MikeJ Posted December 28, 2000 Share Posted December 28, 2000 Hi all, I haven't been to this forum in months (been busy at college) but last time I was here I remember there were a lot of former and active military personnel. Anyways, my question is, do any of you have experience with overturning a permanent medical disqual? I want to join the Marine Corps, but when I took my physical in June, they told me my eyesight was too bad and I've have to get waivers even though my vision is 20/20 with glasses or contacts. I got all the paperwork done and submitted, but the waiver was not granted. This is basically total BS because another applicant who has worse vision than I do was given waivers. Anyways, the recruiters have basically written me off by now, but I don't want to give up. I have gotten in touch with my congressman's office, but who knows if that will do any good. If any of you vets out there have any advice of have dealt with this before, I would really appreciate any help you could give me. Thanks -Mike Juscyk Semper Fi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StellarRat Posted December 28, 2000 Share Posted December 28, 2000 I've heard that if you have the laser eye surgery they'll consider your eyesight the same as someone with normal good vision (provided the surgery gives you acceptable vision.) But, I have no official confirmation of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Commissar Posted December 28, 2000 Share Posted December 28, 2000 How much does that laser eye surgery cost now-a-days? Reading late at night with a single dim lamp and the PC have collectively ruined my vision. I hope by the time I am eligible to apply to the armed forces (another 2 years), that laser surgery won't cost more then a grand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT Posted December 28, 2000 Share Posted December 28, 2000 I had my eyes done for $1600, but that was around 5 years ago. Nowadays the procedure is better, safer, but should run only slightly higher. They are using a laser procedure now. I can highly recommend getting it done. I went from 20/400 to 20/20 literally overnight. It was amazing not having to look for my glasses the very first thing in the morning. MikeT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted December 28, 2000 Share Posted December 28, 2000 Mike - I have no experience with recruiting problems, but I'll offer my generic advice anyway... Are you enlisting or are you applying for a commission ? I'm not sure if there are variations on the physical criteria between enlistees and officer candidates. Did you get any specifics on why your waiver wasn't granted (this usually isn't given to the applicant) ? Is your vision the only thing that you're attempting to get a waiver for ? I don't know how effective this may be, but you may want to resubmit you application for the waiver. It's quite possible that a different medical officer looked at the waivers - and for God Knows Why - one decided to approve the other applicant's waiver; while yours didn't go through. Although the Corps is the only service that isn't having recruiting problems right now, the Recruiters should be actively pursuing every potential recruit (they have quotas, which if they don't meet gives them bad reviews). If you're enlisting - talk to your recruiter and start moving up the chain of command for your recruiting area. If you can present your case and the discrepancies you've witnessed in the granting of waivers (though a specific comparison still won't justify your case for the medical waiver) you may convince the OIC of the medical reviewers to have your waiver re-examined under some more watchful eyes. It's a long shot (bureaucracies are notoriously impenetratable once a piece of paper has been approved or disqualified), but you may have to demonstrate to your recruiter and his NCOIC/OIC just how much you want to be a Marine to get them to take more serious action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlichtingen Posted December 29, 2000 Share Posted December 29, 2000 As a former Marine, I'll chime in... recruiters are A--holes! Go over their head. Head over to http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/ind.nsf/career , there you should find the contact info you need. [This message has been edited by Berlichtingen (edited 12-28-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooper Posted December 29, 2000 Share Posted December 29, 2000 They say you can get a waiver for 'most anything these days. They're very short of staff, after all. Depends on what part of the branch you want to go into, I guess. I have a very, very similar problem. I was a cavalryman in Ireland, and wanted to join an Armor unit here in the US. Unfortunately, I'm partially colour-blind. Someone has decreed that one must be totally colour-capable in order to tank. Same for 19D, Cav Scout. (Which I think is ridiculous, but anyway). So, off I go to MEPS, and pass everything except the colour test. Get out, and the recruiter tells me 'sorry mate, I have to check the boxes, and whilst we could waive the