Colorblind Test

ArmyBulldog42

5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2010
Messages
22
Dear Service Academy Forums,

I am a Non-Contracted Army ROTC Cadet in the Mohawk Battalion (MS1).I I am working extremely hard to get a Army ROTC Scholarship.I am a freshman at Hudson Valley Community College (major: Criminal Justice) and finished my first semester with a respectable 2.8gpa. I am doing everything that is asked of me and more. I got to remedial PT on Thursdays and do Ranger Company. One of the 2nd LT's came up to me a remedial and said "why are you here cadet?" i said "sir anything that makes me better than any other cadet". Anyways back to the topic. My Overall Goal in my life is to be a Special Forces Officer. I took a colorblind test in august and fail it by one (which i knew but i said 3 instead of 8). My score was a 5/13. I was destroyed when my private doctor said you are red/green colorblind. I was crushed. I been studying the plates from different sites and i am becoming better at them. Could someone help me here? I am extremely nervous because all my hard work from 8th grade year to now is in the balance.

Sincerely,
Cadet Kendziora
Mohawk Battalion Bravo Company Siena ROTC
 
Have you taken you DODMERB yet. Until you are medically qualified you can't contract, receive a scholarship, or commission. Some forms of colorblindness are medical disqualifiers. There is a reason some medical conditions are disqualifying. What help are you looking for? If you are looking for help beating the system I would tell you that your plan is not compatible with service, and officership. The colorblind test is not something you study for, it's not something you can get a better score on the next time. You are either color blind or not. I have seen some forms of colorblindness get a waiver, and I have seen other forms get denied (vivid red/green). I don't know what type you have, and what I would recommend you do is let your enrollment officer know you are interested in getting medically qualified, and get a DODMERB physical. I would tell you there are many great Americans out there who won't/can't be qualified to serve. It's not the end of the world if you are disqualified. I would also tell you that it's very likely that you won't be Special Forces if you are colorblind. I believe you can't even be airborne, which would definitely preclude you from being a Special Forces soldier.
 
f. Color vision (368.5). Failure to pass a color vision test is not an automatic disqualification. Although there is no standard, color vision will be tested because adequate color vision is a prerequisite for entry into many military specialties.However, for entrance into the USMA or Army ROTC or OCS programs, the inability to distinguish and identify without confusion the color of an object, substance, material, or light that is uniformly colored a vivid red or vivid green is disqualifying.Link

If you want to be a military officer - you may want to consider the Marines,
No Color Vision test: http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?p=55988&highlight=marines+green#post55988
 
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parentally i am red green colorblind. I can easily tell the difference between red and green . I looked around my house and even on the internet for vivid red and vivid green colors and had no problem telling them apart. At night land navigation they had a red and green flare and i could tell the difference between them very easily.We also had out flashlight converted to a red lenses and had no problem at all seeing red. Also during day land navigations there was a post with two colors in the woods i was able to spot the half green/half red one from the road (it was the one point we were looking for). I honestly don't think i am colorblind because i could see the difference between red and green at home. I had so many shades of reds and greens. What is the red green colorblind test like for contracting? I heard that for SF you can't get more than 5 wrong is that correct and also heard that if i fail the PIP and FALANT they give you a vivid green vivid red test is this true as well? I know i can tell the difference between red green because theres a board next to with a red poster with olive drab tape and easy tell the difference.
 
There is a cadet in my battalion that is colorblind in every color expect red green. Somehow he got contracted. does that seem right?
 
does that seem right?

Yes. He passed the test. He isn't red-green color blind according to the test. You need to go talk to your cadre and go get DodMERB qualified. We can't help you anymore than that.
 
There is a cadet in my battalion that is colorblind in every color expect red green. Somehow he got contracted. does that seem right?
I looked at the DODMERB. I looked at every disqualification and i saw nothing that i would be disqualified for. The only problem i have now is that i pulled a muscle in my shoulder at PT when i fell doing the bear crawl. It's back up to 85%. I can move it just fine. I had a physical in june or july and i passed it no problem (had to do it for college). Is the DODMERB similar to a private physical? Do they do the same things like blood pressue, joint testing and etc. Is broken bones disqualifying? I broke 2 bones they are my right pinkie and right index finger due to football they are 100% now.
 
Yes. He passed the test. He isn't red-green color blind according to the test. You need to go talk to your cadre and go get DodMERB qualified. We can't help you anymore than that.
I talked to my recruiting officer at the beginning of the semester and he said there are not contracts available.
 
I talked to my recruiting officer at the beginning of the semester and he said there are not contracts available.

No contracts available as in the Army isn't contracting any cadets? I would suggest talking to your ROO or MS1 advisor (both actually) and keep stressing your interest in contracting.

DoDMERB covers alot of things. It's more than your average physical for high school athletics, but they aren't going to disect you. Just be honest with them, because it's not good if they find out otherwise. I've never heard of anyone being disqualified for breaking a bone in their youth. PM me if you have more questions.
 
I am sure someone knows this better than me, and I understand accessions is fairly complicated, but don't you need something like a 3.0-3.25 GPA to get an Army Active Duty Commission?
 
Bulldog...I think you are confusing contracts and scholarships. You can contact non-scholarship (if you are qualified).

Gojack...The days of the AD commission are gone...back in my day a small handfull of cadets got active duty commissions, and the rest of us got reserve commissions, even though all of us went active duty (I got a reserve commission). It was a weird/antiquated system that discriminated against non SA officers. Currently you either assess on active duty or serve in the guard or reserves. It is somewhat competative to get active duty, but nowhere near 3.2 GPA cutoff.
 
I remember when the Russians were the bad guys, and opened a can of "C" rations or two in my day too.
 
Regarding vivid/red green test--be careful. Make sure the tester, preferrably an opthomologist, knows what this test is-- most don't. It's exactly what it sounds like--if looking at something that's vivid red and vivid green side by side, can you tell the difference?
We had to have our son retested because the first medical provider mistakenly redid the traditional color blindness test ( which he had already failed) without having him distinguish the vivid red and green.. The second doctor called the nearest military base and was given the correct directions for administration and our son passed with "flying colors" ( if you'll excuse the pun :) ) Bottom line: make sure the doctor/nurse knows the difference between the two tests
 
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