Not up to the AME, FAA makes the rules on what is disqualifying.

For conditions not specifically prohibited, the AME had some discretion as to whether you can perform your duties, ie he can make a judgement call on your bad knee, but not your coronary artery disease.

Get with your AME and ask him what you should put. My AME walked me through it.

40% and went through the wringer about 10 years ago. Defuss AME..changed AME's (former USAF flight surgeon) and presto change, issue gone...the AME is everything for complicated cases.

Based on what I've read in this thread, the only carryover from Active Duty medical records to FAA medical records is if you are receiving benefits from the govt for any disability, correct? Let's say you are medically discharged from AD, can you turn down disability in hopes of not highlighting yourself on an FAA medical exam?

I have an issue that precludes me from running long distances so I've been on a profile for a while for PT tests. The MEB hasn't even been brought up yet, but I'm just trying to look ahead in case it is brought up. I don't really care about the money for the disability, but I do care about highlighting myself in any way to an FAA doc.

Or, maybe a better question: Is there a list somewhere that spells out what is and is not allowed for a Class 1 medical?

DO NOT LIE TO THE FAA! All medical records are electronic and its only a matter of time until they can cross check them. There's no reason that cross checking cannot be retroactive and automated..

Also if you're involved in an incident, they will access your medical history and it will be a no brainer that they'll look at military records.

If you get caught lying on the medical form they revoke all of your certs. They can also referyou for federal felony prosecution, and they will certainly do so if you're flying with an unreported disqualifying medical issue.

The good news is that if you're in the military, you can probably easily pass an FAA medical unless you have mental health related issues. The FAA is not too worried about old minor injuries. The FAA does not care if you can pass a PRT, or even if you have ever run a PRT.

With military medical screening we often took the approach that "what they don't know won't hurt them". With the FAA, what they don't know can send you to federal prison.

Get as much VA disability as you can, the FAA does not care about that at all and will not hold it against you. They only care about the details of the conditions you have, which you had better report anyway.

One of the questions on the class 1 is have you been medically discharged from the military or something like that. You can probably get a better understanding of what you are up against by looking at the FAA website form.

Thanks for the replies.

I had no intentions of lying to the FAA, I was just asking about the correlation between the two entities. In the AF, most people think there is no correlation between your military medical records and your FAA medical, but that's obviously not the case. Even though they won't actually look at your military record, they will find out about any chronic issues you have.

Because you will tell them.

Dont make it a big deal. Only people I have seen ever have problems with physical had no kidding problems that needed to be addressed.

I have found it harder to get my annual flight physical in the Army than it does with the FAA. I had submitted the exact same medical requests for the Army as well as the FAA. The Army requested more information whereas the FAA granted me my 1st class medical.

+1, This, all of this.

File a claim for anything in your records that you feel would be covered by the VA. Let the chips fall where they may, but you don't want to give up lifetime benefits and medical coverage (bird in the hand...) over mere speculation that you may have some problems getting an FAA physical. If you have concerns, ask an AME, look it up, or ask an attorney that specializes in FAA medical cases. I think you'll be surprised at what you can be receiving VA disability for and not have the FAA give a rat's ass about.