Vision Req's

J

jmartinezm

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, I was seriously looking into the possibility of joining the Navy or Air Force last school year (my sophomore year) to pursue a career in aviation, but was under the impression that my uncorrected was worse than the 20/70 requirements that I had seen, but I have seen varying reports now that the AF has revoked the "no LASIK surgery" rule that was in place just recently. Can anybody clarify what the vision requirements are at this point in time? I think my vision uncorrected is about 20/190 or something along those lines, but it is corrected to 20/20 by contacts and glasses. Sorry if this is probably the worst forum to post in, please feel free to refer me anywhere else!
 
For the Navy side, the limit is 20/40 max, correctable to 20/20 for pilot. PRK has been an option for many years now, and I'm pretty sure that in the last couple of years, LASIK also became an option. Can't speak to the AF, but that is what you need for the USN/USMC side of things. If you are 20/70 right now, you will need to pursue laser surgery to meet the mins if you are looking for a pilot slot. You would be fine as you are for NFO though.
 
jmartinezm said:
I'm guessing that yes is meaning that I can't get a pilot slot in the Coast Guard, Navy or MC? Just making sure! :afro:
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Correct, 20/190 or whatever else will not get you in the door for a pilot gig unfortunately. If you are a candidate for laser eye surgery, I'd think you could make it happen though.
 
So if I were to get laser eye surgery, would that make me a candidate for a piloting slot? Or would my uncorrected vision BEFORE the surgery get in the way of that?
 
Your uncorrected vision makes you not physically qualified for pilot (NPQ), BUT, if you are deemed a good candidate for laser surgery, you can have it done out in town (assuming you aren't already on active duty in the mil) and then apply for a waiver. It's just an administrative check in the box, as long as the surgery did in fact correct your vision to at least pilot minimums of 20/40 uncorrected. Many guys have done this, and it is generally a good way to get in the door as long as the surgery is successful. You would apply for the waiver after the minimum time post surgery has elapsed, and this would be part of your initial military flight physical.

As for your package in general, grades, ASTB scores (or AFQT or whatever the AF equivalent is), passing the physical fitness test, as well as other extracurriculars if you have any are all important parts. Primarily the grades, and standardized test (ie ASTB) scores, but the other stuff factors in a small amount as well. Hope that helps
 
Ahh, I see, ok.. So I'd have to get some kind of eye surgery to get my vision below 20/40 to be considered for either the AF, Navy, or Air Guard (which I think have the same requirements as the Air Force..) and then get a waiver for it. Of course this would all take place after getting my degree in Accounting, and then having to apply for OCS. I always thought that even if I had any kind of surgery I'd get disqualified, but this opens up new options. Thanks for the info!
 
jmartinezm said:
Ahh, I see, ok.. So I'd have to get some kind of eye surgery to get my vision below 20/40 to be considered for either the AF, Navy, or Air Guard (which I think have the same requirements as the Air Force..) and then get a waiver for it. Of course this would all take place after getting my degree in Accounting, and then having to apply for OCS. I always thought that even if I had any kind of surgery I'd get disqualified, but this opens up new options. Thanks for the info!
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You would not need to wait to finish school to get the surgery.....as long as you have the cash for it, you can do it whenever. Probably better now than later when you are trying to put together an application anyway. Most of my friends from college/NROTC who did it, got it done sophomore or junior year over the Christmas holidays. Gave them time to recover, and time for the eyes to stabilize prior to their flight physicals. I think the turnaround is quicker for LASIK than it is for PRK, but either way you will need some time to recover before a mil flight doc will even consider seeing you. And yeas, it is an awesome opportunity that didn't always exist in generations past, so take advantage of it!
 
Ahh, I see, then the waiver is only for those that have recently had an eye surgery? I was under the impression that I had to have had it within a year to qualify for the waiver and be a candidate, but didn't think that if I had gotten it a couple of years early, I'd still be a candidate to apply. I guess it's as long as my vision is within the 20/40 limit at the time of the application? Even better then, I might start thinking about getting it within a year, I'm getting tired of these glasses anyway!
 
jmartinezm said:
Ahh, I see, then the waiver is only for those that have recently had an eye surgery? I was under the impression that I had to have had it within a year to qualify for the waiver and be a candidate, but didn't think that if I had gotten it a couple of years early, I'd still be a candidate to apply. I guess it's as long as my vision is within the 20/40 limit at the time of the application? Even better then, I might start thinking about getting it within a year, I'm getting tired of these glasses anyway!
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No the waiver is required for anyone who has had laser surgery, regardless of when. At least that is how it works on the USN/USMC side
 
Sorry to keep asking questions about this, but I've tried to look it up on other websites but can't seem to find a clear answer. For the Navy, is there only one specific type of surgery that is able to get a waiver for application for a piloting slot? I've read that LASIK is a disqualifier, and PRK is only an option if allowed into the PRK study program. Do you have any solid information on this?
 
I'm kinda late to this thread but I'll throw in my experience. I was 20/400 in each eye (couldn't see sh-...stuff without contacts) but was able to get PRK and am now in Air Force pilot training.

