very important flight physical and medical ?'s!!!

[BornToFly]

Here is a hypothetical for everyone. Please lend advice! Supose someon took the ASTB a while back and scored well (got sevens and eights on it with an OAR in the upper 50's). Played on two diff varsity teams during the same season in highschool... remained active in college. president of student body, president of fraternity, on honor council... has recs coming in from the white house, senate, and a retired admiral... recruiters tell him/her that he/she has an excellent shot at being picked up as an SNFO if he/she designates that as their number one choice. Only thing standing in this person's way is the possibility of being NPQ'd. this person had a childhood history with asthma and headaches... but its been over a decade without any problems. do "they" (please fill me in on who "they" are) automatically investigate your medical past right off the bat, no questions asked. (and if so, how do they do that?) or do they only investigate your medical past if you give them a reason to - as in if you tell them you had a condition in the past. the meat of this post is:

if you dont tell them - will "they" investigate anyway without a reason?

ps- which physical is it that this all goes down? ive heard the terms MEPS and NAOMI or something like that and i have no idea what those mean. help a brother out and respond please!

 

[EA-6B1]

First, welcome to the site.

MEPS= Military Entrance Processing Station. This is where you go to get physically examined to be considered Physically Qual'd as an officer candidate (Note that I didn't say PQ'd for a flight contract).

NOMI= Naval Opthamolgy Medical Something-or-other. I'm not real sure what the Acronym stands for, but these guys are the ones who screen any potential Aviators. I've never been, but they say it's quite and intense examination.

As far as your qualifications go with academics, sports, and leadership you have a good looking application. The part about your medical history will have to be more deeply answered by someone who knows more about it. I have heard that some people go by the rule of "If they don't ask, don't tell." Hopefully someone else will repsond and give you some better information. Good Luck.

- Quote on being selected for an OCS spot -
"If you are chosen, you will have been chosen by Men 'who have been there and done that' and have decided that they wished to have you in Their company, there is no such medal worth as much."

 

[WFU2USN]

BorntoFly,

There are key reasons NOT TO LIE on the physical:

1. Asthma (almost 99.9% of the time) is physically dq'ing from military service. Do a search on the boards at military.com as there is a great deal of discussion on this. Another link:

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/intmedstandards/bllungs.htm

2. Headaches - can be okay waiverable depending on the situation.

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/intmedstandards/blhead.htm

3. INTEGRITY is key to being in the military.

4. If a servicemember has had a conditition (i.e. asthma) prior to entering military service and has an attack, there are ramifications for a pre-existing condition. You can be discharged for fraudulent enlistment (into OCS), they can choose to not pay for your medical care, not pay death benefits if they died from a prior condition, etc.

When it comes to the physical, you're specifically asked about a history of asthma, headaches, etc. You can be subject to the above if you lie. See http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/faq/blfalseinfo.htm

You can find a pretty good summary about the medical related stuff at:

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/intmedstandards/blintmedstandards.htm?once=true&

I hope this helps!

Robin
IS2(SCW)

 

[airgreg]

Born2Fly,
I was misdiagnosed with "asthma" as a kid. Last year, I got a medical waiver from MEPS saying I was OK. I also passed a military flight physical.

I would respectfully disagree with the "99.9%" posted above. From my experience with the process, the military realizes that asthma is commonly misdiagnosed, that it's commonly a childhood affliction that people grow out of, and that asthma has a wide range of severity. Because of these factors, the Navy has a defined (but lengthy and difficult) process to determine whether an adult individual has asthma or not.

Without knowing the specific details of your medical history, it is difficult to say whether you would qualify for a waiver or not. If your "asthma" hasn't been an issue for 10 years, I would GUESS that luck is on your side. But you would have to go through the waiver process to get an official Navy answer and they might say NO.

Do a search for "asthma" on this site - I discussed the waiver process in some detail a few months ago.

As far as disclosing your medical history, the Navy wants to know everything to cover your ass as well as the Navy's ass. My advice to you is to answer everything truthfully and go for the waivers. It's far better for EVERYONE (including yourself) if you find out your medical problems now, rather that when people's lives depend on you. Don't let this screw up your future, or the lives of your future shipmates.

Hope this helps. Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions relating to the asthma issue.
-Greg

 

[Gator]

Born2Fly,
Airgreg is correct in regards to Asthma, it's not an automatic disqualifier. I was hospitalized for asthma when I was 3 or 4 and when I went in the Marines they gave me a waiver for it. I also told the Navy Docs about it when I went to get my initial flight physical and it wasn't a problem. They key is when the last time you had an astham attack and how severe it was. There are some things that you can choose to omit from your medical history, but this is not one that I would recommend. Good luck!

 

[onee]

Hey guys, how about distance vision?
I tested(barely) at 20/40 correctable to 20/20 when I submitted my package.
Working on computers everyday, I can almost feel my distance vision deteriorating.
What happens if I test at 20/50 at NOMI?

 

[marcholt]

I'm in the same boat as you, onegembu, everytime I get my vision tested, it varies. I got it done about a month ago and it was 20/40. Right before I went to Optometry for my physical, I got it check, 20/25. Then I got it done "for real" for my flight physical at Optometry and they said it is 20/60. I asked the doc at Optometry about the discrepancy, and she said I was most likely "squinting" the time before (whatever!). This is the value that went into my record. Flustered, I called a flight surgeon I know, and he said he'd do it over again when I go for the rest of my physical. It seems like they are willing to work with you on it if you are close.. that's been my experience anyway. I'd recommend getting some Bilberry pills and start taking them. I've heard that it is supposed to improve vision (maybe). If anyone out there that has had a positive/negative experience w/ Bilberry, please let me know!