WASHINGTON — The Defense Department announced Wednesday that it will set a minimum standard across the military for recruiting people with past criminal offenses.
The new policy, announced at a Pentagon news conference, will give defense officials a more clear picture of who is entering the military with what sort of "conduct" waivers — but it probably will not result in many fewer of them, said William Carr, deputy undersecretary of Defense for personnel policy.
The policy outlines dozens of criminal offenses, from minor crimes to serious felonies, that the services will consider in deciding whether a potential recruit can be signed up only through a waiver. For instance, someone with one "major misconduct" offense, such as arson or child abuse, could not be recruited without a conduct waiver in any of the services.
Someone with two "misconduct" offenses, such as looting or possession of marijuana, would require a waiver. Combinations of "misconduct" offenses and minor infractions — "non-traffic offenses" such as toll evasion or disturbing the police, would require waivers as well.
The policy comes as the Army sees increases in the number of recruits entering the service with checkered backgrounds. The Army issued 10,258 conduct waivers in 2007, an increase from 4,918 in 2003. The number of conduct waivers in the Army has grown each year since 2003, although the service has expanded overall in that time as well.
The increase has raised eyebrows in Congress, where Rep. John M. McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor, and others have suggested the Army may be letting in too many people with questionable backgrounds. Defense officials have generally defended their performance, saying recruits must be judged on a "whole person" approach.
But the policy change also indicates that defense officials believe something has gone awry with the system. At a minimum, Mr. Carr said, it "creates a pulse to know what's going on."
Officials have been working on the standard for two years, Mr. Carr said.
The services will not be allowed to adopt more lenient policies, although they are free to set tougher standards, Mr. Carr said. Officials said they could not judge whether the new benchmark is tougher than any of the services' policies already in place, because the offenses are being listed for the first time and combinations of past convictions developed for the first time.
"This is going to be a constructive policy, we think," Mr. Carr told reporters. He said the policy will make recruitment waivers, and the reporting of them, "more simple, consistent and uniform."
But asked whether the policy might result in fewer waivers, Mr. Carr said he doubted the number would change much.
"That remains to be seen. I don't think it would have much of an effect," Mr. Carr said.
In the past, policies regarding conduct waivers have been muddled with terms such as "felony" and "misdemeanor," which vary from state to state, Mr. Carr said. He said that is why the new policy avoids using those terms and puts offenses into four categories.
Asked whether the new policy might result in fewer reported waivers, even if the makeup of the recruited force is about the same, Mr. Carr said he disagreed with that analysis.