Color blindness

[maverickusnavy]

Hi guys i am new to this site considering that i just found it. I am a 17 year old in the NAVY and will be leaving for basic in about 10 months. Right after i graduate high school. I want to be a NAVY fighter pilot but when i went to take my color deficiency test at MEPS they told me that I was color blind. I am having a very difficult time accepting this because i see colors just like anyone else. I have no trouble in differentiating red from green on a traffic light, or any other color in the color spectrum for that point. I failed that test with the book and all the little dots. However considering that this was the very first eye exam in my life I think that maybe the whole test caught me offguard and maybe even nervous. I read a few of the other replies and never recieved the test with the three colored dots. If anyone can get back to me on this and let me know if I should get another eye exam it would be useful. Thanks.

 

[NavyLonghorn]

The reason you didnt recieve the second test is due to the fact that you have not recieved a flight physical. Their is no reason for them to dig that deep at MEPS, especially since you are enlisting, and not going to OCS. If I were you, and I wanted to be a fighter pilot, I would go to college instead of enlisting (unless you need the college money or GI bill or whatever), and get a color blind test from a real optomorist instead of some private or whoever did it at MEPS.

 

[wildflyin69]

yeah, if you have anyway to do it find a way to get your degree. It's a much harder and longer road to move up through enlisted. Plus I still think you need a degree in order to fly.

"Push the stick foward, the houses get bigger; pull back, the houses get smaller... unless you keep pulling back, then they get bigger again."

 

[wink]

When you get to a point where the color test is a real factor, ie flight physical, you can take the Falant test. That is the three colored dots and it is accepteable to the Navy. If you are set to ship to boot camp don't fret. There may be easier ways to get a degree but you can do it from within the Navy if you are disciplined. The best deal is the STA-21 program. It will send you to ROTC with your active duty salary. Of course there are other ways to work on your degree short of that. There are a few members here that were prior enlisted, some on the STA-21 program. Surf around the site. It can be done so don't regret your decision to enlist now. Just keep your ultimate goal in mind. When you get to your first command camp outside the career counselor's office and make it clear what you want to do. Good Luck.

 

[GTGRAY]

I'm not sure if its required or not but when I enlisted through MEPS Syracuse, NY they gave me the Falant test after I failed the "find the number" test....

 

[maverickusnavy]

Alright ill be sure to get my next exam done by an "real" optometrist. Also for ( wink ) ill have to ask my recruiter for the info on the
STA-21 program. Right now as far as getting my degree goes, my recruiter is letting me know about the OCS program and also trying to get me signed up to take the ROTC test that is given.If anyone knows the advantages and disadvantages of the OCS, STA-21, and the ROTC program ( i mean the differences in the programs ) it would also be helpful. I forgot the details on ROTC test but i know he said that i have to take my SAT's first. Thanks for all the help everyone. Talk to yall later.

 

[Rifleman]

hey! i just took an eye exam at the local eye doctors place and failed the color vision test. it was the one with all the dots and hidden numbers. i could trace the dots but couldn't put them together. i really don't think i am color blind. i have been making serious plans to be a fighter pilot since the 8th grade. this news came as a blow to me. what i really want to know is if the dot test is that accurate and if i should look into getting the light test done. i can see reds blues greens and yellows perfectly. i would really like an answer as soon as possible. thanks
kyler schmitz

 

[NavyLonghorn]

I'm no doctor.. but if you can't see what everyone else can.. doesn't that generally mean something is wrong?

 

[Rifleman]

i don't think you understand. i am saying that i see all spectrums of color. I have heard that almost 50 percent of people who take this test fail it. It is posted. what i am asking is if it would be worth my time to get the colored light test done by an airforce recruiter because it seems that other members on this site who are pilots have passed it and not the other. Please reply soon. thanks

 

[NavyLonghorn]

I'm not saying you are color blind here.. but.. for all you know.. what you think "red" looks like, isnt actually Red for the majority of people. That is the perplexing nature of color, it is mearly perception.. so.. I dont see how you could possibly objectivly tell that you see the "Whole Spectrum of colors." As you can see, this is the philospihy major in me. It seems possible that you could see the entire world in different shades of black and white, and still not know that you are color blind.

I'm not saying your color blind.. I just love talking about this kind of crap.

 

[wildflyin69]

kinda like, what would the world look like if i could put your eyes in my head?

 

[olpa9901]

longhorn....wasn't it nizche (or however you spell his name) that said we lie to ourselves every day simply with the names we give objects.....something like just because we've lied to ourselves and called an animal a Goat doesn't mean that it is actually a goat.... (your red isn't really red reminded me of that)

 

[Enishi1983]

hey man, don't sweat it too much. just go to school, and come back into the navy. that's what i'm thinking about doing (if i can't get the BDCP.) i think i got a 100% on the number test (not trying to brag), but i'll admit that it was SUPER hard. i have contacts, with like a 20/350 with -3.75. i guessed the numbers if i didn't know what it was. i understand man, it really was hard for me too. whether or not you wear contacts/glasses, it was hard i must say.

 

[bch]

Here is the real deal kid!
Once you get commissioned (however you do it, enlisting, NROTC, OCS whatever) and you are trying to get into flight. You will be given a FLIGHT PHYSICAL prior to commissioning and prior to selection by a REAL FLIGHT SURGEON. That is the only eye test that matters. It does not matter what MEPS says or a civilian optomitrist.

As far as taking different tests. If you can't pass the one that the Navy gives, it does not matter if you can see the colors or not. The Navy test (at a flight physical) is the only one that matters!

And not to discourage you at all, just FYI.

If all you want to fly is fighters and nothing else, you need to think very hard if this is something you want to do. VERY few people select jets first off, even fewer select fighters. Most pilots in the navy end up going Helos. Just so you know that it is a very real possibility for all SNAs to not get what they wanted to fly

 

[Elder]

Just FYI and not to scare you.

From what I read of your post, you're going to Navy Boot in 10 months, and you've been told you are colorblind.

I don't know about the Navy, but in the US Coast Guard, if you are color blind, there are only 3 rates you can go ... Yeoman, Storekeeper and Cook. You can never go to OCS, nor can you go enlisted aviation.

Not trying to scare you, but you definately want to seek more opinions and/or talk to your recruiter.

And unfortunately, from what I understand, you are born color blind. It's always been there and it can't be fixed. :| And as someone mentioned, what you perceive as red, i.e. "Oh hey, that's the color red." And if someone else was to look through your eyes, they'd say, "Uh, no, that's not red, that's brown dude" - or something like that. Yes, you can see a color, it just would look different when you looked through my eyes. A big problem comes with lights at night... hence the latern test.

So, go get more opinions, read up on the subject, see if there is anything you can do before a test that might make you see the colors better.. ask for the Farnsworth lantern test. The Ishihara is the more difficult of the test.

I've had corrective eye surgery, and they do all sorts of additional tests on me..

Here's an interesting site for those that aren't color blind.. http://colorfilter.wickline.org/