Dodmerb/medical question

<p>My son has 20/200 and 20/400. He is commission qualified. Clearly he would have preferred pilot. However we have learned that if your vision is correctable to 20/20, for those that do well at the academy, surgery becomes an option.</p>

<p>My mom called the DoD/Concorde. They said to wait until the physician there looks over it. So, if it comes back with less than pilot qualified I will go get second opinions. Any suggestions if I do?</p>

<p>i have been checking dodmets like every day, and my status finally changed from Pending to Closed. So i guess I will get a letter in the mail soon. note to 3106, i think you have to have the PRK or whatever like 1 or 2 years before being pilot qualified, so make sure he doesnt wait till like junior year or whatever to get that done.</p>

<p>I talked to my cousin, a current cadet, about the Academy doing vision correction. He had a friend do this, so yes it's a possibility. However, not everyone who applies gets chosen. Stats are about 75 per year. Cadets apply the summer before junior year. There are many reasons for their wait:
-make sure the cadet is commited to graduation and an AF career
-there have been no significant vision changes since being a senior in HS. Frequent changes sometimes mean troubles
-interest in flying (some HS seniors think they want to be a pilot but change their minds, thus the wait to ensure desire still there)
-performance in academy flying requirements
-no other health changes that could make someone intially PQ change to not PQ
--and the ever-present line you always hear..."the needs of the Air Force"
In other words, you take your chances that the academy will do the surgery. But whatever you do, DO NOT DO IT while still in HS. Automatic DQ!!</p>

<p>"Does anyone know if you have to be 20/20 uncorrected to receive the status "potential pilot qualified"?</p>

<p>It has to be 20/50 in each eye for distance and 20/20 in each eye for close up vision I believe.</p>

<p>Correct! That's what the stats say.</p>

<p>thanks for the info -- my son's report came back with the following results</p>

<p>D257.00 - Refractive error greater than -1.00 diopters in any meridian
D257.20 - Astigmatism greater than 0.75 diopters </p>

<p>and potential navigator qualified </p>

<p>any idea what is preventing him from being potential pilot qualified and where can i find information on the requirements? Thanks to anyone who can help</p>

<p>Listed below comes from AFA site. You may want to have your son's eyes re-evaluated to be sure no errors were made. Sounds as if he missed the pilot parameters but made the navigator. (Read my earlier post here for the potential of having the academy do vision correction later. I would think that someone who is nav qualified would have a better chance for the surgery than someone who is only commissioned qualified. But, who knows??)</p>

<p>Potential Pilot and Navigator</p>

<p>Visual Acuity
No worse than 20/50 (pilot) and 20/200 (navigator)</p>

<p>Refractive Error
Refractive limits of +2.00/-1.00 in any meridian and .075 astigmatism (pilot) and +2.00/-1.50 in any meridian and 2.00 astigmatism (navigator). </p>

<p>Color Vision and Depth Perception
Successful completion of the Pseudoisochromatic Plates or Farnsworth Lantern color vision tests and the Vision Test Apparatus-Near and Distant (VTA-ND) or Titmus Stereofly or Randot Stereo or Verhoeff depth perception tests. These standards are the same for both pilot and navigator qualification.</p>

<p>Commission (not Pilot or Navigator qualified)
Visual Acuity
Distant: correctable to 20/40 in one eye and 20/70 in the other, or 20/30 in one eye and 20/100 in the other, or 20/20 in one eye and 20/400 in the other. </p>

<p>Refractive Error
Farsightedness (hyperopia) no greater than +8.00 diopters and nearsightedness (myopia) no greater than -8.00 diopters spherical equivalent.</p>

<p>MomX4+dog: Your post is RIGHT ON!! You have so many thoughtful comments. Your post ought to be required reading for anyone applying to any of the academies! My son is a 4 degree this year. He had to follow the same route with different problems. The costs you mention were issues we looked at also. In retrospect, you get past that and bottom line, it will seem like small potatoes sometime in the future. In the end, pursue the dream!! Good luck!</p>