Will a dui effect me from being retained?

Ok. Damn. Lots and lots of Soldiers popping up on here asking about DUI's. And, since I am tired of reading the riot act, so to speak, to y'all....I'll just start with this: You DUMBASS!!!

Now, on to answering your question. Can you be retained? Yes. Will you be retained? That is up to your Commander. But, since you are asking this question at least 9 months post DUI, then one could venture an educated guess that your Commander did not initiate Separation. Moving forward from that educated guess, answering the other questions would be as follows: Yes, you can still reenlist as long as you are not Flagged. If you are Flagged (and you would know), then you can't reenlist. Can you still do 20 and make rank? Sure. It's certainly gonna be tougher for you to convince your Command you are ready/able to make the next rank after getting the DUI.

Now, if you were a SSG and got a DUI, then all the advice anyone could give you would be to pack your bags and prepare to become a civilian again.

Picking up what I'm putting down? Be a better example for your Troops.

Yes you can still reenlist, yes you can still make 20 as a SSG. Anything higher than that will be very difficult. Very unlikely to be selected for WOCS as well

I suppose it depends on a lot of factors. I have seen it go both ways in my career. One is timing, did you get it while there is an emphasis on this issue and they decide to take a zero tolerance policy to make examples of people? A lot of it will be due to your leadership's philosophy on the issue. They will look if you are worthy to be salvageable. After the DUI, did you learn from the lapse of judgment and stride to improve yourself? Do you basically go woe is me and its all over and let other areas of performance lapse? I have seen good troops get one and they paid their price, but they made every effort to out perform in their other duties and show they are serious in their future and they were given another chance. Conversely, I have seen the proverbial sack of potatoes, where the DUI is a godsend to leadership to get rid of somebody and the person pretty much wrote their own death warrant so to speak. Also I have seen average troops, not staller but not dirt bags get one, but then let their future duty performances suffer, or they copped and attitude afterwards. Those people pretty much were written off as well.

One thing is for sure is you will want to avoid any future adverse actions. You want to be walking on eggshells. Any other trouble you might get into, even if you are not the instigator, that ties the hands of leadership and they will not be in your favor. You want to the guy that is at work on time and leave after everyone else at the end of the day.

As for rank, I have seen a stellar NCO get one and took a few strides back, eventually get their career back after five or six years. That guy was an E6 downed to an E4 and last I saw he was an E7 eight years later. Understand that as well, you may be in the gutter for awhile as they evaluate how you perform. Don't have unrealistic expectations that this type of thing just blows over in a short amount of time.