Medical question - eyes

Hi!

I got an LOA to the academy in October and just received my nomination. I got disqualified because of “D156.10 Color vision deficiency that does not meet individual Services' standards.” And it says its pending waiver submission review. I am super committed to the academy and will do whatever it takes. It is worth nothing that i never even knew i had this deficiency till the DODMERB exam.

Now I know none of you are doctors or the medical staff but I was just wondering if someone had experience or heard of cases like this. I have an LOA, and a nomination and I am quite literally 99% of the way there. I heard getting waivers for these aren’t too common. It sucks even more because I never knew I was affected by this deficiency and that is what is bringing me down. Can i talk to someone at USNA and plead my case about never having this affect anything in my life, not knowing about it, and all that? Please advise if you can. Thank you so much!

I knew a guy in my class who was colorblind. His dad also used to be on the Joint Chiefs of Staff... (he was actually a solid dude but still)

In all seriousness, there are a few waivers for colorblindness each year. I don't know your specific medical condition but I would say there is usually a waiver for most things and that you should always keep going until somebody tells you a hard no.

Also note that should you be admitted your options for service assignment will be significantly curtailed.

sbservice said:

Hi!

I got an LOA to the academy in October and just received my nomination. I got disqualified because of “D156.10 Color vision deficiency that does not meet individual Services' standards.” And it says its pending waiver submission review. I am super committed to the academy and will do whatever it takes. It is worth nothing that i never even knew i had this deficiency till the DODMERB exam.

Now I know none of you are doctors or the medical staff but I was just wondering if someone had experience or heard of cases like this. I have an LOA, and a nomination and I am quite literally 99% of the way there. I heard getting waivers for these aren’t too common. It sucks even more because I never knew I was affected by this deficiency and that is what is bringing me down. Can i talk to someone at USNA and plead my case about never having this affect anything in my life, not knowing about it, and all that? Please advise if you can. Thank you so much!

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You are in the best possible position, given your situation. You are now competing against others who are qualified with a nom, maybe an LOA, except for a color-blindness issue, for the handful of waivers USNA gives out every year. There is no need to plead your case. This happens every year. It doesn’t matter that it didn’t impact you in the past. Military med DQs relate to operational necessity and combat environments. The sea services rely on red-green aids to navigation and other color signals in the major warfare specialties.

Do your research on what officer specialties for which you qualify and hope for the best. Be sure you are okay with those. Stay positive, focus on what you can control, and get out there and PT for stress management.

Let us know how it goes.

Here’s the most recent USNA instruction (policy) I could find. It confirms color-deficient mids can go either Restricted Line or Marine Ground.

https://www.usna.edu/AdminSupport/_...NST-1301.5H-Midshipmen-Service-Assignment.pdf

The link below lists the current RL communities. I don’t know which ones are available out of USNA. Much will depend on the needs of the Navy and Marine Corps at that time.

https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-...managers/active/restricted/Pages/default.aspx

The Navy has some broad Officer communities as follows:

- Unrestricted Line (URL), the major warfare communities, officers eligible for operational command at sea and ashore. Surface, aviation (pilot and naval flight officer), submarine, SEAL, EOD
https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-...rve/selres/Pages/RCUnrestrictedLine(URL).aspx

- Restricted Line, more focused, tours of duty tend to be within the community, sea duty may or may not play a prominent role, officers eligible for command in their specialty, or non-specific shore commands

- Staff Corps, officers in professional specialties, such as medical, dental, nursing, medical staff corps, chaplains, civil engineering corps, judge advocate general (JAG), Supply Corps, off top of head. They work in their specialty and can command in that specialty.

I will also mention the Limited Duty Officer (LDO) and Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) communities which produce superb technical leaders from the enlisted ranks.

I have anecdotally heard of DQ mids going Staff Corps (CEC and Supply), so if there is a fit for mid and the Navy, that might happen.

As for Marine Ground, I take that to mean everything except aviation. I am sure you can find out what those are. You have to want to be a Marine, then see how it works out for you at The Basic School.

Go for some long runs and work through the scenarios in a logical fashion:

- You are offered an appointment with only a few officer communities open to you. Yay, you’re in, but think about whether you want to serve in those communities.

- You are not offered an appointment this year. You decide to take a Plebe-like schedule at a college or SMC, and re-apply, because you are fine with available career paths. You hope your perseverance wins the day over first-time fellow color DQs and any other color DQ re-applicants.

- You don’t see yourself serving in the available Navy communities or Marine Ground, so you pursue other paths you have developed as alternates.

Hope for the best, have a plan, prepare for disappointment, rejoice that no matter what, you have the brains and potential to pursue any number of paths.

If USNA issues you a medical waiver making you 3Q + Nom + LOA you will get an appointment. Pleading your case isn’t going to do anything. There are limited color blind waivers each year. I believe USNA can issue up to 20 color blind waivers a year, but if memory serves me correct, they try to keep that number lower. Make sure you read Capt MJ’s response several times to understand what your options are for service assignment. Your pre-commissioning physical done your 2/C will be very thorough and ultimately make a final decision on color blind. Also realize if you go USMC, there are certain MOSs like ATC, comms and a few others you can’t select. Little hard to see radar scopes and wires if red/green is tough to distinguish.

