Waivers...
 

Hello,
My nightmare has come true and I've been disqualified physically. I don't know yet exactly why, though I can speculate. It has been a week and a half since I was told that I was disqualified and I have been contacting various personnel but so far they are keeping me in the dark. I'm so anguished. Generally the enlisted personnel (recruiter, person who processed the paperwork, etc.) tell me it's over for me (I don't know much about how the military works, but I get the sense that most of them just couldn't care less), and the few AF pilots I know tell me there is a waiver for just about everything. I mean, everyone knows someone who got a waiver for something crazy... but in actuality how common this is, I have no idea. Obviously I'm not giving up until the chief pilot at the unit that hired me tells me he doesn't want me anymore. (Even then.. I don't know.) I need to do everything and anything to make this happen. Right now I'm not sure what that is, short of leaving voicemails and emails to people who won't answer back. I hope there have been some on this board who've had to go through this devastating event and came out of it successfully. What do I need to know, what can I do?

Maybe things have changed recently, but in the past military medicine was never a secret from the patient. It seems to me that they should tell you what is wrong...they are answerable to the taxpayers.

If all else fails try a FOIA request (google that to find out how).

Do you know of any issue which might raise flags?

Here's a link to the USAF medical standards regulation. First, find out exactly why you aren't qualified. Then, look up that condition in AFI 48-123 and see if it's waiverable.

FYI, it's typically easier for an existing pilots to get a waiver than it is for a pilot candidate to get a waiver.

http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/share.../AFI48-123.pdf

Yeah, that's what my chief pilot said when I informed him of the situation... it's like how can they disqualify me without telling me why. Like I said, I don't know much about how things work in the military, so I didn't know if it was normal to have to wait (and if so, how long) for the specific reasons of the disqualification. It seems to me that they should be able to tell you the reasons at the same time they tell you of the disqualification, but what do I know. The problem is I cannot (or know of how to.. is there a legit way?) directly contact the people who can tell me the answers. As far as I know as a candidate I have to go through someone (recruiter, folks at my unit) so basically I'm relying on other people to do their work for me. I would gladly do the legwork myself if I was allowed to or if I knew how.

Any issues.. do you mean physically? Other issue-wise, I don't think I have any, not that I know of. Physically I'm very healthy.

FYI, Chapters 4 & 6 of AFI 48-123 will probably answer your questions.

This doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If someone said that you are medically disqualified, they should tell you why. Vision, EKG, etc. If they aren't giving you the information, ask your POC at your base to call and find out why.

As far as waivers go, it really depends on what disqualified you. Sometimes if a blood test comes back abnormal, they will let you retest. The military is also less likely to grant someone a waiver for an initial flight physical than someone getting their annual. This isn't always the case...

I don't think anyone could even attempt to help you until you find out why you didn't qualify. Good luck...

I sent you an email on your gmail account with my scanned documents back in Dec 09...didn't you get it?

Hello again,

I finally found out why I disqualified. High eye pressure. According to the Waiver Guide it is disqualifying and not waiverable for non-flyers.

My eye pressure was right at the limit - below 22 mmHg is normal, and mine were at 22. Also, I have gotten my eyeballs thoroughly checked out multiple times over the years. There were never any eye pressure issues at the civilian ophthalmologists. The only time I had eye pressure reading anywhere close to the limit was that one time during the physical. Is it possible that my eye pressure simply got worse over time? I don't think so, because I had it tested again after the physical because they gave me a consultation and it was fine then also. (Of course using the same type of test.) I think the measurement at the physical may have been a fluke. I know the military may totally disregard the results from a civ doctor and that is their right. At the same time, I'm sure that my eye surgeons (not a mere optometrist) know what they're doing.. it's just unfortunate that what they think of my eyes has no bearing on whether the AF chooses to let me fly or not. I find it hard to throw away my dreams for what could possibly be an incorrect measurement.

I also posted on baseops and someone there mentioned an ETC. How does that work, and what are the chances of getting this ETC, or getting a chance to remeasure? That is all I could ask for, to get one more measurement. Is that up to how hard my unit fights for me, and is there anything I can do as well to help the effort?

Could have been a fluke.

Interocular pressure can increase, sometimes suddenly, and can lead to damage of the visual nerves and blindness (that's called glaucoma). It is easily treatable with meds, but you generally have to stay on them forever.

It is more typical in older people, so I would probably get re-tested a couple of times and then go to the DoD and ask for them to test you again. I don't think it really varies from day-to-day so if you test OK a few times, you should be good.

Yup, and my ophthalmologist gave me the rundown on this whole eye pressure/glaucoma business as well... but the conclusion was that he's not worried about me because my eye pressure was normal when he tested it. Also, per the consultation from McGuire, he gave me a whole slew of eye exams to rule out symptoms associated with glaucoma like loss of peripheral vision. He said I did great. Lastly, he said I don't have any of the risk factors for glaucoma like family history, being older, being African American, etc. I trust him and the other doctors at the eye surgery center who also tested me on separate occasions and honestly I think my eyes are perfectly healthy and within AF standards. My AME used to be a ophthalmologist in the Marines before he retired and he thinks my eyes are good to go as well. I just really need to convince the people in charge that I should be remeasured. What do you mean when you say go to the DoD and ask for test me again? Specifically, who, and how?