Skeleton In The Closet

Hi my name is Sam. I'm strongly considering doing the Driver Solutions thing and then driving for P.A.M. Transportation or USA Truck if everything goes well. I have no felony or misdemeanor convictions, but when I was in the Air Force 10 years ago I was arrested, court-martialed (summary court-martial) and given an Under-Other-Than-Honorable-Conditions discharge after having my security clearance revoked and spending 24 days in the brig. What led to this was a pattern of sexual misconduct (nothing involving children and I am not a registered sex offender). I have no civilian arrests, but I'm pretty sure my fingerprints/dna were sent to whatever federal database they have for that stuff. I pled guilty to all charges at my court-martial but was never convicted of any misdemeanors or felonies, since that's not what a summary court-martial is for (relatively minor offenses). A few months after I got sent home my discharge was upgraded to a General discharge, and I haven't been in any trouble since the Air Force.

My question is: should I even mention on the application that I was in the military, or will any trucking company find that out anyway when they run a background check? My concern is not getting into the school but actually securing a job after the school with one of the companies. In other words I don't want to get sent home from the school because they find out I lied about my past, or because they say there's no problem just to get me into the school but then change their minds halfway through the process when they do some digging. I feel like if I'm absolutely honest from the get-go I run the risk of them rejecting me, but I'd like to be honest about it because that's the type of person I am and hopefully they can overlook my past indiscretions since they obviously weren't serious enough to warrant a conviction or a punitive discharge.

Thanks for any advice anyone could give me about this matter. Sam

Honesty is always the best policy. If there was a chance to have your record expunged (don't think it can be done for military service records) then you would have nothing to worry about. In the case of a general discharge they might ask why you didn't earn an honorable but that's a crap shoot. I know me personally, also being a veteran, the companies I've spoken with weren't too concerned with my military history since my service ended back in 96 and it seems to be more of an issue of using the Post 9/11 GI Bill for tuition reimbursement or the VA benefits to get you a bit more money to live in during training.

Yeah I believe I forfeited the GI Bill when I got kicked out. The only benefit I have (although I haven't explored what else might be out there for me) is the veterans' life insurance.

When you put the information in the application that you were in the military, does it then ask you for those types of details? I would give them all of the basic, rudimentary information they want on the application, answer any questions you are asked honestly, and keep everything that isn't asked or needed to yourself.

You hear people always say to be 100% honest and transparent with these companies, and absolutely do that, but kept things as simple as possible and answer what you are asked. Don't create extra paper work.

An example, when I was in orientation for my company, a guy in my class decided he would be "honest" and write in his medical form about a staph infection in his leg he was trrated for 7 years back. Well the company then needed the doctor who treated it to send over records on it because it was then divulged information. When the doctors office didn't comply, the guy got sent home and told to come back when he could get the records.

Nobody cared or asked about it, but when the student shared the information, it became an issue because of procedure. The company itself probably wished he hadn't mentioned it because it made extra, unnecessary work for them and they wasted money to bring him into campus.

Moral of the story, be honest about everything, but also keep all of the information as simple and necessary as possible for all parties involved.

I was going to go through Driver Solutions also and then sign on with Pam for a year. I thought the same thing about will they send someone home from the school or orientation and are the recruiters for DS just trying to get you there. I decided to go ahead and pay for school at Lone Star College instead. I recently got in touch with Pam transportation to see if I could drive for them as a student in training after getting my CDL without going through their DS CDL training. Still waiting to hear from them. With DS you have to really study everything before you get there even more than my six week program I have joined. What I understand is that they are only going to train you just enough so you can get your CDL and then the real training happens at Pam orientation in Tontitown ,AR. I know they also require new drivers to drive pairs for the first six months(not that is bad). I might like to drive for them as they seem to have down to earth feeling but want to get into this business slow with my eyes wide open. I want to know everything I can. Since, I have barely passed MY HBP 140/90 to get the two year Dot card( let my self go for three months) and it has allowed me time to cut the gut and lower my HBP back down(for future company physicals and I usually stay in shape) . Had I gone to DS most likely they would have sent me home. Before you go study everything here on the CDL training program, study the parts of the pre-trip inspection . Watch videos explaining backing etc. What I get it is a three week crash course with little or no one on one training just to get you into the CDL and send you to Tontitown. Check your health if need before Dot exam. Hope everything works out for you, I been keeping up with PAM on facebook and they seem to be down to earth, heard better reports about USA though.