Introduction - James

[Audeamus]

Hey Rangers,

Just wanted to say you guys have a great site going on here with a wealth of information, something I'm truly grateful for. Anyway, my name is James and I'm looking forward to a career in the Army, hopefully as a Ranger, something I've been working towards and dreaming of for quite a long time. I just graduated high school and will be attending college this fall, but have run into quite a snag in the recruitment process, which is what brought me here in the first place. I would go into more detail but I'm wondering if perhaps it might be a bit more appropriate to create a second thread in the recruitment forum?

Thanks again,
James

[IEDmagnet]

Welcome, and good luck.

[al_2ndWolfhounds]

Welcome and thank you for your interest in serving our great nation. More information in your intro would be helpful. Also, your questions may have already been answered in one of the Enlistment/Recruitment threads, use the search feature.

[Audeamus]

Thanks for the warm wlecome IEDmagnet and Ranger al_2ndWolfhounds!

To go a bit more in depth, I was awarded an Army ROTC scholarship but did not medically qualify due to a peanut allergy. My waiver was denied as was my request to overturn the waiver with doctors' notes. So now I am hoping to enlist and contract with my ROTC battalion later. The recruiter I have been working with however, thinks it is best to simply leave my allergy off of my application. This is a decision that I know would fall entirely on my shoulders, but I figured I would educate myself on the matter as much as possible (bringing me here). I can find no straight answer on whether or not a peanut allergy would be an actual problem in service and how easy it would be to get by with it. Nor have I had much luck figuring out the consequences of leaving it off my application. At this point, my attempt to join the military has been so drawn out that I almost don't care if I end up as an Army Ranger or a Navy cook, I simply want to serve.

I've searched the forums as best I could to find some answers and although I've similar scenarios, nothing seems to come up that's quite like mine.

Thanks again,
James

[Elguapo]

It's always best to never lie.

Read through this. Your answer just may be in there. http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r40_501.pdf

[BoxOGridsquares]

The military has alot of peanut butter in their food to begin with... Damn near every MRE I get has peanut butter... so you're unit will find out anyway, so best not to try and hide it.

[mortar_guy78]

Honestly, I am deathly allergic to legumes (peanuts, beans, etc.) and it never ocurred to me when I went to MEPS to include an allergy to food. I don't remember it ever being asked. All I remember was medicines, which I answered, since I'm also allergic to penicillin. HMMM.

That being said, I've been in the army for 13 years with no peanut related issues. I just skip out on peanut butter or trade for cheese and do fine.

[mortar_guy78]

Just researched:

AR 40-501 Section 2-30 sub-paragraph j states "History of anaphylaxis (995.0), including, but not limited to idiopathic and exercise-induced; anaphylaxis to
venom, including stinging insects (989.5); foods or food additives (995.60–69); or to natural rubber latex (989.82), is
disqualifying."

So yeah, if you're allergic to bugs, food, latex or pretty much anything else that will send your body into anaphylactic shock (other than penicillin apparently) you should not be in the military. I wonder if they'll kick me out?

[Audeamus]

Thanks BoxOGridsquares and Rangers Elguapo and mortar_guy78, it's great to finally hear some straight answers on the subject after going back and forth between my recruiter and representatives from my ROTC battalion.

Just researched:

AR 40-501 Section 2-30 sub-paragraph j states "History of anaphylaxis (995.0), including, but not limited to idiopathic and exercise-induced; anaphylaxis to
venom, including stinging insects (989.5); foods or food additives (995.60–69); or to natural rubber latex (989.82), is
disqualifying."

So yeah, if you're allergic to bugs, food, latex or pretty much anything else that will send your body into anaphylactic shock (other than penicillin apparently) you should not be in the military. I wonder if they'll kick me out?

This was the regulation that lost me my ROTC scholarship. After my waiver was turned down, however, I decided to get a second opinion from a new allergist hoping to use it for an enlistment waiver (originally I had a recruiter that wanted me to go for the waiver but he was reassigned and I was transferred to the one I have now). The allergist's diagnosis was this:

"By definition the patient did not have an anaphylactic reaction to food at age 13 but rather had an isolated skin reaction as defined by urticaria. He had no history of laryngeal edema, bronchial asthma, or hypotension. Although there is a possbility of anaphylaxis in the future, it is not highly probable."

So now I'm thinking that I should just take the disqualification, cross my fingers, and pray this gets me a waiver. The only part that makes me nervous is the "possibility of anaphylaxis in the future." Any thoughts?

Thanks again,
James

[Elguapo]

Unless you can get a different opinion that doesn't say that last phrase, I think all you can do at this point is send it up and hope for the best. Personally, I would try to get a new opinion minus the last part.

[Audeamus]

Thanks, Ranger Elguapo. I'd love to get a new opinion but I don't have the money for it right now. On top of that, the allergist that gave me that diagnosis served in the Army before (working on the board for West Point to accept and reject allergy waivers coincidentally) and was well aware of my situation, saying he'd do the best he could to write it up in a fashion that could help me out without lying. I'm afraid I may not be able to get a much better write-up than that without going on a wild goose chase.

With that said, however, my recruiter has told me that the Army Reserves are backed up to the point that I won't be able to enlist until October. Meanwhile, I'll be starting school in about a week. So right now I'm seriously considering telling my recruiter to put my medical processing on hold until I can actually enlist. I'm hoping that maybe in my time at school until then, I may be able to perform well enough that my ROTC battalion could help me out. This is probably just wishful thinking on my part though, could they have any pull getting me a waiver? And if not, does anybody know if ASVAB scores can influence a waiver?

Thanks again,
James

[Elguapo]

James,
Maybe I missed something when I read through your postings, but I didn't pick up on you saying anything about being the the Army Reserve as well as ROTC. If that is the route you wish to pursue but can't, I would suggest looking into the National Guard. I've seen many times first hand when guys couldn't enlist into the regular Army or Reserve due to waivers they got in through the Guard. Just a thought.