Airborne in your contract after PRK laser eye surgery

[PB]

SITREP on the process of getting Airborne in your contract after having PRK refractive surgery performed:

My contract was reserved Thursday night 4/20. Friday evening 4/21 I got a call from my recruiter telling me there were some problems that they were working on. Monday morning I called my recruiter to get the scoop. He informed me that it had gone all the way up to the CSM of USAREC and that the CSM was fighting the waiver issue with the CMO at MEPS.

Monday night 4/24 I stayed at the hotel again, and headed to MEPS bright and early. I took my airborne physical on 4/25 and the CMO gave me a no-go on it. He was just doing his job and there was no way that he could have given me a go since I didn't have a 1 in the eye category of the PUHLES. The recruiting Sergeant Majors from the New England region on up apparently started contacting people at Airborne School to ask for an exception. I waited for most of the day while they talked back and forth. My recruiter and his SSGT kept telling me that I didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of it going through, and were asking me what I would like to do instead. I told them that unless I heard a yes back I wouldn't be signing anything that day as I'd have to think things through.

We finally heard the word, and those in command at Airborne said no at first. I was fortunate enough to have everyone still fight for me and they finally said that if I could have my PUHLES changed to all 1s then I could get it in my contract. The Sergeant Majors proceeded to contact those that handled my waiver. After waiting all day at MEPS, I left shortly before 4pm. A few minutes after 4pm, my recruiter received a phone call saying that I was good to go! I was incredibly happy.

This morning I was able to get to MEPS around 9:30am instead of staying at the hotel. Upon arrival I was informed that I'd have to sign an exception to policy statement. The document said that my contract was valid under the condition that I would take another airborne physical upon completion of OSUT to check my eyes. The day was longer than expected due to outages of the online document system. But around 2pm today I signed the 11x/Opt40 contract and swore in.

I am incredibly fortunate and thankful to have had so many people spend a great deal of time fighting for my contract. My recruiter now calls me Private Snowball for being that snowball that was lucky enough to make it through hell. He also said that he most likely won't go through this process again. Now if I fail I wouldn't just be letting myself down, but all those who helped me. Failure may happen, I must concede that. But quiting never will. I will post a picture of my contract tonight.



For those of you who have had PRK surgery, or feel that you truly must get it done before enlisting, below is a summary of getting Airborne in your contract. Please note, I do not know if this applies to LASIK. Most people were calling my surgery LASIK so I don't think it would matter but I can't say for sure.

-The medical waiver WILL disqualify you from Airborne because you will not have a 1 in the eye section of PUHLES

-The Chief Medical Officer at MEPS most likely will not fudge things for you. He is obligated to dissapprove your Airborne physical.

-Airborne School will most likely not make an exception for you.

-You could lie about your surgery and not admit to it. Do I really need to explain how stupid of an idea this is?

-The only legitimate way to go is to ask if you can get an exception to policy from the people who approved the waiver. And Airborne school must also agree to recheck your eyes after OSUT.

-You will really need to show to your recruiter that you're worth all the trouble and hassle of getting this through.

[Jim]

OK, young man, let this be a lesson for you and remember it clearly. The Army is a large and seemingly rigid organization. That said, if a soldier has demonstrated the potential for excellent service, exceptions can and will be made.Obviously, your local recruiting chain of command feel that you are capable of making a contribution. Don't waste this opportunity. Never, never quit!