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The Eyes have it - All things Vision-related

Spekkio

He bowls overhand.
Lies, if you mean they got BCGs within the first couple weeks. I was 20/30 left and 20/50 right. Didn't wear glasses prior to OCS. I didn't get BCGs till week 9, and only got them because I had to do a second physical for nuke. I then proceeded not to wear them.
 

scottwith1t

east coast
pilot
Lies, if you mean they got BCGs within the first couple weeks. I was 20/30 left and 20/50 right. Didn't wear glasses prior to OCS. I didn't get BCGs till week 9, and only got them because I had to do a second physical for nuke. I then proceeded not to wear them.
but you still got them eventually :)

there were others that got them and never wore them
 

nugget61

Active Member
pilot
Can anyone followup to this thread? I bombed the crap out of the circles depth perception test at MEPS, so I hope to have a redo with a real test. I've never had depth perception issues, so I don't think I have a problem. What do they do if you bomb it at OCS though? Will they let you through with your personal doc's test?
 

Tom

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Make sure you have a copy of the doctor's examination attesting to your depth perception. If for some reason you fail the test let the doc know you've had this issue happen before but it was resolved with an more in depth exam. I failed the MEPS test but passed the same test twice at NAMI and once for my annual flight physical.

It's a minor issue and I suggest to try not to worry about it. I think MEPS maybe had some old equipment. In the end it will all work out.
 

Lobster

Well-Known Member
is that the one with the stupid circles that is so old that it can be a little difficult to tell which one is actually in front of the other? i have done one that they hold up in front of you in Jacksonville fl, and the circles in whidbey island at both of those flight physicals.


That thing was brutal, took me a second to figure everything out and the nurse there was like "no, do this" and then I had it down, it makes you think you can't see right at first though, the "oh s*%t I can't see, I can't fly now!!"
 

leehigh80

New Member
I was NPQ'ed for pilot at OCS and am awaiting another exam soon. Pisses me off. The only issue is that my left eye is more dominant than the right causing the brain not to pick up on what the right eye see's when an image is quickly introduced into the visual field. The test conducted were the line test intially. It is a machine with an arrow that moves left and right. Does anyone know what good numbers for this test are? There was also another similar test with a bunch of upside down "L"s. A horizontal line moves up and down until your eyes fixate, what are good numbers for this test? Finally, when I went in to see the flight doc, had a prism like stick and moved it up and down. He then covered and uncovered an eye to see if it would "jump". Since it "jumped a little in the near vision portion of the exam he has me in a state of being NPQ unless the retest in a month finds me to be fine. I did this test b/c I didn't fair well on the screening test discussed earlier. I scored a 6 out of whatever and he said you could only be a zero. I've been doing pencil push-ups and doing the brock string exercises. I am hoping to pass b/c for me, it is aviator or I'm out. So the point of the message is me asking for guidance on waiver possibilities should I barely fail the exam or be given the time to graduate and get down to pensacola, continuing to work on the exercises until the dominance issue is worked out and keep my aviator designator. Side note: I already fly (albeit a cessna) and have no problems, which is why I'm so flippin pissed about this tiny detail that I'm sure wasnt even considered for WWII pilots flying off the carrier. Yes planes fly faster, but the doc said my problem is for near vision. how near are you acually sitting to the deck while in the plane, at least 8 feet off the deck...hardly near vision. Venting aside, let me know if anyone has waiver guidance or any other helpful suggestions, besides just quitting now.
 

craftingraptor

Dreaming about the P-8A
pilot
I don't know a damn thing about Navy waivers in this area, but I would suggest seeing a civilian optometrist. Are you done with OCS yet? If you are, and there's still time to fix the issue, go find a civ optometrist that works in vision therapy (http://www.visiontherapy.org/) and ask them to do their own full eye diagnosis and they'll tell you if it's something you can work on (sometimes the block/string thing isn't enough, you have to use a variety of instruments). I had vision therapy done (really just a huge smattering of different eye exercises, with graduating difficulty) that improved my dp. When I first talked to the doc about it she said there were a variety of eye "defects" that could be fixed with this method, but were often left uncorrected because of ignorance. Make sure you visit a doc that offers the vision therapy, otherwise they'll just say you're sol.
 

