Sleep Walking DQ

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hopefuldad

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5-Year Member
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My son received a disqualification for sleep walking after age 13. The situation is that his sister thought she saw him sleepwalking at either Christmas 2006 or over the previous summer, so we checked sleep walking. He does not have a habit of sleep walking. My wife and I have not seen him sleep walk. Admissions office said they have never heard of getting a waiver for sleep walking. He has not been to a doctor to see about this because it was a one time thing. We are going to send in a request for a waiver, but I'm looking for some thoughts on this. As always son has worked for 4 years to get into the Academies and it was very tough to get the disqualification letter.
 
Letters explaining the possible sleepwalking from the parents, daughter and your son may help. If the family physician could write a letter as well it may help.

Submit the letters to DoDMERB requesting a rebuttal of the diequalification. If DoDMERB does not remove the disqualification the letters will be sent to the waiver authorities.

Waivers have been granted for sleepwalking before, and I'm sure they will again. You need to let DoDMERB and the waiver authorities know that this has never been diagnosed, that you, the parents have never witnessed it, and that his sister is the only one who may have seen it.
 
know this is an old thread...if an applicant had slept walk around the age of 13 or slightly older, does this still result in a dq? for afa, usma, usna? thanks
 
New to all these forum, its very good. I don't want to move this thread in different direction, but if a Candidate has to leave an Academy early because of a medical condition, what financial and service obligations would she have. If she did not know of it or developed it, or did not fully disclose.
 
I agree, its two questions
1) did not know of or developed
2) did not disclose, yes, this is not honest, person should not be considering appt, but am curious as to how that is handled vs #1
 
Not sure of how "did not disclose" is handled in the long term. My understanding is that, if the issue is discovered I-Day, the candidate faces being sent home. Permanently.

DQs that occur while you're at a SA that cause you to be discharged or not to be commissioned don't, to the best of my knowledge, cause you to incur any financial obligation. In my day, there were some mids who graduated but weren't commissioned due to medical issues. They got a diploma and a "thanks very much" on their way out the door. Not sure it's still handled that way today.

I believe that, once you're at a SA and develop a medical condition, they do what they can to keep you there to graduation, but will defer to Larry or someone else on this.
 
If you look on the DoDMERB site and go through the list of medical DQ codes, you will see that there is an official DQ code for "Failure to disclose information"

https://dodmerb.tricare.osd.mil/MiscMenuItems/disqualcodes.asp
D252.00 Failure to disclose information

Contact Larry Mullen via email: Larry.Mullen@dodmerb.tma.osd.mil
Send him your name and the last 4 digits of your Social Security number and ask him your questions. He is an amazing man who really is on your side and will do everything he can to help and guide a candidate through the DoDMERB process.

If the question applies to a current/future candidate go ahead and gather complete doctor's records of the issue and any treatment/recovery history. DoDMERB (esp. Larry Mullen) will work with you. They may send the candidate for additional tests before making a final decision, but it is worth the extra stress to know you're not holding back any information that could come back to bite you.
 
Thanks for all the good info. I am not a candidate, but have a freshman with some interest down the road. A friend suggested I become familiar with all these forums. The first post here is what interested me, someone being very truthful indicating that there essentially was anecdotal evidence as to an instance of a condition (sleepwalking) that dq'd their son. I am not by any means suggesting one be dishonest, that is not at all what SA's are about. But this person perhaps answered as best they knew, probably felt better be safe than sorry on the honest side. This incident, which may or may not have been true, resulted in serious consequences. The post does not show how this was ever decided. I have glanced at the list suggested, frankly don't know 1% of them. Unless you are 100% sure of things like sleepwalking or even enuresis (could have just been infection) you have to really try to verify. Something that may have occurred years ago would be hard to verify.
 
Unless you are 100% sure of things like sleepwalking or even enuresis (could have just been infection) you have to really try to verify. Something that may have occurred years ago would be hard to verify.
Click to expand...

There is a very good reason that the SAs and DODMERB want you to disclose everything. They are not only qualifying you to attend an SA but also to serve in the military, where you will be subject to conditions that the average civilian will never face.

Something that happened once years ago could in fact recur, lead to a different medical condition, etc. in the future. You aren't in a position to make that decision.

