Legal Question in Military Law in West Virginia

Re: marines

The Recruiter simply lied to you - an unfortunate reality. They do criminal background checks, but do not do medical background checks unless the Applicant "discloses" a pre-existing medical condition, which of course, the Recruiter told him not to do.

Your son could NOT legally "sign up" at age 17, without one parent "co-signing" so unless you [or other parent] signed giving consent, that "Enlistment" isn't valid.

The good news for you is that because he's still 17, you can stop it. You want to find out who the Recruting Station Commander is, make an appointment to see him/her and tell them that the Recruiter involved told your son to lie about his prior medical / mental health conditions and hospitalizations and that you want his so-called "Enlistment" canceled.

It is technically a federal crime to lie on military enlistment papers, but the military can't do anything to your son until he's actually on active duty, which you should be able to stop without much trouble.

Good luck to you!

Don Rehkopf