height requirement (I'm 6'5, official tanker height is 6'1) the eyesight's a problem. The only slot we have for you in this unit is as a signalman.' Fortunately, I at least passed the Red/Green test, so combined with my degree, I'm instead going straight from Basic to OCS. Hopefully, I'll be able to weasel my way into tanks once I'm in the system. (I'm told they only tend to check thoroughly at initial entry) If not.. well, we'll see what happens. About all I can say is that if you give up trying, you'll never get in. NTM ------------------ The difference between infantrymen and cavalrymen is that cavalrymen get to die faster, for we ride into battle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchy Posted December 29, 2000 Share Posted December 29, 2000 Well I was able to join with the eyesight I had. Believe me it was not the best. This was in 1975. I agree with Berlichtingen, go over the recruiters head and go the site mentioned in his post. ------------------ Webmaster http://www.trailblazersww2.org http://www.vmfa251.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MantaRay Posted December 29, 2000 Share Posted December 29, 2000 Hi Mike, I wasn't in the Marines, but I did actually join them at first, until the recruiter got busted for lying his ass off. I had to get out via my local Senator (A little known Republican named John McCain ) I would urge you to write a letter and tell your local Senator the situation, and maybe you will have a chance to get something done in case going over your recruiters head doesn't work. And the Army needs a few good men, and the Navy will let anyone in, so never fear. =} Ray Proud member of the US Army for 10 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Crow Posted December 29, 2000 Share Posted December 29, 2000 Well the best thing to do is as stated above; go over the recruiters head or get your eyes fixed. The services do corrective laser eye surgery now so it shouldn't be a problem to get them corrected and reapply that is unless you're trying to get into some MOS that has some stringent requirements on corrected vision. Might I ask why you've chosen the Corps.? Is the specialty you're interested in only provided by the Corps.? The reason I ask this is because I had an uncle who did 30 years in the Corps and right before I went off to Navy bootcamp he told me that I should have gone the Airforce route. But I thought like everyone else does, "Airforce? What a bunch of wimps!" That juvenile pride thing wore off after some years and then it occurred to me as to why he said that.......... Quality of Life. Yeah it was fun hoppin' from port to port, doggin' chicks, and entertaining "the adventure" but as you get older your quality of life becomes your primary concern, especially if you've got a wife and a couple kids in tow. In the past 19 years I've spent half my time ridin' amphibs; I've seen a buttload of Marines go across my brow and they all say the same thing, "How do you guys do this for 3 to 4 years at a whack?" I can see why they say that; 'cause for a 6 months they're packed in like rats. Sailors live in "luxury" as compared to the berthing accomodations for Marines. On the shore side the Airforce has much better housing and base facilities than the Navy or Marines. IMHO, if you just want to experience the life for a few years, go for it, but if you're lookin' at the long haul I'd think twice about the Corps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Schulz Posted December 29, 2000 Share Posted December 29, 2000 Info on me: SSgt U.S. Air Force just past my 8th year as a Firefighter. I can tell you the military does not do vision correction surgury. I have worn glasses since I was in 2nd grade and there is nothing more that i hate in this world is having poor vision. From the inside looking out I can tell you honestly that if you are looking to make the military a career there is no better branch than the Air Force. I am by no means Gung Ho, but as far as making a life for yourself and having a future there is no comparison. The living conditions are fantastic, every person is given there own room, that's right there are no longer roommates in the Air Force, the pay is by far much better, travel is easy, and training for future occupations is outstanding. If you are dead set on The Corp, more power to you, and I would be more than happy to assist you in making a transition. I have a close personnel friend who is a recruiter and also know an X firefighter in the area here in Washington who is now a recruiter who would be happy to help you out. Let me know. SSgt Kevin Schulz USAF, Fairchild AFB WA firedogger@hotmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Schulz Posted December 29, 2000 Share Posted December 29, 2000 Info on me: SSgt U.S. Air Force just past my 8th year as a Firefighter. I can tell you the military does not do vision correction surgury. I have worn glasses since I was in 2nd grade and there is nothing more that i hate in this world is having poor vision. From the inside looking out I can tell you honestly that if you are looking to