I don't think that your height is going to be as big of an issue compared to that rod in your leg.
They are going to look at your sitting height when it comes down to it since you are already qualed for standing height. DS has a friend that was selected for UPT, but due to her sitting height she was told from the get go that she would track heavies because she did not meet the sitting height for ejection seat airframes.
As Mike stated right now all you can do is go through the process. As a candidate your 1st concern should not be about 4 years down the road when you go up for the FAA FC1 flight physical as a UPT selectee, but now for the DoDMERB exam. Get your medical paperwork in order because to be honest I would be down right shocked if they do not at the very least give you a remedial, if not a flat out DQ for the rod in your leg. DQs are not the end of the world...it is just one more step you have to plow through to get to your goal of USAFA.
I get you are completely recovered in your eyes. However, what they are looking at is the big picture. Can they use you in every aspect for any type of mission? Can they deploy you to anywhere around the world, including places with limited medical facilities? It is not really about you personally per se, but about how your medical condition may limit what you can do in the military and in turn that means somebody else has to pick up the slack to complete the mission.
IE: You want to fly, but maybe that rod in your leg means you cannot go ejection seat. That means if they give you a waiver for you to go heavies only than they need to make sure the others can go fighters.
~ I know most want fighters over heavies, but that is not the point. The point is that everytime they give a waiver to someone they are doing it knowing that there is 1 less person that can do that job. Just imagine if they give 100 waivers for UPT, where they can only track heavies. Typically they wing @1200 a yr. That means 10% right off the bat are out of the fighter pool regardless how great they are handling the stick. In essence, it impacts their goal/mission because instead of taking someone without a waiver, they must accept that you have specific limits from a pre-existing medical condition.
Additionally, it is not just about career limitations, but health coverage too when they give you a waiver. As a military member you will get 100% coverage. If for whatever reason that rod later on causes other medical issues they will pick up the tab. Let's say 10 yrs from now there is a medical recall on the type of rod that was placed into your leg. They will be the people on the hook financially to get it replaced, on top of the fact that you will not be able to work/deploy for x amt of time. Or let's say the metal rod causes you to be like me...when the weather changes drastically I am in intense pain. Rolling on the floor pain. Taking 500mg Naproxen pain. Grabbing the staircase bar to climb the stairs pain. I don't need the local weather person on TV to tell me that in 2 days we will be expecting major rain!
~ At 19 I had major knee surgery (metal in my leg too). I walk fine, I can run, I can jump...yadda yadda yadda. However, as I aged the pain has become excruciating when a weather front comes into town. I am the ripe old age of 51. At 45 the ortho already diagnosed me with traumatic arthritis and that was after 2 years of prescribed drugs, MRIs, xrays and specialist apptmts to rule everything out. They now know I will need a hip replacement and are just trying to hold me off until I get to 55 because they know there is a life expectancy on a hip replacement (not life as in your life, but life as in durability for the replacement). Notice hip not knee. Why? Because of my knee surgery at 19, over time my body aka my hip took up the slack to protect my knee without me ever knowing it. See above...I can run, skip, hop, wear 5 inch heels until my feet ache, the only way you would know looking at me that I had knee surgery would be the 5 inch scar from my shin to my thigh around my knee. I am just a wife of a now retired military member, however, they were on the financial hook for me, and my guess is Tri-Care shelled out tens of thousands over the years for my pre-existing medical condition.
Just saying as a rated officer you cannot take anything more than aspirin. If you need more than that than you will be what is called DNIF....Duties Not Including Flying. As a pilot you owe 10 yrs back after winging. On a very good day you can walk from the AF at 34. How many years would that be from when you had the rod placed in your leg? Close to 20 yrs? That is something they are thinking about when they waive.
Sorry for the novella, but I really think it is important you understand the importance of getting those medical records in order NOW regarding that rod in your leg because to the AF this is a long term game plan.
I would strongly suggest you ask yourself 1 question. Do you want to be an AF officer or an AF pilot? If it is the latter and not the 1st than take this time and really think about going down this path. You know what they call an O2 pilot compared to an O2 Intel officer? LT!
I wish you the very best in everything you do.