I lied at MEPS. Will they go back and look through my medical records?

John I am a retired Air Force veteran and my last 10 years I was in recruiting and worked at MEPS 6 of my last years. I was the SLNCO at MEPS in Fargo, ND. After my first 4 years I got out of the Air Force and was told I had a heart murmur. After 3 years I decided to reenter the Air Force and it did not stop me from reentering the Air Force. I have enlisted many of people who had heart murmurs. For them to not let you enter will depend on how bad the murmur is. That's why they want a cardiologist to check you out. If I was you I would mention to the cardiologist that when you were very young you had a heart murmur and the doctor thought you would grow out of it. I doubt they will put that much investigation your medical from years ago.

While we do not know what exactly occurred at the MEPS station, I can only guess what happened when I went to MEPS. I have had asthma my entire life. It was only later in life that it was determined that my asthma was caused by a severe bronchial infection that I had as an infant and that it will never get better and only get worse. Now back to my story at MEPS, I initially listed my asthma on my medical history paperwork. I was pulled aside by a medical assistant and questioned about it and then sent in to see the physician. The physician gave me new paperwork to fill out and then dictated a short statement for me to write on my medical history. It went something along the lines of, "I was told that as an infant I was diagnosed with asthma." Being a very young person, I was at MEPS on my 17th birthday (the recruiter had my mom post-date her signature on my age waiver..ha), I did as I was told. In hindsight, I should have never been permitted to join the Army. I struggled in basic training with the run and later in my enlistment, I was put on a permanent PIII profile and then ultimately received a medical discharge just short of the end of my full enlistment.

Given my personal experience, 27 years ago, I can only speculate what exactly happened to this young man at MEPS. This does not mitigate the fact that he lied on his intake forms. A heart murmur does not necessarily bar you from enlistment. It is dependent on the severity of the murmur. He should not have omitted his heart murmur.

I think you took play dumb a little further than they meant.

My 4th year in the Air Force I was assigned to a group that was on standby to travel anywhere at a moment's notice. Upon reporting in I was sent for a flight physical. After 3 years service, I was told I had a heart murmur and was ineligible for flight pay. I questioned what would become of me, since flying was now a requirement of my job. The doctor told me I would still do the assignment, but not receive flight pay.
A year later, at my discharge physical, I was told I was perfectly healthy. I asked about the heart murmur, and the doctor said "What murmur?"

Did they check your heart at MEPS? I'm sure they would've heard the murmur. As your cardiologist said, you can grow out of it.

If everyone told the truth at MEPS, there would be no soldiers. Have you ever broken a bone? No. Sternum, ribs, and clavicle broken wrestling and playing hockey. A recruiter told me "I wont tell you to lie but they're only going to look into what you tell them". But if you have a significant murmur they would find it eventually anyway.

When my son wanted to follow the family tradition of military service. he was concerned about a small spinal bifida. I advised him not to lie about his medical condition if directly asked. Long story short, they didn't ask and he didn't tell. It was discovered only after a shoulder injury during basic training. He was subsequently medically discharged after basic. He was taking basic as a 17 yr. old between his jr. and sr. year of high school. I'm proud of him for trying.

WOW is all I can say......

Everyone has stated it, so I won’t reiterate that this is a public forum. But you shouldn’t lie about health conditions to MEPs. They always find that stuff. Are they going to go through your records? Probably not. But if you tell the truth, you’d be surprised how much they’re are willing to work with you to get you in. There’s a waiver for most issues, if you can be patient and honest.

Good grief. That has to be a fake question...