<p>okay, im a freshman in high school and i have been researching lots of stuff on USMMA, i was hoping some of you could help answer some of my questions</p>
<p>First, i know you have to pass a DODMERB physical to get in. i have nystagmus in both of my eyes when i close one (but i see perfect when both my eyes are open). i got the nystagmus from eye surgery (my right eye would turn in, so they shortend one of my eye muscles). Would any of this be disqualifying for admisson?</p>
<p>Second, i read that when you report in you have to bring dental x-rays, why?</p>
<p>i was on the USMMA parents page and i have a few questins from that too:</p>
<li><p>On the roster (2012) some names are highlighted in red, why?</p></li>
<li><p>Why are some of the DI’s in yellow shirts that say “Drill Instructor” and some in red shirts that say “officers training course?”</p></li>
<li><p>Also why some DI’s have ancors on their collers and berets but others have navy enlisted symbols on theirs?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>1) It appears to me that the names highlighted in red are those of candidates who either have or have had siblings at KP.
2)The drill instructors wear yellow shirts and the midshipmen who are holding officer positions wear red. I'm not 100% on this, but, I believe the officer positions are held by members of the first class (seniors) while the drill instructors can come from any of the other classes.
3) Again I'm not 100% but, there are different positions for drill instructors, senior DIs
experienced DIs and assistant DIs. I believe the devices on the berets reflect these positions.</p>
<p>I'll attempt to answer the medical portion of your questions, but probably won't be able to give you the complete answer.</p>
<p>The Navy's Manual of the Medical Department is the instruction that covers entrance standards into the Navy and the Merchant Marine Academy.</p>
<p>If you truly have Nystagmus then that would be "considered disqualifying" and you would need a waiver for this diagnosis. I could not find anything on strabismus surgery which is likely what you had; however, I would bet that a history of strabismus surgery is also "considered disqualifying." For these I actually don't know what the waiver history has been and it would likely depend on your current symptomology.</p>
<p>With all that being said I'm not sure about your diagnosis as your description doesn't match up with classical nystagmus which usually isn't changed by whether the eyes are open or not. What you are describing sounds more like a heterophoria or heterotropia.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>No Idea</p></li>
<li><p>Because the ones in the yellow shirts are drill instructors and the ones in the red shirts are officers (not drill instructors)</p></li>
<li><p>All of them are Navy enlisted symbols, the anchor is a Chief. But to answer the question, because it shows what type of DI they are, ADI,EDI, or SDI</p></li>
<li><p>They are in the Band.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Upon further review......I think you're right suzannegra. It was probably just a coincidence but. the few that I recognized had brothers or sisters there</p>
<p>I can verify that the names in red are females, not those with sibs at KP. Our daughter's name is in red and she is the only one of our children to attend USMMA.</p>
<p>Dental xray question you asked about:
I think I recall it's a panoramic dental xray... </p>
<p>The take-away message I got from it all was... DON'T SHOW UP W/Wisdom teeth. Basically, they will need to be taken out (unless they are fully in and perfectly aligned... our son's were not...SOOO not). It's to avoid having a dental emergency at sea. Heck, people here don't like going to American dentists. You should see some of the dentists in the port cities ! Yikes.</p>
<p>That left our son with the question: "Do you want to look like a chipmunk for Prom, or for Graduation?"</p>
<p>Generally, there's just not going to be a dentist around the corner when you are out at sea.</p>
<p>How many of the 2012 class have been set back after the first/second trimester? How many that have been set back actually do return? And...of those that do return, what is their success rate?</p>
<p>Can't say much about any other class, although as a rule of thumb, it gets worse as years progress...</p>
<p>But for 09, we started with 286 midshipmen. We are currently at 201, with few more who may be kicked out. Of that 201, about 25ish are original 09...</p>
<p>Basically Alex what it means is that getting an appointment to KP is the "easy" part. Staying there for 4 years is totally another story. The academics, regimental lifetsyle and everything together makes this a very difficult school....however...the rewards and opportunities afforded to graduates are amazing.</p>