Vision Questions for Someone Who Wants to Fly

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FuturePilot1220

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Jan 17, 2021
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Hello,

I am currently a Class of 2026 applicant for the USAFA as my number 1 because I want to fly in the future. (I personally would like to fly C-17s or B-2s!) However, this dream has brought up some questions personally. So in my family, both of my parents wear glasses due to vision issues. While currently I have 20/20 vision, I am concerned that my vision may deteriorate over my time at the Academy (assuming I receive an appointment). If my vision does deteriorate and I end up having to wear glasses, can I still fly? Are there other options, such as the Lasik eye surgery that the Academy will offer me if I would like to fly and do not have 20/20 vision?

(As for my current situation application-wise, I am a 3Q candidate with an LOE. Just waiting at the moment to see if I'll receive an appointment.)

Thank you so much and any insight is appreciated!
 
My DS is at USAFA. He doesn't have 20/20 vision, but it's not bad. He does have a glasses prescription and is pilot qualified. His eyes are not bad enough to qualify for any surgery at this point. I hope this information alleviates your fears.
 
Similar story for my DD who is at the USAFA and hopes to fly. She wears glasses and needs them to drive and see distances. She recently went through the eye exam at USAFA. During the eye exam they asked her what she hoped to fly and she said heavies. They told her that she would not need LASIK at this time to move forward through the process. They did say they would put her on the list for LASIK next year but she was low on the list because her eyes were not that bad and others needed it worst. So I am not sure if you fly heavies if you now can wear glasses if your eyes are not that bad.
 
BLUF: vision deficiencies (astigmatism, and vision worst than 20/20, etc) are very often waiverable up to FC 1/1A (fighters), often through refractive surgery (LASIK/PRK) paid for by the Air Force. However, the requirements for color vision are still fairly strict.

I always recommend getting information from the source documents, especially stuff that can be as career-altering as medical disqualifications. Attached is the Aeromedical Waiver Guide (May 4, 2021), which is the source document for all the waivers (and their requirements) that the Air Force is willing to grant. A ctrl+F of "myopia" will get you pointed in the right direction.\

I hope this helps!
 
My son is a B-52 pilot. He wears glasses. Obviously, there is a point where your eyes get so bad that you can't fly anymore. As long as your vision can be corrected to 20/20 with glasses there is no issue. Having said that, there is a limitation of how bad your eyesight can be even if the glasses fix it. As someone else mentioned, you can have laser surgery and fix your eyes and I think the AF will pay for it. As for perfect vision without glasses, I think its more of an issue for fighters than heavies. When my son went to UPT, he was giving his eyes checked over and he was told that if he made fighters, he should think of having the laser surgery done.
 
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