Will these require waivers?

[narayan9]

Hey all - I was wondering if the two following conditions I have/had would initially disqualify me in the DoDMERB process and require waivers from USAFA.

1. I had self-diagnosed shin splints 6 months ago due to running long distances in non-running shoes. I fixed the issue by getting running shoes and the shin splints went away. Will this self-diagnosed problem that I reported on the questionnaire disqualify me / require a wavier?

2. I wear contacts with the powers of -1.5 and -1.75, with very slight astigmatism. The optometrist appointment requires me to not wear contacts, so I will not have 20/20 vision when they test me there. Is that something that would require a waiver?

Also, my physical appointment is in mid-January and my optometrist appointment is in late January. These are the earliest that my assigned clinics had available. Will the relatively late dates be a problem in my application process in any way?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Joonko]

Hey! Another applicant in the process. Disclaimer, I'm no expert, so take this with a grain of salt.

Firstly, regarding the appointment dates— I haven't been able to get in contact w/ DoDMERB until recently, so I also have my examination pretty "late" (in a few weeks). From what I've read, the medical examinations go until the end of winter/spring. The only thing they care about you getting in on time, is the things that you have control over (basically all other requirements). I wouldn't worry about the dates too much (complications could lengthen the process, but I'm sure it won't be too large of an issue).

There's something called the DoDI 6130.03, which basically has all the disqualifying factors/medical requirements. I honestly wouldn't read into it all that much cause there's alot, but it says as long as your astigmatism doesn't pass a diopters of ±3.00 and myopia/hyperopia exceeding ±8.00 diopters, you're fine. I personally wear prescription glasses with -2.5 and -4.0, so I wouldn't worry about it. As long as your vision is correctable to 20/20. In the forms you fill out, there's a section where you can write any notes regarding the "Yes"s that you check, so you could probably mention that you only wear contacts and that you couldn't wear them for the exam. Do you not have any glasses?

I didn't find anything about shin splints in the DoDI 6130.03, but either way I don't think it's an issue. As long as it isn't a recurrent thing (I think recurrent or frequent injuries are what worries the DoDMERB, but I'm no expert), it should be all good. If it makes you feel better, I sprained my ankle a month ago during a basketball game haha.