First off, if you're talking to an enlisted recruiter, get all the info you can from them but back it up with a reputable source (i.e. an AF flight surgeon when it comes to medical stuff, ROTC cadre when it comes to commissioning stuff, etc.) Not knocking recruiters, but I got very bad intel on several occasions.

For flyers, he Air Force does allow PRK, LASIK, LASEK, and half a dozen other surgeries I've never even heard of. Unless the policy has changed in the last month or two (and it may have) the only laser surgeries that they're cranky about are the new ones like wave-LASIK, epi-LASIK, and all that new-fangled technology. However, even for the ones they do allow, there is a long and painful waiver process that begins well before the surgery, so make sure you have everything lined up before you do anything. I did mine between my sophomore and junior years of college while in ROTC and spent many days both before and after the surgery submitting, changing, and re-submitting waiver stuff. They do require a one-year waiting period after the surgery before you can apply for a pilot slot.

Bottom line, if you want to be a pilot, get in touch with ROTC or academy recruiters and ask questions until they tell you to buzz off. Once you get the basic info on laser surgery from them, try to get in touch with a flight surgeon and repeat.

I'll spare the entire and impressively boring story about the whole waiver/categorizing/commissioning process, but if you have any specific questions let me know. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the information, I'm trying to get information to apply for the Navy's BDCP program while applying for a piloting slot, but the closest recruiter to me is Enlisted, not an Officer recruiter, so it's been taking a long time to get information relayed to the Officer recruiter and then back to the Enlisted one (might just be it was thanksgiving week.) I feel like I need to ask another, more informed person about the process to apply, but not exactly sure who to ask. I'll look around to find other sources to get reliable information when it comes to AF/Navy. Thanks!
 
You might try www.airwarriors.com if you haven't already. It's an entire forum dedicated to discussion of USN/USMC Aviation related things, with a large focus being answering newbies questions about applications and such. Just make sure you do a search before asking questions, as most all of them (including those you have asked here) have been covered in-depth at one time or another. Also, while I am not intimately familiar with applying to BDCP specifically (I did NROTC), I am an active duty Navy pilot, and I'd be glad to give you any advice that I can. Bunk and a couple others on here are Navy pilots as well, and I'm sure they would also be glad to help. There are also a good number of active AF guys here, and I would suggest baseops.org for AF related questions. The biggest thing I would say right now, is that you need to be in personal contact with an officer recruiter, not just using an enlisted recruiter as an intermediary. He/she will be the one ultimately responsible for getting you picked up on the program, and knows far far more than the guys working the enlisted side in terms of what YOU need to do to get commissioned and everything else. I won't say that enlisted recruiters are dishonest, but I would be wary in dealing with one if you are not intending to enlist. They have quotas to meet, and it really isn't their job to be working with someone that doesn't at least have some intent of helping him meet that recruiting goal. If he is helping you out through the kindness of his heart, that is great, but you wouldn't be the first person to get a little bit less than the 100% unfiltered straight gouge about going officer from an E recruiter. Just a word of caution, and a suggestion to, in a professional sense, not waste his time, but rather be proactive and seek out the person that can actually help you (a Navy/USAF officer recruiter)
 
jmartinezm said:
Thanks for the information, I'm trying to get information to apply for the Navy's BDCP program while applying for a piloting slot, but the closest recruiter to me is Enlisted, not an Officer recruiter, so it's been taking a long time to get information relayed to the Officer recruiter and then back to the Enlisted one (might just be it was thanksgiving week.) I feel like I need to ask another, more informed person about the process to apply, but not exactly sure who to ask. I'll look around to find other sources to get reliable information when it comes to AF/Navy. Thanks!
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Best advice I can give you is make sure you're actually talking to the officer recruiter. Not saying all enlisted recruiters are shady... But they have quotas to meet and there have been cases of people with perfectly good degrees winding up within the enlisted ranks.

Can get examples from some of my prior Navy Recruiter flying buddies if ya need!
 
I'll tell you my experience, maybe it will help. I went into the Navy as an ATC. Same reqs as a Pilot/NFO. My vision was 20/20 corrected, 20/1000 uncorrected. I went through boot and A school in Pensacola. Got to my first command and started making phone calls to the Navy docs about LASIK. I dropped a chit on the command, and got approved. I was less than 6 mos into my 1st command and on my way to San Diego for an all expenses paid vacation and eye surgery. Met Capt. Stephen Shallhorn on a Monday, and had the procedure completed on Thursday. Two days of testing showed I was a better candidate for PRK. PRK completed, I remained in SD to recover for a week. Downed for 6 or 8 weeks, restored to full up in 8 or 9 weeks. My uncorrected vision is now 20/10 and 20/08. My surgery was done in 2003. Best thing that ever happened to me in the Navy. Additionally, flyers/ATC are given same priority as SOC (1st/Top).

***MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE THE RECRUITER SHOW YOU EVERYTHING IN WRITING. It's all there. Make him do his job.***
 
Canassis said:
I went into the Navy as an ATC. Same reqs as a Pilot/NFO. My vision was 20/20 corrected, 20/1000 uncorrected.
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Not the same requirements we have. 20/20 corrected, 20/40 uncorrected max for Pilot. Not sure about NFO, that could be 20/100000000 uncorrected....no idea really
 
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