Waiver Insight

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Treyaircraft

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Mar 3, 2022
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17
Good evening, I recently received word from USNA that I was being offered an LOA for the upcoming class under the condition that I am deemed medically qualified. All my files have been submitted and I am now under waiver review for two disqualifications:

The first being the dislocation of my patella over a year ago which required arthroscopic surgery and some minor repairs to my MPFL. I have since fully recovered and have regained 100% mobility and stability back.

The second is that I have trace to low mild aortic insufficiency which basically means a small amount of blood leaks backwards when my heart beats. This comes with no structural abnormalities to my heart or valve. I have never had any symptoms of this and it was only found coincidentally after I was taken for a free EKG at a local center. I have been told by my cardiologist that I have absolutely no cardiac restrictions. The thing is though that I can’t seem to find any details on this other than that anything above trace is a DQ by DoDMERB. Does anyone happen to have any insight into how such a condition is handled by the waiver review board? I know there is know way to know what their decision will be for sure but it bugs me being that I have difficulty finding any similar cases in the past regardless of a successful waiver or not.
 
If you’d like, you may send me an email: lawrence.e.mullen.civ@mail.mil; provide complete name and last 4 SSN; provide the text of your posting above to YOUR email. The subject line of the email should be “Treyaircraft- SAF =Waiver insight.“ Do NOT embed links in your email as I will not be able to view those.:wiggle:
 
Our honor and privilege to serve:wiggle:
 
Treyaircraft said:
Good evening, I recently received word from USNA that I was being offered an LOA for the upcoming class under the condition that I am deemed medically qualified. All my files have been submitted and I am now under waiver review for two disqualifications:

The first being the dislocation of my patella over a year ago which required arthroscopic surgery and some minor repairs to my MPFL. I have since fully recovered and have regained 100% mobility and stability back.

The second is that I have trace to low mild aortic insufficiency which basically means a small amount of blood leaks backwards when my heart beats. This comes with no structural abnormalities to my heart or valve. I have never had any symptoms of this and it was only found coincidentally after I was taken for a free EKG at a local center. I have been told by my cardiologist that I have absolutely no cardiac restrictions. The thing is though that I can’t seem to find any details on this other than that anything above trace is a DQ by DoDMERB. Does anyone happen to have any insight into how such a condition is handled by the waiver review board? I know there is know way to know what their decision will be for sure but it bugs me being that I have difficulty finding any similar cases in the past regardless of a successful waiver or not.
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@Treyaircraft - Congrats on the LOA. You said you received word from USNA... does that mean your portal updated or did you actually get a call from someone in admissions? Thanks for your help understanding how this works.
 
Bux533 said:
@Treyaircraft - Congrats on the LOA. You said you received word from USNA... does that mean your portal updated or did you actually get a call from someone in admissions? Thanks for your help understanding how this works.
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So I was initially notified through an email from the office of admissions that basically stated that I would be guaranteed an offer of appointment as long as I satisfy the remaining requirements, mine being the need for a medical waiver. It then eventually updated in the portal under STATUS to say “USNA - Conditional Offer (LOA).” I never received a call from admissions though.
 
Update:

I just found out today that my waivers were granted by USNA. I wanted to post this as a reference in case anyone else is dealing with a similar situation in the future; I know I personally could find little on the valvular condition and how it is typically handled.

In addition, thank you Mr. Mullen for all of the assistance you provided me throughout this unfamiliar process. I truly appreciate all you do.
 
Our honor and privilege to serve:wiggle:
 
Treyaircraft said:
Update:

I just found out today that my waivers were granted by USNA. I wanted to post this as a reference in case anyone else is dealing with a similar situation in the future; I know I personally could find little on the valvular condition and how it is typically handled.

In addition, thank you Mr. Mullen for all of the assistance you provided me throughout this unfamiliar process. I truly appreciate all you do.
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@Treyaircraft - Congrats on USNA and waiver. DS, who received NROTC scholarship, just learned he as mild aortic insufficiency. Any advice on what info you had to provide that helped you get waiver. Thanks.
 
