Asthma & Enlisting in Marines?
I am a junior in high school, i have exercise induced asthma, and i want to enlist in the marines as infantry and hopefully pass any special ops training 4 years down the road. I can run 3 miles in 19 min, do 60 pushups in under 2 min, 110 situps in under 2 min, 19 dead hang pull ups, all without the use of my inhailor, i used my inhailor up until the point i found out that having asthma at all would disqualify me from enlisting (about 4 months ago) since then i have not used it once, but after my normal day of pt (2 hrs of weight lifting, ~250 pushups, 8 - 10 miles of running in 30 degree weather @ a 7 min/mile pace) i do feel the tightness in my chest and slightly wheeze but only after the endurance stuff but has progressively gotten better since completely getting off my inhailor 4 months ago. I airsoft without my inhailor in cqb and open field senarios with a pack that weighs about 15 lbs and i dont have a problem. I told my recruiter the truth about my asthma and disqualified me. I can easily be able to fight in a real fire fight without the use of my inhailor, since i am preping myself with airsofting battles (yes i understand its not the real thing). I have never had an asthma attack only mild tightness and controllable weezing after endurnce runs. My question is, will anything during marine boot camp, advanced infantry training, or even MEPS be able to break me to where ill have an asthma attack? How can i get rid of my medical records that show i had asthma?
Is it possible to join the Marine Corps with asthma and still have a combative job?
It isn't possible to join ANY branch of the military with asthma, reactive airway disease, allergic manifestations, or any other type of lung problem. If you're currently diagnosed and using any type of med, you're permanently disqualified from military duty. It's a non-waiverable condition. Here's the language: Lungs, chest wall, pleura, and mediastinum The causes for rejection for appointment, enlistment, and induction are: d. Asthma, including reactive airway disease, exercise induced bronchospasm or asthmatic bronchitis, reliably diagnosed at any age. Reliable diagnostic criteria should consist of any of the following elements: (1) Substantiated history of cough, wheeze, and/or dyspnea that persists or recurs over a prolonged period of time, generally more than 6 months. (2) If the diagnosis of asthma is in doubt, a test for reversible airflow obstruction (greater than a 15 percent increase in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEVI) following administration of an inhaled bronchodilator) or airway hyperactivity (exaggerated decrease in airflow induced by standard bronchoprovocation challenge such as methacholine inhalation or a demonstration of exercise-induced bronchospasm) must be performed. If it was childhood asthma and not currently a problem, here is the regulation: http://www.navycs.com/blogs/2008/08/14/m...
Non waiverable medical conditions military?
Retention standards are less strict than recruiting standards, which is why you was approved reenlistment while you were in. All a normal reenlistment requires is for your commander to sign off on your paperwork. Once you get out, you would have to pass normal recruiting standards to get back in, to include getting examined at MEPS and all other requirements normal applicants go through. With that in mind, you may never be allowed to come back in and you could attempt to get approved for disability based on your service aggravating your original medical condition (but not for the original condition itself). If your goal is to be an officer, and you are eligible to be an officer, than my suggestion is to stay in and apply for OCS. Nothing is stopping you from attending graduate classes while you are still serving, although it will obviously take longer to do so due to military obligations.