I?m 24 years old.  I want to join the Military, but I have a EXPUNGED
juvenile record.  Do I have to tell the Armed Forces I have this?  It
was a felony, but it was sealed when I was 18.  The Juvenile judge
told me I did not have to tell anyone, but the Military said they
needed to know what it was.  I have no adult criminal convictions of
any kind.  Do I have to tell the Military about my expunged record?

Better tell them. They'll find out anyway. :)

i am in the airforce now.....i dont which branch you are wanting to
join, but if its the marines or the army, i dont think it matters to
them.  the airforce is in the middle of cutting 20,000 people, and
they are trying to get them to cross over to the army.

my 2 cents worth

I'm retired from the military, and recall one instance of something
similar happening to someone else. The guy had a "sealed" juvenile
record and did not tell the military about it when he joined (meaning
when they asked if he had EVER been convicted over a felony, his
response was "no".).

Well it turns out that once he was in basic training they were doing a
standard back-ground chek for a security clearance, and they found the
prior unmentioned record. The result: a Federal Felony conviction, a
dishonerable discharge and if memory serves some time at Leavenworth
Prison.

Your best bet is to be up front with them and tell them you were
convicted of a felony when you were a minor. Worst case scenario by
telling the truth is that you may not be allowed to enter the
military. Worst case scenario for not telling them about your prior
conviction could similar to what I described above.

I believe that the story of the person being prosecuted for
withholding information exemplifies the fanatical periphery of the
application of the UCMJ.  While you are made to sign a general release
so that they can look anywhere, these searches are anything but
thorough.  The answer is that it really depends on the job that you
plan on having.  If there is no requirement for a clearance, then they
will not look so hard.  the majority of these searches consist of a
search of your name SSN within the FBI database and specific searches
of the general pool of criminal records in areas where you have lived.
 expunged records are far more likely to go unseen.  look at the laws
of the state in which you were convicted as they pertain to the
expungement of court records.

Part 2

Part 2
  I actually admitted to a legal issue that I had had in Hawaii and
even when they sought to get the specific records of the offense, they
were unable to get them.  this is because of the how hawaii protects
the privacy of individuals.  Very few states are like this.
  Recruitment and retention is an ongoing focus of the army and since
the bulk of volunteers after 911 the pool has been shrinking. the
bottom line is this. if you are not going to get a classified job the
only check that would be performed would be by the recruiting command
and it would be a superficial one.  this also happens before you are
"in" so the UCMJ has no jurisdiction because you are still a private
citizen.  in a non-military court, not only would there be a small
chance of prosecution if you were found out, but the "the judge told
me not to tell anyone because I was not required to" excuse is wholly
legitimate. have a go.

THANK YOU briman-ga & cvenom-ga & heavyhand001-ga FOR ALL YOUR FEEDBACK.