Back Injury

[spike530]

Hello:
I'm a Junior in high school and i'm hoping to attend either the Air Force or Naval academy. I've been having back problems lately after i injured it when i fell. I went and to the doctor and he sent me to get an MRI. The results came in and found out that i have a developing stress fracture on my lower 5th vertebrae, and some mild wear and tear on a couple of my discs, and some inflammation. The developing fracture and inflammation should heal fully, but the wear and tear will not. Will this disqualify me from the academies? Thanks.

 

[daw]

My DS had similar issues. He actually has grade 1 spondylolythesis in his lower back. After some minor physical therapy, his back isn't an issue for him anymore. He's a senior and is a candidate for both USNA and USAFA, and of course got DQ'd by DoDMERB because of his back. It got sent to both academies for waiver review, and he received a waiver from USNA within two weeks, and one from USAFA a couple weeks later!

 

[spike530]

Okay, so i will get DQ'd and i will have to get a waiver from the academies? Are these hard to get?

 

[daw]

Certain issues like my son's spondylolythesis are automatic disqualifiers, not sure about your exact issue but my guess would be it is too. The only thing my son did was get a "military release" from the doctor, and write a personal statement, both of which were sent to DoDMERB. Not sure if it helped, as USNA approved his waiver about the same time they were faxed over! It did take about a month to get the waiver approved by USAFA (which surprised us since his application is not quite complete because of the ALO interview, and they stated they wouldn't even look at it until after it was fully complete!). From what I've read here, it can take months to get through the waiver process...basically a wait game...we consider ourselves very lucky that the process was very quick and easy!