USMMA Waiver question

Our son applied to the Naval Academy, Merchant Marine Academy, and NROTC. He has received appointments to the Merchant Marine Academy and NROTC. Both are contingent upon receiving a medical waiver. He did not receive an appointment from the Naval Academy due to the large number of applicants this year. When we look on the DODMERB site we do not see any change in his status except that he is pending waivers for all 3. He was originally medically disqualified due to the following:
D155.71 Myopia - refractive error greater than - 6.00 diopters (sphere component only)
D155.41 Distant visual acuity not correctable to 20/20 in each eye
D200.00 Medical Officer Miscellaneous Disqualified - $

The D200 was due to a recurring urinary tract infection. We were sent a remedial request which we took care of by taking him to his personal physician and his childhood urologist for examinations. Both found him healthy and I sent in letters to DODMERB from them stating so. The only question I believe outstanding would be his eyesight. He has no problem with his eyes other than he is nearsighted and wears contacts or glasses to correct. His diopters are -7 but he does not have astigmatism. His eyesight also has not changed in the past 2 and ½ years. He is also in excellent physical condition and has wrestled Collegiate, Greco, and Freestyle for the past 4 years in high school and 2 years of middle school.

The hurdle we still have is him receiving waivers for these and we cannot find out where he is or what his chances of receiving a waiver are. Are eye waivers as strict on these two? We made him an appointment with his optometrist for this coming Tuesday morning. Is there something specific we should ask his doctor to provide or to check for? Any help you can given us on his status or anything else we can do for him to pass waivers would be greatly appreciated!

I sent you 2 emails in regards to this.

Thanks for the help

coolsailing,

A couple of things.

1. You mention you sent two emails regarding this. Who did you send them to? If you sent them to the forum moderator, that's the wrong place. If you sent them to Mr. Mullen, who visits the board regularly, that's the right place, but understand he's very busy and depending on when you sent them, he may not have received them yet.

Please send anything you have on this to Mr. Larry Mullen, his info is all over this part of the forum. He's the best, in all ways and will help you.

2. We have the same issue with our daughter. Myopia over 6 diopters. It is a disqualifier. But they will take second looks. The steps you took about seeing another optometrist is the right thing to do. Make sure they do a proper test. Don't let them use the auto-refractors. Don't let them do the test without dilation. Make sure they wait 30 minutes after dilation before doing the suggestive refraction. Make sure you ask them for a letter stating your sons ocular health, and send that in to DoDMERB.

DoDMERB will get the info to the waiver authority if you submit it.

Mr. Mullen is an awesome person. He's a machine who works extraordinary hours and puts forth an effort that tops that of some of the best Marines I ever had the privilege to serve with. Trust in him, and work with him, but give him the room he needs to work for you.

JB

coolsailing - Yes. You did send 2 emails to me. And my out of office assistant for my email stated I would reply by midnight Sat, 11 Apr. I was a tad late. I replied to one @ 00:58 AM and the second @ 02:19 AM on 12 Apr. It is now 03:12 AM. I apologize for the delay.

MullenLE said:

coolsailing - Yes. You did send 2 emails to me. And my out of office assistant for my email stated I would reply by midnight Sat, 11 Apr. I was a tad late. I replied to one @ 00:58 AM and the second @ 02:19 AM on 12 Apr. It is now 03:12 AM. I apologize for the delay.

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Hey Larry Mullen........... you are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

I sent the emails to Mr. Mullen and you are right, he is awesome!!! He has contacted us and we feel we are on the right track now. Thanks for the information!