Advice on Joining the U.S. Air Force, Part 3

Tip 3) Know Your Rights (And Your Escape Routes)

As I mentioned in a previous article, when you sign up with the military, you waive your Constitutional rights and agree to instead be governed by military law (known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice). Your freedoms and privileges become much more restricted under the UCMJ than they were when you were a regular U.S. citizen. You still have many of the same legal rights that you did as a civilian though - the right to trial and the right to defend yourself against charges among them. You also have the right to leave if things are not working out.

Wait, what's that? Doesn't the military lock you up for life once you sign on the dotted line? Growing up watching M.A.S.H. and Corporal Klinger's desperate and futile attempts to flee the clutches of Uncle Sam have made whole generations think that a military enlistment is a sort of inescapable prison sentence once you are in. While the government does try very hard to hold on to you, and while they do not go out of their way to publicize or help you find information regarding your right to leave service, it is not impossible.

If things are going badly for you and you begin to feel you've really made the wrong choice, there are ways to separate and move on with your life.

Entry Level Discharge

First, if you have not yet been to MEPPS, signed an enlistment contract and raised your right hand to take the oath, you are not yet in the service and can withdraw at any time for any reason. The recruiter probably won't volunteer this information and may even lie to you when confronted with it, but those are the rules. No signature, no oath, no enlistment - regardless of any other papers you may have had handed to you or anything you may have said to anyone. They might try to lay a guilt trip on you, and I've even heard of some real bad egg Army and Marines recruiters yelling at people and calling them names when they do this, but be firm and they will legally have to let you go.