make the military a career there is no better branch than the Air Force. I am by no means Gung Ho, but as far as making a life for yourself and having a future there is no comparison. The living conditions are fantastic, every person is given there own room, that's right there are no longer roommates in the Air Force, the pay is by far much better, travel is easy, and training for future occupations is outstanding. If you are dead set on The Corp, more power to you, and I would be more than happy to assist you in making a transition. I have a close personnel friend who is a recruiter and also know an X firefighter in the area here in Washington who is now a recruiter who would be happy to help you out. Let me know. SSgt Kevin Schulz USAF, Fairchild AFB WA firedogger@hotmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TownsendVol Posted December 29, 2000 Share Posted December 29, 2000 Sorry man, I was in the US Army but didnt have any experience with this. I would call a recruiter and ask them (if you think you can trust them) or call someone at your local reserve station. God Bless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooleen Posted December 29, 2000 Share Posted December 29, 2000 I got booted from the CG for a skin thing similar to excema. The CG is under the DOT, but in times of war it is under the DOD, and that is where this rule stemmed from. Consequently there was one Medal of Honor given to a duck in WW2, I beleive in the PTO. My recruiter was an ahole also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BloodyBucket Posted December 29, 2000 Share Posted December 29, 2000 I have two decades in with the USMC, and first let me congratulate you on your desire to be one of us. Next, you are still a civilian, so go over the recruiter's head. Your congressman is a good start. Try the link earlier in the thread. DO NOT get laser eye surgery. Write to your senators, talk to other recruiters from a different recruiting station. If you want to be a Marine, you have to get used to the idea of NEVER quitting. Good luck. ------------------ "Roll on" [This message has been edited by BloodyBucket (edited 12-29-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted December 29, 2000 Share Posted December 29, 2000 The eye correction surgery is one way Another is to join a reserve or NG unit and volunteer for active service once you have 6 months under you belt. Note: Depending on the level of your disability you might be a danger to yourself or others. Question, at night can you tell the color of a flashlight lens at 10 meters if it has a red or green lens on? If you cannot avoid combat arms and do good service in one of the support arms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeJ Posted December 31, 2000 Author Share Posted December 31, 2000 Wow, I was expecting maybe 3 or 4 replies but not 15! Thanks a lot for all your responses, they've give me some ideas, plus hope that just maybe I can beat this thing even though all the recruiters have given up. You're right about them being aholes though, and the really sad thing is that compared to the Army guys, the Marine ones are really trustworthy! Anyways, thanks again, I'll post if I have any more questions for you all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I/O Error Posted January 1, 2001 Share Posted January 1, 2001 WOOOOOW!!! Hold up a second, I just thought I should point something out. Laser Eye Surgery, although it is the wave of the future and VERY effective, has NOT been accepted by all branches of the military. I myself plan to get it one day, but just remember to check carefully with the Marines if in fact you wanted to do that. They might not accept it unless you ask them first... Hopefully the procedure will be fully accepted soon, but you know bureaucracies... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Norton Posted January 1, 2001 Share Posted January 1, 2001 MikeJ, I was a Marine officer. I am 20/100 and was correctable to 20/20 with glasses. I was, however, all infantry. If you are trying to get in to helocopters, or God forbid, air planes, then you are in trouble, when I was in, they only allowed the 20/20 uncorrected fly. We all road in the back. This was true as of last week. There is normally a Marine Captain assigned to all the major city collage areas, we called them OSOs. Check your Marine directory in your area, and talk to the Captain, not the Gunny (that is gunnery sergeant), who is taking all his calls. The OSO has a quota to make, and if he goes over, it looks good on his record. If you want infantry, armor, even artillery, you should be able to make waiver. But, to fly, forget it. Hell, they have a hard enough time not droping on us, we always hoped for air support from the "experts", that mortar captain in Kelly's Heros was a former Marine pilot.... Semper Fi. Tom ------------------ "The Legitimate object of war is a more perfect peace." