My story is a long one, but I commissioned into the USAF in May 2009 with a pilot slot and a Flying Class I that I completed at Langley AFB. In September I entered active duty and moved to my pilot training base but in October I was sent to Brooks City Base for Medical Flight Screening and disqualified for color vision. I'm still at the same base and have been fighting to get an exception that would let me into pilot training but it doesn't seem likely to get approved at all.
I recently talked to to an student naval aviator who had the same basic story as me; made it to his USAF pilot training base, got DQed for color vision, eventually was reassigned as a finance officer, but then succeeded in a transfer into Naval Aviation.
I know for a fact that I can pass the Navy's color vision test; I've taken that very test (Ishihara PIP) 3 times throughout my life and scored 13/14 once and 12/14 twice (12/14 is the current Navy standard). I'm also confident I can pass a Falant. (I'm not sure if the Navy uses only Ishihara PIP, because the reg I read calls it PIP I, and from what I understand it could be either Ishihara or Dvorine, which are slightly different, please let me know if you know which ones they actually use). Unfortunately I was on a distant visual acuity waiver with the USAF (20/100 vision uncorrected, corrected to 20/20 or better with soft contact lenses) and I believe the Navy currently requires 20/40 uncorrected for SNA's.
So I'm currently still waiting to hear about my exception for the USAF, but since it will most likely be denied, my plan is to ask for a Contingent Release from the USAF and then to apply to Naval Aviation. Before I do that, I will need to get PRK surgery, likely from the USAF, to meet the Navy's 20/40 uncorrected standard with a waiver. Once I'm medically acceptable (I believe 3-6 months after surgery) then I'd like to get a Navy flight physical so I'll know that I meet all the requirements before transferring.
Following that I'll have to hope that the USAF will let me go on Contingent Release as I currently still have about 3.5 years left in my commitment, but from what I understand, that commitment would just transfer to the USN. Then I'll need to take all the tests, apply for Naval Aviation, hopefully get picked up, and complete the transfer.
This is obviously going to be a long process, but considering I've made it this far with the USAF, I don't want to give up on my dream of being a military aviator. I just turned 25 years old on March 27th and assume that I will not meet the age requirement (I think it's 26) to start training as an SNA if I make it past all the other hurdles. I've read there are age waivers for current active duty members up to 48 months, so in that case I could start training as old as 30, but I'm not sure how common these waivers are.
So I'm looking for information or help on any part of this process:
PRK
Navy Medical (Ishihara or Dvorine?) (PRK waiver)
USAF contingent release
Applying to Naval Aviation as a USAF officer
Age waivers for active duty SNA's
Any advice in general would be appreciated including who to contact in the Navy to apply and who to contact for a flight physical before transferring. Or if you think it's impossible then feel free to let me know if I should just give up on this before I really get my hopes up. Thanks for the help in advance
I recently talked to to an student naval aviator who had the same basic story as me; made it to his USAF pilot training base, got DQed for color vision, eventually was reassigned as a finance officer, but then succeeded in a transfer into Naval Aviation.
I know for a fact that I can pass the Navy's color vision test; I've taken that very test (Ishihara PIP) 3 times throughout my life and scored 13/14 once and 12/14 twice (12/14 is the current Navy standard). I'm also confident I can pass a Falant. (I'm not sure if the Navy uses only Ishihara PIP, because the reg I read calls it PIP I, and from what I understand it could be either Ishihara or Dvorine, which are slightly different, please let me know if you know which ones they actually use). Unfortunately I was on a distant visual acuity waiver with the USAF (20/100 vision uncorrected, corrected to 20/20 or better with soft contact lenses) and I believe the Navy currently requires 20/40 uncorrected for SNA's.
So I'm currently still waiting to hear about my exception for the USAF, but since it will most likely be denied, my plan is to ask for a Contingent Release from the USAF and then to apply to Naval Aviation. Before I do that, I will need to get PRK surgery, likely from the USAF, to meet the Navy's 20/40 uncorrected standard with a waiver. Once I'm medically acceptable (I believe 3-6 months after surgery) then I'd like to get a Navy flight physical so I'll know that I meet all the requirements before transferring.
Following that I'll have to hope that the USAF will let me go on Contingent Release as I currently still have about 3.5 years left in my commitment, but from what I understand, that commitment would just transfer to the USN. Then I'll need to take all the tests, apply for Naval Aviation, hopefully get picked up, and complete the transfer.
This is obviously going to be a long process, but considering I've made it this far with the USAF, I don't want to give up on my dream of being a military aviator. I just turned 25 years old on March 27th and assume that I will not meet the age requirement (I think it's 26) to start training as an SNA if I make it past all the other hurdles. I've read there are age waivers for current active duty members up to 48 months, so in that case I could start training as old as 30, but I'm not sure how common these waivers are.
So I'm looking for information or help on any part of this process:
PRK
Navy Medical (Ishihara or Dvorine?) (PRK waiver)
USAF contingent release
Applying to Naval Aviation as a USAF officer
Age waivers for active duty SNA's
Any advice in general would be appreciated including who to contact in the Navy to apply and who to contact for a flight physical before transferring. Or if you think it's impossible then feel free to let me know if I should just give up on this before I really get my hopes up. Thanks for the help in advance