Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 1/5/2010

Question
Mr. Powers,
I was in the Air Force for 4 years as a weather forecaster and was discharged honorable as an E-4 with a recruitment code of 1J.  I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism during my active duty career.  I now want to go back into the Air Force but the recruiter is saying that hypothyroidism may be ineligible and a medical review needs to be completed.  I am in excellent shape, I am 5'2" 107 pounds, so I'm not over weight, even with the condition.  I am on the lowest possible medication dosage for the condition, so it's obviously not that bad.  And I have had no change in the condition since it was original diagnosed.  Will my hypothyroidism make me ineligible?  Is there a waiver or a way around it if it is a non-eligible condition?

Thank you for your help!  Your insight is very much appreciated!!

Stacee

Answer
Stacee,
Rod is swamped right now so he passed your question on to me.

As you know, your Reenlistment Eligibility (RE) Code of 1J means exactly - Eligible to reenlist but elected to separate.

Are you taking medication for your Hypothyroidism?  If it is uncontrolled by medication, then yes, you are ineligible.  If you ARE taking medication then you're OK.  Many recruiters don't read the regs carefully and confuse this condition with Hyperthyroidism and Hypoparathyroidism
HYPO means your Thyroid Gland is UNDERproducing.  HYPER means it is OVERproducing, sometimes called overactive.  Hypoparathyroidism means you Parathyroid Glands are underproducing.
They look similar and are squeezed together in one paragraph in the regs, so the recruiters often misread them.

If you ARE taking medication for it then you should be OK.

A bit of advice:  
When prior-service folks re-join it's the same as an active-duty person reenlisting, so it's not counted as a "new" enlistment, so the recruiter doesn't get any credit ($$$) for recruiting you.
So don't be surprised if he/she is not willing to work with you.  You may have to go to another recruiter in a different town.  Recruiter shopping is perfectly legal.

Because you are "REenlisting" and not "enlisting" you do not have to start all over again, boot camp, etc.  The AF will likely only reduce you in rank by one grade.

Thanks for wanting to rejoin.
Colonel Howell