Flight Physical vs. Periodic Health Assessment

[virtu050]

I'm overseas and stationed on an army base (joint command). It was hard enough for me to get a flight physical done but my navy element's one and only corpsman is saying I now need to complete a Periodic Health Assessment (PHA). He's telling me this would require new vitals, new vision test and some other paperwork. I don't recall ever having to do TWO physicals on my birth month. I thought the flight physical took the place of PHAs for naval aviators.

Please let me know if I'm wrong and I've just been lucky the last 10 years not having to do a PHA. Or if I'm right, please let me know the instruction so I can tell my corpsman to get off my back.

Thanks.

 

[BleedGreen]

As a Corpsman at NAS North Island (reserves), we usually complete the PHA and flight physical at the same time for Naval Aviators, or anyone in a flight status for that matter. I am not sure how the Army Command your stationed at operates but it sounds like they did not fill out the the PHA form while conducting your flight physical. If your flight physical was recent then your PHA should be rather painless. Personally, I would bring a copy of your most recent flight physical to help minimize your time at the clinic. At most, they should only need to take your vitals and complete a simple narrative. It's not nearly as extensive a getting a flight physical.

 

[Flash]

We had this stupid argument at my reserve center two or three years ago where they were trying to make aviators come in twice for a PHA in addition the flight physical. Now they just fill out both at the same exam as BleedGreen says. I would just take the PHA form to the folks that did your flight physical and have them fill it out, take your flight physical forms with you so they can use the same info if they chose to do so.

 

[P3 F0]

I got nagged for one at NavSta Everett (Flt Phys was done at Whidbey)--it was the first I'd heard about it in my 18 years. I didn't fight it and did what they asked. This year for my flt phys, I'll see what I have to do to knock the PHA out concurrently. I think that once you leave your normal operational flight environment, it depends on how hard the corpsmen review their records and how hard they enforce the regs. But that's just a guess.

 

[Flash]

I think a big part of the reason that the PHA has become a bigger deal in the reserves is so many folks were getting disqualified physically during or after their mobilization. As recently as two years ago the 'fallout' rate for mobilizations was right around 25%, most of the physical/health related.