My DS is a 4 year Army ROTC scholarship recipient and is attending a military college.
He was diagnosed on 06/12/17 with a linguinal hernia (this is after accepting his scholarship and passing all DODMerb physicals as required)
DS had surgery to fix the hernia yesterday, 06/19/2017.
DS is scheduled to report to his military college on 08/12/2017, or roughly 8 weeks from this week.
DS surgeon says recovery is 6-8 weeks, which could put him right at the last minute of his surgeon releasing him to resume full physical activity. We are confident that he will be ready, but everyone heals differently and his mother and I are not doctors. We trust his surgeon to release him when he is ready, and not a moment too early. His health is most important here. We do know that the hernia is an automatic disqualifier and will require a waiver if he were enlisting, but we are unsure if this applies right now, since he is going to be a college student in an AROTC program, and not an active duty soldier. We do not know if that constitutes needing the waiver granted now or when he graduates and prepares to commission.
That being said, is he supposed to report this to his ROTC commander now? Or can he just show up with his medical clearance in hand and be ready to get to work?
He does not want to jeopardize his scholarship or his opportunity to attend the college of his dreams, when he feels like he will be ready to go; by prematurely bringing attention to a situation that should be remedied by the time he arrives.
Conversely, he does not want to be unethical or feel like he is in any way being dishonest with the army by not reporting it earlier, if he is mandated to do so.
We all (my DS, myself and my wife) have done exhaustive searches and have spoken with many people, all with varying opinions. We want to make sure he is doing the right thing and maintaining his character, even though we know it may come with a heavy price. He is worried to death and we want to help guide him, so that he can breath a bit easier, knowing he did what is expected of him. It's not a matter of him being confused about right and wrong, we're just confused about what he must report and draw attention to right now, versus what he can do when he reports for school.
Thanks in advance for any answers that may help steer us these next few days.
-Lost in South Carolina!
He was diagnosed on 06/12/17 with a linguinal hernia (this is after accepting his scholarship and passing all DODMerb physicals as required)
DS had surgery to fix the hernia yesterday, 06/19/2017.
DS is scheduled to report to his military college on 08/12/2017, or roughly 8 weeks from this week.
DS surgeon says recovery is 6-8 weeks, which could put him right at the last minute of his surgeon releasing him to resume full physical activity. We are confident that he will be ready, but everyone heals differently and his mother and I are not doctors. We trust his surgeon to release him when he is ready, and not a moment too early. His health is most important here. We do know that the hernia is an automatic disqualifier and will require a waiver if he were enlisting, but we are unsure if this applies right now, since he is going to be a college student in an AROTC program, and not an active duty soldier. We do not know if that constitutes needing the waiver granted now or when he graduates and prepares to commission.
That being said, is he supposed to report this to his ROTC commander now? Or can he just show up with his medical clearance in hand and be ready to get to work?
He does not want to jeopardize his scholarship or his opportunity to attend the college of his dreams, when he feels like he will be ready to go; by prematurely bringing attention to a situation that should be remedied by the time he arrives.
Conversely, he does not want to be unethical or feel like he is in any way being dishonest with the army by not reporting it earlier, if he is mandated to do so.
We all (my DS, myself and my wife) have done exhaustive searches and have spoken with many people, all with varying opinions. We want to make sure he is doing the right thing and maintaining his character, even though we know it may come with a heavy price. He is worried to death and we want to help guide him, so that he can breath a bit easier, knowing he did what is expected of him. It's not a matter of him being confused about right and wrong, we're just confused about what he must report and draw attention to right now, versus what he can do when he reports for school.
Thanks in advance for any answers that may help steer us these next few days.
-Lost in South Carolina!