SJBRX said:
@Treyaircraft - Congrats on USNA and waiver. DS, who received NROTC scholarship, just learned he as mild aortic insufficiency. Any advice on what info you had to provide that helped you get waiver. Thanks.
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Of course! Primarily, I provided the full in-depth reports from the two visits to my cardiologist, initial and check-up, which were two years apart. They contained the results to the tests he performed, including both echocardiogram and electrocardiogram, as well as his determined findings. He included at the end of each report a short but detailed assessment stating the highlights of what was found (Ex. Evidence of trace to mild aortic insufficiency, no evidence of atrial septal defect or right heart dilation, structural normality of the heart, etc.) along with a plan for the future stating no cardiac restrictions or need for any medications. That was what I had for the definitive medical evaluation by my cardiologist. I also asked him to write a short addendum to be submitted reconfirming that there are no cardiac restrictions and that the condition will not affect my ability to serve in anyway.

Additionally, I submitted a letter written by my pediatrician which included his professional opinion on the issue as well as one I had written myself in which I made clear that I have never felt any side effects when participating in physical activity. However, I am not sure if these were taken into account in the final determination as, from what I've read, they typically make the decision based on the clear medical evidence provided and evaluation from the medical professional that specializes in the given condition.

Having these must have been enough for the team to come to a conclusion as, once the waiver request was initiated, I was never asked to submit any AMIs; it should be noted though that everyone's case is inherently different. You will also be dealing with a separate waiver authority being that it is for NROTC. Mr. Mullen may also be able to assist you through everything as he knows the whole medical process very well.

I hope this helps a little and that everything works out in the long run.
 
Treyaircraft said:
Good evening, I recently received word from USNA that I was being offered an LOA for the upcoming class under the condition that I am deemed medically qualified. All my files have been submitted and I am now under waiver review for two disqualifications:

The first being the dislocation of my patella over a year ago which required arthroscopic surgery and some minor repairs to my MPFL. I have since fully recovered and have regained 100% mobility and stability back.

The second is that I have trace to low mild aortic insufficiency which basically means a small amount of blood leaks backwards when my heart beats. This comes with no structural abnormalities to my heart or valve. I have never had any symptoms of this and it was only found coincidentally after I was taken for a free EKG at a local center. I have been told by my cardiologist that I have absolutely no cardiac restrictions. The thing is though that I can’t seem to find any details on this other than that anything above trace is a DQ by DoDMERB. Does anyone happen to have any insight into how such a condition is handled by the waiver review board? I know there is know way to know what their decision will be for sure but it bugs me being that I have difficulty finding any similar cases in the past regardless of a successful waiver or not.
Click to expand...
Congrats to you! Your post is extremely helpful to us because our son is in a very similar situation as you. We are all quite nervous since the national College Commitment Day of May 1st is this weekend, and we still have no answer regarding his Medical Waiver Review following his check up with the cardiologist. He applied only to USNA in addition to public universities and hasn’t accepted any of his scholarship offers in hopes of hearing from USNA. Fingers crossed that you guys will meet in Annapolis in a few weeks.
 
USAproud2026 said:
Congrats to you! Your post is extremely helpful to us because our son is in a very similar situation as you. We are all quite nervous since the national College Commitment Day of May 1st is this weekend, and we still have no answer regarding his Medical Waiver Review following his check up with the cardiologist. He applied only to USNA in addition to public universities and hasn’t accepted any of his scholarship offers in hopes of hearing from USNA. Fingers crossed that you guys will meet in Annapolis in a few weeks.
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Thank you! I am glad it possibly provided some reference as I know I could not find much myself. It is such a tantalizing process. I hope everything works out for you guys as well and for the same to ultimately come true in the end.
 
USAproud2026 said:
Congrats to you! Your post is extremely helpful to us because our son is in a very similar situation as you. We are all quite nervous since the national College Commitment Day of May 1st is this weekend, and we still have no answer regarding his Medical Waiver Review following his check up with the cardiologist. He applied only to USNA in addition to public universities and hasn’t accepted any of his scholarship offers in hopes of hearing from USNA. Fingers crossed that you guys will meet in Annapolis in a few weeks.
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@USAproud2026 - Checking to see if your son got a medical waiver for mild aortic regurgitation. Our DS who is NROTC just learned that he was denied a waiver so starting the next phase of the process.
 
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