Hey everyone. Before I get into things, let me describe my situation.
I took the class for the AFROTC program during my first semester in college as a way to test the waters and see if ROTC was for me. I fell in love with the program and decided that this could be a legitimate career choice for me. I come from an Air Force family and I have a drive to serve my country and the military.
I fully joined the program for my second semester. I loved it all. I quickly learned however that the DODMERB process could really mess up your chances of staying in the program (I personally disagree with some of the stuff that I've heard people get disqualified for).
I unfortunately have asthma. The norm is that asthma is not disqualifying if you don't have it past the age of 13, but that's unfortunately not the case for me. However, my asthma is not severe. I take a puff or two of a preventive inhaler every night and I only flare up if I get a really bad cold. It's not exercise related, and I improved my PT scores from a 10:30 on the mile and a half run down to 9:00, with a composite score of 94. Asthma does not affect me on a day-to-day basis.
I'm pursuing a BS in Political Science with a minor in German, and I'm also interested in Computer Science as well. I'm a strong student with a 3.8 GPA, and I didn't miss a day during training hours.
I started my second year of college today. This past weekend however, I received notice from my Cadre that my medical waiver for the DoDMERB was denied. My last option was to drop or continue as an active cadet and retry for the waiver after taking a Methacholine Challenge.
I discussed this with my doctor. The Methacholine Challenge is used to determine if someone has asthma. While my asthma isn't bad, I know that either I won't pass the challenge, or my numbers wouldn't be good enough to pass the DoDMERB, and I'd only be left feeling like crap due to the challenge. So reluctantly, earlier today, I decided to drop the program.
I am very depressed about this. I was sincerely looking forward to an exciting career serving my country. The fact that I didn't even get to wear the ABUs greatly upsets me. I want to serve my country and protect people who can't protect themselves. I want a career that involves foreign affairs, intelligence, aerospace or international politics. My long term goal is to become a politician. Now that ROTC isn't a viable option for me due to these medical reasons, I've lost my chance at a dream career.
My question now is this: What should I do now? What can I do? How can I find a way to serve my country or be an active military participant?
I took the class for the AFROTC program during my first semester in college as a way to test the waters and see if ROTC was for me. I fell in love with the program and decided that this could be a legitimate career choice for me. I come from an Air Force family and I have a drive to serve my country and the military.
I fully joined the program for my second semester. I loved it all. I quickly learned however that the DODMERB process could really mess up your chances of staying in the program (I personally disagree with some of the stuff that I've heard people get disqualified for).
I unfortunately have asthma. The norm is that asthma is not disqualifying if you don't have it past the age of 13, but that's unfortunately not the case for me. However, my asthma is not severe. I take a puff or two of a preventive inhaler every night and I only flare up if I get a really bad cold. It's not exercise related, and I improved my PT scores from a 10:30 on the mile and a half run down to 9:00, with a composite score of 94. Asthma does not affect me on a day-to-day basis.
I'm pursuing a BS in Political Science with a minor in German, and I'm also interested in Computer Science as well. I'm a strong student with a 3.8 GPA, and I didn't miss a day during training hours.
I started my second year of college today. This past weekend however, I received notice from my Cadre that my medical waiver for the DoDMERB was denied. My last option was to drop or continue as an active cadet and retry for the waiver after taking a Methacholine Challenge.
I discussed this with my doctor. The Methacholine Challenge is used to determine if someone has asthma. While my asthma isn't bad, I know that either I won't pass the challenge, or my numbers wouldn't be good enough to pass the DoDMERB, and I'd only be left feeling like crap due to the challenge. So reluctantly, earlier today, I decided to drop the program.
I am very depressed about this. I was sincerely looking forward to an exciting career serving my country. The fact that I didn't even get to wear the ABUs greatly upsets me. I want to serve my country and protect people who can't protect themselves. I want a career that involves foreign affairs, intelligence, aerospace or international politics. My long term goal is to become a politician. Now that ROTC isn't a viable option for me due to these medical reasons, I've lost my chance at a dream career.
My question now is this: What should I do now? What can I do? How can I find a way to serve my country or be an active military participant?