Color Vision... WHEW!

Found out much to our surprise during the initial DoDMERB eye exam that DS is "mildly color deficient"... eye doc was very nice and did the PIP test three times just to be certain, but he missed 4 or so on each pass. So, went yesterday for Farnsworth Lantern remedial... 8 hours round trip to the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi. I had made the appointment the week before, DS called on the way down to confirm and all was good... arrived and they looked at us like we had 3 heads (No military ID? But you're not in the system? WHY are you here again?) and of course no sign of the nice girl we had both spoken to on the phone. Sooooo... once we got past the confusion, they got him in the "system" and they escorted him back for the test, while one very nervous mama sat in the waiting room saying silent prayers and trying to stay calm. Only missed one (green/white light) and from what we understand, this is considered a PASS. Examiner checked that he CAN distinguish red/green and it appears once we forward the results to DoDMERB today, he should be good to go... although I am aware that should he be so lucky as to one day show up to report at USNA or USCGA he will have to go through the entire process again.

MMMom said:

Only missed one (green/white light) and from what we understand, this is considered a PASS.

Click to expand...

ADMINISTRATION AND SCORING

1. Instruct examinee," The lights you will see in this
lantern are either red, green, or white. They look like
signal lights at a distance. Two lights are presented at
a time - in any combination. Call out the colors as
soon as you see them, naming first the color at the top
and then the color at the bottom. Remember, only
three colors - red, green, and white. Name which light
color combination exists, top one first."

2. Turn knob at top of lantern to charge lights;
depress button in center of knob to expose lights.
Maintain regular timing of about two seconds per light.

3. Expose the lights in random order starting with a
R/G or G/R combination, continuing until each of the
nine combinations has been exposed.

4. If no errors are made on this first run of nine pairs
of lights, examinee is passed.

5. If any errors are made on this first run, give two
more complete runs.

6. Average the errors of these last two runs. If an
average of more than one error per run is made,
examinee is failed. If an average of one, or less than
one error per run is made, examinee is passed.

7. An error is considered the miscalling of one or both
of a pair of lights; if an examinee changes his/her
response before the next light is presented, record the
second response only.

8. If an examinee says "yellow," "pink," etc., you
should say, "There are only three colors - red, green,
and white."

9. If an examinee takes over 3 seconds to respond,
you should say, "As soon as you see the lights, call
them."

10. Do not discuss passing/failing scores with
applicant. Under no circumstances will an applicant
receive more than 3 total runs.

Went through the exact same thing last summer...lots of confusion when we got to Great Lakes Naval Station! My DS was finally given a "walking pass", but I had to wait in the visitors center... Only missed the first one, passed the test, and now only has a few days left of plebe summer! Go Navy!

DAW... assuming yours had to repeat it once he arrived at USNA, was it basically the same result?

Not sure if they had to retake it on I-day or not...my DS never said anything! Of course this is the same kid that wrote us once all summer! lol If they did, I would assume the same good result since he is still there!

DAW... sounds like we have the same kid. HA! DD is freaking out because she's pretty certain if he gets in, we will just literally never hear from him again. I wanted him to be independent, but SHEESH.

He only wrote because I think they were all required to write home by July 4th...and if they didn't get those scheduled phone calls, not sure if he even would have called! lol He is looking forward to seeing us (and us him) for PPW this weekend though...a chance to get off the Yard and chill!

Ha! I keep telling mine he will miss us... but may just be kidding myself and it is only the dog he will really miss.

I think our sons are twins born a year apart to different parents! lol

Just an update...just came from Parents Weekend and found out my DS did have to retake the eye test on I-day...same result...passed the lantern test with flying colors!

Good for him DAW! We sent his remedial paperwork in last week, still waiting for it to update on the Dodmerb site. Guess he will call if it's not updated by the time we return from vacation.