Medical Waiver for Army Chaplain

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TNROTCPARENT

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Son was DQ'ed by DoDMERB due to Myopia. He is a 4 year Army ROTC scholarship winner with plans to go to seminary and eventual Army Chaplaincy. Does this long-term goal affect the waiver decision?
 
TNROTCPARENT said:
Son was DQ'ed by DoDMERB due to Myopia. He is a 4 year Army ROTC scholarship winner with plans to go to seminary and eventual Army Chaplaincy. Does this long-term goal affect the waiver decision?
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It’s rare to be DQ’ed for myopia.

What is his uncorrected visual acuity?Is he correctable to 20/20?

What is his eye glasses prescription?
 
TNROTCPARENT said:
-8.75, -0.50, x047
-7.75, -0.75, x158

The Dodmets site says for Myopia greater than -8.0
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You're correct. The standard for refraction is no worse than -8.00 spherical equivalent (SE).

The SE for his right eye is -9.00. For his left eye, it is -8.125.

Waivers are typically considered if the SE is no worse than -10.00 diopters, so your DS is in the "waiverable" window.

The rest of the eye/vision exam must be normal though. The big thing is your DS will get a detailed retinal exam to make sure there are no holes, tears, or other pathology. One of the reasons the military is wary of high myopes is they are at increased risk for retinal detachments.

Is your DS correctable to 20/20?

I know of a chaplain who basically had NO vision in one eye. He was allowed to access because he was already a trained chaplain. In other words, he was a direct accession and didn't go through a SA or ROTC as a commissioning source.
 
My daughter was measured at over -8 and was granted a medical waiver for Air Force ROTC (June 2020). The key was the eye exam itself. The concern is the possibility of a detached retina. Here is an example of the comments we received from two different eye doctors.

Summary of DOD-contracted Dilated Fundoscopic Exam with Dr. X (26 May 20)
- OD and OS Vitreous: Clear without hemorrhage, cells, or pigment.
- OD and OS Vessels: Normal contour, caliber without neovascularization.
- OD and OS Macula: Normal contour without heme, edema, drusen, or exudate.
- OD and OS Periphery: Normal appearance without retinal tears, breaks, holes, or mass.

Summary of Dilated Fundoscopic Exam with Family Eye Doctor, Dr. Y (14 May 20)
- Optic nerves, maculae, and retinal vasculature all revealed optimal ocular health.
- Retinal peripheral exam revealed no ocular pathology.
- There are no hemes, exudate, scars, opacities, or retinal degeneration.
- Of specific interest in this case, no thinning or lattice degeneration of the retina 360 (OD or OS).

Although we had great results from both exams, it important to note that the needs of each Service shift from year-to-year.

Best wishes during the process. It is long and difficult but most definitely worth the effort.

Signed, an Army Chaplain :)
 
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