med waiver for eyes

[M3toocool]

i am seeking a c-5 or c-17 slot at dover with the reserves, i took to flight physical and have to get a waiver for the refractive error in my eyes... left eye is -6.25, right eye is -5.25, does anyone out there have any clue how the Air Force is on granting a waiver for refractive error? my reserve unit said it would be about 2 months before they have an answer... just wondering if anyone got a waiver or knows someone that got one recently. thanks!

i have read the waiver guide and it says AETC has to waiver for error greater than -6 for a class 1 but i don't know how often they are passing them out...

[falconvalley]

Originally Posted by M3toocool

i am seeking a c-5 or c-17 slot at dover with the reserves, i took to flight physical and have to get a waiver for the refractive error in my eyes... left eye is -6.25, right eye is -5.25, does anyone out there have any clue how the Air Force is on granting a waiver for refractive error? my reserve unit said it would be about 2 months before they have an answer... just wondering if anyone got a waiver or knows someone that got one recently. thanks!

i have read the waiver guide and it says AETC has to waiver for error greater than -6 for a class 1 but i don't know how often they are passing them out...

The last time I read the limitations for not needing a waiver was about a year ago, but from what I gathered, the far-sighted folks are the most scrutized (me). I was outside the +2.00 limit. I was not approved for a waiver. I also cannot get approved for a waiver after refractive surgery, as the AF doesn't like far-sighted folks getting that done. If you are near-sighted, you may get a waiver approved. If the waiver is not approved and you're old enough, you might wanna look into PRK. The waiver process for that was about a year long, but may have been shortened.

[GalaxyIFE]

I am sure someone else will chime in but in the past, it has been VERY difficult to get ANY waiver for an initial class I. That isn't to say it doesn't happen, it's just very rare.

[falconvalley]

Depends on what the waiver is for and the general need for pilots. When I went through, the need for pilots went way down and what was originally an easy waiver, became a gauntlet of emails and deadends.

[frog_flyer]

If your unit wants you, they'll get it done. 0-6+ just needs to make sure it gets pushed through.

[bravodelta79]

Originally Posted by frog_flyer

If your unit wants you, they'll get it done. 0-6+ just needs to make sure it gets pushed through.

Ditto. I asked, point blank, the officer/pilot recruiter at an ANG base I'm applying to about waivers for eyes and age (I'm 28) and he said, "You can get a waiver for almost anything. (Yes, including the age 30 rule). Someone just needs to do the paperwork for it."

So...unless it's a major health risk or something of the sort, you just need to find someone that REALLY likes you in the unit who can help push the waiver through.

Good luck!

[M3toocool]

thank you for the responses! the flight surgeon is putting the waiver in, so hopefully everything will go in my favor. i wish pcsm and afoqt scores were looked at when reviewing waivers, that would definitely help. how much influence would a member of the actual flying squadron hold in regards to the waiver since they have nothing to do with the medical side of things

[bravodelta79]

Medical standards are in place to make sure they don't spend $1M training you to fly an aircraft and you end up physically not being able to fly, therefore making the investment a complete waste.

As for refractive stuff and such, as long as you can see within standards, it'll be easier to get a waiver for something like that rather than if you had cancer or heart disease. Either way, you need to know the person who can/will push the waiver through and get it DONE.

I've found that most of these folks just need a lot of reminders/follow-ups.

So did you already get a slot with them?