Declined Waiver

Bensud47

New Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2019
Messages
4
I was given a Type 7 Technical Scholarship for AFROTC, but I was medically disqualified for having strabismus exotropia which I was not even aware I had due to never having any issues with my vision. I was then recently notified by DODMERB that my waiver had been declined and told that strabismus is not waiverable.

I then sought a 2nd opinion with an eye doctor and was told that my vision is 20/20, I have no depth perception issues, no double vision, and my eyes stayed controlled together, but that my eyes were not perfectly aligned causing my diagnosis of strabismus.

The doctor said he could possibly fix this surgically, but it probably isn’t worth it because there is no guarantee AFROTC would grant me a waiver.

I was wondering as to why this issue is non waiverable if I have no issues with my vision and can see perfectly fine. I was also curious if anyone else has dealt with this issue and if there is anyway around it or am I stuck accepting my waiver rejection? Also do other branches treat strabismus the same way, say could I possibly move to NROTC and be granted a waiver for my condition?

This is my first post on this site, so thank you for your time and please let me know if you have any answers or if there’s anything that can be done.
 
I was given a Type 7 Technical Scholarship for AFROTC, but I was medically disqualified for having strabismus exotropia which I was not even aware I had due to never having any issues with my vision. I was then recently notified by DODMERB that my waiver had been declined and told that strabismus is not waiverable.

I then sought a 2nd opinion with an eye doctor and was told that my vision is 20/20, I have no depth perception issues, no double vision, and my eyes stayed controlled together, but that my eyes were not perfectly aligned causing my diagnosis of strabismus.

The doctor said he could possibly fix this surgically, but it probably isn’t worth it because there is no guarantee AFROTC would grant me a waiver.

I was wondering as to why this issue is non waiverable if I have no issues with my vision and can see perfectly fine. I was also curious if anyone else has dealt with this issue and if there is anyway around it or am I stuck accepting my waiver rejection? Also do other branches treat strabismus the same way, say could I possibly move to NROTC and be granted a waiver for my condition?

This is my first post on this site, so thank you for your time and please let me know if you have any answers or if there’s anything that can be done.

My suspicion is you've had this since you were born. Usually, when someone has strabismus for a long time (ie since birth), suppression is in play which causes you to have no double vision.

When your eyes are misaligned, two images are sent to the brain. Normally, aligned eyes allow the brain to process 1 image. The brain doesn't like 2 images because it's confusing, so it learns to suppress the image of 1 eye. Voila... the brain is now happy because only 1 image is being processed.

You may not have double vision because your brain has learned to process 1 image from only 1 eye. You may not have depth perception issues because, in reality, binocular vision is really useful for depth perception less than 200m. We generally use monocular cues beyond that distance to judge depth.

The problem with suppression is it may fail you at a critical time. Fatigue and stress may cause your brain to fail to suppress thus leading to double vision. Nightime, when there is lack of fixation points, can cause double vision. Trust me, fatigue and extreme stress are common aspects of military life. Looking in extreme directions (up, down, left, right) may produce 2 images.

Surgery as a young adult to correct ocular misalignment will not be helpful to get a waiver. Results are variable. Your alignment may be corrected after but regress after a certain number of years. You may have scarring of the eye globe due to the surgery itself which would restrict eye movement. Surgery does't correct the underlying condition that is causing the strabismus. In general, the Army allows surgery to correct strabismus but only up to age of 4 years. I don't think the USN is favorable for any eye surgery to correct strabismus for accessions. The USN is concerned about the underlying cause of strabismus.
 
I was given a Type 7 Technical Scholarship for AFROTC, but I was medically disqualified for having strabismus exotropia which I was not even aware I had due to never having any issues with my vision. I was then recently notified by DODMERB that my waiver had been declined and told that strabismus is not waiverable.

I then sought a 2nd opinion with an eye doctor and was told that my vision is 20/20, I have no depth perception issues, no double vision, and my eyes stayed controlled together, but that my eyes were not perfectly aligned causing my diagnosis of strabismus.

The doctor said he could possibly fix this surgically, but it probably isn’t worth it because there is no guarantee AFROTC would grant me a waiver.

I was wondering as to why this issue is non waiverable if I have no issues with my vision and can see perfectly fine. I was also curious if anyone else has dealt with this issue and if there is anyway around it or am I stuck accepting my waiver rejection? Also do other branches treat strabismus the same way, say could I possibly move to NROTC and be granted a waiver for my condition?

This is my first post on this site, so thank you for your time and please let me know if you have any answers or if there’s anything that can be done.

