Letter of Reprimand
 

Hello everyone,

Looking for anyone with potential insight. Currently a pilot in the service with a few years left in my commitment. Last year I received a Letter of Reprimand (LOR) for violating professional relationships and conduct while off duty (nothing sexual in nature). I received the LOR and was put back on flying status.

I otherwise have a clean record and no other incidents. Basically was wondering how this will be seen by hiring boards and if I still have a chance. I can also DM for more details as to what happened. Any experience or insight will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Some airlines may ask about such things, in which case you'd need to address it in a very specific manner at an interview.

Some airlines may only ask about higher-level infractions like convictions.

Interview prep services can give you better SA on where you stand.

If you PM me, I may be able to clarify your situation. The specifics would matter if they ask. It's good that it's not sexual.

There are people with Letters Of Reprimand in their background at the airlines. A lot will depend on nature of the offense, whether a corresponding law exists in the civilian world that is comparable, characterization of discharge, and what desirable characteristics you have in your resume/applications etc. A lot will also depend on the overall airline hiring environment.

You’ll likely have to report it when the question asks about reprimands or discipline action at work, potentially removal from flying status depending on if your orders changed to facilitate removal from the unit etc,

Certain airlines will want to see Fitness Reports along with DD214. Depending what the actual paperwork and psych evaluations say, you may still have a shot. Many airlines just want a copy of your DD214- in which case you may not be hurt in the application provided there wasn’t negative characterization of discharge.

Highly recommend getting interview prep with companies who focus on more one on one prep given your circumstance.

It might be worth going to Wholly Owned regionals of legacies as insurance in case the hiring environment isn’t supportive of an OTS hiring with that in your background at the time you exit the service,

Realistically, no one is going to know about the LOR at any airline to which you apply unless you tell them. An LOR is administrative in nature, not legal, and thus if there are any questions about crimes or legal charges/convictions, the answer can remain "no."

That's the realistic answer. The RIGHT answer when presented with any question (every airline has one somewhere in their application process, and if not, then the interview) along the lines of, "Is there any other issue or concern you wish to disclose at this time?" is to simply disclose it and own up to it. Every interview prep service will have their own techniques for how to best do this, but it boils down to saying "X, Y, or Z happened, here were the facts surrounding it (no quibbling, no opinions, and DEFINITELY no trying to shift the blame), this is what I learned, and here's why I am a better candidate for it today."

Assuming your records are paper (the ones you would actually bring to an interview), once you're out of the military you could honestly just open up those binder rings, pull the LOR out, and shred it. HOWEVER, in the hopefully miniscule chance you ever have an incident like that in the future (all it takes is he said/she said), the company opens an investigation, and someone in HR understands military records well enough to FOIA everything on you, and they find that LOR - You. Are. TOAST. Because they asked, you chose to not tell them, and now there's a trend. So that's why I recommend the Right answer and not the Realistic answer.

Also an angry ex might drop a dime. That's more common than post-incident investigations turning up skeletons.

Create a good story about how you have learned a valuable lesson and are now a better person from it

I know of more than a few pilots with LORs and even article 15s flying for legacies, etc. As has been said, the airline has no way of knowing about your LOR. Check with your local JAG, but I’m pretty sure your personnel records are not subject to FOIA. Obviously, angry ex’s don’t care about such niceties. I didn’t realize this when I was applying, but basically the airlines have little real visibility into your military records other than what you share. That said, if you choose to not disclose karma can come back to bite you if someone from your past who knows about the incident is already at that airline. Definitely, talk to one of the companies that specializes in airline interview prep.

Agree, FOIA will probably *not* access personnel records (but I'd do some research to confirm.

In this case my concern would be DD214 and FITREP/OERs...

If the DD214 has a straight-up Honorable and normal separation codes, that should be fine. A General Under Honorable would be bad (for an officer), an OTH would mean truck driving school. If the sep code is strange, that would likely trigger a legacy to dig further. I don't think re-entry codes apply to officers, but I only know for sure with the Navy... if there is a re-entry code, understand what it means. You can google DD214 coding.

Also... there are two versions of DD214:

Copy 4: Full unedited version, this has all info and codes.

Copy 1: Short version, just shows you served basically, and MOS and awards.

If the DD214 has anything non-ideal, find out if employers can ask for Copy 4 or are limited to Copy 1 (probably varies by state law).

I have always provided Copy 4, not even sure I have a Copy 1. I'm pretty sure that if you give a legacy airline copy 1 (even if they can't legally ask for copy 4), they will automatically assume you have something to hide (and it would have to be significant to reflect on the DD214).

If the underlying issue is relatively minor, I'd probably just give them Copy 4 and field the questions. Rather than letting them assume the worst about what you're not showing them (they'd probably assume Duck Dinner for child molestation).


FITREP/OER:

1) Find out which airlines even ask for them. Maybe they all stopped doing that? I heard some questions about the legality a few years back? But find out.

2) If the FITREP/OER associated with the incident reflects that something bad happened, either overtly in the write-up, or implied by a sharp drop in peer ranking or GPA, that will trigger questions. If you were always in the pack and stayed there, that's fine. But if you broke out and then went to the bottom suddenly they will notice. Any airlines that ask for FITREPs know how to read them, probably better than you do.

One aspect that hasn't been discussed is the nature of the LOR. While not being sexual is good, if it's alcohol-related, that could be troublesome, even though nothing legal apparently happened...

My airline didn't ask for any military records. I had copies of flying records and quals just in case. I wouldn't say a single thing unless you have a good reason to (explaining a big gap in flying, angry ex who will rat you out, background check will reveal it, etc). PLORs are administrative. The rules in the military are there for a reason, but don't translate to civilian life.

Delta in particular definitely asks for FITREPS or their equivalent because of course they do. Best of luck. If you do cop to it, the advice above about making it some sort of life learning experience definitely applies.