Expert: Rod Powers - 7/22/2006

Question
I have had asthma as a child but have not had any problems with it for many years. But I am using a  maintenance inhalerr twice a day called Advair.I am now almost 21 years old. My recruiter told me that I needed a Pulmonary function test. Which I did at my Dr.'s office and passed.Now it seems there is nothing in my way to join the army, but can I still use my Advair once I am in ?

Answer
Hi Mark,

15 years ago, allowing folks to enlist with a history of Asthma used to be fairly common.

Then came the the first Gulf War (1990), and the services found that they had may members deployed to the Gulf who were undergoing severe asthma attacks, based on the dust and other conditions in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.  Literally hundreds of military personnel had to be emergency evacuated out of the area, at great expense (both dollar expense and expense to the mission).

So, the services tightened up on their Asthma policy.  For several years (between 1991 and 2004, and history of Asthma was an absolute disqualifier --period.

In 2004, the Department of Defense (the Military) "loosened" the standards a little (see article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/asthma.htm), if it was childhood asthma that didn't recur after the age of 13.

Otherwise, it would require a Pulmonary function test, and a waiver.  Your problem is likely that you're still undergoing treatment (an inhaler), which shows there is still an active problem, regardless of the pulmonary function test.

I'm sorry, but your chances of joining *any* branch of the U.S. Military with a prescription for an inhaler for (at least) three years prior to applying are so small as to almost not be worth mentioning.

I know this is not what you wanted to hear, but its pretty much the truth.  The recruiter should have told you this, right off the bat.

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com