What is Fraudulent Enlistment?
The United States military has a set of standards for potential new recruits, with each service branch setting specific requirements. There are standards for education, physical fitness, and personal conduct, to name a few. Most recruits have few issues when answering a recruiter’s questions, but some feel the need to conceal certain aspects of their personal history and try to avoid disclosing past issues that could be disqualifying for military service.
These typically involve omitting information about legal trouble, past drug experimentation, or other circumstances. This is known as fraudulent enlistment, and it is a serious problem under military law, with consequences for the person involved and for the military itself.
The Department of Defense views fraudulent enlistment as a major breach of trust. It happens when someone applying for service knowingly gives false information or hides important facts that would make them ineligible or require special permission (a waiver) they didn’t ask for or get.
In some cases, a recruiter will catch the lie, and the enlistment or commission will be denied. In other cases, the deception may survive the vetting process, but if it is uncovered later, the Uniform Code of Military Justice could be applied and the servicemember could be kicked out of the military.
UCMJ Article 83: The Rules Against Fraudulent Enlistment
Article 83 of the UCMJ deals with fraudulent enlistment, appointment, or separation. Official government sources say a person falls under this article if they: “(1) procure his own enlistment or appointment in the armed forces by knowingly false representation or deliberate concealment as to his qualifications for that enlistment or appointment and receives pay or allowances thereunder.”
This definition points to a few key things: the act of getting themselves enlisted, the presence of a knowing lie or intentionally hiding something about their qualifications, and then getting paid or receiving allowances as a service member.
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Common Ways People Commit Fraudulent Enlistment
Fraudulent enlistment shows up differently, as people try to hide all sorts of disqualifying issues. Military documents, like Army Regulation (AR) 635-200 on administrative separations, give us a good idea of what kinds of problems lead to a fraudulent enlistment finding. These often include:
Hiding Medical Conditions: Applicants might not tell the military about existing physical or mental health problems that would normally disqualify them or need a medical waiver.
This could be anything from long-term illnesses and past surgeries to serious mental health diagnoses or treatments. The military has medical fitness standards to ensure people can handle tough military training and deployments without too much risk to themselves or others.
Not Revealing Criminal Records: A big part of fraudulent enlistment is hiding criminal records. This can include arrests, charges, convictions (as an adult or juvenile), or even a string of minor non-traffic offenses that add up to be disqualifying.
Military enlistment standards usually don’t allow people with felony convictions or several serious misdemeanor offenses. There are waivers for some criminal history (called conduct waivers), but these demand full honesty and a careful review, as explained in rules like 32 CFR § 66.7, which deals with enlistment waivers and can be found through law.cornell.edu or ecfr.gov.
Lying About Education: Faking educational achievements, like saying you have a high school diploma or college credits you didn’t earn, is fraudulent enlistment. Education level is important for joining, affecting eligibility for certain military jobs (MOS) and general fitness for service.
Not Disclosing Prior Military Service: People might sometimes try to re-enlist without revealing a previous, not-so-good discharge or other things that would stop them from rejoining another branch of service.
Hiding Dependency Status: Lying about being married or how many dependents you have can also be fraudulent enlistment, because these things affect eligibility and paperwork. For example, single parents with custody of young children usually need a dependent waiver.
Misrepresenting Age or Citizenship: It’s less common now with better checks, but faking age (like joining underage without permission) or citizenship to qualify is definitely against the rules.
Not Disclosing Drug Use or Involvement: Lying about past or current drug use is a common reason for fraudulent enlistment claims. While some past experimental drug use might be waivable, current use or more serious involvement is usually a disqualifier.
In our next article about fraudulent enlistment, we’ll examine the recruiter’s role in prevention and how fraudulent enlistment is typically discovered.
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About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