Just because one test apparently said that you were "color blind", doesn't make it the last word. There could have been a mistake.
If you want something to do while you are waiting for the waiver, get tested again.

THParent said:

Just because one test apparently said that you were "color blind", doesn't make it the last word. There could have been a mistake.
If you want something to do while you are waiting for the waiver, get tested again.

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My DS only had 1 test to tell him he was color blind. However, as his parents, I have the strangely colored elementary school pictures to prove his color blindness

That being said, he is currently in the foundation program with a current color blind waiver. As Capt. MJ mentioned, the career paths in the Navy are fairly limited. Luckily for my DS, he is wanting engineering and that is available to him.

The engineering path is a good one. I have several friends in EDO (not EOD), and they enjoy working in leadership/technical positions in fleet maintenance, new ship acquisition, project management, etc. No matter how long they stay in, a few tours or a full career, they have zero problems getting a super civilian job. It’s a tight, supportive, smart community. One of my best friends was CHENG (Chief Engineer) on a carrier and went on to oversee the entire Fleet aircraft carrier maintenance. Full Navy career, then a very rewarding civilian job found by networking with retired EDOs before her.

Just an FYI, WP allows cadets that are color blind. My son did not require a medical waiver for color blindness.
I know you are looking at USNA, but I thought I'd mention it case you might be interested.

bookreader said:

Just an FYI, WP allows cadets that are color blind. My son did not require a medical waiver for color blindness.
I know you are looking at USNA, but I thought I'd mention it case you might be interested.

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+1 @bookreader - I know of another USNA candidate that was DQ'd by USNA due to color blindness, but was able to secure an appointment to West Point.

I don't know what your career interests are, but WP could potentially be an option. Thank you for your interest in serving, good luck.

I hope this thread helped the OP with some specifics, as well as helped non-posting readers (a term I find I like better than “lurkers”). This comes up every year, so the discussion was timely. He or she didn’t come back to comment. I am sure it is unsettling to find out something about yourself of which you weren’t aware, and it’s capable of bilging a dream. Perhaps he or she is now considering Army green...

Thank you all so much! Sorry for the late reply as I didn’t have notifications on for the Forums app.

I definitely would’ve considered West Point but my heart was set on Navy. And I wish I could apply to WP too, but it is way too late. I’ll wait it out and see what happens. I’ll call and try to figure out if I can take a second test. Hopefully I at least get the waiver. The restricted options are not too bad itself so I might consider those if I get the waiver.

Thank you to especially Capt MJ for your thorough and thoughtful responses as I definitely needed them!

As a parent who discovered this forum too late in my DS’s application process, I can relate to the questions and concerns brought up by hopeful applicants and parents. This community is knowledgeable, honest, and supportive. The long time members and moderators are fantastic resources. The advice of do your research, have plans B-G, submit your best application rings true each year. Even though DS just finished his first semester at USNA, I continue to read and yes, “lurk” in order to relive the experience of last year. Happy Holidays and good luck to all applicants and parents. We have amazing kids!

Quick question for all:

If I got my eyes retested, can I just test at any eye doctor and just send the results to Navy? Or do I have to tell them that I want to retest and they have to assign a optometrist like in DODMERB?

My son just received an LOA, and has received one nom so far. He expects a second one from a senator.

He was told by the nominating committee that his resume is perfect for all military academies - they all
would want him.

He did very well on SATs, his class rank is 1 out of 205, his leadership in high school was remarkable, he was a starting three sport athlete with two captains (including basketball) and he worked hard for the last few years to have a top CFA score.

But he is colorblind and needs a waiver. It is so disappointing to him ... his heart has been set on this for years. He qualifies for but doesn’t want the Ivy’s.

It’s a heartbreaking situation to be in.

sbservice said:

Quick question for all:

If I got my eyes retested, can I just test at any eye doctor and just send the results to Navy? Or do I have to tell them that I want to retest and they have to assign a optometrist like in DODMERB?

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You can’t just go to any doctor and take any test. I think if you use the search function you will see some threads regarding this. Not sure exactly if there are follow on color blind exams they can do or not.

A dear friend applied to the NA and the CGA. His grades, etc. made him a shoo in. In the spring when he finally had his DODMERB appointment, he learned that he was color blind and so inelegible for either academy. He ended up going to a college and reapplied to WP and got it. He did extremely well there and has a nice career in the army. It worked out well in the end and it work out well for any of you who are color blind.

NavyHoops said:

You can’t just go to any doctor and take any test. I think if you use the search function you will see some threads regarding this. Not sure exactly if there are follow on color blind exams they can do or not.

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Got it, thanks!

My son finally got his single disqualification - DQ 156.1. Now it’s out of our hands and up to them.

Hopefully his WCS is good enough to warrant a waiver.