My suspicion is you've had this since you were born. Usually, when someone has strabismus for a long time (ie since birth), suppression is in play which causes you to have no double vision.

When your eyes are misaligned, two images are sent to the brain. Normally, aligned eyes allow the brain to process 1 image. The brain doesn't like 2 images because it's confusing, so it learns to suppress the image of 1 eye. Voila... the brain is now happy because only 1 image is being processed.

You may not have double vision because your brain has learned to process 1 image from only 1 eye. You may not have depth perception issues because, in reality, binocular vision is really useful for depth perception less than 200m. We generally use monocular cues beyond that distance to judge depth.

The problem with suppression is it may fail you at a critical time. Fatigue and stress may cause your brain to fail to suppress thus leading to double vision. Nightime, when there is lack of fixation points, can cause double vision. Trust me, fatigue and extreme stress are common aspects of military life. Looking in extreme directions (up, down, left, right) may produce 2 images.

Surgery as a young adult to correct ocular misalignment will not be helpful to get a waiver. Results are variable. Your alignment may be corrected after but regress after a certain number of years. You may have scarring of the eye globe due to the surgery itself which would restrict eye movement. Surgery does't correct the underlying condition that is causing the strabismus. In general, the Army allows surgery to correct strabismus but only up to age of 4 years. I don't think the USN is favorable for any eye surgery to correct strabismus for accessions. The USN is concerned about the underlying cause of strabismus.

I could see there’d be an issue if I was going into a combat role or trying to become a fighter pilot, but I’m trying to become a weather officer in the Air Force. Am I at a deadlock where I have to accept the fact that I will not be allowed to serve?
 
I could see there’d be an issue if I was going into a combat role or trying to become a fighter pilot, but I’m trying to become a weather officer in the Air Force. Am I at a deadlock where I have to accept the fact that I will not be allowed to serve?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what job you want.

Everything is needs of the service.

The services don’t want to hamstring themselves by accessing people with built-in/known job restrictions upon commissioning.

Even the USN, as an enterprise, has decided to limit USNA color vision waivers to up to 2% of an entering class. They don’t want to hamstring themselves by having a class with a large number of grads that cannot go into the unrestricted line. The USN also has to account for those who develop medical conditions over the 4 years.

I know your case is USAF but I’m just using the USNA as an example of services not wanting to limit themselves as to what jobs they can assign graduates.

Also, I wouldn’t assume you’re going to always be in a non-combat role when you’re in the USAF.

Ever heard of Provincial Reconstruction Teams? PRTs were used widely in Afghanistan. Guess who sources the PRTs? All the services did. All officers, regardless of jobs, were eligible to be, or even lead, a PRT. I helped train a few PRTs. The commander of one of the teams? A USN NFO. I bet he had no idea he was going to be in full battle rattle one day. I bet he thought he’d be in a flight suit and wear brown shoes for his entire USN career.

If you’re a weather guy in the USAF and we get in a conflict where we have to stand up PRTs again, then you’ll be at risk to be selected as a ground pounder. It just happens.
 
I could see there’d be an issue if I was going into a combat role or trying to become a fighter pilot, but I’m trying to become a weather officer in the Air Force. Am I at a deadlock where I have to accept the fact that I will not be allowed to serve?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter what job you want.

Everything is needs of the service.

The services don’t want to hamstring themselves by accessing people with built-in/known job restrictions upon commissioning.

Even the USN, as an enterprise, has decided to limit USNA color vision waivers to up to 2% of an entering class. They don’t want to hamstring themselves by having a class with a large number of grads that cannot go into the unrestricted line. The USN also has to account for those who develop medical conditions over the 4 years.

I know your case is USAF but I’m just using the USNA as an example of services not wanting to limit themselves as to what jobs they can assign graduates.

Also, I wouldn’t assume you’re going to always be in a non-combat role when you’re in the USAF.

Ever heard of Provincial Reconstruction Teams? PRTs were used widely in Afghanistan. Guess who sources the PRTs? All the services did. All officers, regardless of jobs, were eligible to be, or even lead, a PRT. I helped train a few PRTs. The commander of one of the teams? A USN NFO. I bet he had no idea he was going to be in full battle rattle one day. I bet he thought he’d be in a flight suit and wear brown shoes for his entire USN career.

If you’re a weather guy in the USAF and we get in a conflict where we have to stand up PRTs again, then you’ll be at risk to be selected as a ground pounder. It just happens.
I completely understand, it’s just frustrating. I was hoping to find a way around my issue, but it is what it is.

Thanks for the help
 
Back
Top