hornetguy
15-Year Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2006
- Messages
- 2,353
I thought I'd follow up with a post elsewhere on the forums. Right now I'm on terminal leave (for the next week) and officially on the job market.
When I graduated from USAFA, the Air Force promised to hold my pilot slot while I went to get a PhD at the RAND Corporation for three years. At the time, I was fully qualified for pretty much any operational job in the Air Force. In Oct 2013, I left RAND and went to Laughlin for UPT. I was placed in casual status for another 4 months since Laughlin was so far behind on starting people between their own faults and the gov't sequestration. Despite my inquiries at Los Angeles AFB (where my medical records and care were housed) while at RAND, my flying physical and waivers expired. I tried to get them to renew or figure out what to do, but they ignored me there.
So, when I started UPT in January last year, my medical expired. They rushed to update it on base. Well, while they redid my flying physical, I learned the color vision regulations had changed. A new test was implemented that increased the standard. I failed the new test despite always scoring a perfect on the old standard. I was even more unlucky - the old standard was valid through Jan 2013. Had I gone to ANY other grad program out of USAFA, I would have been within the old standard and allowed to begin UPT. Then, when I winged, I would just have a color vision waiver. Since 2000, there have been ZERO color vision waivers granted prior to beginning UPT. It's one of the craziest and most unchallenged standards out there. Keep in mind, winged pilots always get a color vision waiver 100% of the time. Bizarre dichotomy.
I spent over a year challenging the standard. I submitted a 100 page waiver appeal (exception to policy) that made it to the AETC commander. He and the 19th AF commander reviewed my package (in Aug 2014) and concurred with my reasoning. They ordered a further review of the standard. The AF medical service sent me to Wright-Patterson AFB for additional testing as well.
While at WPAFB in Oct, I was given a full vision battery. The techs were hostile and gave me incomplete instructions on the various tests. I called them on it and they said no one else had problems (I knew the instruction standards already from my own research). The doctor was also sketchy and was aware of my FOIA requests into their records. My color vision level was confirmed (VERY mild green weak - functionally indistinguishable from normal in the civilian literature). They doctor used my old records from USAFA and the exams to diagnose me with several "new" conditions that were quite apparent in the old record but deemed unimportant by every previous doctor. These "new" conditions (pre-TPSK and optic nerve disk drusen) are nearly impossible to get waivers for under the new waiver guidelines last year. The doctor sent me home after the first day of testing. In my waiver paperwork, he said I refused additional testing. I had recorded my conversation with him where he advises me to leave and doesn't tell me I need more testing. After submitting the falsification to my records with evidence to the Air Force via my Congressman and Senator, the AF did not correct the record or acknowledge the falsification of my record. The additional conditions do not usually affect people until their 50s or later. Their actions also allowed them to avoid addressing the silly nature of the color vision standard by piling on other "issues." I should add, the new literature on color vision I found from the FAA and Navy aviation cites that the standards are higher than necessary for aviation and color vision is way overrated. They took it, secretly updated the waiver guidelines (did not publicly release) and mis-cited and mis-quoted THOSE papers I found to say the opposite of the abstracts and conclusions.
The AF medical corps was incredibly sketchy with my case, records, and testing. I was shocked and appalled after that. I began the commander's review process in Nov, by my request. With the color vision diagnosis, I wasn't just DQ'd from flying, I was now DQ from almost every AF operational job. I can not be a pilot, nav, ABM, drone pilot, missileer, space ops, airfield management, communications, or any aviation related officer. I was limited to scientist, logistics, and intel roles for the most part.
In further considering what to do, I factored in my time at Laughlin. I did experience overt and hostile discrimination that I could not get addressed because of the larger policy exception I was applying to get. I received virtually no command support. I have a friend pursuing the same problem at Vance in near identical conditions. He was attached to my vision exception with the generals. He gave up after my experience. His Wing CC denied his commander's review and his chain is now aggressively pushing his policy package independent of mine to change the color vision standard. His sq/DO asked him if they needed to call MY leadership to address discrimination issues and wondered if that's why I wasn't receiving help from my own chain. I told him it wasn't worth it.
In the end, I had one of the most miserable years of my life at Laughlin. I had some of the worst leadership I've seen in the AF and found the med corps more interested in protecting their pride than flight safety. I requested an early discharge and it was granted. So, as of Friday last week, I am a civilian living in San Antonio with my husband and trying my best to find a job out here. Wish me luck.
