Can I bypass MEPS for wrongfully declining me?

2018-09-14T18:33:41-04:00

I have been trying to join the Army for some time now, and during my enlistment process, I had caught pneumonia and ever since my recruiter has reported me being sick.They have declined me for having Asthma. They have given multiple reasons one of which was that I used an inhaler. The only reason for the inhaler was my doctor wanted me to take it daily for recovery. I have taken pulmonary tests (Lung Function Tests) to prove I have no Asthma and I'm continually being denied. Is there a way around meps?

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made Sep 14 at 2018 6:34 PM

2018-09-14T18:34:57-04:00

Try a different service. Or go outside your area

Response by CAPT Michael Toleno made Sep 14 at 2018 6:37 PM

2018-09-14T18:37:16-04:00

I have asthma and made it through medical screening for both Naval Academy entrance (and application) and pilot training. You should be able to get a waiver, or at least pursue one. Find out what it takes to get a waiver. At a minimum, get a written explanation from your civilian doctor regarding your current condition (i.e., asymptomatic) and your past diagnosis and advice (i.e., you were only advised to use a rescue inhaler, but your condition does not mandate it, etc.). Ask me further questions if you have any. All the best.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 14 at 2018 11:13 PM

2018-09-14T23:13:25-04:00

MEPS job is to protect the military from VA Claims for preexisting conditions down the road. If they decline you, then they defer you to a waiver authority.

Have you been to MEPS and declined or is your recruiter saying you cannot go to MEPS?

