<p>My son was so excited about serving his country. He is a National Merit Semi-Finalist with a 3.8 GPA. (He's earned a 4.3 for the last 4 semesters.) He is co-captain of his HS debate team, has volunteered on political campaigns since the age of 13, has done disaster relief work, and held positions of leadership in his school clubs. He is extremely bright, polite & well-spoken, and physically healthy. Most of all, though, he ardently loves the United States of America and wants more than anything to make a difference.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, after beginning the process of securing a nomination, we discovered that the USNA will NOT accept any candidates who take medication for ADD/ ADHD. In fact, you are not allowed to be on any ADD meds for one full year prior to the induction physical.</p>
<p>I contacted our area's Blue & Gold officer to make sure about this. But the guy was a real jerk and was in fact quite rude to me on the phone when he returned my call. (I think he might have been drunk??)</p>
<p>Since our son has a much harder time staying organized when he's off his medication, we did not feel that gambling his senior year on the chance of possibly getting a nomination was worth the risk.</p>
<p>Our entire family was deeply disappointed; none more so than our son.</p>
<p>My personal opinion is that the Navy is missing out on some young people with a lot to offer by holding to this out-dated position on ADD meds. I wonder: Do they also exclude ALL people with asthma, or diabetes? Or who need glasses?</p>
<p>There are valid military reasons for having a medical qualification standard. The mission of the USNA is to produce line officers for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Navy and Marine Corps officers serve in many field conditions, some of which may not have access to certain vital medications that some people need to “stay organized.”</p>
<p>Sorry about your disappointment, but imagine the disappointment another family may have when, denied his medications by some battlefield condition, you son’s AD/HD condition causes him to issue (or not issue) a life-and-death order in combat and sends them to their deaths.</p>
<p>No one in the military can guarantee access to insulin, and inhaler, anti-depressants, stimulants, Epi-Pens, or other life-saving medication that some people need to live their daily lives. </p>
<p>The standards exist for their own safety and the safety of the others under their command.</p>
<p>Okay so your son has average stats by USNA standards and you are complaining about a medical DQ?</p>
<p>Luigi gave a pretty good perspective of the implications, but how about an example. ADD son is commissioned as an officer in the Marines. He’s a 2ndLt and in charge of 30 men on a 3 day combat mission in Afghanistan. He brought his meds, but after re-packing and eliminating the non essentials, the meds are left behind. First signs of symptoms kick in. He begins to zone out and looses focus. Starts to loose sight of the mission and makes abrupt decisions. Unable to complete the basic tasks, visible errors in his decision making begin to show. This happens within hours after the repack. Imagine what happens on day 2 when there is enemy contact. Do you really want this person leading you into battle? Heck, do you want your son leading people in battle knowing this could happen? Throwing chaos such as combat at a non-medicated individual is one of the worst things you can do to someone with ADD. </p>
<p>Commissioning as an officer isn’t a right based off extracurricular activities in HS. Yes, it is unfortunate that they will miss out on your son’s talent. However, the military also needs to ensure the safety of the sailors and Marines. </p>
<p>Contrary to popular belief, the military creates regulations for a reason. Yes, there is some debate to certain regulations…but 99% of the time they get it right. </p>
<p>With regards to asthma and diabetes. Take a look at the problems asthmatics faced in the gulf war. With regards to diabetes, imagine being in the field and only having MREs. Heck, even over plebe summer. Do you want the detailers to be running around with candy bars and insulin? </p>
<p>Its unfortunate that you felt the BGO was rude to you. Perhaps you misinterpreted him due to anger? Or maybe you expressed anger and he was trying to calm you down?</p>
<p>Going on a high school forum and posting a thread like this really isn’t going to do anything. That’s like saying “people with 50% body fat need not enlist in the military.” </p>
<p>I wish your son the best of luck and I hope he can utilize his talents to serve our country in some other capacity.</p>
<p>Seriously, it is difficult enough for those who are not diagnosed ADD/ADHD to deal with 21 credits a semester + pro knowledge (military knowledge) + sports (club or otherwise-you will be involved in a sport) +the fourth class system. Prioritization is key. I am a teacher, and I know that for many ADD/ADHD kiddos this is where they fall apart. I think you are right not to gamble his senior year, since it may get him IN, but not having the meds during the academic year will likely mean that he won’t STAY in and be the happy, successful student he could be elsewhere. </p>
<p>How you deal with this disappointment will be an important life lesson for your son and may serve to define his opinion of himself going forward. Tread lightly and move on. Something along the lines of “Okay, now we know to place our efforts elsewhere.” </p>
<p>This issue has been well explained for the reasoning behind decisions like this. Most of all, it has served as an important reality that this experience is not just college-with-uniforms-and-professional-summer-internships. It has a very specific and serious objective, i.e. to prepare officer-leaders for leading those charged with defending our country. And as we know and have been reminded, this is too often not a 9-to-5 gig in a suit. So the Armed Services must work to control those many variables that have the potential to deter this effort, and notably in leading men and women into potentially ugly, life-determining circumstances. Enough on this. We all get it, and cannot afford to forget it.</p>
<p>Undoubtedly there are many fine students who choose not to pursue this or are prevented from pursuing it by circumstances not in their control. Last season nearly 17,000 applied; 5,000 of these were deemed fully qualified, nominated and acceptable; 1,500 were given offers of appointment; 1,200 were inducted; approximately 1,000 will graduate and receive commissions. And this goes on year in, year out, with some signficantly minor variations. There are a great many who could and would do well but are not availed the opportunity. For those who have been, a glaring blessing for which to give thanks.</p>
<p>Sorry about your son’s disappointment. There are other ways to serve our country that are not as restrictive about daily medication… FBI, Intelligence, Foreign Service, local Police, Fireman, Teacher, etc.</p>
<p>For the sake of those who will read this going forward, I want to share the experience of someone close to me who was also diagnosed with ADHD. After taking Adderal for six months, grades improved from half As and half Bs to straight As. However, the jitteriness and trouble sleeping made the decision easy to stop taking meds and try to figure out another way to stay focused and on-task.</p>
<p>Grades went back to half As, half Bs without meds at he beginning of Junior year. However, during this time she worked on other ways to improve her classroom performance that didn’t involve medication – keeping a calendar, keeping lists of To Dos, working in small groups to study, etc. Grades went back to straight As. Room is still a mess, but you can’t win every battle LOL.</p>
<p>There are many resources to help an ADHD person to improve focus and concentration outside of the usual medications. Some do require meds, but for others it’s just one way that works.</p>
<p>It should be noted that on an official bases, BGO are not supposed to answer medical questions, and are instructed to direct you to DoDMERB instead. Obviously we don’t know the details of your conversation with the BGO, but if he was refusing to answer your questions this is why.</p>
While I am not attempting to argue the disqualification for ADHD, I note that some of the very arguments used to defend the policy actually contradict it. The typical person experiencing ADHD is under their best in stressful situations. If fact, while neurally-typical individuals sometime become dysfunctional under stressful situations (military history is strewn with examples of excellent peace-time soldiers who fold at the first shot fired in anger), those with ADHD usually remain calm and collected and develop a hyper focus. So, to answer the question, “do you really want someone like that leading you into battle,” I respond that I would only want someone like that leading me into battle. The problem is that battle plays such a small part of a military career, and many don’t see any at all. In reality, it is the monotony of peace that the typical person with ADHD is is ill-equipped to survive.