Expert: Rod Powers - 8/12/2006

Question
I recently went through the MEPS process. I scored an 84 on my ASVAB and passed my blood test, blood pressure, urinalysis, eye test, and my answers to the medical professional who interviewed me were satisfatory. When it came time to do the physical I passed everything except for the final "duck walk" test.

I asked my recruiter if I could get a waiver and he said I couldn't. He made several phone calls in his office while I was sitting outside and, among other things, said that I had to complete the duck walk or I wouldn't be able to join any military service due to permanant medical DQ. I knew that was untrue because the doctor told me it was not a permanant DQ.

Due to being sleep deprived on the day of my MEPS, I didn't ask the doctor I interviewed enough questions regarding a possible waiver or even a reason behind my temp DQ (there was another term for it that I don't remember at the moment).

I want to know if you know of any waiver that has been approved for the US Navy because an applicant failed to do the "duck walk". Thank you for any response.  

Answer
Hi Brandon,

MEPS can't issue a waiver.  MEPS doesn't work for any particular branch of the service, but rather works for all of them, for the simple purpose of determining whether or not the examinee meets the overall Department of Defense standards.

If the applicant fails the standards, whether or not to process or consider a waiver is up to the individual service. The decision about whether or not to even request a medical waiver from the services's chief medical officer often is based on how bad that service needs new recruits. In other words, the more a service is short on getting new applicants, the more likely the commander would be to submit a waiver request.

Unfortunately, three of the active duty services currently get hundreds of more volunteers each year than they need (Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard). These three branches are the least likely to submit a waiver request (why accept someone who needs a waiver, when there are hundreds of others, waiting in line behind them, who don't require a waiver?)

The phone calls your recruiter made where probably to his supervision and command chain, asking them if the current recruiting situation is such that they would agree to initiate the waiver process, and the answer he most likely got from his command was "no."

That *does not* mean another branch of the service would also refuse to process a waiver request.  The active duty Air Force, active duty Navy, and active duty Coast Guard have more volunteers than needed, but the active duty Army or active duty Marine Corps might be willing to consider a waiver.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my military information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com