History of congenital dislocation of the hip

[VaArmyDad]

Thank you in advance for the opportunity to ask questions in this forum, which is very helpful.

My daughter is applying for ROTC Scholarships, a Senior Military College and a Service Academy. Her interest in the military spans three services. During discussion with one of the programs, she mentioned that she had treatment of hip dislocation as a newborn. This was detected at birth, and she was treated as a newborn with a soft positioning device called a Pavlik harness, which we were advised would keep the hip bone in the socket and stimulate normal hip development. Since that treatment immediately after birth, she has never had medical qualifications and earned eight varsity letters in three sports - playing high school and junior olympic / club sports virtually all year.

Since she is an outstanding student and athlete, I am concerned that she will invest her time and emotion in this process and be very disappointed if this is a medical disqualifying condition (which I can't imagine given her lack of symptoms and fitness level). I have reviewed Army Regulation 40–501 mentioned in this forum and confirmed that this is potentially disqualifying for her.

My questions are whether this is waiverable under the processes mentioned here, by which organization (or level of organization), and what document outlines which of the disqualifying conditions mentioned are waiverable (I can't seem to find this)?

We are poised to finish the application process, but I wanted to check before proceeding. I don't want to continue if this is something that can't be redressed in the processes as they are defined?

I appreciate any response from those that have experienced a similar situation, or are familiar with these issues. Further, thanks for the time in providing this forum.

VaArmyDad

 

[MullenLE]

VaArmyDad,

I'll answer your questions in two ways:

In general, Service Secretaries are charged by tghe Secretary of Defense with authorizing the waiver of the standards in individual cases for applicable reasons and ensuring uniform waiver determinations.

Specifically, you may email me @ Larry.Mullen@dodmerb.tma.osd.mil. I'll discuss with you how you may send me the pertinent medical records so we can determine clinically: the issue; the resolution; current status; and prognosis, if applicable. You may also provide me which ROTC programs, Senior Military College (if it pertains to ROTC...if it pertains just to the SMC without an affiliation to ROTC, you'd have to contact the SMC directly), and Service Academy. In order to provide you specificity, we would need to look specifically at your daughters case. The sooner you can accomplish this, the sooner we can provide you a response and allow you to make an informed decision.

I hope this helps

 

[VaArmyDad]

Path to Address Remedial - History of Congenital Dislocation of the Hip

I wanted to post the response from the Army ROTC POC, w/concurrence from the USCGA, in case there are other prospective applicants and parents with a similar issue.

"Will need some documentation of athletic participation and performance.
Then, will need current radiological and physical evaluation of the hip to determine if there's evidence of early degenerative changes. Records of treatment as an infant are important, since significant delays in treatment are association with poorer long term prognosis."


Frankly, I can't say enough about the responsiveness of Mr. Mullen and the waiver authorities in very quickly answering questions and charting the path to resolution for my daughter's problem. Thanks to each of them for responsive support and professionalism.

Respectfully,
Mike Boyle

 

[MullenLE]

Thx for the opportunity to assist