EDIT: To add even more perspective, my color vision does not DQ me from any other aviation branch - I am medically qualified for FAA, Army, Navy, USMC, and USCG aviation.
When I graduated from USAFA, the Air Force promised to hold my pilot slot while I went to get a PhD at the RAND Corporation for three years. At the time, I was fully qualified for pretty much any operational job in the Air Force. In Oct 2013, I left RAND and went to Laughlin for UPT. I was placed in casual status for another 4 months since Laughlin was so far behind on starting people between their own faults and the gov't sequestration. Despite my inquiries at Los Angeles AFB (where my medical records and care were housed) while at RAND, my flying physical and waivers expired. I tried to get them to renew or figure out what to do, but they ignored me there.
So, when I started UPT in January last year, my medical expired. They rushed to update it on base. Well, while they redid my flying physical, I learned the color vision regulations had changed. A new test was implemented that increased the standard. I failed the new test despite always scoring a perfect on the old standard. I was even more unlucky - the old standard was valid through Jan 2013. Had I gone to ANY other grad program out of USAFA, I would have been within the old standard and allowed to begin UPT. Then, when I winged, I would just have a color vision waiver. Since 2000, there have been ZERO color vision waivers granted prior to beginning UPT. It's one of the craziest and most unchallenged standards out there. Keep in mind, winged pilots always get a color vision waiver 100% of the time. Bizarre dichotomy.
I spent over a year challenging the standard. I submitted a 100 page waiver appeal (exception to policy) that made it to the AETC commander. He and the 19th AF commander reviewed my package (in Aug 2014) and concurred with my reasoning. They ordered a further review of the standard. The AF medical service sent me to Wright-Patterson AFB for additional testing as well.
While at WPAFB in Oct, I was given a full vision battery. The techs were hostile and gave me incomplete instructions on the various tests. I called them on it and they said no one else had problems (I knew the instruction standards already from my own research). The doctor was also sketchy and was aware of my FOIA requests into their records. My color vision level was confirmed (VERY mild green weak - functionally indistinguishable from normal in the civilian literature). They doctor used my old records from USAFA and the exams to diagnose me with several "new" conditions that were quite apparent in the old record but deemed unimportant by every previous doctor. These "new" conditions (pre-TPSK and optic nerve disk drusen) are nearly impossible to get waivers for under the new waiver guidelines last year. The doctor sent me home after the first day of testing. In my waiver paperwork, he said I refused additional testing. I had recorded my conversation with him where he advises me to leave and doesn't tell me I need more testing. After submitting the falsification to my records with evidence to the Air Force via my Congressman and Senator, the AF did not correct the record or acknowledge the falsification of my record. The additional conditions do not usually affect people until their 50s or later. Their actions also allowed them to avoid addressing the silly nature of the color vision standard by piling on other "issues." I should add, the new literature on color vision I found from the FAA and Navy aviation cites that the standards are higher than necessary for aviation and color vision is way overrated. They took it, secretly updated the waiver guidelines (did not publicly release) and mis-cited and mis-quoted THOSE papers I found to say the opposite of the abstracts and conclusions.
The AF medical corps was incredibly sketchy with my case, records, and testing. I was shocked and appalled after that. I began the commander's review process in Nov, by my request. With the color vision diagnosis, I wasn't just DQ'd from flying, I was now DQ from almost every AF operational job. I can not be a pilot, nav, ABM, drone pilot, missileer, space ops, airfield management, communications, or any aviation related officer. I was limited to scientist, logistics, and intel roles for the most part.
In further considering what to do, I factored in my time at Laughlin. I did experience overt and hostile discrimination that I could not get addressed because of the larger policy exception I was applying to get. I received virtually no command support. I have a friend pursuing the same problem at Vance in near identical conditions. He was attached to my vision exception with the generals. He gave up after my experience. His Wing CC denied his commander's review and his chain is now aggressively pushing his policy package independent of mine to change the color vision standard. His sq/DO asked him if they needed to call MY leadership to address discrimination issues and wondered if that's why I wasn't receiving help from my own chain. I told him it wasn't worth it.
In the end, I had one of the most miserable years of my life at Laughlin. I had some of the worst leadership I've seen in the AF and found the med corps more interested in protecting their pride than flight safety. I requested an early discharge and it was granted. So, as of Friday last week, I am a civilian living in San Antonio with my husband and trying my best to find a job out here. Wish me luck.
EDIT: To add even more perspective, my color vision does not DQ me from any other aviation branch - I am medically qualified for FAA, Army, Navy, USMC, and USCG aviation.
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