Pending Waiver Review by USAFA

AFhopeful1197

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Feb 12, 2018
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Hello all,
I am new to this forum. I am also overwhelmed by the process of my DS applying to USAFA.

Despite feeling excited about receiving 2 nominations to USAFA a couple of weeks ago (one senatorial, one congressional), today my DS sees that his DODMERB portal changed status from "remedials requested" to "pending waiver submission/review". This is regarding a knee issue he had 2 years ago and again a year ago. No surgery, resolved spontaneously each time. Avid runner, varsity XC and track, captain, league all star, 3 seasons per year of running plus summer training. Has been running 50+ miles per week with no recurrence of knee pain. This activity/current status was all explained by my DS in a letter to DODMERB, as part of the remedials requested. (They wanted him to send a letter stating the extent of his participation in sports/recreation in the past year.)

So my questions are:
1. How long can we expect it to take to find out if USAFA requests a waiver?
2. Plan B is AFROTC in college (not yet decided which college yet). Does AFROTC ask for waiver on every case or only certain ones? And if so, when would that take place? (He applied for AFROTC scholarship but has not been granted one as of yet. I know that these are super competitive).
3. Do you recommend DS contact his ALO now? Or wait to see if a waiver is requested by AFA?
4. Also, would it be prudent to go back to knee doctor NOW and have repeat exam and get a letter from him regarding current status, and in turn submit to DODMERB (Even though they did not request this?). Or do they prefer receiving info only if they ask for it.
5. As it is getting close to the mid march timeframe when appointments are offered, do you think that there is enough time for a waiver to be requested and sorted out to have a "Granted" appear, therefore making an appointment still possible?

Thank you for any info!
Such a long process this has been, and this seems like another long wait ahead of us. sigh...
 
The best advice is to just wait for guidance from the Academy. The Academy makes the determination to request a waiver depending on how competitive your son is. If he is sitting on the top 1-3 on the nomination slate then the process will start. If he is down around 7 or 8 they will probably not initiate the waiver. I have seen them granted in a few days and I have seen ROTC take 9 months with everything in between.

DoDMERB does the evaluation against the commissioning guidelines but each commissioning source is responsible for granting a waiver. If he does not get an appointment and wins an ROTC scholarship, he will go through a similar process.
 
DS is in almost exactly the same situation. Varsity XC and track distance runner, team captain, etc. Had a foot injury last year that required a remedial. Had a letter from the ortho who treated him as well as the athletic questionnaire. His portal status was changed on a Tuesday to "pending waiver submission/review." On Friday he had a notice in his USAFA portal that they were requesting a waiver on his behalf. It has only been 2 weeks since the DQ so we have no idea how long to wait for the waiver decision but were pleased that the waiver request came so quickly.
 
Thanks for the info. Glad we're not alone! Hope my DS get notified that a waiver is requested. It's nice to know it was fairly quick for you. Fingers crossed they get back to you soon with waiver granted for your DS.

We'll just have to be patient, I guess!
 
One more question:. Is it normal that today his AFA portal changed to "Disqualified" at the same time that the dodmerb portal changed from "remedials requested" to "Pending waiver submission/review"?
 
My son was in a similar situation last year and was granted a waiver for a non-issue past knee issue. My recollection is that as soon as DoDMERB DQed him, his portal changed to "Disqualified" until his waiver was approved.

At the time we were told (not sure how true this is but it made my DS feel a bit better after to horror of seeing "Disqualified" on his portal) that the fact that USAFA requested a waiver was a good thing because they will only request a waiver if they deem you to be a competitive candidate. My son received his appointment during the March 15th wave.
 
Thanks for the replies. Fingers crossed!
My son was in a similar situation last year and was granted a waiver for a non-issue past knee issue. My recollection is that as soon as DoDMERB DQed him, his portal changed to "Disqualified" until his waiver was approved.

At the time we were told (not sure how true this is but it made my DS feel a bit better after to horror of seeing "Disqualified" on his portal) that the fact that USAFA requested a waiver was a good thing because they will only request a waiver if they deem you to be a competitive candidate. My son received his appointment during the March 15th wave.
 
Thanks for the replies. Fingers crossed!
My son was in a similar situation last year and was granted a waiver for a non-issue past knee issue. My recollection is that as soon as DoDMERB DQed him, his portal changed to "Disqualified" until his waiver was approved.

At the time we were told (not sure how true this is but it made my DS feel a bit better after to horror of seeing "Disqualified" on his portal) that the fact that USAFA requested a waiver was a good thing because they will only request a waiver if they deem you to be a competitive candidate. My son received his appointment during the March 15th wave.
 
Thanks for the replies. Fingers crossed!
My son was in a similar situation last year and was granted a waiver for a non-issue past knee issue. My recollection is that as soon as DoDMERB DQed him, his portal changed to "Disqualified" until his waiver was approved.

At the time we were told (not sure how true this is but it made my DS feel a bit better after to horror of seeing "Disqualified" on his portal) that the fact that USAFA requested a waiver was a good thing because they will only request a waiver if they deem you to be a competitive candidate. My son received his appointment during the March 15th wave.
My DS received his waiver within about 2-3 days from AFA. He has two nominations there... still awaiting the news... praying it’s good! What an incredible experience just going through this process. I have always respected the people serving in our military but my respect has gone to a whole new level after all of the amazing people we’ve met during this process!! Prayers and congrats for all of you as we all wait... as anyone this far in the process obviously has amazing kids!!!
 
DS rec’d his DQ from DoDMERB at the end of January. Within a few days, AF posted in his portal they are seeking a waiver. DS was upset at seeing the DQ but I tried to explain it was pretty expected bc if shoulder surgery in July. He reached out to WP & AF via email to his admissions counselor to follow up. Unfortunately WP is not pursuing a waiver (at this point)- so DS feels twe should be coming soon. He was thrilled to see in his portal this morning he rec’d waiver from AF!! He’s excited but nervous bc he thinks a kid at school rec’d AF appointment. I tried to tell him so many of the wise words I wisdom I have found here: 1) worry about the things you can control 2) you never know how the appointments will get charged to the MOCs. Trying to point out the positive! Fingers crossed & praying for all those also waiting.
 
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