ADD = ineligible in USAF?

[barbnbrian]

My soon-to-be 21 yrs old son has recently been talking to a USAF recruiter and is extremely interested in joining. He's supposed to take a two day test next month, but the dates conflict with his college finals. Not sure how he will work this out, I told him to ask the professors if he can take the exams a day or two early.

One other issue has just come up though that may prevent him from even being accepted - in second grade he was diagnosed as "border line ADD" and took meds off and on throughout his grade school/h.s. years. He never felt he needed to take medication and didn't like the way it made him feel. I insisted he should take it because I felt it helped him with school and made him more focused. He hasnt taken any meds since last year, although we filled a prescription in Nov./Dec. 08 which he didn't take.

Will this history automatically exclude him from admission? Anyone with any thoughts, please reply. Thanks!

 

[ladykingel]

I am very interested to hear the answer for this as many people have add and adhd. What do the enlistment sites say about this?

 

[papaof5boys]

My soon-to-be 21 yrs old son has recently been talking to a USAF recruiter and is extremely interested in joining. He's supposed to take a two day test next month, but the dates conflict with his college finals. Not sure how he will work this out, I told him to ask the professors if he can take the exams a day or two early.

One other issue has just come up though that may prevent him from even being accepted - in second grade he was diagnosed as "border line ADD" and took meds off and on throughout his grade school/h.s. years. He never felt he needed to take medication and didn't like the way it made him feel. I insisted he should take it because I felt it helped him with school and made him more focused. He hasnt taken any meds since last year, although we filled a prescription in Nov./Dec. 08 which he didn't take.

Will this history automatically exclude him from admission? Anyone with any thoughts, please reply. Thanks!

I take it that your son is taking his tests at the M.E.P.'s center? if so it will no big deal for his recruiter to reschedual. Now for the med.'s he needs to tell his recruiter right a way and when he takes his phys. he needs to take a letter from his Doctor explaining what he has taken and way.
My last duty post was in Comand of a BTS (Basic Training Squadron ) at Lackland AFB. In San Antonio TX, and and I can't tell you how many Airmen I had to Separate for Med. Fraud for a preex. med.cadition and tell him to make sure he tells them every thing when he takes his phys. I hate to say this but there are some recruiters that will do any thing to make there quota.

 

[stm61]

I have an ADHD son and have been asking this question for years. I was asking Air Guard recruiters, but they tell me it's the same for active duty. As long as your son has been off meds for at least a year he's fine. I'll double check that the first weekend in May when we drill, but it's what he told me last year. Like another poster said don't try to hide anything. List all the information on his paperwork, but mkae sure it's documented that he hasn't taken any medication for over a year.

 

[barbnbrian]

I am very happy to finally see some response to my questions. My son did tell his recruiter and was upfront about the meds. He hasn't taken medication on a regular basis in a very long time, he would take the meds when he was trying to prepare for exams in school. He always fought me about taking medication and said he didn't like the way it made him feel and that he didn't need it. He's doing well and not been taking anything, but we filled an RX in Dec. '08, and even though the bottle is still full and he hasn't been taking it, it would show up as him having been given a prescription for it in the medical records. The recruiter told him to wait until Dec. '09 to try to enlist and take the tests and physical. I hope he's still interested in trying to join when Dec. comes around, he may change his mind by then!

Please send any more information you may have to offer me and the others who are interested. Thanks.

 

[Skyw]

I have served with a fellow soldier that had ADD. He was a pilot. But it was in the Army and he was not medicating. I am retiring this month after 20.5 year of service with the National Guard and Active Army. I had nerve damage after a sinus surgery and they will willing to keep me. Even when I was taking anti seizure medications. I think there is more room for medical issues then there was in the 80's and 90's. I do know that each service is different.

If it is not a problem now, He may not even have to disclose a childhood issue.

Good Luck.

 

[stm61]

Like Skyw said, it's different for every branch of the service. It's also different if a problem is discovered after you're in, then if you have it before enlisting. For ex: one of my guys was a diabetic, controlled by diet, and wasn't diagnosed until after he'd been in for at least several years. He retired with 20+ a few yrs ago. If the condition had been diagnosed before enlisting he would have been immediately disqualified. Usually, once you're in, they'll keep you in as long as you can still do your job and are not disqualified from world-wide deployment (at least in the AF). Once you become dependent on medication you're considered non-deployable. If it's something really serious, like a stroke, heart attack, hip replacement, etc, the medical board usually votes for discharge. I have drill next weekend and I'll ask my boss the recruiter if anything has changed recently.

 

[rparmfamily]

In DH's line of work in the Navy, ADD or ADHD will either get you medically discharged or force you to get another "job" in the Navy.

I'll ask DH tomorrow about more details or if he knows about recruits,etc.

 

[MarkyMark07]

interesting...

 

[stm61]

ok we had drill this weekend and I asked the boss about ADHD and the AF. He said as long as you can prove he's been off meds for at least a year, then he shouldn't have a problem enlisting. He said usually the only time there might be an issue is if someone wants a really high security clearance job. Is your son planning on enlisting or looking for an officer slot? It shouldn't matter either way, but it might be a little easier to enlist. Can your son go ahead and do all his testing, the physical, and the security clearance, but not actually enlist until Dec? As long as he swears he didn't take any medication, and hasn't taken any for several years, he should be fine.