How Credit Card Debt Almost Ruined My Military Career

I spent over 4 years in the U.S. Army as an infantryman. I joined a recruiting program that allowed college graduates to attend basic training and become commissioned officers after passing Officer Candidate School.

This program is similar to those who have completed ROTC training or attended a service academy like the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. However, after I had completed basic training, the entire plan almost fell apart because of my credit card debts and collections. Here’s how I navigated this experience and why debt is such a sensitive topic in the military.

How I Ended Up in Credit Card Debt

I’ve written about my past experiences with credit card debt, collections, and the lessons I learned along the way. The timing of that story applies here because my goal was to pay off all of my debts before I left for basic training in the army — something that I only realized the importance of later on.

To summarize, I got a credit card when I was young, either didn’t pay or make minimal monthly payments for a while and then saw the account closed as bad debt. Later, I wound up in collections and finally paid off the account for less than the full balance as part of my agreement plan with the collections agency.

How Debt Almost Ruined My Military Career

After completing basic training, I reported to Officer Candidate School at Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning) near Columbia, Georgia. The night before I was to start the course, I was called into the administrative office at headquarters company. There were concerns about my credit — and therefore concerns about my ability to get the security clearance I needed as an officer. I wouldn’t start the course the following morning unless these could be resolved.

Debt and Security Clearance Eligibility

Military officers in the U.S. must be eligible for a minimum clearance of secret, though certain jobs may require higher clearance levels. Some of the eligibility criteria for a security clearance are more obvious than others, like not being a criminal or an agent of a foreign government.

However, financial concerns also can prevent military members from getting a security clearance.

Why? This stems from a few concerns. If you aren’t paying your debts, the military is concerned about what you might do if your financial situation becomes desperate. Could this person start engaging in illegal activity or become susceptive to foreign agents to get money to pay their debts? The military isn’t willing to take that risk on someone with access to sensitive or classified information.

And that’s where my situation came in. Before starting the U.S. Army’s OCS — from which all graduates are eligible to become commissioned officers — the school’s administration had pulled credit reports on all candidates set to begin the course. There were red flags because of the collections accounts and late payment information on my credit report.

Luckily, I had kept receipts. I needed to show that I would likely be approved for a security clearance on graduation before I could begin the course. And I needed to do that within 2 hours, before the administrative office closed for the day and made the final list of candidates entering the course the following morning.

Proving My Situation Had Improved

The first step was getting an updated copy of my credit report. As part of paying off my previous collections accounts, the collections agency had agreed to remove these from my credit report. An updated copy of my credit report didn’t list the collections accounts — a change from the copy the school’s administrative team had obtained just a week prior.

I also had copies of all of my communications with the collections agency — not just the emails but also scanned copies of letters they’d sent, which I had saved in Google Drive just in case. I was able to print off confirmation letters from the collection agency saying everything was resolved. I also printed recent bank and credit card statements showing no outstanding bills.

Luckily, I had everything organized, given the short timeframe I was given. Otherwise, I’d be in holding until the next course started 3 weeks later, filling nearly a month of waiting by getting daily busywork like cleaning and maintenance tasks. No thanks. But since I had all of the documents in my email and accessible online, I was able to access them quickly.

When Financial Delays Threaten Your Military Future

If there had been delays in showing my updated financial situation, I could’ve missed the course start at OCS. A delayed start date would’ve been frustrating, but it would not have been the end of the world.

The real issue would’ve been not being approved to start OCS. If my financial situation had still looked problematic, if I still had collections accounts and unpaid debts, then what? That could’ve led the school’s administration team to think I’d be unable to get approved for a security clearance upon graduation — and that would mean barring me from starting the course until it was resolved.

That investigation into my ability to get a security clearance could’ve taken weeks (or months). Or the Army could’ve done what it normally does: Assume the question is the answer. If there were questions about me being able to get a security clearance, the powers that be could’ve decided I wouldn’t get it and couldn’t start class.

For those unaware, not being able to enroll at OCS — or enrolling but not completing — would send me back to the enlisted ranks as a specialist with an E-4 pay grade. I would need to choose a military occupational specialty, which is basically a job assignment.

Some of the military’s training schools require a security clearance, as well. Attending Ranger School or the Special Forces Qualification Course requires a secret clearance, for example. And the difference in pay and perks would’ve been massive if my situation had turned out differently.

Debt Could Impact My Military Pay

I’ll illustrate this point with my situation as an unmarried, childless person joining the military. Pay allowances for people with dependents are a separate item, but the pay difference would’ve been drastic if I hadn’t sorted out the financial concerns about my ability to get a security clearance.

Using the military’s 2025 pay chart, an E-4 makes around $2,750 per month during their first 2 years of service.

Contrast that to a lieutenant (an O-1 pay grade) making nearly $4,000 per month during their first 2 years. That’s an annual salary difference of nearly $15,000.

But having my promotion to lieutenant derailed over security clearance concerns would’ve had other effects beyond just the pay difference. It would’ve reduced my opportunities for important assignments and forced me to live on post in the barracks rather having the privilege of living in my own apartment as an officer — with military paying my rent while enjoying that freedom.

Final Thoughts

I had unpaid debts and collections accounts in the past, and I paid them off right before I left for basic training in the Army. However, the recency of that financial situation nearly created big problems for the path I wanted to pursue in the military — and could’ve even knocked out some of the reasons that led me to join.

While debts and collections are not, by themselves, obstacles to joining the military or getting a security clearance, they can create problems. And they nearly did for me, so having the receipts was crucial.