This is DQ Country - cataract and intraocular lens implant

When I found out thanks to SAF that my son's artificial lens in one eye was disqualifying for military accession, right as he started the summer seminar applications for the academies Christmas Eve 2018, I told him this would be a very difficult path given the unusual medical condition that would require a waiver. He agreed but said he still wanted to press on. 15 months later, we have a very happy ending. My son just received a portal change notification with an appointment to USNA. He immediately accepted. We are all thrilled, and I will admit to some waterworks on my part. I really am surprised that his dream is coming true, especially at what ended up being his number one choice academy.

Within ten minutes of hearing (my husband was at a coffee shop and had posted on social media unbeknownst to me), our neighbor was at the door literally jumping up and down before I answered it. Our phone is ringing off the wall. Our little community in central Austin, TX and beyond is so proud of my son - and I want to convey those well wishes and congratulations to all of our young sons and daughters who are willing to serve our country.

For those lurking in the future with the same medical conditions, obviously every case is different, but there is hope and you should definitely apply. The final tally was: NROTC medical waiver denied, AROTC medical waiver still in process, USAFA medical waiver denied, USMA declined to process medical waiver despite an LOE due to too much competition in the district, USNA approved waiver and appointment offered. I will update AROTC result on this thread for posterity once we hear back on that one.

Thank you so much to SAF for getting our family through this application stage with sage counsel, wit, and bacon! And thanks so much to Deputy Director, DODMERB Mr. Larry Mullen for his help in advising my son as he started this process.

P.S. Aggie friends - a little bit of me is sad he will never experience chills at the first notes of the Aggie War Hymn but this is worth it.
 
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williamsdr3 said:
When I found out thanks to SAF that my son's artificial lens in one eye was disqualifying for military accession, right as he started the summer seminar applications for the academies Christmas Eve 2018, I told him this would be a very difficult path given the unusual medical condition that would require a waiver. He agreed but said he still wanted to press on. 15 months later, we have a very happy ending. My son just received a portal change notification with an appointment to USNA. He immediately accepted. We are all thrilled, and I will admit to some waterworks on my part. I really am surprised that his dream is coming true, especially at what ended up being his number one choice academy.

Within ten minutes of hearing (my husband was at a coffee shop and had posted on social media unbeknownst to me), our neighbor was at the door literally jumping up and down before I answered it. Our phone is ringing off the wall. Our little community in central Austin, TX and beyond is so proud of my son - and I want to convey those well wishes and congratulations to all of our young sons and daughters who are willing to serve our country.

For those lurking in the future with the same medical conditions, obviously every case is different, but there is hope and you should definitely apply. The final tally was: NROTC medical waiver denied, AROTC medical waiver still in process, USAFA medical waiver denied, USMA declined to process medical waiver despite an LOE due to too much competition in the district, USNA approved waiver and appointment offered. I will update AROTC result on this thread for posterity once we hear back on that one.

Thank you so much to SAF for getting our family through this application stage with sage counsel, wit, and bacon! And thanks so much to Deputy Director, DODMERB Mr. Larry Mullen for his help in advising my son as he started this process.

P.S. Aggie friends - a little bit of me is sad he will never experience chills at the first notes of the Aggie War Hymn but this is worth it.
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Congrats! Great ending!
 
williamsdr3 said:
When I found out thanks to SAF that my son's artificial lens in one eye was disqualifying for military accession, right as he started the summer seminar applications for the academies Christmas Eve 2018, I told him this would be a very difficult path given the unusual medical condition that would require a waiver. He agreed but said he still wanted to press on. 15 months later, we have a very happy ending. My son just received a portal change notification with an appointment to USNA. He immediately accepted. We are all thrilled, and I will admit to some waterworks on my part. I really am surprised that his dream is coming true, especially at what ended up being his number one choice academy.

Within ten minutes of hearing (my husband was at a coffee shop and had posted on social media unbeknownst to me), our neighbor was at the door literally jumping up and down before I answered it. Our phone is ringing off the wall. Our little community in central Austin, TX and beyond is so proud of my son - and I want to convey those well wishes and congratulations to all of our young sons and daughters who are willing to serve our country.

For those lurking in the future with the same medical conditions, obviously every case is different, but there is hope and you should definitely apply. The final tally was: NROTC medical waiver denied, AROTC medical waiver still in process, USAFA medical waiver denied, USMA declined to process medical waiver despite an LOE due to too much competition in the district, USNA approved waiver and appointment offered. I will update AROTC result on this thread for posterity once we hear back on that one.

Thank you so much to SAF for getting our family through this application stage with sage counsel, wit, and bacon! And thanks so much to Deputy Director, DODMERB Mr. Larry Mullen for his help in advising my son as he started this process.

