Hope

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Swimmergirl2029

Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2020
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45
Hi everyone,
It’s been a dream of mine to serve since I was 7 years old and about 4 months ago I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I understand that this is a disqualification but was wondering if there was any possibility of rules changing at all or something. It’s been awful trying to comprehend the past few months and I’m having a hard time getting over it. Thank you for any advice.
 
Though it may be hard to hear, diabetes is usually not waived by service academies or ROTC. There are plenty of other ways to serve than the military. I hope you find your path, best of luck.
 
I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It is admirable that you want to serve and I commend you.

It is an uphill fight, but you may reach out to the Navy Supply Corps. They are a very under appreciated landing spot for restricted line folks.
 
Swimmergirl2029 said:
Hi everyone,
It’s been a dream of mine to serve since I was 7 years old and about 4 months ago I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I understand that this is a disqualification but was wondering if there was any possibility of rules changing at all or something. It’s been awful trying to comprehend the past few months and I’m having a hard time getting over it. Thank you for any advice.
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I am sorry to hear this. Focus on your health and moving through the stages of adjusting to this and realizing you can thrive and be successful in all aspects of life.

I agree that at this time, the armed services do not waive Type 1 diabetes at accession.

If you are called to serve your country, though, there are ways to do it as a federal civilian. The physical requirements are not there for most roles.

Try this google search string:
student programs (name of federal agency or department, try FBI, NSA, DHS, DoD, etc.).

There is a great need for young strong minds in federal civilian service. If you can’t be a door-kicker, have the door-kicker’s back in operations, planning, logistics, analysis, intelligence, communications, forensics, research, etc.

Example:
dodstem.us

SMART Scholarship Program | DoD STEM

DoD STEM seeks to attract, inspire, and develop exceptional STEM talent across the education continuum and advance the current DoD STEM workforce to meet future defense technological challenges.
dodstem.us dodstem.us
 
blhenrywalpole said:
It is an uphill fight, but you may reach out to the Navy Supply Corps. They are a very under appreciated landing spot for restricted line folks.
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That is some false hope right there. While people already in the military who develop Diabetes have sometimes been allowed to stay in a certain fields, the military does not allow already diagnosed folks to enter.
By the way the Navy Supply Corps career path includes service aboard ships/subs which can be quite remote from specialty medical care.
 
OldRetSWO said:
That is some false hope right there. While people already in the military who develop Diabetes have sometimes been allowed to stay in a certain fields, the military does not allow already diagnosed folks to enter.
By the way the Navy Supply Corps career path includes service aboard ships/subs which can be quite remote from specialty medical care.
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Agreed. Accession (military entry) medical standards are set higher than retention (already serving) medical standards. I have personally known 3 cases of USNA midshipmen (one was a USNA sponsor family midshipman, two were in my Battalion) who developed Type I diabetes while at USNA and after their conditions were stabilized, were separated, with appropriate VA medical benefits.

I agree the Navy Supply Corps (a staff corps, not a restricted line officer community) is a welcoming community and often a suitable career move for those who become NPQ for unrestricted line officer communities. David Robinson’s growth spurt at USNA DQ’ed him, and off he went to Civil Engineering Corps; one of his basketball teammates went Supply Corps, same reason). The difference is they were already on active duty when the DQ condition emerged. The accession bar is set much higher.

Another one of our USNA sponsor family alumni developed severe migraines while in the jet training pipeline, triggered by altitude and light. This had not been an issue during accession physicals for USNA entry. Different treatments were tried, with no success, so the officer was retained on AD, DQed for Navy air, and moved to the meteorological/oceanography RL community There are some conditions that are never waived. If that severe migraine history with those triggers had existed prior to military service, they would not likely have passed the accession physical and gotten into USNA.

The accession and retention standards are evaluated and updated as medical advances warrant. I don’t think Type 1 diabetes solutions have been found yet that will get anyone over the accession hurdle.

As a caveat, I try to be cautious about absolutes, “always” and “never.” Exceptions may have been made, and I am most definitely not a primary source or a medical waiver authority.