Soup84

Prior AM2, FY-12 Pilot Select, Commissioned Dec 12
Ocular Hypertension Waiver

I have a waiver in for ocular hypertension. I've read on NAMI's website that for applicants for pilot a waiver for this is usually not considered. However, I have unusually thick corneas. My pachymetry readings were over 700 um for each eye. This lowers my pressures by 9 mmHg, which puts me well within the normal limits. Also, several other tests were down over a course of 4 years none of which show any signs of preglaucoma and I have no family history of it.

Is there hope for my waiver? Should I be worried at all?
 

poobear24

New Member
There has to be a better test out there... maybe one of those magic eye books? Hah, I can see a scene right out of Mallrats happening at MEPS. "I can't see the damn sailboat!!!"[/QUOTE]

As a former Depth Perception Test Failee, I bought one of those Magic Eye Books and it definitely helped me in my situation. It definitely taught me how to look at stereograms properly. I haven't had a problem since. Good Luck!:D
 

Beefalo

Registered User
Anyone ever get a waiver for having refraction at -9.00 prior to PRK? I know the NAMI waiver says must be -8.00 or greater prior to PRK but I have heard of people getting waivers for other things. Im looking at NFO. Im hoping to correct to 20/20 after surgery and then maybe by some grace of God it will granted or the regs change since I know it used to be -6.00.
 

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
The biggest thing about the depth tests, is that they are designed for a person to put their face into the viewer, with their eyes relaxed for distance vision and to see the thing they're looking at almost right away. People freak out, and start focusing their eyes and messing around to "try" to see it, and they end up screwing themselves. As soon as you start "focusing" your eyes away from the distance vision relaxed state, you are only making it harder on yourself to see the proper thing. For example, the vertical line intersecting the stairs test... let's say you're supposed to see it cross step "7"... well if you focus your eyes closer than fully relaxed, you may now see it on step 5... which on a person who saw that to begin with would be a sign they have screwed up depth perception, but you don't. You just screwed yourself.

The circles test is the same way. If you focus your eyes in closer, the circle will NEVER pop out and you'll just play the guessing game until you fail.

Just pop your head into the viewer, relax and slightly bob your head back and forth, look for the correct circle to slightly begin to "pop" out like the magic eye images. It may take a couple of seconds, but just relax. It'll happen.

Bottom line, is relax and DON'T start focusing your eyes in crazy different ways, or you're probably going to end up screwing yourself and failing the test. Bob your head back and forth to get a little bit of parallax to help pop out the 3d image you're looking at.

Hope this helps.
 

rosyfrog

New Member
Hey everyone, first post.

I had a qustion about PRK corrective surgery to be allowed to be a Supply Officer. My vision is worse than anyone I have read on here and I gave up on being a pilot long ago. I was wondering if anyone could help me figure out if I would be passed at MEPS after getting PRK, or the best surgery that the navy accepts, luckily price is not a hinderance. I have no idea about eye doc stuff but my contact lenses are 8.6 BC, 14.0 DIA, and -11.00 PWR. I dont know what this equates to but I know it is bad. If anyone could help me figure out what I can do for corrective surgery if anything to reapply and become any type of officer. I just want to serve.

Thanks
Ryan
 

Beefalo

Registered User
The refractive limits for joining the Navy is -8.00 refraction so you would need a waiver since you are at -11.00. I have heard of waivers for non-aviation jobs in the Navy. One of the guys on here had surgery at -9.00 and was given a waiver for a non-flying job. Hopefully you can find a recruiter who can help you out.
 
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