DODMERB

[alphaone]

How many people here had to get a waiver for something? How reasonable are they?

[MDPilot]

Reasonable has nothing to do with it. The standards are the standards. Some have waiver limits set out. If you are within the waiver limit, you will probably get one, if not, well.....

[Mike Lewis]

Coming out of the DODMERB, I was only qualified for Nav. It happened almost 20 years ago, so I don't even remember what it was, but at the time I had 20/10 vision, so it wasn't that. I think it might have been something like blood sugar level or something like that.

I contested it after I started ROTC, and I went back to Luke AFB my freshman year to
rescreen for portions of the test and got my DODMERB upgraded to Pilot.

I worked it through my ROTC detachment and had them help me through the process. Looking back, as far as all bureaucratic entanglements experienced throughout my military career, this was surprisingly one of the easier ones.

As far as what waivers will be accepted for UPT and things like that, I think it all depends on the situation at that point in time. When I entered the AF during the post-Cold War drawdown, they were accepting no waivers on anything. When I left the AF almost 10 years later, they were waiving both eyesight and age for UPT applications. However, I think most of the shortage of pilots at that point had to do with the fact that the pipeline pretty much ground to a halt in the early 90s so they had to open it up really wide to fill all the slots.

So, as far as waivers, it all depends on how the cycle is running right now. But as far as the DODMERB, you either meet the criteria or you don't.

But, if you haven't already, find out what portions of the test you didn't pass and ask to retake them again. I know there were several of us who didn't pass certain portions of the test, and upon retaking them about a third or so found out that upon retesting, the problem was no longer there and we were reclassified. The military doesn't have the best health care system in the world, and the one thing I remember from the DODMERB was the assembly line physical ("Next, number 42!"), so mistakes can be made and there isn't time in that initial screening to take a further test in-depth. When I was re-examined at Luke AFB for those portions I contested, the examinations were a lot more in-depth and thorough.

[ian]

i got a waiver for a kidney stone