So... background.
20/20 vision in both eyes, a little struggle with depth perception test. Overall, going to Navy OCS I had no concerns. Untillll....
At OCS you will do full flight physical with an Aerospace Optometrist and flight surgeon.
The one test that got people more than depth perception and other crazy medical waivers was a test called the "grouping" test.
It's goal is to tease out any signs of Amblyopia. Amblyopia means essentially you have a lazy eye. It may not appear to be lazy. It could look completely normal.
My case was I passed all the test with flying colors. However my right eye showed a very slight sign of amblyopia. Not enough for the doc to say it was symptomatic, but enough to throw off my "grouping test"
The grouping test puts you in a long room. Maybe 20 feet long. There is a grid of letters at the end of the room. Unlike other vision test cards, these letters are tightly spaced and stacked on top. There are 8 rows of 10 letters. Little space between rows and letters. You are required to read one line from L to R, with both eyes individually. So one eye closed, then switch. If you have any slight and I mean slight signs of amblyopia, you will struggle on this test. I was that individual. Even though I have 20/20 in both eyes, uncorrected, I had a hard time with this test. I could only get 7-8 letters out of 10. This happened to two of us.
Now I have to redesignate to NFO. If you can only see less than 7 letters, you fail and you now are NPQed for everything.
Luckily, for FY 16, NFOs are in high demand. Redesignation from what I gather is easy.
If you have any questions ask your eye provider about amblyopia or amblyopic type symptoms and/or call the NAMI office for more details.
Hope that helps.
20/20 vision in both eyes, a little struggle with depth perception test. Overall, going to Navy OCS I had no concerns. Untillll....
At OCS you will do full flight physical with an Aerospace Optometrist and flight surgeon.
The one test that got people more than depth perception and other crazy medical waivers was a test called the "grouping" test.
It's goal is to tease out any signs of Amblyopia. Amblyopia means essentially you have a lazy eye. It may not appear to be lazy. It could look completely normal.
My case was I passed all the test with flying colors. However my right eye showed a very slight sign of amblyopia. Not enough for the doc to say it was symptomatic, but enough to throw off my "grouping test"
The grouping test puts you in a long room. Maybe 20 feet long. There is a grid of letters at the end of the room. Unlike other vision test cards, these letters are tightly spaced and stacked on top. There are 8 rows of 10 letters. Little space between rows and letters. You are required to read one line from L to R, with both eyes individually. So one eye closed, then switch. If you have any slight and I mean slight signs of amblyopia, you will struggle on this test. I was that individual. Even though I have 20/20 in both eyes, uncorrected, I had a hard time with this test. I could only get 7-8 letters out of 10. This happened to two of us.
Now I have to redesignate to NFO. If you can only see less than 7 letters, you fail and you now are NPQed for everything.
Luckily, for FY 16, NFOs are in high demand. Redesignation from what I gather is easy.
If you have any questions ask your eye provider about amblyopia or amblyopic type symptoms and/or call the NAMI office for more details.
Hope that helps.
