scarfus
FS SNA, March 25th OCS
I had a conversation with my Navy officer recruiter today. It was the first time I had met him in person (very hard guy to get a hold of). Anyway, I was discussing the progress of my application packet, and mentioned to him the only thing I would need a waiver on was PRK. He replied that it was a disqualifier. Needless to say I was a bit suprised.
After pointing out that this is not the case, he shifted his position and told me that he has had most of his candidates who had PRK fail to make it past the review board (apparently based on having had the surgery). Based upon all the gouge I have read on the subject, as long as the PRK went well (20/20), and all your follow-up paperwork checks out, the waiver is nothing more than a formality. This notion was shaken a bit on me today.
So, the question is, if my application goes out and the review board sees that I've had PRK, does it hurt my chances compared to the rest of the field?
I certainly hope not...somewhere on this site I stumbled upon a Navy study that compared the attrition rates of SNA's who had "natural" vision vs. those who went through the cost and trouble of getting PRK which found that the PRK'd students washed out at a significantly LOWER rate than the rest of the field. Makes sense to me...if you're willing to dump 5,000 bucks on surgery, you're probably pretty serious about becoming an aviator!
Lets hear it.
After pointing out that this is not the case, he shifted his position and told me that he has had most of his candidates who had PRK fail to make it past the review board (apparently based on having had the surgery). Based upon all the gouge I have read on the subject, as long as the PRK went well (20/20), and all your follow-up paperwork checks out, the waiver is nothing more than a formality. This notion was shaken a bit on me today.
So, the question is, if my application goes out and the review board sees that I've had PRK, does it hurt my chances compared to the rest of the field?
I certainly hope not...somewhere on this site I stumbled upon a Navy study that compared the attrition rates of SNA's who had "natural" vision vs. those who went through the cost and trouble of getting PRK which found that the PRK'd students washed out at a significantly LOWER rate than the rest of the field. Makes sense to me...if you're willing to dump 5,000 bucks on surgery, you're probably pretty serious about becoming an aviator!
Lets hear it.