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made Sep 15 at 2018 3:23 AM

2018-09-15T03:23:38-04:00

Your quesrion is, at least to !e, complex...you'd need to elaborate considerably, to be gvem adequate info or possible thoughts...I have asthma, esp in cold weather, I always have, esp an inclination probably genetic towards frequent bronchitis that flips quite easily toward pneumonia...before I went Army ROTC, then USAF OTS, I wasn't terribly athletic, I taught myself how to run properly, using proper exhalation techniques I worked out, gradually, over time, till I could do 2 miles in 18 mins in fatigues and combat boots for Army, and hen 1-1/2 miles in 12 mins in short and sneakers for USAF OTS, gradually getting up to 8 miles nonstop I was capable of inning. I also do aikido and iaido now, aikido, I had wanted to do I was in, I was stupid then, and didn't, doing three house of aikido is roughly the equivalent, I'm confined, aerobically, of rnnin 10 miles, in my estimation. That being said, you'd need to elaborate exactly what possible MOS you'd wanted of range of MOS possibilities...further, you need to be far more flexible in your outlook as to what svc might take you...you'd need to explain your background somewhat, your motivations, ambitions, objectives...did you want a full career? Did you want to do a term or two and get out? Did you want senior enlisted? Warrant? Commissioned? ROTC? Green to Gold? Simultaneous member program? Are you in college now? Assocs? Bach? Major? Grades? GPA? Would you consider specific colleges that could let you acclimate to svc life, without commitmentz, so as to demonstrate your capacity to function physically despite the possible astma problem? Would you consider going into one of the legitimate state militias first, and then trying to transfer to go Federal? Not all states have them, their main professional body is SGAUS, in NY, where my wife and I arez there is the NY Guard (NYG), the volunteer supplement to the NY Natl Guard, both Army and Air (ARNG and ANG), as well as the NY Naval Militia. The former isn't Federally recognized, the latter is, with some 95%+ of its members being drilling USNR, USMCR, and USCGR, the rest are politically appointed. In the NYG one can't be deployed ouyt of state, I was activated along with NYNM for 9/11 and in Hurricane Sandy, it handles disaster relief, and is the supplement to ARNG and ANG when they're deployed, I'd wanted to go NUG, unfortunately I'm total perm disabled now, and can't, otherwise, I'd certainly still try, I've looked at other possibilities like USCG Auxiliary and Civil Air Patrol (CAP), howecerz there auxiliaries though USCG Aux is also classed as an instrumentality under the Geneva Convention, whereas CAP isn't, which is a higher order to svc involvement, if you read up on that distinction. I pose that as a possibility as many in NY often test drive their Audis if you will, seeing how they adjust to state gaurd militias, which are state approved in sevl states, then see if they can go Federal, generally, I've understood states release them, if a Federal svc picks them up, they're real militaries, with real enlistment contracts, oaths, boot camps, OCS programs, all of it, except they don't generally deploy out of the states they're part of, as I umderstand the rules that exist for them now, which is why I'd also suggest them. Next, you could always go to all three of your Congressional offices, as well as seek a full pulmonology workup, by pulmonoligiets, I'd also suggest an allergist.immunologist, with detailed imaging, as well as documenting your pulmonary function, which typically involves what is termed closed loop spirometry, which I've needed many, many times, to measure what is termed forced expiratory volume (FEV), the allergy workup would be to see if what, if any anthen, or group of antigens, might provoke possible asthma in you...my point then, is, that I did it, I told the AFEES and USPHS clinical evaluators all about my asthma, and I was still passed...that being said, that was obviously back when dinosaurs walked the Earth, so, perhaps, standards have changed...in WW2 or Korea, flat feet or spinal curvature, kyposis, lordosis, or scoliosis, a combination of the two, was often given as a reason for rejecting someone, same thing with various vision aspects, so knowing if you have any flight interests possibly would also be useful to know...one can always appeal to a recruiting district, espp of one asks for Congressional help to seek clinical review by higher authority, even up to medical/physical eval board (MEB/PEB), or possibly surgeon general staff level, to review your records, it would depend on how far you'd want to seek help to actually go in...believe me, I applaud your enthusiasm, certainly, and what I'd told you here is based solely on my own exposure, in the main, though, later on, I did have doctoral allied health training, though my wife and I shut my allied health license sevl years ago due to my disability, I'm not a physician, and never was...at the same time, neither am I entirely ignorant of the clinical aspects involved, it was part of my training, however, I'm ovioisly by no means expert, nor would I even remotely suggest that...I'd go to a major university based !ed center hospital, see pulmonology, and request a very, very extensive workup, get it thoroughly documented, send it all into your Congressional offices if yjd care to go in that direction, depending of course on what you'd need told, and ask that the !after he referred to your local recruiring district supervisors for forwarding for higher clinical review, and let them, not you, deal with the MEPS, which as I'd said, were formerly called AFEES for decades, before the terminology was changed...anything can he appealed, I was denied USAF OTS after Army ROTC, I appealed it, was accepted, I then had to go through the program which was at Lackland in TX back then, before I got moved to Maxwell in AL, twice, just to get dome, and I was still so ignorant of how to do things right, that I wound up as a lone research engineer, instead of the clinical sidez as I'd wanted, so, trust !e, in svc life, life often goes sideways unexpectedl, I assure you...take adequate time to very carefully study all svcs, not solely Army, if you can elaborate as to why you specifically want Army, per se, and compare it with other svcs...remember, it:s not about what you want, in the main, it's about who wants you, trust me, been there, done that (BTDT), I interviewed for just about all of the!, aside from USMC, I was examined multiple times physically, not before I went in, and while I was in, including for Navy for NFO/WSO, naval navigator training, hough I passed it, I was never able to intersvc, I haven't seen everything. I've just been around a whole slew of bureaucratic blocks, which I'm hoping is apparent at this point...I hope that at least is of some help...if you'd care to chat more, I'm here, OK? I didn't mean to be long winded, I just found your question of interest, and figured I'd give you he benefit of some long term anecdotal exposure, if nothing else, OK? I'd be most eager to know your thoughts, just go for proper eval, seek help from your Congressional staffs, and let them submit any appeals for you, that, honestly, is truly my suggestion, believe me, my wife and I have gone to Congressional staffs many times, we needed their help throughout my whole total perm disability thing, which took six and half years, for real, OK? Trust me, I assure you, for their service rep staff me!nets something like this is gonna be relatively routine, it''s merely your task to adequately document the whole thing, and get expert climical opinions, multiple such clinical opinions, if necessary, just understand, if you're told the MEPS physicians were eight, you might need to either accept the decision, hard as that is, appeal further, or find some other route to go into a svc, as I'd said, possibly through he state maritime colleges, which generally one can do the military type training for without actually enlisting, then one is classed by the USCG as a MARGRAD, the military regimental training is normally reqd to be allowed to sail as a civilian student in board Merchant Marine training ships for such schools, I know, as my next younger brother was USMMA Kings Point, I commissioned him, so I know a good deal about it...also, if you have clinical interests, look at the USPHS Commissioned Corps, andJr and Sr COSTEP, their analogue to ROTC, USPHS might not be quite as strict, I don't know, of wanted to also go that route, I hadn't known it existed before I went Ar!y ROTC and USAF OTS, USPHS also used engineers and comp sci (CS) as well as IT, not solely clinocians, there's also the NOAA Commissioned Corps, which is generally pretty strict physically, or you could try for WOCS, or an OCS, or OIS indoc direct commission program later, there are numerous such possibilities, dependjng on your interests, which is why, if you could possibly elaborate at all, that could certainly help is try to suggest various alternatives for you gar more thoroughly and comprehensively, once again, if you'd care to chat, I'm here, OK? And, as before, I hope all that helps, I'd be interested to know your thouhysz as I'd said, OK?

Response by SFC Ralph E Kelley made Sep 15 at 2018 4:04 AM

2018-09-15T04:04:14-04:00

Asthma is a chronic condition. Pneumonia is a lung infection. The term chronic is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months or reoccurs regularly. A recoverable infection should keep you from entering the service . If you've had reoccurring Pneumonia in your past then it is considered 'Chronic'.
In that case maybe the Army isn't the place to be. Lots of nasty dust, bad weather conditions, fumes and whatnot are involved. I will say I never got any problems - unless I stayed indoors, then the air conditioning messed with me.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Sep 15 at 2018 8:26 AM

2018-09-15T08:26:46-04:00

You can request a waiver, and that may work. Going to a different MEPS may not be feasible as you are in the MEPS system and working around that will likely not work. Best bet is a waiver. Good luck.

Response by SrA Alvin Cook made Sep 15 at 2018 9:01 AM

2018-09-15T09:01:57-04:00

Need a diagnosis from your civilian physician with your current prognosis. Then apply for a waiver