Expert: Rod Powers - 12/4/2007

Question
Sir,
I've recently been working with a recruiter on joining the US Army. I'm meeting a little resistance concerning medical. I had my spleen and gallbladder removed when I was 10 years old. I was asked to visit the hopital where it took place and obtain my Medical records. I am now 32 years old and since it happened 22 years ago, there are no records for the operation. I'm healthy and the reason for the operation was my spleen was breaking up my blood instead of filtering it. They found gall stones so went ahead and took my gallbladder out and tied off my apendix while they were in there. I have had absolutely no health problems since then. I submitted the information to the recruiter, or lack there of, from the hospital. He said they will probably send me up for a consultation to see the doctor before processing me through MEPS to take the ASVAB and physical. I'm getting a little worried now that the Army doesn't want me. Am I worried for nothing? Will this operation that happened when i was 10 years old disqualify me? I hope not. Also can you give me any advice on scoring the highest I possibly can on the ASVAB. It's been quite a few years since I was in school and I'm a little worried about my score and job availability. I took all 3 short and all 3 long tests on military .com and scored decent. However my mathematics leaves something to be desired. It's been a while since I used algebra and geometry.
Thanks so much
Melvin Nieves

Answer
Hi Melvin,

Trust me, the Army wants to get their hands on every qualified recruit they can.

However, it's not the Army that sets the medical standards. It's the Department of Defense (DOD), and it's MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) that has been given the responsibility to examine potential recruits to make sure they meet the published standards (which can be viewed on my site at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/intmedstandards.htm).

Now, MEPS is now "owned" or "commanded" by any particular branch of the U.S. Military. Instead, they are a "joint command," and operate under the directives of DOD, rather than any particular Military recruiting command. Their goal (medical-wise) is to make a determination as to whether or not a specific applicant meets the minimum medical qualifications established by DOD.

Based on what you've disclosed, my best guess is that MEPS will probably find you qualified, as the medical conditions yhou list are over 20 years old, with no negative effects on said conditions since. Even if MEPS determines you don't medically meet the DOD standards, all is still not lost. Each of the military services, can request a medical waiver from their own branch's chief medical office, to waiver any medical disqualifications that MEPS may impose. For details, see my article about Medical Waivers at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/a/medicalwaiver.htm In the past couple of years, the Army has been pretty liberal when it comes to submitted and approving medical waivers.

In 2001, I spent a year, researching and co-writing a book called "ASVAB for Dummies" (1st Edition). Last year, I spent an additional year, researching and re-writing the entire book, and it was published earlier this year ("ASVAB for Dummies," 2nd Ed. Although the co-author's name is still carried on the book (it's a "contract thing,") the entire revision was done by me. Want to score as high as you possibly can on the ASVAB? I recommend you fork out (about) $15.00 or so for the book (I put everything I know about the ASVAB into these 500 or so pages), and I have special sections on math (as used on the ASVAB). The book is available through major book stores, or online bookstores (see: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/miscshopping/tp/asvab.htm). Make sure you buy the 2nd edition (2007), as the 2001 (first edition) can still be found in some bookstores, and is seriously outdated.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military Information Site at: http://usmilitary.about.com Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com