Possible Medical problem?

T

tmarz

5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2012
Messages
1
Hello,

I am a junior in high school and I am extremely interested in attending the Naval Academy. However I am at the same time terrified I have failed from the get go and here is why.

I was born without the right pectoral muscle. It is a long and arduous explanation about this defect/disease but in a nutshell it did this one thing to me, nothing else. I row, I'm pretty athletic. Yes it holds me back sometimes, like with pushups a little and with pull ups quite a bit. However, all in all I wouldn't even really consider myself handicapped its more of a minor inconvenience. Still, is this gonna medically DQ me when I try to apply?

Thank you
 
tmarz said:
Hello,

I am a junior in high school and I am extremely interested in attending the Naval Academy. However I am at the same time terrified I have failed from the get go and here is why.

I was born without the right pectoral muscle. It is a long and arduous explanation about this defect/disease but in a nutshell it did this one thing to me, nothing else. I row, I'm pretty athletic. Yes it holds me back sometimes, like with pushups a little and with pull ups quite a bit. However, all in all I wouldn't even really consider myself handicapped its more of a minor inconvenience. Still, is this gonna medically DQ me when I try to apply?

Thank you
Click to expand...

I doubt anyone here would know. This is not a condition that people here would have run into. You might try the DoDMERB threads on this forum where you'll find people more competent to answer, although someone here may have anecdotal evidence one way or the other.
 
forget for just a moment what DOD thinks --

do you think there is a reason that pullups (Marines) and pushups (Army, Air Force, Navy) are measured, and a requirement for 1) validating an ROTC scholarship, 2) continuing in good standing at the Academies, and 3) continuing in good standing in active duty?

Would you want to find yourself, in active battle, or in a training exercise, in a position where you could not push a 6x6 beam laying across your chest off of your body because the muscles you need for pushing are impaired? Would you want to be running through Kabul, escaping an ambush, and unable to scale an 8' wall because the muscles used in pulling your body over the wall are impaired?

Now let's consider the sailors, soldiers, marines or airmen under your command. Would you want to endanger their lives by your inability to push or pull yourself out of a situation?

Let me expand this to another area: Assuming you don't drive drunk currently -- is that because you realize it is unsafe to you and others, or because it is illegal? Let's suppose you are living in some country where there are no "drunk driving" laws. Would you drive drunk because it isn't illegal?

These are as much moral and ethical questions as they are questions of law (drinking and driving), or regulations (minimum fitness required for serving in the military).
 
Last edited:
tmarz said:
Hello,

I am a junior in high school and I am extremely interested in attending the Naval Academy. However I am at the same time terrified I have failed from the get go and here is why.

I was born without the right pectoral muscle. It is a long and arduous explanation about this defect/disease but in a nutshell it did this one thing to me, nothing else. I row, I'm pretty athletic. Yes it holds me back sometimes, like with pushups a little and with pull ups quite a bit. However, all in all I wouldn't even really consider myself handicapped its more of a minor inconvenience. Still, is this gonna medically DQ me when I try to apply?

Thank you
Click to expand...

You might try going here, for starters:

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/c...df/613003p.pdf

Otherwise, your CFA results will speak for themselves, I would think.

Good luck to you!
 
I agree with navy, this is a DoDMERB issue, not an admissions issue. You need to find out if this is a remedial or DQ for you.

I am betting on a good day it is a remedial. It is a birth defect. Get your medical paperwork in order.

If I were you, pull-ups are a factor for most regarding the CFA. Buy a door frame pull-up bar and work on it to prove via the CFA that physically your medical issue has no impact at all.

The CFA is bust one aspect, you bust! They never state the mins, only the max. The max for pull ups is 18.
 
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