Mild color blindness waver?

M

mijohnst

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Joined
Nov 22, 2022
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58
Howdy...long time lurker here. I've found so much helpful information to help my son's application for the USAFA. Thank you!

He's right at the end and has everything submitted, and he is waiting for the DoDMERB to post to the application, but it looks like the site is down for some reason. He also received a congressional nomination last week, and it gave us a glimmer of hope!

Looking through a recent thread, I see someone, like my son, has a mild color red/green blindness issue. How worried do we need to be about this? I haven't seen anything about requesting a weaver.

Thank you all very much. This is a great forum.
 
mijohnst said:
Howdy...long time lurker here. I've found so much helpful information to help my son's application for the USAFA. Thank you!

He's right at the end and has everything submitted, and he is waiting for the DoDMERB to post to the application, but it looks like the site is down for some reason. He also received a congressional nomination last week, and it gave us a glimmer of hope!

Looking through a recent thread, I see someone, like my son, has a mild color red/green blindness issue. How worried do we need to be about this? I haven't seen anything about requesting a weaver.

Thank you all very much. This is a great forum.
Click to expand...
And welcome new member of 29 minutes as I write this!

You’ll see a lot more about color vision deficiency in the DoDMERB forum, including threads about how the DoDMERB site has been suffering from an extended tech outage.

All candidates are evaluated against the standard, linked below, and found they either meet standards or do not (a “DQ”). The individual services/pre-comm programs determine if they want to pursue a waiver for a candidate. If they do, their individual waiver authority makes the decision. The waiver policy in many cases is not the same across services - for good reason, as missions, operating environment, etc., are different.

Look at p.15.

 
Capt MJ, Thank you so much for the welcome and the valuable information! We had no idea how to proceed from here. As it is, the first thing he does in the morning and the last thing he does at night is checking the site. He's reached out to his mentor several times but never heard back from him. We're assuming he deployed somewhere and isn't available.

I'll head over and look at the DoDMERB form section and try to get caught up.
 
mijohnst said:
Capt MJ, Thank you so much for the welcome and the valuable information! We had no idea how to proceed from here. As it is, the first thing he does in the morning and the last thing he does at night is checking the site. He's reached out to his mentor several times but never heard back from him. We're assuming he deployed somewhere and isn't available.

I'll head over and look at the DoDMERB form section and try to get caught up.
Click to expand...
If you son hasn’t found this on the USAFA site, it’s worth reading:
www.academyadmissions.com

Standards | Medical Requirements | U.S. Air Force Academy

All candidates admitted to the U.S. Air Force Academy must meet the medical standards, including height, weight, vision, hearing, dental, and others.
www.academyadmissions.com www.academyadmissions.com


And, paging @flieger83 it seems as if the son of @mijohnst is having trouble contacting mentor ALO. Any advice to pass on to him? I only know about ALOs from what I read here.
 
Capt MJ said:
If you son hasn’t found this on the USAFA site, it’s worth reading:
www.academyadmissions.com

Standards | Medical Requirements | U.S. Air Force Academy

All candidates admitted to the U.S. Air Force Academy must meet the medical standards, including height, weight, vision, hearing, dental, and others.
www.academyadmissions.com www.academyadmissions.com


And, paging @flieger83 it seems as if the son of @mijohnst is having trouble contacting mentor ALO. Any advice to pass on to him? I only know about ALOs from what I read here.
Click to expand...
WRT mentor ALOs, contact your team blue or silver, preferably with dates that you attempted contact. My DS did that and his mentor ALO reached out, albeit half-heartedly, soon afterward.
 
T-37IP said:
WRT mentor ALOs, contact your team blue or silver, preferably with dates that you attempted contact. My DS did that and his mentor ALO reached out, albeit half-heartedly, soon afterward.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the tip. I'd be afraid to do something like that and offend him. We'll try and give him the benefit of the doubt that he's tied up.
 
mijohnst said:
Howdy...long time lurker here. I've found so much helpful information to help my son's application for the USAFA. Thank you!

He's right at the end and has everything submitted, and he is waiting for the DoDMERB to post to the application, but it looks like the site is down for some reason. He also received a congressional nomination last week, and it gave us a glimmer of hope!

Looking through a recent thread, I see someone, like my son, has a mild color red/green blindness issue. How worried do we need to be about this? I haven't seen anything about requesting a weaver.

Thank you all very much. This is a great forum.
Click to expand...
As nicely noted by others the different branches of service have different levels of tolerance and volume perhaps of tolerance of how many waivers will be granted for color blindness based on their mission and needs. If my DD or DS was color blind, and wanted to serve as an officer, I would apply to multiple SA/ ROTC paths to see if any will grant a waiver for this condition- some may, some may not.

One note - pilots rely on red/green markers for in-air and at-landing differentiation, so if his goal is to serve in aviation with a red/green color blind issue, would really have to consider alternatives. You want your pilot safe in the air with their/ others' souls on board - it would be a safety risk to not see taillights to confirm direction, runway markers, condition alerts, etc.

Good luck.
 
Thank you for the information, Herman. I'm sorry, we're new to this, so I'm not sure what a DD or DS is or what the different paths he has to apply to are. Are these options we'll find out about after the board reviews his application?

Thankfully my son doesn't want to be a pilot. He's looking towards aeronautical engineering or applied mathematics. We hope the AF has a high need for that.
 
DD: Dear Daughter DS: Dear Son DW: Dear Wife etc...

The academic major at the service academy is not necessarily connected to post-commissioning role in the armed service.
 
mijohnst said:
Thank you for the information, Herman. I'm sorry, we're new to this, so I'm not sure what a DD or DS is or what the different paths he has to apply to are. Are these options we'll find out about after the board reviews his application?

Thankfully my son doesn't want to be a pilot. He's looking towards aeronautical engineering or applied mathematics. We hope the AF has a high need for that.
Click to expand...
You may want to read everything - web pages, links, drop-down menu items, at USAFA website. You’ll find things like this:
www.academyadmissions.com

Explore Careers | U.S. Air Force Academy

Discover career options at the forefront of space, science, and techology—from flying operations to communications, and engineering to logistics.
www.academyadmissions.com www.academyadmissions.com
 
mijohnst said:
Thank you for the information, Herman. I'm sorry, we're new to this, so I'm not sure what a DD or DS is or what the different paths he has to apply to are. Are these options we'll find out about after the board reviews his application?

Thankfully my son doesn't want to be a pilot. He's looking towards aeronautical engineering or applied mathematics. We hope the AF has a high need for that.
Click to expand...
Look at the acronym list at the top of the forums, for further info. A list of common ones used.
 
Thank you all for the help! My daughter will have a much easier time next year because I should be all read up on this stuff. :)
 
Tons of good info. Some bad info. A lot of amazing people.

Make sure and read up on official sources, on .edu sites. And official SA social media sites (linked at the bottom of .edu sites).

Welcome….it’s addictive here!!
 
Not directly addressing the OP, but does anyone know if Space Force will have the same high color blindness standards as the Air Force? I know the Army's low exposure to nav lights and buoys has them less concerned than other services, for example, so there's some precedent for various levels of rigor. Are there aids to navigation in space I haven't considered?
 
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