Does Having Bad Credit Affect Your Eligibility To Join The Military?
I have bad credit, and was interested in joining the Air Force reserves. I am curious if this is going to affect my ability to obtain a security clearance or not. I am having such a hard time getting in touch with a recruiter, and am still waiting for my calls to be returned. I am curious if this is a waste of time for me or not. I am planning on fixing my credit, but have been financially unable to do so.
It will definately affect your chance of a SC. That is one of the main components of getting a clearance. It basically tells them of your responsibility and trustworthiness. If you can pay your bills on time it shows those to values, and you need those same values because with a SC you will need to keep secrets. It definately isn’t impossible though, so give it a shot.
You may also have some difficulty of joining, but it shouldn’t affect you too much on this aspect.
Filed under: Bad Credit Help
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Yes, the military doesn’t want extra problems on their hands. That’s why the recruiter is not calling you back.
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It will definately affect your chance of a SC. That is one of the main components of getting a clearance. It basically tells them of your responsibility and trustworthiness. If you can pay your bills on time it shows those to values, and you need those same values because with a SC you will need to keep secrets. It definately isn’t impossible though, so give it a shot.
You may also have some difficulty of joining, but it shouldn’t affect you too much on this aspect.
References :
U.S. ARMY
45th INF BDE CBT
Well in short yes. I don’t know what your specific story is but credit is a factor they use to decide if you can enlist. Getting a security clearance might be harder as well with bad credit. If you can’t talk to a recruiter then go to the Air Force website, they have forums that could answer your question better then I can.
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I’m not sure about the Air Force but i went through something similar with the Army. When i interviewed for my security clearance the way it was explained to me is that as long as you have documentation showing you were have a payment arrangement with all your bad debtors you may be able to get a clearance (i was interviewing for a secret clearance). As i was unable to do so before the enlistment bonus was changed i picked a diff MOS (army job). I’m planning on going to ROTC or OCS at which point my MOS will no longer apply so it wasn’t a big deal for me. I’ll pay everything off with my sign on bonus and be done with it. When you go to MEPS, you will talk to a security interviewer before you sign any contracts so make sure you get all the info from them. It may take multiple trips to MEPS but its worth it to make sure everything goes as needed.
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Bad credit will not essentially hurt your enlistment into the armed forces.
You will only be denied enlistment if you owe back taxes to IRS.
(EDIT: Also, back child support payments, late child support payments, arrearages, etc. will also result in denied enlistment. Whereas, actually paying child support in a timely manner does not affect enlistment.)
As for security clearances, depending on the level, it could be a problem.
Depending on your amount of "bad credit" it could be a problem.
For example, the lowest security clearance, and maybe one overdue cell phone bill, not really a big deal. You’d just have to have an agreement about repaying the debt.
VERSUS
The lowest security clearance… and say… several bills owed to several different companies and whatnot, totaling somewhere in the 1,000′s market, then its a no-go.
The higher the clearance level, the less lenient and more strict the rules get when it comes to credit and debt.
Best of luck!
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Army PFC
They will not run a credit report for enlistment. However, they will run one for a security clearance. You could choose a job that doesn’t require a security clearance. But all of the jobs that are a lot of fun require some type of security clearance.
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brother is in the Air Force