bad credit and military nusing?

[mom2three3]

I am thinking of getting into the Air Force or Army as a nurse and don't have good credit. Do they do a credit history when you join? Will it affect me? I had a job loss and some major medical bills from a sick baby and it just all piled up with some credit card debt and now.... terrible credit.

Any ideas on how this would affect me would be great...I know with security clearances, it can be an issue. I just didn't know if it's an instant no go for a commission.

[Kathyporter]

I don't know if it's an instant no go, but it's a problem especially for an officer. You need to talk to an health care recruiter for the service you want.

[carolinapooh, BSN, RN]

Under federal law you are now entitled to one free copy of your report from all three bureaus every year. Pull your own credit and take the report to the recruiter so you know what they're seeing when they look. It might not be as bad as you think - and then again it might be worse. But you won't know without asking.

[CEG]

It's not so much that the military cares about your credit history. It's something they look at when processing a security clearance. Because bad debt can make you susceptible to blackmail, or so I am told. If it's an issue, I would guess that you could write a letter saying "sick baby had surgery such and such date, lost job this date", etc. Most of the time if there is a reasonable explanation you can get by.

[Conqueror+, BSN, RN]

I am just thinking that with the current economy including all of the foreclosures and downsizing that they would be very short on viable candidates if they made the credit guidelines very strict. Just be honest and hope for the best.

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

Actually military retention and available full qualified candidates levels are very high at this point... across the board.

As previous poster stated the 'debt' issue is something that is looked upon during your security eval as they want to see if people are susceptible, likely, needing, wanting, situationally prone to taking money to conduct acts outside gov interests... it would depend on the circumstances of debt, the amount, the life style etc.. rather then just a small debt with a plan to pay off and it was acquired it a completely legit circumstance.

All you can do is have a plan, pay off debt, show responsibility about it. best of luck look forward to your updates. I would cont' down the path is your goal is to serve in the military - worst that could possibly happen is they say no... so keep your head up, formulate a plan and best of luck with your goals, baby, and minimizing this debt.