Another color blindnesss question...sorry

kmomto9

5-Year Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2011
Messages
11
Too much conflicting information out on the Internet. My sin will be asking these questions of admissions personnel but they are all very busy and taking a while to answer questions.

My son is green deficient (deuteranomalous trichromat for the initiated). He cannot do the ishihara plates to save his life. He is highly functional though, for example had no trouble flying the simulators at Laughlin AFB and distinguishing green, white and red signals. We are optimistic he can pass the Farnsworth lantern and are certain he can easily pass vivid red/vivid green.
He knows regular Navy is out and would probably choose marine option even if he had normal.color vision.

Color defiency is a DQ for the USNA, we understand that and waivers are rare.. can you indicate the Marine Option from the get-go and does it change anything? Same question for NROTC.
 
He needs to take the exam and let it go from there. If I have read your post correctly he has yet to take the DoDMERB exam.

Don't spin your wheels worrying over this, it is not as if you can change his vision. Instead, march forward submit his packages and take the exams. You are jumping to the letter F before even starting at the letter A.

For all you know he can get a waiver, but not an appointment or a scholarship. You can't control the medical issue, you can control submitting the strongest application. Use your time wisely on what you can control, instead of what you can't.

I am sorry if that offended you, it wasn't meant to, it was meant to stress that this process is competitive, and if they waive the vision, what good would it do when you didn't strengthen the other parts, such as the CFA/PFA, essays, SATs, etc.?
 
He needs to take the exam and let it go from there. If I have read your post correctly he has yet to take the DoDMERB exam.

Don't spin your wheels worrying over this, it is not as if you can change his vision. Instead, march forward submit his packages and take the exams. You are jumping to the letter F before even starting at the letter A.

For all you know he can get a waiver, but not an appointment or a scholarship. You can't control the medical issue, you can control submitting the strongest application. Use your time wisely on what you can control, instead of what you can't.

I am sorry if that offended you, it wasn't meant to, it was meant to stress that this process is competitive, and if they waive the vision, what good would it do when you didn't strengthen the other parts, such as the CFA/PFA, essays, SATs, etc.?

You aren't offending me, you are reminding me about what is true.
We are obsessing over the eyes because we know the resr of the package is competitive. Is he a shining star who can expect an LOA before Labor Day? No. But he isn't a slacker either.
Sometimes we are fine with the restrictions placed on him because of color vision and sometimes we get frustrated because we see so many doors closed because of it.
We've only known for a year, as I said is highly functional and it wasn't picked up until his FAA physical.
 
The further you walk this path, the more you will feel secure. Honestly, by finding this site now, you are in front of the 8 ball.

I would suggest that if you want to know more about NROTC MO go to the ROTC forum on this site and post your question. There are MO posters that can assist you on how that scholarship process differs than NROTC.

I would also suggest that you look at the USNA forum too. We, as parents believe the best of our children, but our sphere is unique, meaning in his school, and within our personal life. Only by also looking at a forum like this do you see the broad spectrum.

Good Luck. God Bless and God Speed.

Again to get back on track. Get his records in order for the DoDMERB. I may be taking an assumption, but since you said he flew a SIM at LAFB, that makes me think you are military. They don't offer sims to hs students typically, unless there is some connection to the military. LAFB, is where our DS is going to UPT, and I know it is not a big draw for people to move to either.
 
I've been reading these forums for over a year. Ds has talked to all kinds of people but we're learning there is a lot to this process that you can't know until you just do it.
Admittedly I am somewhat overwhelmed. Getting my oldest into her college of choice was easy. She applied, they accepted her, gave her the scholarship she needed and the deal was done. This is a whole other world. My son is doing most of it himself but i am trying to at least have a clue as to support and guide him when necessary.

We are not military. My son is a Civil Air Patrol cadet. He was at lafb as part of a cap national activity. It was a familiarization course. They put the cadets through a condensed version of UPT.

No worries, I am not one of those parents that thinks my kid is so remarkable he practically poops marshmallows and rainbows.
 
One thing you need to understand is the military is very rigid when it comes to the 18 yo issue. He may still be under your roof, but the day he turns 18 is the day you cannot get any information medically.

Make sure you get that fact and have all of his records in order so you can do it from the sidelines to guide him.

This is when you will realize how invaluable this site is. It is not so much about will they be DQ'd or not. It is more for walk me through the process IF they are DQ'd. Where do I go for this, what do I do for that?

DoDMERB due to the Privacy Act cannot and will not talk to you personally when he is 18. If you are in a different time zone it becomes very hard especially if he is playing sports or has ECs. He gets up before they open and returns after they close.

This is the caveat, many times they will work with the parent as far as the law allows them, knowing this is a problem, but the best thing that comes out of this if they don't is you will learn a few aspects regarding his desires and feel confident about next yr.

1. How badly he wants it.

~~~ If you have to sit on him to call or email them, than you need to ask why.

2. Future life

~~~ The more he has to do on his own, the more he will learn to rely on himself to accomplish it, something that will be very valuable beyond words as a cadet/mid.


JMPO,

There is a difference from being a support/guidance system than spoon feeding. In essence to me it is how you define a helo parent.
 