P.S. Aggie friends - a little bit of me is sad he will never experience chills at the first notes of the Aggie War Hymn but this is worth it.
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congratulations!!! very excited for your son!!!
 
williamsdr3 said:
P.S. Aggie friends - a little bit of me is sad he will never experience chills at the first notes of the Aggie War Hymn but this is worth it.
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DEFINITELY worth it! So happy for your outcome - one of the best stories on this forum in the time I've been active!
 
williamsdr3 said:
My son was fortunate to win a Tier 3 NROTC scholarship on the first board back in October. Unfortunately, his tough medical waiver was denied today. He is pretty disappointed as Plan B is dead though he is still in the running for AROTC (other Plan B). The paths to commissioning in any service have narrowed to USNA (med waiver approved) and possible AROTC if he gets the waiver.

For anyone tracking the timing, his NROTC scholarship was announced Oct. 30 and the medical waiver (automatically initiated for ROTC scholarship winners) was denied today Jan. 8.

I think I am ready to get off this rollercoaster. But he and I both knew given his medical situation this was going to be a tough, long road. Still stinks though.
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We found the same delay in waiver denial for NROTC. DD received National NROTC in November 2019 and waiver denial in February 2020. Seems like they don't really read the data of full recovery of DQ in question.
 
williamsdr3 said:
When I found out thanks to SAF that my son's artificial lens in one eye was disqualifying for military accession, right as he started the summer seminar applications for the academies Christmas Eve 2018, I told him this would be a very difficult path given the unusual medical condition that would require a waiver. He agreed but said he still wanted to press on. 15 months later, we have a very happy ending. My son just received a portal change notification with an appointment to USNA. He immediately accepted. We are all thrilled, and I will admit to some waterworks on my part. I really am surprised that his dream is coming true, especially at what ended up being his number one choice academy.

Within ten minutes of hearing (my husband was at a coffee shop and had posted on social media unbeknownst to me), our neighbor was at the door literally jumping up and down before I answered it. Our phone is ringing off the wall. Our little community in central Austin, TX and beyond is so proud of my son - and I want to convey those well wishes and congratulations to all of our young sons and daughters who are willing to serve our country.

For those lurking in the future with the same medical conditions, obviously every case is different, but there is hope and you should definitely apply. The final tally was: NROTC medical waiver denied, AROTC medical waiver still in process, USAFA medical waiver denied, USMA declined to process medical waiver despite an LOE due to too much competition in the district, USNA approved waiver and appointment offered. I will update AROTC result on this thread for posterity once we hear back on that one.

Thank you so much to SAF for getting our family through this application stage with sage counsel, wit, and bacon! And thanks so much to Deputy Director, DODMERB Mr. Larry Mullen for his help in advising my son as he started this process.

P.S. Aggie friends - a little bit of me is sad he will never experience chills at the first notes of the Aggie War Hymn but this is worth it.
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Congratulations on the appointment to USNA! So happy for you all and thank you for sharing all the DODMERB status information. Amazing to see how all the doors that close and the one that is swung wide open for entry! It was lots of work on your DS part and praying on yours.
 
Not that i'm playing favorites, so many awesome SAF people here but.....HOORAY to my SAF BFF @williamsdr3 !!!!!!

Congratulations to you DS, such huge milestones and hurdles through DoDMERB but he was also so well qualified and that is the other major story - he was so strong in all areas - scholar, athlete, leader....and artistic at the state/national level in music/the arts! Go Navy! Beat Army! But not Air Force!
 
williamsdr3 said:
When I found out thanks to SAF that my son's artificial lens in one eye was disqualifying for military accession, right as he started the summer seminar applications for the academies Christmas Eve 2018, I told him this would be a very difficult path given the unusual medical condition that would require a waiver. He agreed but said he still wanted to press on. 15 months later, we have a very happy ending. My son just received a portal change notification with an appointment to USNA. He immediately accepted. We are all thrilled, and I will admit to some waterworks on my part. I really am surprised that his dream is coming true, especially at what ended up being his number one choice academy.

Within ten minutes of hearing (my husband was at a coffee shop and had posted on social media unbeknownst to me), our neighbor was at the door literally jumping up and down before I answered it. Our phone is ringing off the wall. Our little community in central Austin, TX and beyond is so proud of my son - and I want to convey those well wishes and congratulations to all of our young sons and daughters who are willing to serve our country.

For those lurking in the future with the same medical conditions, obviously every case is different, but there is hope and you should definitely apply. The final tally was: NROTC medical waiver denied, AROTC medical waiver still in process, USAFA medical waiver denied, USMA declined to process medical waiver despite an LOE due to too much competition in the district, USNA approved waiver and appointment offered. I will update AROTC result on this thread for posterity once we hear back on that one.

Thank you so much to SAF for getting our family through this application stage with sage counsel, wit, and bacon! And thanks so much to Deputy Director, DODMERB Mr. Larry Mullen for his help in advising my son as he started this process.

