USNA is not just in the summer. My son had it in the late fall.DS is a NROTC-MO and completed laser eye surgery last summer before his third year. Our understanding is that the USNA Mids are run through Bethesda for eye surgery during the summer (as you indicated) but for NROTC it is still self-pay. This may change in the future. DS had to receive approval from his Battalion and keep all the documentation both pre and post-op. There are some specifics that is needed for the medical file. We selected an eye surgeon who had done thousands of these procedures. Outcome was successful and he's had good post-op visits at the 30, 60 and 120 day intervals. It needs to be done post 20 years old (recommendation) and at least 6-9 months before a flight physical or other Navy follow-up physical in order for the eyes to settle. Keep copies of all the documentation and approvals.
Hello, I know USNA offers laser eye surgery to qualified midshipmen in their third year. Can a NROTC Midshipman also receive laser eye surgery from the navy?
No. You're on your own if you're NROTC. The USN requires at least 6 months between the surgery and whenever you get your exam.
The USN prefers All-laser wavefront-guided LASIK or SmILE (Small Incision Lenticule Extraction), but PRK is perfectly acceptable too. You won't be disadvantaged in the waiver process if you get PRK. The USN cares about the outcome.
If you want to be an aviator, then your refraction cannot be worse than +6.00 diopters or -8.00 diopters. Your astigmatism cannot be worse than 3.00 diopters. I think the USN will consider a waiver if you are within 1.00 diopters of the standards though. Your eye exam must be completely normal though. For example, the eye surgeon will look at the back of your eye (ie retina) to make sure you don't have holes, tears, or lattice degeneration. Your optic nerve must be normal too.