What should a letter to my congressman requesting a Medical waiver include?
A congressman has absolutely nothing to do with waivers. You will be wasting your time!! If the congressman actually did try to do anything in your favor, it would probably just piss the people at MEPS off!! If you have not already done so, get any and all records from your doctor/doctors regarding your condition. My husband joined with several waivers, due to past surgeries, injuries, etc. He was 34, so he had a lot of crap!! He was still able to join though. As our recruiter said "A denial does not mean no, it only means you have to do a little leg work." Something that may also help you get a waiver-make an appointment with your doctor. Ask him to write a letter detailing your specific condition, and also ask him to state that your condition will not affect your service in the Army. My husband did this, and it weighed very heavily in his favor!! Good luck!!
Do I Even Have a Chance of becoming a Marine?
Joining the marines and being part of the most elite group of people in the world is my dream, and has been for a while. (and it doesn't help that my whole family and friends do not support my dream of joining the military) I am an athletic person (I play many sports and love to work out), I am great with guns (people have told me I shoot better than the cops & SWAT team people they train, I'm a 16 year old girl), and I follow the marines religiously (I live by their core values: honor, courage, & commitment. I have donated much of my money I earn to help support our amazing troops (god bless them all), and I am always educating myself about the military). The only problem is that this past year I have had three health problems: 1. My knees is screwed up and its has worn down cartilage and bone making it extremely painful, and I am saving money up to have surgery to fix it, hopefully. 2. During a game of lacrosse, a girl wacked at my ankle and caused it to have a bruised bone and a ligament has snapped also, making it nearly impossible to run for over a mile. 3.I have a problem where I tend to be on the verge of fainting (I stop before I faint of course) very quickly after excising and I have a hard time breathing after running for a long time because of medicine I'm on because I have ADHD. But its not like I can switch, because this is the only meds that have worked so far. so yah I'm dealing with that right now, but what I really want to know is if I should just give up my dream now? In complete honesty, the physical pain does not make me upset, its the thought that I might not be able to grow up to be the person I want to be because of my problems that leaves me with a broken heart at the end of the day. Am I too screwed up already to ever become a marine? Or do I have a fighting chance? I'd love some people who are marines to answer because you guys have been through the whole thing, thanks.
If I get rejected by one branch of the military, will all others reject me too?
All branches use the same data base of names, ssn, and reason for rejection. I think you are going to be SOL. Semper Fidelis, Z EDIT.... SH!T outta luck.
I injured a finger at work, how will this affect my military career?
I have seen people who were missing fingers successfully pursue a military enlistment. During my 18 years as an Army Recruiter, I knew of 1 person who got rejected, because he was right-handed and had lost his right index (trigger) finger. The reason for rejection? He couldnt pull the trigger of his M-16. Unless the finger is extremely screwed up, you should have no problem enlisting. Just make sure you have complete medical documentation from initial injury all the way through final prognosis and you should be fine. As for qualifying for some form of 'Special' forces, I don't know, as they have some of the tightest standards of all the services. To what the others have said, let me add my congratulations and thanks for wanting to serve and defend this great country we all call HOME!!
Why can’t the Marine Corps release my son ASAP if he is unable to adapt to military life? Why does it take weeks to send him home if he is released from the marine boot camp training?
Why can’t the Marine Corps release my son ASAP if he is unable to adapt to military life? Why does it take weeks to send him home if he is released from the marine boot camp training?The release processing is deliberately longer than it needs to be…. For several reasons that you may not like.THE USMC is trying to make Marines…. They are less inclined to give much consideration to misfits - which literally means “people who don’t fit”.The USMC is hoping the recruit will recognize the error of quitting (for any reason) and rescind their request. (See 1 above).The USMC recognizes that almost every recruit at some point wants to quit and necessarily for their future in life as a grown up and in combat need to know, really know, how to function when that panic, fear, worry overwhelms them because on some hill in some future war it will overwhelm them (See 1 above).The USMC has for over two centuries successfully created Marines and Officers that can over come any obstacle, challenge, adversary - so they can tell the difference between a salvageable and non-salvageable misfit. (See 1 above).The USMC knows the regret and shame that comes with surrendering to those doubts will plague the recruit for a lifetime and create a member of society who is less than they can be (See 1 above).The Military Life is not a square hole that only square pegs fit into. It is a square hole that you hammer the ill-fitting peg into! Shaving off the pieces that are irrelevant or useless to adapt the recruit to the new paradigm. Specifically, they will, at some point, be ready to make decisions that have life and death in the balance and not freeze up.In the end it’s up to your son to decide what his future will be. He took a promising first step my signing up. There really are very, very few unredeemable recruits. Just as there are very, very few people who on the other side of their service regret it. It instills a confidence, a tenacity, a esprit de Corps that no other job can give you. He, if he goes forward, will be forever different.My question is what do you want for your son?
If you dont tell MEPs you have asthma?
I went to the doctors when I was about 8 and was diagnosed with asthma. I was givin an emergency inhalor, but never really needed it. I was givin Advair a few years later and it did help a little bit, but ive never had an asthma attack, and have played rigorous compettive sports with difficult endurance workouts and have never had any asthma attacks and have always made it through. Though I don't need the inhalors my mom continued to get new ones as the old ones expired so if I mention it at MEPs I would be DQ'd from MEPs, because I was givin asthma meds after my 13th birthday. Ive heard from alot of people that said they just didnt mention asthma when at MEPs, and got off scott free, but i know its illegal. Would this be a bad idea? Would attempting to get a waiver be a better idea?
Can I join the military if I take anti-depressants?
NO! If you are on them currently, stop taking them (under a doctor's supervision). Then go to the recruiter and never EVER mention those drugs or that you ever took them. Then go to MEPS and DO NOT mention those drugs. Ever. They will tell you if you lie you will go to prison for years and they will rape your mother but it's not true, it's just procedure. I was on ADHD meds when I tried to join and my recruiter told me not to mention them at MEPS. I got scared and admitted to using them and was immediately disqualified and it took me 3 years of waivers and psychiatrist checkups and so on to finally get in (then I got booted out after 8 months ^.^) and my recruiter never talked to me again because she got in trouble (I had to join the Navy instead of Air Force). When I got to boot camp I found out half the people in my division were on drugs at MEPS and were just smart enough to not mention it. I felt like a fool for being honest. If you really want to join, just say NO when they ask about previous/current drugs. Depending on what drug you are on, you could probably go through MEPS now if you wanted to and just make sure you get off them before you ship out (they don't test for most antidepressants, usually just coke/amphetamine/mary jane) but to be completely safe get off them before going to the recruiter and keep your mouth shut. They don't care and they aren't going to pull up your medical history. They only know what you tell them.