Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 5/7/2009

Question
Three months ago I was separated from the af due to erroneous enlistment....the doctors on lackland diagnosed me with osteo chondritis dissecants....I was diagnosed before an mri was performed during my 7th week of trainning placed on a waiver restricting activity ..my reason for going to the reid clinic was for minor joint pain.... despite the waiver I was forced to conduct our final pt exam which I pasted with flying colors and after being assigned to the 319 I did not suffer any pain what so ever...what are my chances of being getting a waiver through meps allowing me to serve? I also may be able to get statements from the T.I.'s that can attest to my healthy condition, and I don't know if it matters but my afsc was pharmacy tech

Answer
Terry,
In short, your chances of getting back in are not good.
In all likelihood you probably had osteochondritis dissecans before you went to BMT and didn't even know it.  It occurs quite frequently to teenagers who are active in sports.  The knee is most commonly affected, although osteochondritis dissecans can occur in other joints like your elbow, hip and ankle.  All the running and physical stuff you do in BMT probably aggravated it until it became a problem.  Unfortunately all the doctors ever do about it is give you Motrin for pain and tell you to stay off it for 6-8 weeks.  But by then your training is over and the rest of your class has graduated.  The 319 TRS is where medical holds go to recuperate and discharges go awaiting their final days until discharge.

Early treatment of osteochondritis dissecans are important to minimize your risk of long-term disability. If you're treated promptly, your chances of recovery are good.  However, yours must've been serious enough that they thought it required arthroscopic surgery and physical therapy or something that might cost them a lot of money later on, and it was simply cheaper to discharge you.

Sorry, but thanks for trying.
Colonel H