Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 2/29/2008

Question
im tryin to get into a military branch i have scoliosis and one kidney that i was born with, neither one has affected me. but the marines dont seem to want or need me but i want to know if there is a branch that will except me. please reply soon im almost out of highschool so I need to know soon

Answer
Dear Billy --

Since you know you have only one kidney, and scoliosis, there is no military branch that can accept your service.  If something happened to you because of your illness or lack of a kidney it could be detrimental to you and your whole unit.

If you still want to serve your country you can serve as a Department of Defense civilian in many work areas from business, to finance to engineering, to personnel to administration.  Consider applying for jobs you are interested in at the DoD website.  You can begin to apply now, so you would have a job lined up when you graduate or at least next fall.

Good luck to you.  Thank you for your desire to serve.