USNA Color Vision Waiver Agreement- Marine Ground?

[crudi]

We received a color vision waiver to USNA. Very grateful. I know how hard these are to come by. That said, the following conditional agreement letter was sent for us to sign from the Admissions board

"I certify that I fully understand that my opportunity for commissioning in the Unrestricted Line communities in the Navy or Marine Corps may be limited to Marine Ground due to color vision deficiency. I assert I will accept a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps, if offered. (Please hand sign and email this form to admissionsmedical@usna.edu)"

We are fully aware of the RL communities available upon graduation in the Navy. Those are fine and desired.

Can we be forced to accept a "USMC ground" on assignment day 1/c Year? basically, Drafted... Assume that we never chose Marine Option by 2/c year, nor attend Leatherneck the summer prior to 1/c year.

 

[justdoit19]

This is a pretty specific ask. It’s a fair question, and one I would want answered by people in the know: USNA. Your son/daughter should ask for clarification from the contact on the letter they are being asked to sign.

My *guess* is that if your person doesn’t want to be a Marine, then they don’t want your person. They are pretty selective. But that’s a guess. If this is important to the decision, find out from someone who can give you accurate info.

And congrats! Those are hard to come by!

 

[Dr. Strange Love]

.
I will assume that your DS will get to chose his 1st, 2nd, 3rd … choices from the “RL” list … not from the UL list … during the Service Selection phase as a 1/C

But he may not get his preferred choice later in the selection sorting/assignment process … and if he is selected for Marine Ground … DS is signing a Contract abiding by the “Terms” of the Appointment Offer.

I would think that if DS breaks the Terms of any contractual agreement … then the Academy could take legal action to include separation and repayment to the Academy.
.

 

[justdoit19]

.
I will assume that your DS will get to chose his 1st, 2nd, 3rd … choices from the “RL” list … not from the UL list … during the Service Selection phase as a 1/C

But he may not get his preferred choice later in the selection sorting/assignment process … and if he is selected for Marine Ground … DS is signing a Contract abiding by the “Terms” of the Appointment Offer.

I would think that if DS breaks the Terms of any contractual agreement … then the Academy could take legal action to include separation and repayment to the Academy.
.

Agree with all of this.

I think, for me, the question is essentially ‘can he (NOT WE) be a Marine without attending the required Marine select summer trainings’.

 

[Ept1983]

Congrats on the waiver!
Anyone aware of USNA waivers for vision not correctable to 20/20? DS is corrected to 20/20 in the right and 20/30 in the left. No other vision DQ.

 

[Old Navy BGO]

Can we be forced to accept a "USMC ground" on assignment day 1/c Year? basically, Drafted... Assume that we never chose Marine Option by 2/c year, nor attend Leatherneck the summer prior to 1/c year.

YES ,,,,the form says specifically that Midshipman will accept a USMC commission if offered. Pretty clear. I would expect a Midshipman can be "ordered" to attend Leatherneck.

Of course, I also suspect that one can sabotage the chances of getting a USMC commission --I trust that USMC really doesn't want someone that doesn't want to be there, but to be honest, this is a dangerous way to think. I agree 100% with Dr. Strangelove, and if you think this Forum is anonymous, keep in mind that the number of colorblind waivers is very limited and the the number of waivers this week is probably smaller.

I would strongly encourage your DS/DD to think hard about the decision to accept or reject the Offer of Appointment. If he/she is not 100% fully committed to serving as an officer in the Marine Corps if offered, and can't honor the terms and intent of that commitment, USNA may not be the right choice.

We

Following up on JustDoIt's parenthetical -- this is DS/DD's decision. "We" do not go through Plebe Summer, attend USNA, or serve as an Officer in the Navy/Marine Corps - that is on DS/DD alone. I know for many the application process is a "we" thing, but the decision to attend, and accept the terms offered, is an " I do " thing,

 

[USMCGrunt]

If your DD/DS doesn’t want Marine Ground they should not sign the waiver.

 

[A1Janitor]

Being willing to accept marine ground doesn’t necessarily mean you will go marine ground.

My son was willing to accept it happily, but it was never forced on him in his four years.

Several RL communities were pushing for him to go to their path.

Not sure if performance matters. My son was an aerospace engineer major with a high class rank through out his four years at USNA.

 

[THX2667]

Congrats on the waiver!
Anyone aware of USNA waivers for vision not correctable to 20/20? DS is corrected to 20/20 in the right and 20/30 in the left. No other vision DQ.

Yes, 20/20 left and 20/25 here. Got the D155.41 waiver for it along with D154.00 (Current or recurrent diplopia).

