Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
All the running and weight-training honed Martin Gilbert's wiry 120-pound, 5-foot-9 frame into peak condition.
He fully expected to be in Army boot camp by September. He wanted to be ready.
Joining the Army, Gilbert says is something he counted on since he was 8 years old and first got an eyeful of military equipment in a Texas surplus store.
His desire comes from a mix of "love of country," a deep respect for the military and hearing his politically conservative father express regrets, over the years, at not having served himself.
"I think I have the determination, the will and the work ethic,"
Gilbert said Friday in a Marina home where he rents a room.
At 25, Gilbert has two years of community college, a B-plus grade-average, a resume that contains a mix of retail electronics, construction labor and coffeehouse jobs. He has been out of work a few months -- living off savings, selling his beloved camera equipment and getting no response to many job applications. Gilbert figures it was time to make the dream come true.
"I knew I was going into the military," he said.
But that hope came crashing down Wednesday when an Army recruiter informed him that a minor marijuana case stemming from his senior year at Carmel Valley High School in 2004 has made him morally unfit for today's Army.
"I had tried it one or two times and got caught with about $5 worth at school," he said. A random check by sheriff's deputies with drug-sniffing dogs snared him and another kid. Gilbert had just turned 18.
The misdemeanor marijuana possession charge was dismissed after Gilbert paid a fine and attended drug education sessions. "They told me it would drop off my record," he said.
But the military burrows into juvenile and adult court records -- even those that are sealed, expunged or dismissed -- in making background checks on recruits. And current Army rules disqualify anyone with a case involving illegal drugs on his record -- dismissed or not.
"They have tightened it up," said Mark Howell, spokesman for the Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky.
The 6-year-old case slipped Gilbert's mind when he first started talking with an Army recruiter in Seaside. But he said he brought it up just to make sure that he couldn't be accused of hiding anything.
This week, the recruiter told him he couldn't go in the Army.
"I was devastated," Gilbert said. "It felt like my life passed before my eyes."
Gilbert grew up in Big Sur and Marin County, living off and on with parents who divorced when he was 8. He figures he has used marijuana about five to 10 times in his life, and the last time was about two years ago.
Gilbert understands the Army rule, and he knows the military invests a lot of money in each recruit.
But in a country where tens of millions of people have used marijuana and talk of legalizing the drug is common -- as with Proposition 19 on California's November ballot -- Gilbert views the Army's current rules as misguided.
"Their screening process seems flawed ... a misdemeanor marijuana charge when I was in high school, it just shocks me," he said.
Sgt. Richard Teunis, an Army recruiter in Seaside, said he could not talk about Gilbert's case because of privacy rules. But he confirmed that a case like his would automatically disqualify a recruit in today's Army.
"The Army considers any adverse disposition just like a guilty plea," he said. "It's a discussion we have had many time with the juvenile courts."
Teunis has seen other young people in Gilbert's situation. "They are disappointed," he said. "It's unfortunate but this is a federal job, and we have to go by those regulations."
Things are different with military recruiting today -- as high unemployment, the allure of job training and benefits, and help with college costs are making many eager to enlist, Howell said.
"It's a common misperception that the Army is your last resort," he said. "That was the viewpoint in the 1970s, but it's not really the case anymore.
"So many people want to join that it's making it more difficult to get in," Howell said.
The Army already has enlisted about 61,000 of it 74,500-recruit goal for the year, and basic training for some recruits is being delayed up to 14 months.
"We're meeting our goals, and at the same time our quality numbers are going up," Howell said.
It's not just young men and women coming from high school or junior colleges, but the Army is recruiting more people with four-year college and graduate degrees, Howell said.
Gilbert doesn't want to abandon his dream. He's hoping for a waiver, or, perhaps, a change in policy. "I don't want to give up hope," he said.
He admits he made a mistake, but a lot of people make mistakes -- many of them far more serious than having a tiny amount of marijuana.
"I don't hold it against them. I just think they are going about it the wrong way," he said.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: santacruzsentinel.com
Author: LARRY PARSONS
Copyright: 2010 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: Contact us - Santa Cruz Sentinel
Website: Old pot charge dashes Army dream: Marina recruit deemed unfit due to high school incident - Santa Cruz Sentinel
He fully expected to be in Army boot camp by September. He wanted to be ready.
