Medical history disclosure
 

I am retiring from the Air Force and have a current first class medical. A couple of years ago I had surgery to correct a heart abnormality. 1) Do I need to disclose this on my application?; and 2) Do I need to provide medical documentation?

1) Yes. A heart issue would set off big red flags if not disclosed, like career-ending flags.

2) Almost certainly yes. You should probably contact an aviation medicine consultant for advice on how to proceed, in order to avoid lengthy delays. Alternatively if someone can recommend a very good AME, you could get good advice from him.

Need to lead this problem, could take many months, and some follow up exams, to get approval, depending.

And if you are currently on flight status - even if not actively flying because you met your gates - there should be a humongous waiver package approved by the Air Force Surgeon General's office available for copying at your flight surgeon's office. Many if not most of the federal air surgeon physicians are former USAF from the USAF Surgeon General's Office and will be extremely comfortable abiding by such a decision. Make sure you have a copy of the completed waiver package. It will save you a world of trouble.

Thanks for the information. I do have approved paperwork in my folder and I’ll be sure to take it all to an AME.

Do it sooner rather than later (so as to be complete prior to retirement).

Dealing with the FAA can be a bit like a trip to the DMV at times. It will be better if you give yourself a lot of lead time on this.

Best case scenario, the civilian class one is approved with little to no delay.

But if there is some lengthy delay — or a request for more info that would slow things down a bit — then you aren't necessarily in a bad spot waiting for approval (i.e. still gainfully employed).

On the other hand, if you wait until retirement to begin this process, you might find that you have to go down some six-month bureaucratic rabbit hole while the correct documentation is assembled, forwarded and reviewed.