Can anyone shed any light on what the military requires? Particularly the Marines? J wants to go into the Marines after he graduates, but he is concerned about having a homeschool diploma/transcript. I've found some articles on HSDLA written in 2007 or so about the military now accepting homeschoolers as they would public schoolers, but I was curious if there have been any changes I'm missing? The Marines "requirements" section on their website just says "high school diploma" and I can't find any further requirements. I thought there was something recent that had come about regarding homeschoolers??? Plus, J thought he had read something about it being "certain homeschool diplomas", but he can't recall where he read that and to be honest, there is no telling where he dug that up online. I know contacting a recruiter would be wise, but I'm not sure he or his mom would be able to put their foot down and inquire fully if they get the "are you kidding, no" look if that particular recruiter is unaware of the homeschooling bit (just simply because they don't realize the flak a lot of homeschoolers receive is undeserved). And I'm not sure if I could go in and speak on J's behalf? Plus, I don't want to step on his mom's (my cousin's) toes and act like I'm in charge, you know? Any other advice is greatly appreciated! ETA: Well, I may have kind of answered my own question from here: http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/Issues/M/Military_Enlistment.asp I'd still love to hear anything you guys have heard, know of, or have experienced. Or have had friends/family experience. Thanks!
I know that some college credits are very helpful if he is considering a military career (officer), instead of just an enlistee...
I was in the military (Navy) after being homeschooled for one year. It presented a problem only for the fact that my mother had me do two years in one. Apparently, around that time, there had been problems with people lying on their applications. Anyways, I ended up having to do some work in an Adult Learning Program. The teacher thought it was stupid as I had, in fact, completed high school (and had the tests to prove it). He basically just let me fill in my hours (I had a certain number of hours to complete) by doing some typing work for him. The whole thing was dumb, and big pain in the you know where. In the end, though, I got in the military, and once I was in, there was never a problem with anything else. Even going to college, they never once asked to see high school transcripts or test scores or anything (there are a bunch of colleges that work with the military). If he does join, have him start taking advantage of the tuition assistance right away. That is the one thing I regret. I didn't start right away, and wasted a bunch of the benefits. (Tuition assistance is on top of the GI Bill benefits he will be eligible for).
I was in the process of joining the USAF when I found out I was pregnant! Anyway, I was homeschooled for high school and they had accepted the diploma with no problem. So with that said, I would imagine that the Marines would accept a homeschool diploma without any issue. Call a local recruiter to verify!
