service. For those who wish to do this yourself, here's a quick primer for what is allowable, and what is not.

Paragraph 4-8 lists minor traffic violations. These are, for practical purposes, no big deal. As long as fines, defensive driving classes, or any other restitution have been paid, traffic will not disqualify anyone, nor require a waiver.

Paragraph 4-9 lists minor non-traffic violations. Stuff like littering, public intoxication, curfew violations, etc. Per 601-210, four or more minor non traffic violations require a waiver.

Paragraph 4-10 is where things start to really matter. These are the misdemeanor charges. With a few exceptions I'll mention later, a person can have one misdemeanor and not require a waiver. Two to four misdemeanors require a waiver to enlist. Five or more and you're disqualified.

Paragraph 4-11 are serious criminal misconduct (felonies). A single one requires a waiver, and two means you're done.

A couple charges which are considered misdemeanors, but require a waiver regardless of how many other charges they may have. These are the "serious offenses": Weapon on school grounds, possession of drugs on school grounds, acts of violence against school officials, Domestic Violence against someone other than a child, parent, or signifigant other, DUI, possession of Marijuana, solicitation of prostitution, terrorist threats not covered under serious criminal misconduct.

This is AR 40-501. Standard of Medical Fitness. Chapter 2 covers the medical standards for enlistment. I'm not going to go into detail on this. To make it easy, if someone is taking any medication, they're disqualified. About the only exception for this would be birth control pills. ADD medication, inhalers, etc are a no go.

So, now that I've covered this, you might for yourself saying "Self, what is this 'project' to which SFC B is referring?"

Simple.

I've decided to start keeping a running tab of celebrities who are disqualified for the military.

Don't look at me like that. Everyone needs a hobby.

I'm going to go for the low-hanging fruit first.

Lindsay Lohan. Wow. It's like a train wreck. She's barely 21 with two DUIs and a possession of cocaine. Don't forget her stint in rehab. Ineligible for enlistment because of her open charges, and barring some sort of legal miracle, she's going to be permenantly DQ'd under paragraph 4-24p which says that a serious criminal misconduct (possession of cocaine) can have no more than three other charges. She's got two DUIs, and is going to, undoubtedly find herself charges with some additional ones stemming from it (probation violation anyone?). And that's without dealing with the medical DQ of having spent time in rehab.

Stone Cold Steve Austin. He'll need a USAREC level waiver for his domestic violence conviction.

I'd planned on doing more, but The Smoking Gun is schadenfreude in browsable form and I lost track of time.

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