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MantaRay Posted January 1, 2001 Share Posted January 1, 2001 When i joined, the service wouldn't take anyone that had corrective surgery. I even had to hide a condition that I had with my knees. And Shultz, what do you mean by Air Force pays better? Unless they changed it from 98, grades are not paid differently in various services. Especially when I received hazzard and overseas pay most of my time in. Ray ------------------ When asked, "How many moves do you see ahead?", CAPABLANCA replied: "One move - the best one." Click now for shelter from the Peng thread The Red Army of the Rugged Defense Group Ladder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeJ Posted January 2, 2001 Author Share Posted January 2, 2001 Thanks for the reply Tom, I'm hoping to either get infantry, intelligence, or security forces, assuming I can get them to let me in. I knew about the eye thing from years ago, if I had perfect vision I would probably be at the AFA not URI, but who knows... My eyes do correct to 20/20 so I shouldn't have had a problem getting a waiver, unless they screwed the test up at boston MEPS. And as far as I know the Marines don't accept any type of eye corrective surgery, but maybe this changed recently and Gunny Yeatman just didn't know about it. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Schulz Posted January 2, 2001 Share Posted January 2, 2001 Manta Ray- Let me clarify, I meant to say more incentives. For instance for leaving my wife and son last year for 15 months I was paid $1200 for family seperation pay when I was leaving. Then to my amazment I was paid $1200 more when I returned. I spoke to a friend of mine in the Army and his jaw dropped when he heard this. I knwo that the pay grades are universal. Sorry for the confusion. Just saying that we seem to recieve a lot of perks. My reenlistment bonus for next year after I complete school as A Computer Network Specialist will be about $51K, and as you probably know half up front after 23% taxes and all that doesn't amount to a whole lot. ------------------ "D-Day was a nightmare. Even now it brings pain to recall what happened there on June 6, 1944. I have returned many times to honor the valiant men who died on that beach. They should never be forgotten. Nor should those who lived to carry the day by the slimmest of margins. Every man who set foot on Omaha Beach that day was a hero." General Omar Bradley- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Crow Posted January 2, 2001 Share Posted January 2, 2001 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MikeJ: My eyes do correct to 20/20 so I shouldn't have had a problem getting a waiver, unless they screwed the test up at boston MEPS. And as far as I know the Marines don't accept any type of eye corrective surgery, but maybe this changed recently and Gunny Yeatman just didn't know about it. Thanks again! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> It would be worth checking out 'cause the Navy does corrective eye surgery and the Marines fall under the Navy for medical care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warmaker Posted January 2, 2001 Share Posted January 2, 2001 Yeah, just jump the chain since you're still a civilian. Just MAKE SURE you exhaust all options(Senators/OIC's/etc.) before even trying something drastic like laser eye surgery. BTW, what made you want to join up with us? -Only 6.5 years service under the belt so far, hehehe... ------------------ "Uncommon valor was a common virtue"-Adm.Chester Nimitz of the Marines on Iwo Jima Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeJ Posted January 5, 2001 Author Share Posted January 5, 2001 Heya Warmaker, sorry for the long delay in response, but I had to go and get my wisdom teeth yanked out... haha So what made me want to join? Well, I guess part of it is kind of bred into me; just about every man on my mom's side of the family has been in the military going back to WWI, which is i think when they first came to the US. Originally I wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force, but with my vision that's obviously out of the question. Then one of my friends joined up with the Marines (he was a DEPer our senior year), so at graduation I had him introduce me to his recruiter, and that kinda got the ball rolling. I've done some research into the Corps and I have a tremendous amount of respect for everyone that wears that uniform, and I would love to be a part of that. Also, not to brag or anything, but I basically breezed through high school and got good grades without having to totally dedicate myself to it (with a few exceptions). However, I know that the Marines will be a huge challenge for me, and I'm confident I can make it through the training with enough dedication, but I kind of want to push myself and see how far I can go (hopefully that makes sense, i'm still on some painkillers here hehe). Finally, the Marines are having the least amount of trouble with maintaing morale and keeping all their equipment functioning, so that makes sense too... Anyways, this has gone on pretty long, so I'll sign off for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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