What would happen if I decided to go awol or fail a drug test in the Illinois national guard. I have AT in 4 months. Would that matter?

samuraiwarrior_982019-05-15T18:01:01Z

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Well a failed drug test will get you kicked out with a general discharge under honorable conditions and no benefits as a veteran. As for AWOL I presume you are talking about not showing up for drill and then things are a little more murky. Not showing up for drill and not notifying your unit before that and requesting an excusal or you being allowed to reschedule your UTA means it will go down as an unexcused absence. That puts you in an administrative status that among other things means you can't be promoted. Repeatedly not showing up for UTAs will get you processed and kicked out for non participation and that discharge will be an administrative type discharge that will carry with it no veterans benefits as well. Your unit has a policy surrounding an individual being excused from a UTA or you maybe rescheduling it and then making it up so I would go that route. They do limit how many UTAs you can be excused from or reschedule and missing too many then constitutes a bad year towards retirement.

exactduke2019-05-15T17:54:54Z

Dishonorable discharge. You're in the military & really don't know this??
Why not just finish your time & get your honorable?? I wasn't all that thrilled with the military either, and this is what I did. Then I was able to use the GI Bill.

USAFisnumber12019-05-15T14:53:49Z

First off, you are only AWOL if you are suppose to be on active duty and you are absent. Just now showing up for your drills is not AWOL. What will happen is you will still be subject to getting called up but will not have the training you should have got. Also if you do not get the required points in a year, it is a bad year and does not count towards retirement. If you are absent too long they can simply discharge you on an administrative discharge and give you an RE3 code. You most likely would get a general discharge under honorable conditions. Probably no VA benefits. On the other hand, if they did call you up to deploy and you did not show up then you would be AWOL and after 30 days of that, you get put down as a deserter and a warrant for your arrest is issued. That could be very bad for you.

Jeffrey2019-05-15T07:32:18Z

You could get a dishonorable discharge that would remain on your record forever and probably keep you from ever getting a good job.

Bertsta2019-05-15T06:55:58Z

The thing with military institutions where it's necessary to coordinate the activities of a lot of people at the same time, is that they prefer if you do what you're told, when you're told, and how you're told. If everyone started going off the reservation it would be problematic. Report as ordered soldier.

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