Korean Job Discussion Forums

[decolyon]

This one is for my fellow Americans. Did any of you guys server in the military, especially the army, after teaching in Korea?

This has been a long time goal of mine. I've gotten really close to signing contracts before, but something else always comes up at the last minute.

I've talked to a few recruiters and one issue that comes up, is that my time abroad might hurt my chances for getting a higher security clearance.

I want to be an officer. I feel I was born to lead. I want to work in intelligence. But most intelligence officers need a Secret or Top Secret clearance level. I have a clean record (that almost yearly FBI check to get my E2 visa proves that.)

I would be so disappointed if my time spend abroad hurt my ability to serve my country. I've also heard extensive travel might limit things too. I've never been anywhere "bad", but I'm not sure how fondly they might look at the week I spent in Vietnam.

If any of you have moved from teaching to military, I'd really like to hear from you.

[Vox_Populi]

[CentralCali]

Prior to joining the military, I lived overseas. I also had a TS (SCI) security clearance while I was in the service. As Vox_Populi said, be honest about anything in your past. For me, it was just time overseas but for some of my shipmates, they'd done some drugs before enlisting.

[Sleepy in Seoul]

Do you want to learn how to be a good soldier? I hope you're in it for the perks.

[decolyon]

Well, I'm still hesitant to be completely honest about some things.

Let's speak hypothetically for a bit.

Hypothetically I have a friend. And my friend was a heavy weed smoker at university. He smoked a few times a day, but at least once a day. This went on for years. It obviously didn't affect his mental performance because he went on to graduate a notoriously difficult university with a GPA that many people were jealous of. My friend grew tired of the laziness that came with smoking that much dope and eventually gave it up altogether. My friend later got a good job he held down for several years in which he was constantly drug tested and always came back clean. Although my friend is still relatively young, it's pretty safe to say his heavy indulgence in mary jane and his brief flirtation with coco has not affected his intelligence or capacity to become an intelligent and productive member of society. My friend also recently earned his Masters degree in a subject field that 80% of people would find difficult to understand. No dope this time around, haha.

So, should my friend be honest about his heavy pot use? I wouldn't think so. My friend has heard that one can admit to small or moderate use of the plant and get by working for the FBI or nicer jobs in the army, but admitting he smoked two blunts a day for about 4 years might seriously hinder any chance he has at finally wearing a uniform.

Again, this is all just hypothetical though.

[Vox_Populi]

Look, whatever the case is, you gotta be BRUTALLY honest. If they SOMEHOW find out later that you weren't completely honest, they're libel to throw you in the brig for fraudulent enlistment and then give you a dishonorable discharge.

If you're honest, the worst that can happen is they'll give you a lower security clearance. That's a pretty minor matter.

I knew a guy who lied about his drug use. He got into the Air Force and got through basic training and even started language school. Then they dug up an old charge where he'd been in possession of a tiny amount of marijuana. They arrested him and send him to prison at Leavenworth for a year and then gave him a dishonorable discharge.

So tell "your friend" to either be 100% COMPLETELY HONEST or don't even attempt to join the military.

BTW, if you want to go into a military where they'll completely forgive and forget your past, you might want to look into the French Foreign Legion (yes it still exists).

[decolyon]

Haha, I've actually heard the Legion is not what it used to be. They're turning people a way like mad. They're opting for people with previous military experience. I've heard it's because the French government have been using them like Private Military Contractors and selling their service to the Americans for Iraq and Afghanistan.

I knew a guy, a Swede. Perfectly clean record, no history of anything bad. Was in incredible physical shape. They turned him down because he had no military experience. It's not what it used to be, a restart and haven for people with no other place to go.

My friend was never arrested or even had a speeding ticket. I think if my friend told them he has smoked pot before but it was never a big deal, things will be okay. Anyways, I'll pass your advice on to my friend. I know he was concerned about that a little bit.

[crystal]

My cousin is in the French Foreign Legion, he worked in a bank before joining up and had no previous military experience.... He's about half way through his 5 year enlistment so maybe it got tougher to join since he went in! His unit is just back from a tour in Afghanistan.

[decolyon]

Yeah, bad part about that is, since it's the French government taking the contract, they essentially keep the money. Which is tens of millions of dollars.

Had those guys worked for actual pmcs, they'd be earning around 100K a year. I knew a Filipino guy that worked for an America pmc. He was pulling in serious money. 6 figures a year. He said when the hire ex military Americans, those guys sign contracts for 300k or so. Then the companies got wise and discovered they can hire South Americans and South East Asians for a third or even less of that cost.

Is there nothing we can't outsource? A rich white man can start a war in another part of the world and hire poor brown people from south of the equator to go fight it for him. Something just doesn't feel right about that.

[Stout]

Maybe the rich white man never gave a hoot about doing the right thing to begin with.

[Drew10]

If your friend has nothing on his record, then nothing should be disclosed.

I had a friend that smoked pretty heavily throughout high school, and post-high school he joined the Army. His record was clean, not even a traffic violation. The military never found out about his prior use, and the recruiter told him to basically keep his mouth shut since there was nothing on his background check.

[I-am-me]

i am thinking of joining the secret service. I really want a license to kill. I think I could make a good spy. No training will be harder than having taught kindergartners. I am ready and up to the job!!!

[runthegauntlet]

[Ramen]

had TS and was under PRP. i was never subjected to lie detector test. they just went around and interviewed whole buncha people and asked about me. people interviewed by feds thought i was in some sort of serious trouble.

[decolyon]