My son received a three year ROTC scholarship. He has been medically qualified by DODMERB but we just found out that he will need surgery on his hip. He has been treated for a hip injury for a few months and we thought it was healed...turns out it wasn't and now he will have surgery for hip impingement. He had his left hip done two years ago so we know that 4-6 months from now he will be better than he is now. The problem is is that we know we have to notify DODMERB and he will be disqualified. We are afraid he may lose his scholarship even though we have been told that as long as he is back to 100% when he reports to school in the fall.... that they will hold the scholarship for him. Does anyone have any personal experience with this? Thanks for your help.
Surgery and ROTC
- Thread starter sportmom
- Start date
Pima
10-Year Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2007
- Messages
- 13,900
Post this on the DoDMERB thread because honestly it will 1st come down to their decision, than it will float down to the branch to decide if they will waive.
Nobody here can tell you if now with 2 hip surgeries in such a short time span at this young age how this will work out.
Contact DoDMERB and be prepared to go through the process again. The upshot is you know the system so you can move faster in responding than when you went through it the 1st time.
Typically in yrs past they held the scholarship because you can't contract without passing the PFT too.
However, as you know with every surgery there will be a review and you just don't know if they will waive it again.... remember the 1st waiver was for the 1st surgery, this is a new surgery and that means a new waiver.
Nobody here can tell you if now with 2 hip surgeries in such a short time span at this young age how this will work out.
Contact DoDMERB and be prepared to go through the process again. The upshot is you know the system so you can move faster in responding than when you went through it the 1st time.
Typically in yrs past they held the scholarship because you can't contract without passing the PFT too.
However, as you know with every surgery there will be a review and you just don't know if they will waive it again.... remember the 1st waiver was for the 1st surgery, this is a new surgery and that means a new waiver.
PIMA, I think they already know the issues regarding Dodmerb, their question is regarding the scholarship..
In a way your son is lucky, he has a 3 year AD scholarship, this means that he would not contract until the Fall of his sophomore year. Since he is not on a 4 year scholarship he does not need to contract the first semester of his freshman year. Basically your son will have all of next year and the following summer to receive another remedial or waiver from Dodmerb before he arrives at school for the start of his sophomore year.
As long as he recovers to 100% and clears Dodmerb before the start of his sophomore year he will be fine. He will still need to be able to participate in ROTC and PT his freshman year, but if he is still healing a bit when he gets to school he will have the time to recover fully.
Pima
10-Year Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2007
- Messages
- 13,900
Jcleppe,
I am sure they know the policy regarding DoDMERB, my point was and is don't "assume" anything will be waived just because the last time it happened.
For example: Last time was left hip, this time is right and within 2 yrs it is 2 hips.
Who knows if ROTC will now waive the 2nd hip?
We don't.
We also don't know the real details from a DoDMERB position. It may be the same surgery, but the scale has changed.
You can have scoliosis, but not need a waiver.
I also read the post differently, from my perspective they will be contracting Fall 2012, not Fall 2013, so they don't have 18 months to rehab, they have 6.
I agree that I wouldn't worry so much about it, but just me, I would place it on DoDMERB since it is now both hips in a short time span.
I would also contact the incoming ROTC unit to see if getting another waiver will be an issue. As I stated prior, yes, they have a waiver in hand right now, but that was for the left hip. Now they need one for the right hip! Again, it is like vision or hearing if you get a waiver for vision in the right eye and the left is fine, later on the left goes, you need a waiver for that eye too. It isn't a 2 for 1 deal. Even the slightest deviation can matter regarding the waiver process.
I am sure they know the policy regarding DoDMERB, my point was and is don't "assume" anything will be waived just because the last time it happened.
For example: Last time was left hip, this time is right and within 2 yrs it is 2 hips.
Who knows if ROTC will now waive the 2nd hip?
We don't.
We also don't know the real details from a DoDMERB position. It may be the same surgery, but the scale has changed.
You can have scoliosis, but not need a waiver.
I also read the post differently, from my perspective they will be contracting Fall 2012, not Fall 2013, so they don't have 18 months to rehab, they have 6.