P.S. Aggie friends - a little bit of me is sad he will never experience chills at the first notes of the Aggie War Hymn but this is worth it.
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SOOOO EXCITING!!!! Congrats!!!!
 
williamsdr3 said:
My son, as expected, just got two DQ codes for history of cataract (caused by eye injury in 2011) and history of (intraocular) lens implant (to resolve eye injury). Just posting to let folks know how quickly the process has moved so far. Though there were some missteps within USNA or DODMETS getting the process launched in a timely manner upon application file completion, I am impressed that after DODMETS exams of Oct. 1 and Oct. 8th, the medical reports (or least the later one) was received at DODMERB 10/15 and the file was reviewed with DQ finding today 10/16. Pretty fast.

He did submit along with his file both to the examining eye doctor and to DODMERB directly yesterday a letter explaning his 2011 injury, treatment, and years of all clear status from his personal ophthalmologist. Hoping it would pre-empt a DQ but it did not. May help at a later point.

I need to go read all the DODMERB stuff again in forum and on their website as far as next steps if anything we need to do before a waiver (hopefully) is requested by any academy (candidate for USMA, USNA, and USAFA) that desires to do so for him.

Does anyone think we should go ahead and submit full eye doctor records at this point to DodMERB or wait till they asked for? There shouldn't be anything else in there that would trigger an additional DQ.

He is going on his authorized (LOE) overnight visit next week to USMA if anyone has any advice on anything he should do or say on the DQ topic while at WP please advise as well.

Thank you to those who have helped and continue to help navigating this grueling and stressful process.
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My son is just now facing the struggle you describe. What’s worse is that the injury just occurred in December and he is a junior. I don’t know if he should have the cataract removed or go to medical with it? Either way his life long dreams and hard work are in the balance.
 
Cloudchaser said:
My son is just now facing the struggle you describe. What’s worse is that the injury just occurred in December and he is a junior. I don’t know if he should have the cataract removed or go to medical with it? Either way his life long dreams and hard work are in the balance.
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@Cloudchaser This is tough. Suggest you post a few more messages so you can get 5 messages and be eligible to private message me to talk more. I don't have any medical advice but it might be helpful to talk to a family that has been through this process.
 
Cloudchaser said:
My son is just now facing the struggle you describe. What’s worse is that the injury just occurred in December and he is a junior. I don’t know if he should have the cataract removed or go to medical with it? Either way his life long dreams and hard work are in the balance.
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Thank you. Will do
 
williamsdr3 said:
When I found out thanks to SAF that my son's artificial lens in one eye was disqualifying for military accession, right as he started the summer seminar applications for the academies Christmas Eve 2018, I told him this would be a very difficult path given the unusual medical condition that would require a waiver. He agreed but said he still wanted to press on. 15 months later, we have a very happy ending. My son just received a portal change notification with an appointment to USNA. He immediately accepted. We are all thrilled, and I will admit to some waterworks on my part. I really am surprised that his dream is coming true, especially at what ended up being his number one choice academy.

Within ten minutes of hearing (my husband was at a coffee shop and had posted on social media unbeknownst to me), our neighbor was at the door literally jumping up and down before I answered it. Our phone is ringing off the wall. Our little community in central Austin, TX and beyond is so proud of my son - and I want to convey those well wishes and congratulations to all of our young sons and daughters who are willing to serve our country.

For those lurking in the future with the same medical conditions, obviously every case is different, but there is hope and you should definitely apply. The final tally was: NROTC medical waiver denied, AROTC medical waiver still in process, USAFA medical waiver denied, USMA declined to process medical waiver despite an LOE due to too much competition in the district, USNA approved waiver and appointment offered. I will update AROTC result on this thread for posterity once we hear back on that one.

Thank you so much to SAF for getting our family through this application stage with sage counsel, wit, and bacon! And thanks so much to Deputy Director, DODMERB Mr. Larry Mullen for his help in advising my son as he started this process.

P.S. Aggie friends - a little bit of me is sad he will never experience chills at the first notes of the Aggie War Hymn but this is worth it.
Click to expand...

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your post has me smiling from ear to ear, sir!

Fair winds and following seas to your DS and his time in the Navy!!:groupwave:
 
Class of 2024 update of a happy story of surviving medical DQ:

My firstie at USNA was selected this Fall for Intel, his first choice, and will graduate in May having had the most transformative experience of his life. To recap, Christmas of junior year in HS he was devastated to realize he had almost no chance to join military as his artificial lens in one eye was automatic DQ. (Funny how life works - he had perfect vision until he was stabbed in the eye with a Nerf sword when he was a little boy playing). Thank God for the waiver process and Navy taking a chance on him when even the national Army and Navy ROTC scholarships he won and Air Force Academy ALL turned him down on medical grounds. He will be a restricted line officer who is not able to serve in any of the major communities (no SWO, no Marine, no Aviation, no Special Warfare) but he is thrilled with Intel and the chance to serve as a Naval officer. We are so happy he found his tribe at N*. So proud of our midshipmen and our Class of 2024!
 
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