One would think that age to enlist in the US military would be a simple category. One is either old enough, or too old, right? Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work that way. By federal law (10 U.S.C., 505), the minimum age for enlistment in the United States Military is 17 (with parental consent) and 18 (without parental consent). The maximum age is 35. However, DOD policy allows the individual services to specify the maximum age of enlistment based upon their own unique requirements. The individual services have set the following maximum ages for non-prior service enlistment:
Active Duty Non-Prior Service
• Army - 35 (must ship to basic training prior to 35th birthday. The Army experimented with raising the age limit to age 42 for a brief period of time, but effective April 1st, 2011, the Army has reverted to the lower age limit.
• Air Force - 27
• Navy - 34
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• Marines - 28
• Coast Guard - Age 27. Note: up to age 32 for those selected to attend A-school directly upon enlistment (this is mostly for prior service).
Reserve Non-Prior Service
• Army Reserves - 35 (must ship to basic training prior to 35th birthday)
• Army National Guard - 35 (changed from 42 in 2009)
• Air Force Reserve - 34
• Air National Guard - 40 (Changed from 34 in Aug 2009)
• Naval Reserves - 39
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• Marine Corps Reserve - 29
• Coast Guard Reserves - Age 39
Age Waivers
Age waivers for non-prior service enlistments are very rare. The few that have been approved involved those who started the enlistment process within the required age limits, but were unable to complete the process and ship to basic training before their birthday. In these cases, only a couple of months of age was waived.
Prior Service Enlistments
The age limit for prior service enlistment for most of the branches is the same as above, except that an individual's total previous military time can be subtracted from their current age. For example, let's say that an individual has four years of creditable military service in the Marine Corps and wants to join the Air Force. The Air Force could waive the individual's maximum enlistment age to age 31 (maximum age of 27 for the Air Force, plus four years credible service in the Marines). For the Marine Corps and the Marine Corps Reserve, the maximum age of enlistment for prior service is 32, after computing the prior-service age adjustment. For the Army and Air National Guard, the maximum age for prior service enlistment is 59, as long as the member has enough years of prior service to be able to complete 20 years of creditable service for retirement by age 60.
As always please see your local County Veterans Service Officer if you have any questions. You can contact your local VSO at (218) 631-7617 or by email at david.anderson@co.wadena.mn.us and as always have a great week.
