Update on the other guy.
Tim, aka "Magic Hogarty" (as they called him during his week or so of Indoc at KP), is attending our local community college, and working part time at Jacksons, a local bar and grill. He is planning to get a degree in Engineering. Soccer has gone by the wayside for him for now (Tim was recruited to play soccer at KP). He seems to be doing ok though.
Tim can "see" colors. He is NOT color BLIND. He can tell me colors of yarn accurately, both primary tones, and paler hues. He does have some color DEFICIENCY that caused him to fail these tests but my brother has also failed those tests and has an unrestricted coast guard license and a pilot's license and told me he had no problem discerning the colors of the lights from his ship! He went to CalMaritime and was given a yarn test to qualify and he was in Engineering (that was years ago, he is 58 now). The color vision requirement was more strict for deck than engineering then. That seems to have been reversed now. He said once in later tests he was going to be failed on the Ishihara and he asked the examiner to "read the directions on the backs of the cards", and he could identify the colors of the dots on the cards even though he couldn't identify the letter or number made up of colored dots, and he passed. He said many examiners may not be familiar enough with the test procedures. A person with color deficiencies needs to learn all this AHEAD of time, and know what they can and can't do. If they allow you time, you may be able to adjust your eyes and study the card to make out the numbers following a pattern of groups of same colored dots with your finger, I can pass it that way and I am color deficient (it's in the genes).
I plan to find out what the back of those cards say, if possible.
Tim DID pass his initial medical tests that qualified him medically for Kings Point, including color testing as far as we know, or I don't think he would have been accepted. Who knows but maybe being so stressed and tired during Indoc may take the sharpness off of their faculties enough to make a slight difference in color vision so that someone who barely passed it normally, couldn't? But conditions at sea could be tiring and stressful too, so if that is so, maybe it's as it should be. Many unknowns.
We need to do more investigating and research to find out if Tim can qualify again, as he is still interested in Kings Point, and may be willing to go through this whole process again IF there is hope, but I don't want this to happen to him (or anyone else) again!