Potential Pilot Qualified

vamom said:
Also, I think one thing was a bit confusing with all of the posting regarding the status was what the online app says vs. the Dodmerb site. For DS, online app states
Dodmerb: Qualified
but on the actual Dodmerb site it reads:
Status: Potential Pilot Qualified

I think some posters were indicating that they were PPQ and others thought that they meant that their status on the APP stated PPQ.

As far as I can tell, no one's status on the APP stated PPQ.....the "PPQ" or "PNQ" were noted on the Dodmerb site (along with some whose Dodmerb was "Q" as well.

I don't know if I've helped to clear up or to confuse, but this is where I believe the initial confusion came from. I definitely could be wrong!
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Your post clears it up totally for me. My son's USAFa portal says "Qualified". He will now go look at the actual DODMERB website to see if it says Pilot Qualified. Thanks for clearing this up! I learn something new everyday on this forum.
 
Christcorp said:
Well, if he goes to college, enrolls into ROTC; "Even without a scholarship"; then reapplies to the academy, he may get accepted. THEN, once at the academy, he'll possibly have the opportunity to have PRK surgery, and maybe his dreams of flight status won't necessarily be ended. Don't totally give up. Just means that he isn't PQ for prep. Doesn't mean he still can't reapply to the academy. While I can't promise a person will get an appointment; I can promise you that if he keeps applying and pursuing his dream, that things will work out for the best for him. But if he quits because he thinks he doesn't have a chance, then he'll never feel complete. His Pilot opportunities are completely over.
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Oh no, he won't quit! He has already received an AFROTC scholarship, accepted it and sent the deposit to the school he will be attending. This young man is very determined and he will be an officer in the Air Force! He even wrote in one of his writing samples that even if he can't fly he will be more than happy designing the aircraft for the needs of the military. It is just very disheartening that he was not accepted on the first go around. Honestly I do not know if he will reapply. There is so much time and energy involved and he was very disappointed. I can see him throwing himself into his studies and ROTC and not even looking back. I am not sure he would want to wait a year and extend out his schooling just to get his Bachelors degree. The end result is the same, but would take him 5 years to get there instead of 4 and I'm not sure it would make him any better off. He still will enter the Air Force as a 2nd Lt. He may be down, but he certainly is not out!:smile:
 
I could use some advice from the experts on the forum. Based on reading posts, I realized we needed to go all the way through the DODMERB website to get to the button that takes you to the Tricare website to get details. Son's front page of DODMERB states "Qualified". We thought that meant vision tests, etc all cleared as good. The letter from DODMERB says "Qualified." In going all the way through to Tricare website, it says "COMMISSION QUALIFIED." with the following codes down further in the page:

D257.00-Refractive error greater than -1.50 diopters in any meridian
D257.80-Substandard depth perception
D257.64-Distant visual acuity not correctable 20/20 (ComQ)
D257.40-Failure of the red lens test

I was shocked. What does this mean. Is any one of these an absolute Pilot Disqualification down the road? Which ones might be correctable with PRK? My son's dream is to at least have a "chance" of possibly becoming a pilot. Many of his decisions are based on this. He just wants to make the most informed decisions as possible and go in knowing........no shot at Pilot, but if accepted to USAFA, will then serve in another capacity in AF. I don't want him going forward not being informed of the reality.

I understand no one is guaranteed corrective surgery at USAFA. Absolutely understand that. I just don't know if one of these is totally uncorrectable and a total disqualifier.

Also, his DODMERB eye exam was done at a little clinic. Should we have the same tests down at a opthmologist's office and submit them to DODMERB?

Oh, this is so frustrating. I'm not a doctor. Anyone weigh in? Help...
 
Mattsmom2015 said:
Oh no, he won't quit! He has already received an AFROTC scholarship, accepted it and sent the deposit to the school he will be attending. This young man is very determined and he will be an officer in the Air Force! He even wrote in one of his writing samples that even if he can't fly he will be more than happy designing the aircraft for the needs of the military. It is just very disheartening that he was not accepted on the first go around. Honestly I do not know if he will reapply. There is so much time and energy involved and he was very disappointed. I can see him throwing himself into his studies and ROTC and not even looking back. I am not sure he would want to wait a year and extend out his schooling just to get his Bachelors degree. The end result is the same, but would take him 5 years to get there instead of 4 and I'm not sure it would make him any better off. He still will enter the Air Force as a 2nd Lt. He may be down, but he certainly is not out!:smile:
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Good for him. Realize one thing. Our generation did college in 4 years. Except for the academies, and some special/dedicated students, that is not the norm today. Only about 35-37% of freshman college students, coming from high school, will finish their college degree in 4 years. 65-68% of freshman college students will complete their degree within 6 years. The remaining 35% either take MORE than 6 years, or they don't finish their degree. Just saying that there are quite a few ROTC students I know first hand who took more than 4 years to get their degree. Usually they started prior to getting an ROTC scholarship. Some didn't even have an ROTC scholarship, and they went OTS after they graduated. Point is; 1 extra year of school because you go back to the academy isn't that bad. Especially if you want your best chances at being able to fly. But if he gives up on that dream in his life, then it's not really an issue. FWIW: There have actually been individuals who had 3 and 4 years of college; "Including a College Degree"; COMPLETED; and they still accepted an appointment to the academy and started another 4 years of school. best of luck. mike...
 
