View Full Version : Thanks but I must move on
I wanted to thank everyone on this forum for your insight and sharing your knowledge. I will be moving on due to my disqualification from the Army. I have been medically DQ due to a childhood injury. I fought the system all the way to the Chief Surgeon of the National Guard but still DQ. I even personal went and saw a spine specialist, who cleared me “fit to fight” but still I lost. The thing that boggles my mind is that I am a firefighter and have no problems performing for job and I have passed multiple physicals but the Army won’t even physical me. I humbly accept it and move on.
The information I have learned from this site and Warrior-Mentors book will always stick with me and help me in every area of my life.
Thanks and be Strong,
Chris
The Reaper
04-13-2006, 10:52
Sorry that you couldn't get in.
No need to leave the site just because of that. Plenty of contributing people here who are unable to join SF because of gender, age, injuries, etc.
Good luck to you regardless. You can always say that you tried.
TR
Rodeo,
Good luck and keep your head always high. :lifter
Keep in mind that you can still do a lot for whatever your reason was to enter the military on the civilian side of the house. :D You may not play with Guns, Demo and Bombs. Well.... Maybe :p But you can go to college and get a Gov't job, work for the military as a Civilian, even go overseas for KBR, Dyno-Corp, and many others.
So continue doing what you can for your dream as far as you can.
VG
Rodeo,
There are other avenues that you could pursue, they need FF overseas. We had one in Haiti, entire towns would have burnt down if it wasn't for him.
Stay safe.
CPTAUSRET
04-13-2006, 11:28
What they said!
No need to leave the site. Good luck.
Terry
Warrior-Mentor
04-13-2006, 13:04
Roger that...keep your head up. You made a decision and did your best to follow through on it...which is more than many can say and is all anyone can ever ask...do your best.
Stick around...I'm sure FS will get herself into a corner for some more food fights sooner or later. :p
magician
04-13-2006, 16:34
Thanks for daring to try.
Chin up!
You have to believe that the Big Ranger has other plans for you.
:)
zeroalpha
04-13-2006, 19:25
Rodeo,
Move to Australia, join there Army - Theyll take anyone!
Thanks for support. I will stick around and continue to learn but playing with guns and blowing things up was one of the things I was looking forward to.
What they said
They state that I have chronic neck and back pain which is just crazy because I don’t. My recruiter and I don’t even know where they gathered that from. We asked them multiple times to show how they came to that conclusion. There response is from the information provided. Armed with their response I went and found my own specialist to look me over. He doesn’t understand because I have nothing wrong with me. Very weird!! My recruiter is frustrated because I am the third person that is physically fit, scored well on the ASVAB and is committed to being the best that has been turned away with some odd medical reason.
Another weird thing is I spoke with a Lt. Colonel today that told me to contact my congressman and to talk to a person in his office about this situation. This Lt. Colonel is now retired after serving for 26 years in the National Guard. He told me that sometimes you have to break the chain of command to get the right thing done. Especially after all other avenues how been exhausted. I guess I have a phone call to make tomorrow.
Never Quit,
Chris
NousDefionsDoc
04-13-2006, 22:58
There ya go.
Perhaps looking over your Medical Questionnaire. In all those "yes" "no" boxes you might have marked "yes" to any question about chronic neck & back pain. I've been at MEPS when it seemed to take an act of G-d to make the MEPS staff understand that the prospective recruit marked the form incorrectly. A hundred years ago (17 but who's counting) when I went to MEPS the recruiter actually had us DEP'ers fill out these questionnaires over and over again at his office to avoid what you're going thru....if that is the case with you.
The MEPS philosophy is you filled the form and signed it verifying the info was true & correct. Once you are disqualified, now you want to change your answers. It's akin to failing a math test and then telling the professor you didn't mean to write that answer down......it's too late. Most of the disqualifications I've seen are based on what the candidate checked off. The staff can only go based on what you tell them and put on the form.
