Expert: John L - 1/17/2011

Question
Hi. I've recently decided to take on my lifelong dreams and enlist in the military. I went through the whole process of the MEPS program and I cleared everything except for the eye exam. I was born with this eye condition called duane's syndrome, me and my brother both. He joined the marines in the early 90s. I don't know if you are familiar with this condition, but it causes my left eye to shift over a little  but it doesn't affects my vision at all. In fact my doctor says that i have perfect vision, but when the MEPS doctors looked at me i was disqualified and I don't know why. I'm going through the same thing my brother was going through but he wrote a letter to the president of the U.S. and was then cleared. I dont want to have to go through that so my question is can you tell me what to do because i am running out of options here. I am physically and mentally qualified to join the military and I dont know why they would disqualify me? Please help me out here. I also wanted to know would I be able to try again after I have béen diqualified once already and if so how long do I have to wait until I visit another recruiter?

Answer
While I could not find that specific disease in our medical standrds for the Army, it does mention inability tomove the eye properly to normal standards, and such , duane's syndrome does prevent such movement, though you may have 20/20 vision, your vision may not meet the entry standards.  

Your recruiter can put in a waiver request, and if you meet the retention standards, you may get it approved.  There is nothing else you can do, the Meps Dr is the final authority to let you in or not.

Ask your recruiter if he submitted a waiver, if not, try another service than the one you tried.