PLC Waiver

I am 17 and really want to pilot in the military. However I had strabismus surgery on both eyes when I was 14. I have 20/20 vision and no other issues. A Marines recruiter recently contacted me and said they could get me a waiver to fly under the PLC even after having this surgery. How honest are recruiters and is this something I can trust? Thank you.

Do you plan to attend college? Marine recruiters will send you to Parris Island and not Brown Field where PLC is conducted. I don’t have an answer about your eye surgery waiver question.

Recruiters run the entire spectrum of great to bad, most are trying to do their job as best they can. An ‘officer recruiter’ is called an OSO. So if you have the local recruiter, Sgt Marine or SSgt Marine, making promises, they aren’t the right people to be talking to. Getting a flight contract via PLC is not that hard, but for them to say they could get a waiver is promising a lot for a 17 year old who hasn’t completed a PLC app, take a flight physical, sat for the ASTB, taken a PFT or started college yet. Also, if you want to fly, great, but what happens if you don’t make it thru flight school or fail your flight physical. If you are not okay with being a Marine with a ground MOS, then I would recommend you explore another service. Marines are passionate about being Marines first and foremost. Every Marine spends 6 months at TBS learning all ground leadership skills and movements. Does that sound appealing to you? I think it’s best you spend some time researching the different services, commissioning paths and finding the one that is right for you. There are so many things along the way that can derail a flight career, so it’s always best to be in a service that fits you best. Are you headed to college this year or next? Have you explored ROTC?