If that condition or some related condition resurfaces, you could face not being physically qualified for commissioning or not being able to do the military job you want (e.g., pilot). Worst case, you slip through and someday that condition ends up endangering your life or the life of your shipmates/soldiers/airmen, etc.

If your condition truly is "no big deal" TO THE MILITARY then you will more than likely receive a waivern and rest easy knowing that you are fully qualified (usually) at least of the time you enter an SA. If the military considers it a big deal, better to find out now than later. It will eventually come to light and, more often than not, at a time much worse than now.

For future applicants, DO NOT LIE and don't try to play doctor or DODMERB. If you are unsure whether something in your past rates mentioning on the DODMERB, contact Larry Mullen for advice.
 
On the consequences of failure to disclose:

http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/joiningup/a/falsestatements.htm

Excerpt:
In the past three years, I've been contacted by dozens and dozens of former members of the military who were discharged or court-martialed for fraudulent enlistment (court-martials for fraudulent enlistment are rare, but they do happen). Each of these individuals wanted to know if they could somehow have their discharges upgraded. The sad answer is, probably not. The law allows a military discharge to be upgraded only in extremely limited cases.

Lying to Get Into the Military is a Felony
Let's get straight to the point. Knowingly giving false information or withholding required information on any recruiting form is a criminal offense (When the information would have made an individual ineligible to enlist, or would have required a waiver to enlist). It's not a misdemenor, it's not the same as getting a speeding ticket. It's a felony offense, punishable by a $10,000 fine and three years in prison. If you lie to get into the military, you are committing a felony. It's that simple. If you get away with it long enough to actually enlist, and are caught later, it's also a "military offense" resulting in a dishonorable discharge.
 
All great posts, 100% spot on. We will keep this in mind. As it seems the thing to do would be to answer yes to something like sleepwalking or enuresis, if you believe it has happened for the right reasons listed. Does anyone have any idea what the likelihood is of a waiver being granted. As I understand it these two specific examples result in a DQ. Reason I ask is I don't know of what can be done the next couple of years that would increase chance of a waiver. We are quite a bit away from even a summer application. Should we focus completely on a different path that does not include SA or ROTC for that matter (non service) as the chance of a waiver for one of these after age 13 questions is quite low. We know SA, ROTC, Service not for everyone. If there is a reasonable chance of a waiver we can continue to possible plan for this path. But answering yes to these at age 14 won't change at age 18. I will also try to reach out to LM.
 
Ask Larry Mullen. His contact info is on a sticky at the top of this board.
 
Oooh I was following this thread for a bit, and usna1985, you make it sound so scary! Its scary to digest what you wrote
 
That was neither the intent nor what was stated. "Scary" is NOT part of the process. It is incumbent on applicants to be honest, expeditious, and complete. In turn, DoDMERB has the same responsibilities:thumb:
 
Re: waiver for sleepwalking: if you are a sleepwalker, how can you serve in the navy? You cannot. However, you could serve Army. I know a cadet who thought he wanted Navy...was DQ'd for sleepwalking...applied the next year for WP and is a very happy, successful cadet. So, like many cases, the answer is "it depends." Please remember none of our anecdotal stories mean squat: Larry Mullen's posts, on the other hand, should be treated as gospel here...we report what we've seen...he reports the actual facts/truth in the process.
 
Sleepwalking discovered after R-Day can also lead to separation. I've heard rumor of a swab who went missing in the summer and was found sleeping on the ground outside of Chase Hall with no recollection of leaving the barracks. The swab was summarily disenrolled.
 
Chockstock said:
Oooh I was following this thread for a bit, and usna1985, you make it sound so scary! Its scary to digest what you wrote
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to sound "scary," but I did want to make clear that there are reasons why DODMERB asks certain things and why you should be completely honest. You may decide that one bout of sleepwalking years ago isn't important and that, if you don't report it to DODMERB, no one will ever find out. What I want to point out is that logic is stupid and dangerous for many reasons.

If you're unsure whether something in your past is signficant, don't assume it isn't and that, if you don't report it, you'll be medically qualified, no one will be the wiser, and all will be well. That may or may not be the case and doing this could have serious and unexpected consequences.

Because you have the wonderful services of Larry Mullen, your best bet is to contact him about your specific situation. He can tell you whether it is reportable and what, if anything, you will need to do to follow up on that issue. MUCH BETTER to have it resolved in this way.
 
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