quick question- contracted afrotc cadet needing surgery

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mrdanneh

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Sep 21, 2021
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Hello! I have some questions regarding a medical thing that came up and my options.

Basically, I developed a condition that is DoDMERB disqualifying over the summer. I have an option to have it surgically taken care of, but I'll only be qualified on the DoDMERB side 6 months post op. I am commissioning in May, so operation would need to be NLT 01 Nov. I am contracted though, does DoDMERB even care about my med stuff anymore? I haven't officially reported anything because I haven't scheduled surgery, I am scared that reporting something that never needed to be reported would jeopardize my commission.

This leads me to my follow-up question, I want to go up for a rated position from the supp board (if there is one), and I am worried that this will come up at IFC if I get to go (currently awarded a non-rated AFSC I am not over the moon about). The condition is small, it is basically a cyst that keeps filling up after getting drained. I can deal with it until commissioning, but will it come back and bite me if I don't get it operated on? I am worried that if I go to IFC that regardless of whether I get the operation they won't like what they find. But do they have any reason to know? Would they even find it if I don't say anything? I don't want to report anything I don't need to report. Would appreciate any advice, thank you.
 
mrdanneh said:
Hello! I have some questions regarding a medical thing that came up and my options.

Basically, I developed a condition that is DoDMERB disqualifying over the summer. I have an option to have it surgically taken care of, but I'll only be qualified on the DoDMERB side 6 months post op. I am commissioning in May, so operation would need to be NLT 01 Nov. I am contracted though, does DoDMERB even care about my med stuff anymore? I haven't officially reported anything because I haven't scheduled surgery, I am scared that reporting something that never needed to be reported would jeopardize my commission.

This leads me to my follow-up question, I want to go up for a rated position from the supp board (if there is one), and I am worried that this will come up at IFC if I get to go (currently awarded a non-rated AFSC I am not over the moon about). The condition is small, it is basically a cyst that keeps filling up after getting drained. I can deal with it until commissioning, but will it come back and bite me if I don't get it operated on? I am worried that if I go to IFC that regardless of whether I get the operation they won't like what they find. But do they have any reason to know? Would they even find it if I don't say anything? I don't want to report anything I don't need to report. Would appreciate any advice, thank you.
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You’re already contracted, so DoDMERB doesn’t care anymore about any conditions you’ve developed since contracting.

At this point, it’s between you and the USAF, specifically AFROTC.
 
Report what to whom? Has your cadre given your class guidelines on what types of medical issues you are supposed to report to them? Obviously you don't need to be reporting every cold you have, but are there reporting guidelines for more serious issues? (And honestly I'm not sure how serious a cyst is considered, but I'm not a med professional.)

As with many things military related, you must always be honest and report things you are required to report. But avoid needless overreporting. Finally, do you undergo a pre-commissioning physical? If so, you might look into what goes into that.
 
This is definitely something that you should:
1. Report to your cadre
2. Discuss with them any implications of the various approaches to addressing this.
I would add that Navy, at least, requires a pre-commissioning physical,. If AFROTC is the same (and I would assume it is) then any issue would come up then. Best to be proactive. Just one man's two cents.
 
kinnem said:
This is definitely something that you should:
1. Report to your cadre
2. Discuss with them any implications of the various approaches to addressing this.
I would add that Navy, at least, requires a pre-commissioning physical,. If AFROTC is the same (and I would assume it is) then any issue would come up then. Best to be proactive. Just one man's two cents.
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Thanks for advice! Honesty is always the number 1 priority when it comes to my future here in the Air Force. I did some more digging and found that if I were to go to a flight physical the issue would need to be resolved surgically, otherwise it isn't good to go. I have already spoken with my cadre, just wanted another opinion because they are really busy and I want to get on this ASAP. They are looking into second and third order effects with me before I go with an option that would require me to report it. Thank you all for the help :)
 
mrdanneh said:
Thanks for advice! Honesty is always the number 1 priority when it comes to my future here in the Air Force. I did some more digging and found that if I were to go to a flight physical the issue would need to be resolved surgically, otherwise it isn't good to go. I have already spoken with my cadre, just wanted another opinion because they are really busy and I want to get on this ASAP. They are looking into second and third order effects with me before I go with an option that would require me to report it. Thank you all for the help :)
Click to expand...
Well done!
 
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