How hard is it to obtain a medical waiver?

oppykm · November 3, 2010

I don't know why I never thought of this before I spent the last few months preparing for this process, but when I was 6, I had two instances of petit mal seizures (found in children, basically a 10 second daydream). It has been close to 15 years seizure free today without the aid of medication. My neurologist said it was common for children to outgrow these seizures. My question is if I get some literature from my neurologist clearing me to proceed in this process (haven't seen him in 15 years either), what are the odds of attaining a medical waiver? I also heard that scoring high your PT and ASVAB couldn't hurt your odds either. Thanks for the all the help so far. I'm going to fight this one through to the end, despite what people have been telling me. I want to be an Army aviator more than anything in this world.

CharyouTree · November 3, 2010

I'm going to quote from usmilitary.about.com; their standard response to waiver questions, which is pretty accurate (hence, why it's their standard response).

We have a "standard answer" when it comes to ANY waiver. There is simply no way to even guess whether or not a waiver will be approved, even if someone has gotten a waiver for the same condition in the past, or -- conversely -- if nobody has ever gotten a waiver for the condition in the past. Each and every waiver is evaluated INDIVIDUALLY, using SEVERAL individual factors, including but not limited to:

1. Is the condition progressive?

2. Is the condition subject to aggravation by military service?

3. Will the condition preclude satisfactory completion of prescribed training and subsequent military duty?

4. Will the condition constitute an undue hazard to the examine or to others, particularly under combat conditions?

5. Is the recruit *EXCEPTIONALLY* qualified, otherwise? (ASVAB scores, etc.)

6. How are current recruiting goals? How bad does that particular branch of the service need this particular applicant at this particular point-in-time?

There have been several cases of waivers approved for a specific condition, only to see a waiver disapproved for the same condition just a few weeks later.

Remember, if you require a waiver, that means that you are disqualified for military service. The waiver procedure is the process of you "begging" the military to make an exception in your particular case. There is no "right" to have a waiver approved.