Head injury

[cmiller012]

Hello,

I will be going through the enlistment process with the Army here in about 1 month after I study for the ASVAB. I was DQ'd without a waiver by the Navy and I contacted my Senator and Congressman and am now working with the Army. I had a head injury 3 years ago and although I could of lied about it like 99% of people said I should have, I didn't. MEPS has all of my medical information regarding this head injury. It was a closed head injury with a loss of consciousness for more than 24 hours. After MEPS DQ'd me I went out and paid for a Neuropsychological Test, Neurological Assessment and a Physical. All tests showed great results with no residuals from the Head Injury. I am in better physical condition than majority of recruits as yesterday I performed 119 pushups in 2 minutes - 100 situps in 2 minutes and 30 pull-ups and a 13:00 2 mile run. I run triathlons, marathons and train with Crossfit programming.

I have heard some really great things about this site and especially about Mr. Larry Mullen. So I ask for ANY help and guidance that could potentially help me obtain a waiver from the Army. I have been working on this for almost 2 years. I work at the Apple Store in Indianapolis, I'm 25 and I want to enlist and go Infantry. Very much physically and mentally ready and qualified in regards to military training. I have friends who are officers in the military, one of whom is a Navy SEAL, who will vouch that I am qualified for the job. My family doctor will write an updated letter of recommendation. Who else can I get recommendation from? Is there anything that I am not doing that I could be to help my chances? Do you know of anything that could help me get into the military?

It comes down to me having the diligence, determination, persistence and integrity to want to serve my country. I hope someone can help me get there. Thank you for your time.

Chris

 

[Christcorp]

Obviously, this forum is about the academies, ROTC, and commissioning in general. Not really enlisted. However, we are a military family and we try to help anyone we can. You already did the only real 2 things you can. 1) You got a medical evaluation from a 3rd party expert; and 2) You contacted your senators and congressman.

The question is; has your senators or congressman done anything for you? Have the contacted the military on your behalf? Will they contact them for you? Other than getting all the medical proof that you can, and getting your congressman/senator to put "pressure" on the military for you, there's not much you can do.

Having friends in the military is nice, but they can't "vouch" for you being qualified to do your military job. Not unless they are doctors. Head injuries are quite tricky. This is one reason that certain sports like football won't "ALLOW" you to continue playing football after having a certain number or severity of concussions. Because with head injuries, many times they become cumulative. Basically; get hit enough/too many times, and the lights go out for good. The military may have this concern. It's great that you are so physically fit. But if the time comes to deploy and go to combat, you're going to be issued a gun, not doing pushups or situps. In combat; as well as training; it's quite possible to put a lot of stress on the head/brain. There's a lot of jumping, falling, diving, etc...

I'm not a doctor either, so realize that I'm only describing that there's a difference between being physically fit and performing certain physical requirements that could potentially affect an old injury. But that's where your medical evaluations come into play.

If you have medical evaluations that say that there are no residual affects from your past head injury; and that no possible future physical stress will have an affect on this old injury; and your senators and congressman put enough pressure on the military to give you every opportunity to become qualified; then that's all you can really do. There is no special thing that you can do to get accepted. And like I said; personal recommendations from friends come in handy for determining trustworthyness, character, integrity, etc... but unless these friends are doctors, they can't determine if you are "Qualified" to do your military job.

Get your medical evaluations and ducks lined up and get your senators and representative to fight for you. That's all that can be done. Best of luck. Mike....

 

[cmiller012]

Thank you for your detailed and helpful response. I just sent another email to the gentleman I am working with at my Senators office. They did however contact the Recruiting Station Commander at the Army here in my city. Thanks again for your response!

Chris