<p>For the second in a row(at least) a number of cadets at the USCGA have been dismissed(on the third day of swab summer) for red/green color blindness. </p>
<p>I read a heartbreaking account of this on our parents' list serv. I am wondering why this is not picked up in the dodmerb eye exam. Is it even tested for? </p>
<p>I brought this up last year and it seems to continue to be a problem.</p>
<p>they tested me for it at the dodmerb exam... it was that book with like 3 different pictures where you say the number that is in the picture... pretty easy to cheat on, if thats what happened.</p>
<p>Are they allowed to do the Farnsworth Latern test? Just wondering..</p>
<p>My S hasn't taken his Physical yet. But he had problems with the book in 2nd grade---Ishihara test. Just not willing to stare at the harder ones. Expressed to him the importance of passing this test.</p>
<p>Especially since CGA has called the house to talk to him about going and playing his number one sport.</p>
<p>DD took her DODMERB at a naval air station. They have a color blindness test that helps eliminate cheating; it seems the aviators were memorizing the book, enabling them to hide their vision problems. Their version has you trace with your finger the line that is the different color. Much tougher to cheat on that one!</p>
<p>You would think they would catch that condition sooner. USNA admissions told us it is an automatic disqualifier.</p>
<p>The standard vision test has the candidate pick out a number from the page. If the intital screening indicates a problem, then a more sophisticated follow up is used. I believe that another color acuity test is administered on I-day at USNA as a follow-up screening.</p>
<p>We were told that no waivers are given by USNA for color blindness. (But I believe that you can do Marine option ROTC if you are color blind)
CM</p>
<p>Being color blind, or color deficient, is a disqualifying condition for the Coast Guard Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy for which no waivers are given. The Air Force Academy, the Naval Academy and West Point can grant waivers for a red/green color deficiency. As a practical matter, the Naval Academy grants few, if any waivers for candidates with red/green color deficiencies. Having a red/green color deficiency effectively eliminates a candidates ability to fly or serve on a ship. The best chance of getting a waiver for a candidate with a color deficiency is West Point.</p>
<p>My son has a red/green color deficiency that he told his Blue and Gold officer he had before he ever had the DoDMERB physical. He failed the Ishihara Color Blind Test (the little dots) given by the DoDMERB doctor and was given a second chance to pass by taking the Farnsworth Lantern Test at a local military hospital. He failed that test as well. When he spoke to the folks in Annapolis in late February he was told the Naval Academy gave few if any waivers for color deficient candiates and asked why he would even want to go to the Naval Academy if he couldn't serve on a ship. In any event, the Naval Academy Admissions Office submits a list to the Superintendent in late April of kids that are seeking waivers and he may or may not grant any. The Admission Office strongly recommended that my son concentrate on West Point even though he was a National Merit Finalist and a four sport letterman.</p>
<p>West Point had my son take a different test in which he was asked to distinguish vivid red and vivid green lights and objects. He was able to do so successfully and West Point granted him a waiver.</p>
<p>I don't know how you can cheat on a Ishihara Test as a person with a red/green color deficiency does see a number in some of the dots, but it is a different number that a person with normal color vision sees. The Farnsworth Lantern Test is a random series of lights, including some white lights that you have a very short period of time to identify. So, I don't see how you would cheat on the Lantern Test. The West Point exam was easier for my son to pass than the Ishihara or Lantern Tests, but I am also color blind and I could not pass it.</p>
<p>Finally, I find it hard to believe that a kid who graduates from high school at the top of his or her class does not know that he or she is color blind. I knew in kindergarten as did my son. If you are honest and want to serve in the military there is a way, but by all means be up front with folks at DoDMERB and don't try to cheat on a color blind test.</p>
<p>I believe I saw posted on this forum last year instances of a couple of Plebes that were sent home from the CGA for not being able to pass the color test (red/green) once they arrived there for in processing. Seems like this would have been caught at the DODMERB examination.</p>