Scholarship in jeopardy?

My apologies for a personal issue, but this board has always been a great source of information and guidance.

Background:
DS was medically qualified, received both a USNA appointment and a NROTC scholarship. He broke his ankle, which is surgically pinned, and was medically disqualified from both – Pending Waiver. DS decided to accept the NROTC scholarship instead of risking both options. He has been released to full activity, is back to 100%, and has submitted all records to DODMERB. ROTC starts in about 3 weeks. He has called DODMERB and confirmed that the records had arrived; they have no additional information for him. He’s informed the unit's LT he’s been working with and even sent an email to his original NROTC recruiter (at the suggestion of DODMERB). And we wait…

It’s unclear if the medical waiver is required to start ROTC.
I am also very concerned that if he does start and his waiver is denied, he’d lose his scholarship creating a financial nightmare.
Am I being overly concerned?

Any thoughts, suggestions, or guidance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

If he is denied the waiver he will lose the scholarship unfortunately. However, in my opinion, in this instance it is much better to start and then have to leave then wait, get the waiver, and then try to start. Definitely not an easy time for your family.

Based on my experience an ankle which has been repaired and has full function has a decent chance at getting a waiver. Best of luck!!!

My son is in a similar situation due to shoulder surgery with 100% recovery and full release. He has an NROTC MO scholarship. The waiver authority has asked him to submit additional medical information in February in order to fully consider the waiver. Because of the rigor of the Marine's physical fitness they want to see a full year go by post surgery and then have a full evaluation. His MOI said that this is common and not a problem as long as his doctor has fully released him for all physical activity. NROTC Pensacola has said there is no problem with this and that once his waiver is granted they will pay the past terms tuition. He will not however get the past stipend. Stipend will only be paid going forward once his waiver is approved. Fortunately, we think he has the tuition and other expenses covered in the meantime as we await the month of February.

Follow-up

After several unsuccessful calls to original Naval Recruiter, DODMERB, and LT within unit, DS was advised to call a gentleman associated with ROTC personnel, Mr. X. Friday, DS was asked to resubmit DODMERB paperwork to Mr. X so he could be uploaded it into the system for BUMED evaluation. Today, Tueday, DS received an electronic copy of his approved waiver from Mr. X. All is well – with 11 days to spare.

Lessons learned:
1) Copy everything sent in (electronically scan if possible)
2) Follow up
3) Be persistent, but not a pain
4) Sometimes the obvious path is not the fastest; ask for alternatives and volunteer to do leg work
5) This is a marathon not a sprint

Thanks to all for the assistance over the years and good luck to those that follow.

JJ2016 said:

After several unsuccessful calls to original Naval Recruiter, DODMERB, and LT within unit, DS was advised to call a gentleman associated with ROTC personnel, Mr. X. Friday, DS was asked to resubmit DODMERB paperwork to Mr. X so he could be uploaded it into the system for BUMED evaluation. Today, Tueday, DS received an electronic copy of his approved waiver from Mr. X. All is well – with 11 days to spare.

Lessons learned:
1) Copy everything sent in (electronically scan if possible)
2) Follow up
3) Be persistent, but not a pain
4) Sometimes the obvious path is not the fastest; ask for alternatives and volunteer to do leg work
5) This is a marathon not a sprint

Thanks to all for the assistance over the years and good luck to those that follow.

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Great news, congratulations to your son, and best of luck to him.