Joining the Army, Gilbert says is something he counted on since he was 8 years old and first got an eyeful of military equipment in a Texas surplus store.
His desire comes from a mix of "love of country," a deep respect for the military and hearing his politically conservative father express regrets, over the years, at not having served himself.
"I think I have the determination, the will and the work ethic,"
Gilbert said Friday in a Marina home where he rents a room.
At 25, Gilbert has two years of community college, a B-plus grade-average, a resume that contains a mix of retail electronics, construction labor and coffeehouse jobs. He has been out of work a few months -- living off savings, selling his beloved camera equipment and getting no response to many job applications. Gilbert figures it was time to make the dream come true.
"I knew I was going into the military," he said.
But that hope came crashing down Wednesday when an Army recruiter informed him that a minor marijuana case stemming from his senior year at Carmel Valley High School in 2004 has made him morally unfit for today's Army.
"I had tried it one or two times and got caught with about $5 worth at school," he said. A random check by sheriff's deputies with drug-sniffing dogs snared him and another kid. Gilbert had just turned 18.
The misdemeanor marijuana possession charge was dismissed after Gilbert paid a fine and attended drug education sessions. "They told me it would drop off my record," he said.
But the military burrows into juvenile and adult court records -- even those that are sealed, expunged or dismissed -- in making background checks on recruits. And current Army rules disqualify anyone with a case involving illegal drugs on his record -- dismissed or not.
"They have tightened it up," said Mark Howell, spokesman for the Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky.
The 6-year-old case slipped Gilbert's mind when he first started talking with an Army recruiter in Seaside. But he said he brought it up just to make sure that he couldn't be accused of hiding anything.
This week, the recruiter told him he couldn't go in the Army.
"I was devastated," Gilbert said. "It felt like my life passed before my eyes."
Gilbert grew up in Big Sur and Marin County, living off and on with parents who divorced when he was 8. He figures he has used marijuana about five to 10 times in his life, and the last time was about two years ago.
Gilbert understands the Army rule, and he knows the military invests a lot of money in each recruit.
But in a country where tens of millions of people have used marijuana and talk of legalizing the drug is common -- as with Proposition 19 on California's November ballot -- Gilbert views the Army's current rules as misguided.
"Their screening process seems flawed ... a misdemeanor marijuana charge when I was in high school, it just shocks me," he said.
Sgt. Richard Teunis, an Army recruiter in Seaside, said he could not talk about Gilbert's case because of privacy rules. But he confirmed that a case like his would automatically disqualify a recruit in today's Army.
"The Army considers any adverse disposition just like a guilty plea," he said. "It's a discussion we have had many time with the juvenile courts."
Teunis has seen other young people in Gilbert's situation. "They are disappointed," he said. "It's unfortunate but this is a federal job, and we have to go by those regulations."
Things are different with military recruiting today -- as high unemployment, the allure of job training and benefits, and help with college costs are making many eager to enlist, Howell said.
"It's a common misperception that the Army is your last resort," he said. "That was the viewpoint in the 1970s, but it's not really the case anymore.
"So many people want to join that it's making it more difficult to get in," Howell said.
The Army already has enlisted about 61,000 of it 74,500-recruit goal for the year, and basic training for some recruits is being delayed up to 14 months.
"We're meeting our goals, and at the same time our quality numbers are going up," Howell said.
It's not just young men and women coming from high school or junior colleges, but the Army is recruiting more people with four-year college and graduate degrees, Howell said.
Gilbert doesn't want to abandon his dream. He's hoping for a waiver, or, perhaps, a change in policy. "I don't want to give up hope," he said.
He admits he made a mistake, but a lot of people make mistakes -- many of them far more serious than having a tiny amount of marijuana.
"I don't hold it against them. I just think they are going about it the wrong way," he said.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: santacruzsentinel.com
Author: LARRY PARSONS
Copyright: 2010 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: Contact us - Santa Cruz Sentinel
Website: Old pot charge dashes Army dream: Marina recruit deemed unfit due to high school incident - Santa Cruz Sentinel
