Failed medical at MEPS

[Teacher5(Ship 11/Division 291)]

My son just graduated from high school last month.  He hurt his knee playing a pick up game of football.  He had to wear a brace for a few weeks and then went back to normal activities.  When he went to enlist, he was honest about the injury and so went through the process of getting a med read before going to MEPS.  The Navy cleared him but the doctor at MEPS said he would have to get a waiver.  What was the point of getting the med docs ahead of time if he needs a waiver on top of it?  Any thoughts?

[Angie]

Make sure he has a back up plan as not everyone is able to join the military.  The military is overmanned and being VERY picky who they allow to join.

[Craig]

Teacher - I'm kind of confused by your post.

I think what your saying is:

1.  why do they pre-screen his medical stuff,

2.  then the Navy says "Ok",

3.  then he has to go to MEPS again to get a waiver?

 

If so, think of it like a credit card offer:

1. They send thousands in the mail saying "You are pre-screened" for $10K.  

2. You Apply.  

3.  Then when they go indepth of your credit history they find bad stuff, thus they don't give you the credit card.

 

The doctors need it ahead of time to review it.  They see many people a day, and if they have more info about a person, then they can make a better decision if they are qualified or not...

[Teacher5(Ship 11/Division 291)]

Thank you for the responses.

 

My son is currently enrolled for college in the fall and will just continue in January if he is not accepted by the Navy for some reason.

 

Craig, I guess what I am saying is the injury was not serious.  He didn't have surgery and really didn't even need a follow-up visit.  He was able to finish out the track season and continue all normal activities. 

 

My son asked to have the med read done by the Navy, as recommended by the recruiter, before ever going to MEPS for the first time.  The Navy did the med read and cleared him for MEPS.  When he went to MEPS the doctor there would not pass him because of the knee injury, saying he needed to get a waiver.  I thought the point of getting the med read done ahead of time to save time and basically giving him a waiver.  The recruiter doesn't think it will be a problem, just time consuming. 

 

 

[TN Navy Mom (Stennis Nuke Mom)]

Waivers are very normal.  Even the most minor injury can require a waiver.

 

Mine had to get a tattoo waiver even though the recruiter photographed it and ran it through a database of some sort and cleared it.  Went to Meps the first time, and had to get a waiver. 

 

They are covering their bases just in case a problem ever came up.  My sailor injured his knee during bootcamp and was in RCU.  After he healed, he had to get cleared for the injury.  He had to get a waiver for his vision for a degree of color-blindness after he got to bootcamp and then while he was on hold in RCU, they looked over his records again and after he had completed battle stations and was waiting in THU (Temporary Holding Unit) for his orders to Goose Creek they requested another waiver for his vision.  Go figure?!?!  Got his waiver (again) and off he went.

[Craig]

Teacher - I totally understand now....  

Here's why he needs a waiver.  The Navy needs to officially document everything that could come back on them.  Let's say your kid bangs his knee up in boot camp again, and suppose they discharge him because he can't complete boot camp.  Well, he could easily collect disability payment for the rest of his life because it would be considered a "Service connect disability".  However, with a waiver in his record, any injury to his knees now can be called a "pre-existing condition".  They don't have to pay anything.  

 

Just curious, why did he even report that injury?  That would be something that just doesn't seem out of the ordinary.  Was he worried it would come up later?

[SonandSea]

Craig~ I think  would report a bee sting after reading the horror stories here... just sayin'...

[Craig]

There are some things the Navy doesn't need to know about.  How many times do you think a kid doesn't report that they are circumcised?  About 99%, however, they are still require to report it since it is considered an operation.  

 

If I had something that was minor, which required minor medical needs, then I wouldn't report it.  Where people get in trouble is they don't disclose thing like they have ADHD or have other major medical issues that aren't disclosed.  Some gals get their ears pierced at the doctors office, is this a medical procedure?  Not in my books.  But then again, I'm not a MEPS doctor. 

 

Bottomline is Teacher's son did what he thought was best.  He didn't do anything wrong.  I was just curious what paragraph of the DD-2807 or DD-2808 did he think it was require to submit this info?

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/infomgt/forms/eforms/dd2807-1.pdf

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/infomgt/forms/eforms/dd2807-2.pdf

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/infomgt/forms/eforms/dd2808.pdf

What people need to remember is that when you join, they are there to pass the physical, not to DQ themselves.  It's a fine line I must admit....

[SonandSea]

Good info, Craig. My son has been blessedly healthy, but I worry that we forgot some little thing from the past. I have 4 kids and I swear I don't recall every second of all their lives. My son does not have ADHD, no sports injuries, no surgeries, no hospitalizations, no known medical issues, so I am hoping it's all good, but I swear, you read some scary stuff on here.

Thank for the info! 

~Dale

[Craig]

Nick's Mom - Can you point out the the form, and the # of what one you think you need to report? I'm not sure which one you're reading into.  

The bottomline is if you report too much stuff, they will DQ him because they'll think he's a hypercondriac. The Navy has way too many people that want to come in that don't have problems.

Where people get in trouble is when they don't report serious things. ie ADHD, broken bones, or even non-medical things like DUI, or bankruptcy. Just because you got a nose bleed or got a headache doesn't mean you need to report that.

So, let me know which one you don't think you meet.   Just curious what your thinking....

[ncmomof5 (03/336)]

This is a very common practice in the Navy IMO.  My son was denied entry due to use of a prescribed inhaler for 10 days when he had pneumonia in 9th grade of HS.  He hadn't even made it to the MEPS yet, this was just in review of his medical records because he was honest in his interview with the recruiter and told him he had pneumonia once.  He then moved to Colorado and went through another recruiter's office who filed a waiver and told him it was all in how you word the waiver.  He was admitted to MEPS and once again was honest with the interviewer about stitches he had in his head when he was 10.  This meant he had to get medical records from then to prove he didn't have a head injury.  Now he scored very high on the ASVAB and the Language test to qualify him for advanced programs, so if he had a head injury it was apparently working for him!  Haha.  Anyway, the recruiter stayed on top of it and made sure all waivers and t's were crossed and i's were dotted and my son leaves for Boot Camp in August.

 

You need to remain in constant contact and communication with the recruiter and make sure they are following through as well.  Our first recruiter was brand new to his job and didn't realize the steps he could've taken to remedy this.

 

Also, just know that any branch of the military is also up against a budget too.  Those already enlisted are choosing to re-enlist because the job market as a civilian is not good.  So the numbers are up for re-enlistees and those that are newbie recruits are being put on hold.  Its a tough time right now.

 

Just hang in there and keep plugging through!  Good luck and God bless!!