I just found out today that I have to get a waiver and don't even know for what... Is it a bad sign that this is necessary? Can I do anything to make the process go more smoothly and/or make things easier?

quote:

Originally posted by lkowbel:
I just found out today that I have to get a waiver and don't even know for what... Is it a bad sign that this is necessary? Can I do anything to make the process go more smoothly and/or make things easier?

It really depends what it is for. Find that out first and you'll get more accurate input. Waivers happen when you don't meet standards but can be for a number of different things: medical, moral, credit, age, etc.

Again, depending on what you need it for, it's not that big of a deal. Lots of people, myself included, had to enter ROTC on some kind of waiver.

It could be something completely harmless... I had to get two waivers- one for bad eyesight and another because the dumb doctor that gave me my physical didn't check a box. It'll be more of a pain in the butt than anything. Just make sure you get any new appointments asap to get it out of the way. Once you get your waiver through it won't affect anything in ROTC.

Now if you have to get a waiver for something like a drinking violation (like myself ), then you might have some problems...

Just spoke with the Sergeant that's been helping with all my paperwork and he said that they were looking over a couple of things that DoDMERB had underlined to question. He mentioned my common migraines (which I've seen are waiverable) as well as an MRI report that I had from a while ago (I believe as far back as 2006) that had a mention of slight disc dehydration and a debated pars defect. There weren't any issues that needed waivers like parking tickets or whatever, he said the only thing they were looking at were the couple of medical questions. I don't know if that tells you anything, but that's all he said... Thoughts?

lkowbel,
there is a retired Navy Hospital Corpsman who used to work for DODMERB for many years who can answer your questions about waivers for medical conditions. Go to the following forum and ask:
http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20

Thanks for the link!

quote:

Now if you have to get a waiver for something like a drinking violation (like myself ), then you might have some problems...

Warning: thread hijack!

If you are willing to share, what has been your experiance with this process? I'm going to go through the exact same thing (darn tickets), and even my cadre has no idea what will happen.

If you have to get a waiver, then waivers themselves are no problem. It is how many waivers you get that are the problem.

When my wife first did ROTC, she had to get several waivers.
1. She had to get a waiver for her weight (she was 103 / 5'2'').
2. She had to get a waiver for a car accident she had been in when she checked off had she ever had a concussion--she was less than five at the time!
3. She had taken medicine for eczema in the past.
4. One other I cannot recall.
So she was told she could not contract with more than three waivers. She stopped her ROTC and eventually went back in though. This time they did not bother her about her weight at being on the bare minimum (less than 105 I believe) and when she told the doctor she had eczema they literally asked her, "Is it bad?" She replied "No." Then they said, "Oh don't worry about it then."

So the Army is very inconsistent with their waivers. Sometimes the recruiters are right when they tell the enlisted guys that if it is not a problem, and you can handle it, then leave it off. You do need to be honest with yourself though. If you have a condition that is not allowed, address it. But some of the tiniest issues will be blown out of proportion many times. Don't tell the Army that your mommy dropped you on your head when you were two if nothing ever resulted from it they would have you getting MRI's and EEG's).

But back to your question, many guys get medical waivers, it is just how many you get and what they are for.

quote:

Originally posted by gallagheria:
If you have to get a waiver, then waivers themselves are no problem. It is how many waivers you get that are the problem.

When my wife first did ROTC, she had to get several waivers.
1. She had to get a waiver for her weight (she was 103 / 5'2'').
2. She had to get a waiver for a car accident she had been in when she checked off had she ever had a concussion--she was less than five at the time!
3. She had taken medicine for eczema in the past.
4. One other I cannot recall.

but i think what Lefty118 was asking about was waivers for misdemenors and felonies (like traffice misdemenor for example). i think that sort of waiver and waivers for drugs fall into a different category than for medical. i could be wrong.

My experience with the waiver process went much like this:

1) a phone call informing me I would need a couple waivers and to come in to fill out paperwork
2) fill out paperwork and sign it to be sent off
3)receive a phone call that the paperwork had been received by Cadet Command
4) called my cadre to see the status of the waiver approval and it was still being reviewed
5) a week later call again and just that morning Cadet Command had given approval for the waivers
5) I went in to my school and filled out more paperwork so all I have left is my APFT and contract signing once school starts

I didn't have any waivers aside from medical things -- headaches and a concussion at 17 that they looked at my CTScan for -- but I hope that helps you to at least get an idea of the hurry up and wait process. GOOD LUCK!