I agree that I wouldn't worry so much about it, but just me, I would place it on DoDMERB since it is now both hips in a short time span.
I would also contact the incoming ROTC unit to see if getting another waiver will be an issue. As I stated prior, yes, they have a waiver in hand right now, but that was for the left hip. Now they need one for the right hip! Again, it is like vision or hearing if you get a waiver for vision in the right eye and the left is fine, later on the left goes, you need a waiver for that eye too. It isn't a 2 for 1 deal. Even the slightest deviation can matter regarding the waiver process.
Last edited:
I agree this might be tricky.
We don't know whether a 3 yr. AD scholarship can be nullified by an injury that would prevent the cadet from fully participating in ROTC when he reports for orientation this August for his first, non-scholarship year. We assume it won't, but we don't know.
We don't know whether a 3 yr. AD scholarship can be nullified by an injury that would prevent the cadet from fully participating in ROTC when he reports for orientation this August for his first, non-scholarship year. We assume it won't, but we don't know.
Pima
10-Year Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2007
- Messages
- 13,900
There is one more issue that we don't know when responding.
When was the 1st DoDMERB done?
For example AFROTC Type 7 can convert to 3 yr Type 2 as a HS sr. If the candidate did the DoDMERB August their rising SR yr. That original exam will not be valid since it will be over 2 yrs old.
I am not trying to be Janie Raincloud. I am trying to illustrate that there are so many variables in play that nobody knows here. It really is important to not worry about the scholarship issue so much as the medical issue.
If all they care about is will they hold the scholarship? The answer still remains the same. They need a waiver. The waiver will require them to review his medical records.
If he gets the waiver will they hold it? Yes, but now he must pass the PFT to contract.
Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where they discuss how they will "take" the reservation, but "not hold" the reservation.
That is where you are at now. They will hold/give that scholarship, but they won't guarantee it. Same is true for any recipient. You will not have it until you pass the PFT and contract, fail it, and they won't pay a dime.
When was the 1st DoDMERB done?
For example AFROTC Type 7 can convert to 3 yr Type 2 as a HS sr. If the candidate did the DoDMERB August their rising SR yr. That original exam will not be valid since it will be over 2 yrs old.
I am not trying to be Janie Raincloud. I am trying to illustrate that there are so many variables in play that nobody knows here. It really is important to not worry about the scholarship issue so much as the medical issue.
If all they care about is will they hold the scholarship? The answer still remains the same. They need a waiver. The waiver will require them to review his medical records.
If he gets the waiver will they hold it? Yes, but now he must pass the PFT to contract.
Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where they discuss how they will "take" the reservation, but "not hold" the reservation.
That is where you are at now. They will hold/give that scholarship, but they won't guarantee it. Same is true for any recipient. You will not have it until you pass the PFT and contract, fail it, and they won't pay a dime.
Unless things have changed recently there should not be a problem as long as the cadet can get the waiver, PIMA, I agree that it's not a given now that things have gotten tighter. Considering the first hip surgery did not result in a disqualification the best he can do is move forward and go through the proper channels.
Since the cadet received a 3 year AD he will not be contracting in the Fall of 2012, he won't contract until the Fall of 2013 unless he receives an upgrade from a 3 year to 3 1/2 yr in which he would contract the second semester of his freshman year.
A cadet at my son's school showed up with a boot on his foot from a cracked ankle, the cadet had a 3 year AD scholarship. The boot came off soon after school started and he began to participate in PT. This cadets 3 year scholarship was not taken away, he cleared dodmerb and was contracted the beginning of his sophomore year right on schedule with the scholarship fully intact.
There have even been cases where a 4 year scholarship cadet sows up on day one still waiting for a dodmerb waiver, as long as the waiver is granted by the end of the first semester they contract and receive their scholarship, they do not however receive any stipend while they are waiting for the waiver.
The main point is that this cadet will not, unless something has changed drastically in the last few months, lose his scholarship if he is still waiting for a waiver when he arrives at school in the Fall.