Eye Waiver Appointments

<p>Secretary of the senator that gave me my nomination called me during 2nd hour this morning.</p>

<p>100% agreeing with you Marine88, the waiting sucks. USNA is being really slow, I've already got a LOA from USMA and an offer to USAFA, but heard nothing from USNA.</p>

<p>I haven't heard anything from any of the academies. I have nominations to all of them, but am still waiting to hear about my status. Annapolis is my first choice by far though.</p>

<p>HOOYAH ... those already in your bag are the USNA kindergarten programs. ;)</p>

<p>Seriously, good luck to you and marine88. Patience is a virtue. :eek: At least that's what my mama used to tell me. :confused: She never applied to USNA, though. Go get 'em. Good luck!</p>

<p>Well, I'm still waiting on my eye waiver I guess. I have a congressional nomination and i'm scholastically qualified. Do you guys think my chances are good?</p>

<p>definitely! getting scholastically qualified is a big step! you still have a chance at getting an LOA if the eye waiver hasn't been processed yet!
(that's where I am now)</p>

<p>I got a DODMERB notice for US Navy ROTC "Myopia -refractive error greater than -6.00 diopters (sphere component only)." On the back it says I'll automatically forwarded to BUMED. So while I can't do anything, is this bad or will a waiver likely be issued? It's interesting since I passed the Army ROTC standards.</p>

<p>MD, eye waiver, LOA, Cong. Nom & Pres. Nom:Appointment mid JAN</p>

<p>Thought I'd pass along some info that I just got from a chief over at DODMERB. Apparently DODMERB is in the process of eliminating their posting of the eye DQ category, i.e. where it shows on your DODMERB candidate page as you having a D-code and "eyes worse than 20/40". Since DODMERB is not the one that makes the call on that waiver (the SA's do that one themselves) DODMERB decided it just was'nt needed on thier site anymore. </p>

<p>The same chief, who says he knows his stuff from 15 yrs at the place, also said that USNA is no longer restricting the number of appointments to cadets with eye waiver needs. Has anyone else seen or heard of this? I.e. he stated that USNA is instituting new rules and that if you need a correctable eye waiver you are no longer put into a limited pool of applicants and that you are now being compared to the entire pool on your whole person score - again, no limits on the number of "special eye Appointment" like in past years. Sounds great to those of us needing the "waiver", but I'd like to hear if anyone can confirm this...</p>

<p>Dknightfam</p>

<p>Hey! I just received an Offer of Appointment today-dated feb 13th. I had an LOA, got that about a week and a half ago, the appointment was pending a vision waiver. Since receiving my appointment, my status on dodmerb has not changed from Waiverable (see item 9) on visual acuity worse than 20/40...</p>

<p>e11wemzer-</p>

<p>Whoo Hoo! Congratulations! That is awesome!</p>

<p>Congrats on the appointment!</p>

<p>Re the eye's, someone told me that the DODMERB eye statement doesn't go away for a while - it's listed there to remind the SA's that an internal / independent SA waiver is needed. IMHO. Is there anyone here with an appointment that has seen an eye DQ change on DODMERB AFTER thier appointment came thru?</p>

<p>I'd like to ask Ellwemzer how did you get your "late season" LOA - in the mail? Or did your MOC / Nom source phone you first about it? Ditto the appointment?</p>

<p>Congrats again.</p>

<p>Dknightfam</p>

<p>Bringing the Naval Academy Into Focus
Troops in U.S. Naval Forces may be facing a wave of fine-tuning as LASIK vision correction surgery allows more qualified individuals to compete for fighter pilot careers. Thanks to LASIK, aging pilots are now able to stay in the force, lessening the need for annual recruits. However, an even more significant impact is made in the new range of available applicants training to become fighter pilots. Being a luxurious, romantic career, the job has always had a certain appeal to the masses training at the Naval Academy. Unfortunately, it was until recently limited to those members with perfect vision, leaving out potential candidates for the profession who would have other skills beneficial to the Navy.</p>

<p>Nowadays, a bus leaves the Naval Academy nearly every Thursday for Annapolis, Maryland, full of midshipmen who are about to receive their government paid LASIK surgery. Of every 1000 member Naval Academy class, about a third experience perfect vision with LASIK eye correction. This new influx of available midshipmen for fighter pilot training means that vision is no longer a major concern for application. Instead, the men must be judged almost entirely on academic class rank and military performance, resulting in more reliable fighter pilots for the Naval forces.</p>

<p>310 midshipmen competed last year for 272 flight training slots. 104 of these applicants had undergone laser eye surgery. "If we didn't have [laser eye surgery], where would those 104 midshipmen have gone? ... Tough to say, but we know they wouldn't have gone into flight training," said Capt. Michael Jacobsen of the office of professional development at the Naval Academy.</p>

<p>The exact procedure being used by the Navy isn't the normal "LASIK" (laser-in situ keratomileusis) being used by most civilians - instead they opt for PRK, or photo refractive keratectomy, which doesn't involve cutting the cornea of the eye as LASIK does. Naval officials fear that the loose cornea flap may cause problems in combat. The Air Force holds a similar standpoint, with nonpilots given their choice of procedures and pilots limited only to PRK.</p>

<p>Good stuff. How recently was that published? Local paper?</p>

<p>I got the LOA through the mail, same with the Appointment [i didn't hear from a MOC beforehand about either of the two]--but that's prob b/c my nomination source is the Supe/Military Related Nom-child of deceased veteran...</p>

<p>Dk, this is the link that I found that on, looks recent as in 2006....a little on the infomercial side but it makes sense </p>

<p><a href="http://www.the-lasik-directory.com/2006/06/bringing-naval-academy-into-focus.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.the-lasik-directory.com/2006/06/bringing-naval-academy-into-focus.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The original was in the NY Times June 20, 2006</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/20/us/20eye.html?ex=1308456000&en=7a6ad8cc05927cc5&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/20/us/20eye.html?ex=1308456000&en=7a6ad8cc05927cc5&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>My daughter received her letter back in October stating she had a gauranteed appointment as long as she received her congressional appointment,(which she did in January) and passed her physical. Monday of this week the letter from DodMERB's arrived saying she did not meet medical standards due to myopia (nearsightedness) greater than -6.00 diopters. I understand she is automatically put into the waiver pool but how long does this take? What are our chances?</p>

<p>The waiting is terrible.</p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p>just curious as to how poor your vision is e11?</p>

<p>michdad i received the same notice-myopia. I have no clue how to decipher-my eye prescription is left: -6.00, -1.00, 20; right: -7.00, 1.00, 160</p>