USCGA Waiver Authority?

[BearNecessity]

Hi -- DS was conditionally appointed but is awaiting a waiver. He sent AMI in January. I'm seeing up to 6 months to get a waiver on the DODMERB forum (!!). OMG. But I thought waivers were done by the individual branches. Can anyone clarify on that? Anyone with any experience specifically with the USCGA WA and how quick it tends to turn around waiver requests? He has several, but they're all for kind of stupid things that aren't ongoing.

 

[Capt MJ]

Hi -- DS was conditionally appointed but is awaiting a waiver. He sent AMI in January. I'm seeing up to 6 months to get a waiver on the DODMERB forum (!!). OMG. But I thought waivers were done by the individual branches. Can anyone clarify on that? Anyone with any experience specifically with the USCGA WA and how quick it tends to turn around waiver requests? He has several, but they're all for kind of stupid things that aren't ongoing.

DoDMERB is the information clearinghouse, as well as the authority that runs the medical evaluation process to determine whether a candidate meets/does not meet the military accession standard (Q/DQ). The waiver authorities reside with the service but use DoDMERB to pass/request info.

If your son hasn’t yet read the left-side menu items on the DoDMERB home page, there is good process info there.

DoD Website Consent

Each case is evaluated on its individual merits, per waiver policy and precedent for a DQ. They don’t rush it.

DoDMERB processes can run into May and sometimes June. Most do not, but they are still dealing with the impact of the website outage this cycle.

A conditional appointment is a good place to be. One hurdle left.

 

[FC_Dad]

My DS was also conditionally appointed and also needed a waiver. He was given the USCGA DoDMERMB medical liason's contact information by his USCGA admissions officer. DS sent the AMI information directly to the liason at first but then the DoDMERB site went active again and they asked DS to resend the information to the DoDMERB portal. DS was just granted his waiver from the USCGA the other week. If possible I would have your DS reach out to their admissions officer for the USCGA DoDMERB liason's contact info. The USCGA DoDMERB liason was extremely helpful and responsive (the entire USCGA admissions team has been extremely helpful and responsive).

 

[BearNecessity]

Thank you for that. He's never quite sure whether he should sit back and be patient or be proactive (which he sees as nagging). But with it being March already and needing to have the waiver in hand by May 15...it's a bit nerve-wracking. Knowing what he should ask for is helpful. He's already sent all his AMI to DoDMERB. How did your son find out about the waiver being granted? --email? or did he keep checking the portal? TIA.

 

[castlema924]

Thank you for that. He's never quite sure whether he should sit back and be patient or be proactive (which he sees as nagging). But with it being March already and needing to have the waiver in hand by May 15...it's a bit nerve-wracking. Knowing what he should ask for is helpful. He's already sent all his AMI to DoDMERB. How did your son find out about the waiver being granted? --email? or did he keep checking the portal? TIA.

Similar situation for me. Medically disqualified for an elbow injury that happened 8 years ago. An AMI was never requested for me due to the nature of the injury and the lack of residual effects, but I was disqualified in December and got my waiver in February. I received a very confusingly worded email that never explicitly said I got a waiver, but the attached letter had the words saying that I got a waiver hidden deep inside of it. They’re running a little behind because of the DoDMERB shutdown in the fall. I would recommend not following up with the waiver authority from my experience though. My situation was very simple, and when I emailed them for a follow up I received a very curt reply. They’re very busy and I’d say it’s best to just let them work

 

[ProudMom7]

If he already has the conditional appointment, then it is up to USCGA to decide whether to waive him. They are obviously interested in him since they've given him the conditional appointment. DODMERB is no longer part of the equation except that any requested documents would be sent to them. When my daughter received her waiver (3 years ago), she received it in email. It took a little longer to show up in the portal. I agree that your son should go ahead and reach out. I believe Shannon Castineira (Shannon.E.Castineira@uscga.edu) is still the medical waiver liaison so he could also reach out to her.

 

[FC_Dad]

For my DS, the DoDMERB liason emailed him indicating the waiver was granted and then then he got an email from the Deputy Director of Admissions indicating an updated acceptance letter in Bears Den to reflect that the acceptance was full. DoDMERB then a day or 2 later reflected the waiver granted although no email/indication came from the site itself. I would definitely recommend reaching out to USCGA directly, everbody my DS dealt with was extremely nice and helpful. Interaction with DoDMERB has been curt and not particularly helpful in the process but USCGA definitely was.

 

[BearNecessity]

Thanks, all!

 

[thechrbru]

I was DQ back in Mid January, sitting with a conditional appointment. As far I as know, I was "in the final stages of the process" for my waiver until my medical information had to be sent back around late February due to AMIs I sent in.

 

[23B-SML]

My son just received the letter in Bear's Den that said he received a conditional appointment and they have already begun the process of reviewing him for a medical waiver. I am encouraging him to email his AO tomorrow, but he's not sure what to say.

 

[FC_Dad]

I would recommend they ask the AO for USCGA's DoDMERB medical liason contact to get feedback on what information might be required in support of the waiver to get a head start on collecting it or something to that effect. That's basically what my DS did.