One thing you need to understand is the military is very rigid when it comes to the 18 yo issue. He may still be under your roof, but the day he turns 18 is the day you cannot get any information medically.

Make sure you get that fact and have all of his records in order so you can do it from the sidelines to guide him.

This is when you will realize how invaluable this site is. It is not so much about will they be DQ'd or not. It is more for walk me through the process IF they are DQ'd. Where do I go for this, what do I do for that?

DoDMERB due to the Privacy Act cannot and will not talk to you personally when he is 18. If you are in a different time zone it becomes very hard especially if he is playing sports or has ECs. He gets up before they open and returns after they close.

This is the caveat, many times they will work with the parent as far as the law allows them, knowing this is a problem, but the best thing that comes out of this if they don't is you will learn a few aspects regarding his desires and feel confident about next yr.

1. How badly he wants it.

~~~ If you have to sit on him to call or email them, than you need to ask why.

2. Future life

~~~ The more he has to do on his own, the more he will learn to rely on himself to accomplish it, something that will be very valuable beyond words as a cadet/mid.


JMPO,

There is a difference from being a support/guidance system than spoon feeding. In essence to me it is how you define a helo parent.

Sit on him to call or email? Never. In the last few days he has contacted his blue and good officer, set up a pt regimen to be in best shape possible.for the.cfa,filled out ROTC apps, sent questions to recruiters and more along with working. I didn't tell him or remind him to.do any of it, he tells me.after.the.fact. the biggest discussions are bouncing around what majors to put down as he is very conflicted and needs.to share his thoights and concerns with someone. He is cadet commander of our CAP squadron and often instructs at Wing activities including developing a curriculum from the.ground up for NCO's and has attended COS at maxwell AFB. He does not need or want mommy holding his hand.
 
If I get your right, your DS does not want AF or Army.

The way DoDMERB works is they Q or DQ, the branch decides to waive.

There are many NROTC mids that got DQ for USNA, however, your DS wants rated. It is highly unlikely that if USNA does not waive, and NROTC waives he will get a rated slot.

It is not only the medical issue, but also USNA gets 1st choice. The remainder goes nationally.

He may get the waiver for NROTC, but the question that needs to be answered is: PQ? Pilot Qualified.

AF and Army both have a different bar for rated regarding color deficiency. You need to understand that in the Navy's eyes they couldn't give 2 squats about the AF or Army. He wants Navy or Marines, AF is not his goal, thus, what they allow or don't allow should not matter. Navy says NO, than it is a NO even if the AF says YES.

kmomto9,

You admit you are not military. I would be proud as a Mom of all of your DS's accomplishments, BUT you need to realize your post to many AF members was OFF!

kmomto9 said:
He was at lafb as part of a cap national activity. It was a familiarization course. They put the cadets through a condensed version of UPT.

Condensed UPT is IFS at Pueblo, and that is an insult to UPT. AF does not throw up 17 yo CAP cadets into the air for grins and giggles. CAP cadets do not mission plan, nor do they sit in academics. IF they get a flight at 17, they are told DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING! UPT students touch EVERYTHING!

He got a perk via CAP national, but no Pilot, UPT student, AFA/AFROTC cadet would agree with you that his version at LAFB was a condensed UPT.

I am positive you did not intend to insult UPT students. I just wanted to make sure that you don't on the future.
 
He is hoping for an appt to Usafa or USNA. If by some miracle he gets two then he will make a decision.

SUPT-FC is a familiarization course. The purpose is to introduce cadets to as much of the UPT experience as possible. In no way did i mean a condensed version was equivalent to the full.course it is a familiarization. They do a little of everything, mission planning, tactics, sims, o-flights, and lot of classroom lecture and quite of bit prep work. They were expected to show up for SUPT with a lot of SOP memorized.
CAP NCSA's are nowhere near equivalents to reg AF programs, they are small tastes of reality but they aren't joyrides or Boy Scout camps either. I'm sorry if anyone would be offended bit I'd hope most people would not read it that way.

http://ncsas.com/index.cfm/undergraduate_pilot_training_fam_course?show=career_fair&careerFairID=2

OVERALL COURSE OBJECTIVE: SUPTFC-TX is designed to provide CAP Cadets with a realistic view of USAF SUPT. In one week’s time the CAP cadet will experience as much of what a prospective USAF pilot candidate experiences in 52 weeks of training.

I thought the word condensed was a good summary of how the AF itself describes the course. I guess not.
 
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Back on topic, he needs to take the test, don't leap to any conclusion until he gets the official word from the Navy.

Old posters like me will tell you that this yr is a marathon, not a sprint. Believe it or not, emotionally, this is probably the easiest yr. 4 yrs from now it is the yr that will be their career, gets rated, and than it is a yr of UPT. The stakes keep getting higher and higher.
 
FYI...my son cannot do the ishihara plates either and failed them during his DoDMERB test. He actually received a remedial for USNA (not USAFA) to take the Farnsworth Lantern test...he was not actually DQ'd. He took the test, passed with flying 'colors' and was qualified with no restrictions...regular Navy. He is now nearing the end of plebe summer! :)
 
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