I would recommend a call to Admissions and ask them to give it to you straight, have there been any waivers given for Type 1 diabetes in recent years, and what is their honest recommendation for you.
 
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OldRetSWO said:
That is some false hope right there. While people already in the military who develop Diabetes have sometimes been allowed to stay in a certain fields, the military does not allow already diagnosed folks to enter.
By the way the Navy Supply Corps career path includes service aboard ships/subs which can be quite remote from specialty medical care.
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Where did I give false hope?

I said it's an uphill fight, but to reach out to the Supply Corps. It's a landing spot for a lot for restricted line folks, many of whom are medically DQ'ed from the restricted line.
 
blhenrywalpole said:
Where did I give false hope?

I said it's an uphill fight, but to reach out to the Supply Corps. It's a landing spot for a lot for restricted line folks, many of whom are medically DQ'ed from the restricted line.
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No, its not an uphill fight, it is a non-starter. You gave hope by saying its an uphill fight when it just is not going to happen.

I'm not sure where you're getting your information from on things like this but just to be sure how many diabetics do you know to have been accessed into the Navy in recent years or for that matter going back decades? I am of course talking about people who were accessed with the military ALREADY KNOWING that they are diabetic.
The Supply Corps does take some NPQ folks - but the specific disqualifications do matter. A very healthy person who is colorblind is very different from someone who requires constant care or significant meds which would impact their ability deploy.
 
Swimmergirl2029 said:
Hi everyone,
It’s been a dream of mine to serve since I was 7 years old and about 4 months ago I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I understand that this is a disqualification but was wondering if there was any possibility of rules changing at all or something. It’s been awful trying to comprehend the past few months and I’m having a hard time getting over it. Thank you for any advice.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear your story. I wanted to share a program that we just became aware of while attending student orientation for the Corps of Cadets at Virginia Tech. It might be a way for you to fulfill your passion to serve. The program is called Defense Civilian Training Corps - a new pilot program for students to build civilian careers in the Department of Defense. These students would be a part of the Corps of Cadets so you will be immersed with many who share your passion to serve our country. Just thought I would share. If you google the program you can find plenty of information. Best of luck with everything.
 
stedac said:
Sorry to hear your story. I wanted to share a program that we just became aware of while attending student orientation for the Corps of Cadets at Virginia Tech. It might be a way for you to fulfill your passion to serve. The program is called Defense Civilian Training Corps - a new pilot program for students to build civilian careers in the Department of Defense. These students would be a part of the Corps of Cadets so you will be immersed with many who share your passion to serve our country. Just thought I would share. If you google the program you can find plenty of information. Best of luck with everything.
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This program is also at the University of Arizona, Purdue University, and North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State.
 
I have never seen someone admitted to USNA with type 1. I saw a few diagnosed as Mids. All were medically discharged or given the golden handshake and allowed to graduate, but not commissioned. I have also never seen someone retained in service with that diagnosis. We had one Marine who was diagnosed, he was non-deployable and then he was not allowed to re-enlist. There are many ways to serve our great nation. Capt MJ and many others have posted skme amazing options. Those roles are just as critical to our Armed Services. You can definitely help our warfighters in those roles.
 
I can second the VTCC recommendation. I'm in the Corps, was medically DQ'ed right before my freshman year which was crushing as I had the same desire to serve. I decided to stay in the Corps while hoping my DQ would get a waiver. Chances of a waiver aren't great, but staying in the Corps has been an incredible experience for me and has played a huge role in who I am today.

Several of my peers in the non-military path track have received those DCTC scholarships and are excited to serve that way. Would definitely recommend checking the VTCC and the DCTC out. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about either.
 
greenfield1 said:
I can second the VTCC recommendation. I'm in the Corps, was medically DQ'ed right before my freshman year which was crushing as I had the same desire to serve. I decided to stay in the Corps while hoping my DQ would get a waiver. Chances of a waiver aren't great, but staying in the Corps has been an incredible experience for me and has played a huge role in who I am today.

Several of my peers in the non-military path track have received those DCTC scholarships and are excited to serve that way. Would definitely recommend checking the VTCC and the DCTC out. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about either.
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This is a great thought! I know Texas A&M has something similar too.
 
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