Tailwind Angel said:
D257.64-Distant visual acuity not correctable 20/20 (ComQ)
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This one is totally disqualifying for pilot, but it is strange that your son didn't know his vision was not correctable to 20/20. Might want to find out if this is actually the case.
 
vision questions

Tailwind Angel said:
I could use some advice from the experts on the forum. Based on reading posts, I realized we needed to go all the way through the DODMERB website to get to the button that takes you to the Tricare website to get details. Son's front page of DODMERB states "Qualified". We thought that meant vision tests, etc all cleared as good. The letter from DODMERB says "Qualified." In going all the way through to Tricare website, it says "COMMISSION QUALIFIED." with the following codes down further in the page:

D257.00-Refractive error greater than -1.50 diopters in any meridian
D257.80-Substandard depth perception
D257.64-Distant visual acuity not correctable 20/20 (ComQ)
D257.40-Failure of the red lens test

I was shocked. What does this mean. Is any one of these an absolute Pilot Disqualification down the road? Which ones might be correctable with PRK? My son's dream is to at least have a "chance" of possibly becoming a pilot. Many of his decisions are based on this. He just wants to make the most informed decisions as possible and go in knowing........no shot at Pilot, but if accepted to USAFA, will then serve in another capacity in AF. I don't want him going forward not being informed of the reality.

I understand no one is guaranteed corrective surgery at USAFA. Absolutely understand that. I just don't know if one of these is totally uncorrectable and a total disqualifier.

Also, his DODMERB eye exam was done at a little clinic. Should we have the same tests down at a opthmologist's office and submit them to DODMERB?

Oh, this is so frustrating. I'm not a doctor. Anyone weigh in? Help...
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I would go on the DODMerb website and ask the expert. Larry Mullens
 
Not good but

Thats not a good prognosis for stick actuator (pilot), BUT WAIT. I've had a blast flying in the "trunk" back seat of all our fighters and heavys. Their are tons of rated and non-rated aviation jobs that are front line airplane jobs fun and rewording. Dont let your DS tie his desire for USAFA/AFROTC plans on his medical status. He's medically qualified for commisioning, thats great. Many need a waiver just to get to that point. -1.5 diopter isnt a show stopper, not correctable to 20/20 will exclude him from some things. But when the time comes, Id redo that test with rested eyes and a military optometrist before advising my kid on an AFSC choice in the AF.
 
Tailwind Angel said:
I could use some advice from the experts on the forum. Based on reading posts, I realized we needed to go all the way through the DODMERB website to get to the button that takes you to the Tricare website to get details.
Click to expand...

Tailwind, where is the Tricare link on the DODMERB site?

Thanks
 
Thanks for all the good advice. I'm going to private message Mr. Mullen and see what we can do. Mr. Mullen has to be probably one of the nicest people I have ever know, and the most hard working. There has to be something wrong.......my son has never had a problem with his vision and has 20/20 vision. I would like to find out if he can have him retested with a military opthamologist, since his initial test was at a little clinic. Thank goodness this forum alerted me to look at this. How to get the more detailed site for DODMERB result:

https://dodmerb.tricare.osd.mil/
Log in (this is different than DOD log in user/password
They have started new cycle, so you might have to log in as "new applicant" and redo your user name/password to view your data

If you can't get in directly, you can start out by going to DODMERB:
www.dodmets.com
Click on Applicant Log In
Use social security number and password
Look to left and click on Applicant Status
When it pops up, look to upper right and it will say "For further information on your status, CLICK HERE
That takes you to the https://dodmerb.tricare.osd.mil/ site I mentioned above
 
Thank you so much for clearing that up. DD status indeed says PPQ now that she knows where to look for it. I was super confused about all the postings for PPQ vs Qualified. Thanks again.
 
Hunterjumper - I'm happy to have been of some assistance. And very happy you see that initial PPQ...smiles!
 
Tailwind Angel said:
I could use some advice from the experts on the forum. Based on reading posts, I realized we needed to go all the way through the DODMERB website to get to the button that takes you to the Tricare website to get details. Son's front page of DODMERB states "Qualified". We thought that meant vision tests, etc all cleared as good. The letter from DODMERB says "Qualified." In going all the way through to Tricare website, it says "COMMISSION QUALIFIED." with the following codes down further in the page:

D257.00-Refractive error greater than -1.50 diopters in any meridian
D257.80-Substandard depth perception
D257.64-Distant visual acuity not correctable 20/20 (ComQ)
D257.40-Failure of the red lens test

I was shocked. What does this mean. Is any one of these an absolute Pilot Disqualification down the road? Which ones might be correctable with PRK? My son's dream is to at least have a "chance" of possibly becoming a pilot. Many of his decisions are based on this. He just wants to make the most informed decisions as possible and go in knowing........no shot at Pilot, but if accepted to USAFA, will then serve in another capacity in AF. I don't want him going forward not being informed of the reality.

I understand no one is guaranteed corrective surgery at USAFA. Absolutely understand that. I just don't know if one of these is totally uncorrectable and a total disqualifier.

Also, his DODMERB eye exam was done at a little clinic. Should we have the same tests down at a opthmologist's office and submit them to DODMERB?

Oh, this is so frustrating. I'm not a doctor. Anyone weigh in? Help...
Click to expand...

Same here :( besides the refractive vision code one.
 
Well, it is not so bad. BTW, Mr. Mullen and staff came through immediately to my response for information. Yes, its true........no boo boos on report............so.........NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. Still qualified for commission. Son reapplying and not worrying whether can be a pilot or not, just wants to go to USAFA, enter AF, possibly become career AF and do his best. Also, there is a lot more eye testing and physical exams at the academy. Down the road, if admitted, and if it is determined to be in the best interest and POSSIBLE, sometimes USAFA does PRK surgery to help certain type eye situations. So, son made the decision. "I'm going for it." We'll see what happens. Gary Jr, I know there are previous threads from previous years that talk a lot about this if you want to search it out.

Take care-everyone have a nice day :)
 
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