Note: Had an LOA in OCT of the last (2027) USNA cycle and was denied a waiver, but granted for NROTC. I was granted the USNA waiver this cycle.

 

[justme]

Congrats on the waiver!
Anyone aware of USNA waivers for vision not correctable to 20/20? DS is corrected to 20/20 in the right and 20/30 in the left. No other vision DQ.

I am aware of a waiver for "not correctable to 20/20". No AMI was requested for that particular DQ. I couldn't tell you the specifics/measurements, etc. Just the dq and then the waiver granted after another DQ item was tested and resolved.

 

[Herman_Snerd]

We received a color vision waiver to USNA. Very grateful. I know how hard these are to come by. That said, the following conditional agreement letter was sent for us to sign from the Admissions board

"I certify that I fully understand that my opportunity for commissioning in the Unrestricted Line communities in the Navy or Marine Corps may be limited to Marine Ground due to color vision deficiency. I assert I will accept a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps, if offered. (Please hand sign and email this form to admissionsmedical@usna.edu)"

We are fully aware of the RL communities available upon graduation in the Navy. Those are fine and desired.

Can we be forced to accept a "USMC ground" on assignment day 1/c Year? basically, Drafted... Assume that we never chose Marine Option by 2/c year, nor attend Leatherneck the summer prior to 1/c year.

Really your best bet is to confirm directly with those offering. I will caution though that even asking this question like you did and using words like "forced" present as weasel-like - a bit like you want to sign it to gain admission but not be on the hook for a commitment to the corps that you signed. Why if sincere would you not attend leatherneck for that mutual "is this a good fit" checkout that your signed commitment implies. And one thing all marines have is--- a commitment to the corps- it's not a guess-so or casual type of thing.

 

[usna1985]

Agree with the above. USMC typically only wants those who want to be Marines. That said, needs of the military come first. USNA exists to commission line officers. If there is a need for USMC officers (or line officers) and mid is DQ'ed from going USN URL and USMC air, USMC ground may be the only option.

If is fair for DS/DD to clarify with Admissions. My guess is that they will say something along the lines of the above (i.e., can't guarantee that RL will be an option).

Also agree that "we" are not involved nor is this "our" decision. Notice the attestation doesn't start with "We." In less than 3 months, DS/DD will be a fully independent adult. The ONLY way you will know anything about his/her grades or health issues or conduct issues or anything else is if the mid specifically authorizes it. Let you DS/DD start now to take charge of his/her life.

 

[navy27hopeful]

Also keep in mind that Marine Ground has an extensive amount of jobs, and that they aren't referring to just the infantry or artillery type MOS.

 

[dddad]

We received a color vision waiver to USNA. Very grateful. I know how hard these are to come by. That said, the following conditional agreement letter was sent for us to sign from the Admissions board

"I certify that I fully understand that my opportunity for commissioning in the Unrestricted Line communities in the Navy or Marine Corps may be limited to Marine Ground due to color vision deficiency. I assert I will accept a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps, if offered. (Please hand sign and email this form to admissionsmedical@usna.edu)"

We are fully aware of the RL communities available upon graduation in the Navy. Those are fine and desired.

Can we be forced to accept a "USMC ground" on assignment day 1/c Year? basically, Drafted... Assume that we never chose Marine Option by 2/c year, nor attend Leatherneck the summer prior to 1/c year.

What jumped out at me about this is that your DS or DD may desire to go USMC Ground when service selection is upon him/her. If s/he is not open to the possibility of that happening, he should re-think. Not everybody gets their first or second choice. And, in a few years, this may be his/her first or second choice. Good luck to your DS/DD. I sort of assumed the "we" was to avoid identifying whether you are referencing a son or daughter. But, of course, this is about her/him, not we.

 

[jrw0531]

We received a color vision waiver to USNA. Very grateful. I know how hard these are to come by. That said, the following conditional agreement letter was sent for us to sign from the Admissions board

"I certify that I fully understand that my opportunity for commissioning in the Unrestricted Line communities in the Navy or Marine Corps may be limited to Marine Ground due to color vision deficiency. I assert I will accept a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps, if offered. (Please hand sign and email this form to admissionsmedical@usna.edu)"

We are fully aware of the RL communities available upon graduation in the Navy. Those are fine and desired.

Can we be forced to accept a "USMC ground" on assignment day 1/c Year? basically, Drafted... Assume that we never chose Marine Option by 2/c year, nor attend Leatherneck the summer prior to 1/c year.

No you cannot be drafted to Marine Ground. You must complete leatherneck and you must put Marines as 1st or 2nd choice!

 

[crudi]

We simply wanted to make an informed decision. Steaming forward as they say. Thanks for the input.