Since the reason, you presented, for your disqualification seems benign I would work to get it resolved. Just.....be careful what you wish for. :lifter
I can empathize. It took me a year to get into the Army. I had surgery to remove a piece of one of my lower discs. I started from the top down as far as getting in though. I got the numbers to 2 individuals through much persistance. Harrassing these two was my ticket in. I got turned down by the Command Surgeon once after a year of work, but I called a Colonel up there who I had made contact with about a week after getting the bad news. He agreed to look at it again, and he approved my waiver. This is based on a letterrecommendation from an LTC in the Surgeon General's office, who only spoke to me by phone. I don't recall if I sent him anything from my doc, I doubt it. My motivation for continuing to try after countless rejections and obstacles was SF. My reasoning was that if the main theme/mindset behind SF is to never quit, I could not give up trying until there was absolutely no possibilies left. Here I am. I got into the Army, but I could not get an 18X contract. This is because MEPS could not give me and airborne phys at with a waiver in my packet. Having got that far, I didn't look back. However, SF may or may not be in my future now. I'm just trying to master my current job before looking into anything else. I hope you get something out of my spiel. Take Care.
TFM
TitratetoEffect
04-14-2006, 15:07
Rodeo,
Just gotta let you know that I had a few issues entering the military (the second time) , although they weren't medical. My Congressman was able to get shit done (even though he was a Dem). It really was amazing and it didn't take forever. Of course, I called the office every day for about 3 months, so I'm sure they couldn't wait to get rid of me. Try that course of action because it just might work. Good Luck.
Phil
First of all, thank you for all the encouragement and advice. After I received my rejection I wrote to Senator Bob Bennet and Senator Orrin Hatch, both Utah Senators. I received letters from both senators office stating that everything has been done and that there was nothing left to be done. That wasn’t good enough for me so I wrote both Senators back stating I appreciate them taking the time to look over my case but if there anything else I could do. On Monday I received a personal letter from Senator Hatch stating that he has looked over my case and he thinks it needs to be looked at again by a higher authority so he forwarded my case to the Secretary of Defense.
Never Quit
CPTAUSRET
07-20-2006, 10:34
First of all, thank you for all the encouragement and advice. After I received my rejection I wrote to Senator Bob Bennet and Senator Orrin Hatch, both Utah Senators. I received letters from both senators office stating that everything has been done and that there was nothing left to be done. That wasn’t good enough for me so I wrote both Senators back stating I appreciate them taking the time to look over my case but if there anything else I could do. On Monday I received a personal letter from Senator Hatch stating that he has looked over my case and he thinks it needs to be looked at again by a higher authority so he forwarded my case to the Secretary of Defense.
Never Quit
Good on ya!
Never quit!
Good luck Rodeo, I hope this works out in your favor! And, my thanks to you for wanting to serve and protect our Country.
Rodeo,
You don't have to wear a uniform to serve your country or your community. It sounds as if you have learned much and matured from what was obviously a disappointing outcome. No go out and turn it into something positive. Good luck.
magician
07-20-2006, 11:41
Holy shit.
That is pretty phenomenal.
I have to say....that many soldiers that stay in for multiple enlistments learn how to stroke the system. Most never have to work an issue all the way to the Sec Def himself, though. It used to be that most problems could be massaged by sending flowers and chocolates to a very nice lady who will remain nameless at what used to be called MILPERCEN. Dating myself, I know.
:)
This reminds me of my return to the Army after a break in service. The Doctor seemed to be doing everything she could to disqualify me. I was in pretty good shape and in outstanding shape compared to the younger recruits around me.
She had me balancing on one foot, hopping on one foot with one hand holding the other ankle, even had me walk across the room on my knees while holding my ankles up behind me. She had me lift and push weights and do pull ups which only the Marines were doing. She had no other Army recruits doing these things. She finally tried to declare I had flat feet. I told her if I had flat feet the print pattern left on the floor wouldn't be showing the arch of my foot so clearly. :rolleyes:
Good luck Rodeo.
After a long break in service it took me over a year to get back in-
Keep going...
but playing with guns and blowing things up was one of the things I was looking forward to.
He told me that sometimes you have to break the chain of command to get the right thing done. Especially after all other avenues how been exhausted. well, you head and heart are in the right place...
and it's worth a try to see if someone left a window or back door open...