<p>I called DODMERB yesterday to followup on some additional medical paperwork they had requested and the woman told me that DODMERB had just mailed us a letter advising son Mike was going to be disqualified. :(</p>
<p>Mike had some minor arthroscopic surgery to his knees when he was 14 to let his kneecaps grown in properly (official term was a "lateral release" - his kneecaps were being painfully pulled off to the side by a growth spurt, and they sliced a muscle to give it more time / room to grow properly). Both his doctor and rehab rep wrote letters during our initial DODMERB paperwork submittal stating that his condition is now perfect and that he's without any phsyical restrictions, but apparently DODMERB thinks differently (something about them expecting chronic pain - we'll have to wait for the letter to get the office wording).</p>
<p>Mike currently plays high school tennis and runs on the cross country team (runs the mile under 6 mins) so obviously his knees ain't too shabby! He's also got high SAT's, a 3 yr Petty Officer in SeaCadets, awesome community service, and was selected / attended three of the academy summer seminars - NASS, AFS, and CG-AIM this summer, so he must have what it takes to make it far in the admission process. But with this black mark from DODMERB, he's going to be devastated when the letter arrives, i.e. that it will ruin his dream to attend USNA. So we need help from the forum - what's his next step? Or do we all sit and wait and hope that the "automatic waiver review" by the academies will be enough to get him over this DQ? HELP!</p>
<p>I suggest you also go to the service academy forum and submit your question to the DODMERB discussion thread. The moderator of that thread is a DODMERB alumni and does a terrific job answering questions.</p>
<p>dknightfam...a DoDMERB DQ is always heartbreaking initially, but it needn't always be the last word. If you search back through many threads on this forum dealing with DoDMERB issues, you will see many young people request reviews - and they are able to work through all the medical issues and get past this....and receive Appointments.</p>
<p>When you get the letter - they will tell you how to file a review process - and what you can do to submit more medical information in your favor. </p>
<p>The key is persistence, patience and staying on top of this process - being proactive to keep the medical records, reviews, etc. going and going. </p>
<p>And always, always, always make copies of everything you send to them, so that you can prove you provided the information in case there are problems in the process.</p>
<p>Alot of DQ's are simply automatic - part of the initial screening. Some are final even after every review has been tried. But the only way your son will find out is by trying everything.</p>
<p>By all means a DODMERB disqualification is not the end of your son's chance to gain an Appointment to the academy. My son was medically disqualified twice last year and is now a member of the class of 2010 at USNA. If we waited to see if we got an automatic waiver I don't thing he would be at USNA today. It was easy for us to get his first disqualification overturned. They disqualification was because of a perforated eardrum and that problem was surgerically corrected when he was ten. We called his admission's counselor and she told us to go to the doctor that performed the surgery and have test performed to proof the perforation did not exist. We did that and within a week of submitting additional tests and a letter from his doctor the initial disqualifiation was removed. However the letter did say he needed to call DODMERB and have another reading out loud test performed because the doctor that performed the test at h is exam said that he had some speech abnormalities with respect to his "r" and "l". He made the phone call and felt things went well. A week later he received a letter that he was disqualified due to his speech. My son called DODMERB and they said there was nothing more they could do and that they would contact USNA with respect to them having to get a Waiver to get the disqualifiation removed. My son immediately went to school and signed himself up for Speech with the Speech therapist so she could work on his "R" and "L". He had won many speech and debate contest and spoke clearly but sounded like my husband who was from Long Island. He then called his admissions counselor who recommended that he come out for a candidate visit in early February. She said this would give him a few months with the speech therapist to fine tune his speech. The admissions counselor set up an interview with my son and the Captain in charge of Medical Examination at USNA. He gave my son a reading aloud test and said that he picked up a very slight speech impediment but nothing that would prevent him from giving orders etc and that he would write the letter to clear him. He did assure him that he still would have to be qualified academically. My son had already received a Letter stating he was academically qualified so for the first time in months he began to be confident again. A week later he received a LOA from USNA. It took about another 6 weeks befored he received his waiver and Letter of Appointment.</p>
<p>I honestly believe if we just waited to see what would happen he would never have received his letter of appointment. It is critical that you stay in constant contact with the admissions officer and DODMERB so they understand how much the Letter of Appointment means to you. Perserverence persistence and constant communication is the key.</p>
<p>Good luck to you. It is a very trying and emotial process and my heart goes out to you and your son. However, my son was able to be successful in this process and achieve his dream and I am confident your son can do the same.</p>