Waiting

For many COs, waiting for the decision is the hardest part of applying for CO status. Processing your claim generally takes 6-9 months if you are on active duty, longer--as much as 9-12 months--if you're in the Reserves or ROTC. Sometimes it takes longer. In any case, if you haven't heard anything within two months from the time you put your claim in, you should investigate. Congress members, legal officers, chaplains, or even commanding officers can sometimes help. Your counselor or lawyer can place a few phone calls to various levels in the chain of command--maybe even to the Pentagon--to find out what's happening with your claim.

Even if you've applied for noncombatant status and are already working at a noncombatant job, you'll want to know the outcome of your case. That's doubly true if you've applied for discharge. And while you wait, you may be stuck in a make-work job because your command may not know what to do with you. You'll probably worry a lot, and you may begin to think about refusing to cooperate with the military. Or you may be put in a pretty good assignment. There's just no way to predict.

COs handle the waiting in different ways. Some draw strength from their religious or moral convictions. Others simply grin and bear it. Some go AWOL, apply for another discharge, or refuse orders. You should do what your conscience tells you to do. If you're thinking about violating military law, though, talk to your counselor and read Resisting the Military and Court-Martial and Military Prison of this book before you do.

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