Recruiting problem

[ranger1775]

I am trying to enlist in the US Army. My recruiter had submitted waivers for some surgeries I had when I was younger. They got approved but he "forgot" to put in a Med form for a hernia I had repaired. I asked if he could add it and he told me that I could only submit one waiver and I was just going to have to lie about having the hernia.... I am not necessarily comfortable with this as I dont want it to be discovered and me get separated after putting in all the work.

 

[AROTC-dad]

This Forum is for those seeking an officer's commission in the military through either one of the Federal Military Academies or ROTC. Officers get medically cleared through a different process (DoDMERB) from enlisted. (MEPS).

I agree with you that you should not lie on any military documents or you will be always looking over your shoulder, but going against the recruiter may be problematic. Did you speak to a higher ranking recruiter or one from a different recruiting office?

Perhaps some prior enlisted members may have an opinion here and will offer other suggestions.

Good luck to you.

 

[kinnem]

Well, I suspect the recruiter simply doesn't want to go through the paperwork whatever that entails for him. I'm with AROTC-dad in that it's not a good idea to lie but that it could be problematic. That being said, the recruiter does have a quota to meet and he may want to go with the bird in the hand.

 

[GoCubbies]

I am trying to enlist in the US Army. My recruiter had submitted waivers for some surgeries I had when I was younger. They got approved but he "forgot" to put in a Med form for a hernia I had repaired. I asked if he could add it and he told me that I could only submit one waiver and I was just going to have to lie about having the hernia.... I am not necessarily comfortable with this as I dont want it to be discovered and me get separated after putting in all the work.

If you haven’t been to MEPS yet, then you will get to complete another form that asks for your medical history. You can provide the additional info at that time. You should have all the medical records of the hernia surgery with you though at that first MEPS visit. If you say you’ve had hernia surgery (and you should do that) and you don’t have the records, then your medical file at the MEPS will be left open. To avoid having to go back to the MEPS, have all your paperwork with you.

You’ll have to let the MEPS doctor know about it sometime. If the doctor is thorough, he/she will see the surgical scars. Laparoscopic scars are not easy to see but can be seen if a doctor is thorough.

Waivers are submitted only if you’ve been DQ’ed. Have you officially been DQ’ed yet?

 

[LurkingQuietly]

This reminds me of when my oldest son enlisted. He went to MEPS and filled out the paperwork for medical history, but we all forgot he had surgery at 8 months of age for an undescended testicle. The MEPs physician found the scar, and grilled him on why he didn't list this on the form. He wasn't even sure he had the surgery, but I think we had talked about it at some point and he told the physician he may have had this surgery. Now, I hadn't seen that scar in 20 years, and not sure what he had going on down there in the way of camouflage, but I'm not so sure I'd lie to one of these doctors.

 

[justdoit19]

This reminds me of when my oldest son enlisted. He went to MEPS and filled out the paperwork for medical history, but we all forgot he had surgery at 8 months of age for an undescended testicle. The MEPs physician found the scar, and grilled him on why he didn't list this on the form. He wasn't even sure he had the surgery, but I think we had talked about it at some point and he told the physician he may have had this surgery. Now, I hadn't seen that scar in 20 years, and not sure what he had going on down there in the way of camouflage, but I'm not so sure I'd lie to one of these doctors.

GREAT lesson here!!

 

[Heatherg21]

'in the way of camouflage'.........

 

[Day-Tripper]

Personally I think the US Armed Forces loses a lot of potential recruits and officers with their strictness. Minor medical procedures which happened when potential service members were children or even infants become massive stumbling blocks requiring huge amounts of time & mountains of paperwork to overcome. Without a doubt, many just give & move on, discouraged by bureaucracy.

What happened to the days when if you wanted to serve, you could. I personally knew Marines I served with (early-mid 1980s) who could never have gotten in today. One guy had webbed toes. One guy was color blind, in one eye. More than a few had used hard drugs (not just pot) but just lied about it when enlisting. Minor law enforcement infractions. Etc. I just read Jim Mattis' book "Call Sign Chaos" - he went to jail, TWICE, but Marine Corps let him in anyway (it was 1971) as a 2nd lieutenant. In 2019 I wonder if a teenager like Jim Mattis would be allowed to sign up as a private or at all.

 

[Old Navy BGO]

I think the US Armed Forces loses a lot of potential recruits and officers with their strictness

What happened to the days when if you wanted to serve, you could.

There is a reason , some well founded, and some may be less so, for each of the regulations. Service in the military is not a right, and military can discriminate because of physical conditions. The rationale is that dealing with individual medical conditions detracts from the mission. Are the restrictions over strict, perhaps..but better to err on the side of caution than to lose a critical crewman , platoon member, etc. at the wrong time.

The restrictions are what they are, and I would expect waivers are the granted on a supply and demand basis. When Saint General Mattis joined (Vietnam era), there weren't a whole lot of people raising their hands to be Marines , so waivers were granted and or blind eyes given. Things are actually pretty tight now , so I would expect that waivers are being granted regularly. That said, Service Academy candidates and parents shouldn't expect any loosening of standards --there is a still a large pool of strong applicants, and there is no need for waivers if you can fill the Service Academies with highly qualified candidates that are 100% mission capable.

 

[USMCGrunt]

Old Navy BGO beat me to it. The standards change over time based solely on the needs of the military. My USMC career was right there with Day-Tripper and I saw much of the same. Incoming boots (and NROTC) personnel were "coached" with a wink on how to fill out forms regarding prior drug use. Multiple Marines in my first Platoon were given the option: Jail or enlistment. I would guess only 20% of my Platoon had graduated High School. Color blindness, eyesight, and other physical standards were looser. Promotions were given as a reward for renewing your contract (rather than earned). It was all due to the post-Vietnam era).