Active Duty...does anyone know if Uncle Sam will do mine

I am on Active Duty and have been for 16 1/2 years and I am curious to know if they will do the surgery for me? I am 5'5" and weigh in at 195 and have struggled with my weight for most of my career and have been shown so much mercy...I have tried so many weight loss programs and workout programs until I have actually damaged my knees, intestines and I have GERDS...if you have any information it would be greatly appreciated.

While I don't know how they determine who's a candidate, I do know they do AD surgeries. I saw a slideshow that said they did a few in 2004 (it was a pretty small number - less than 10). Make an appointment with your PCM and ask the question. Good luck.

Thank you for your advice, I was told when I checked before that the regulation strictly prohibited any assisted weight loss for Active duty...I will check again.

It's been a while since I have checked this site, but I thank you so much for your reply. I am still checking and they are still saying no and wouldn't you know it...I lost 10 pounds, so we will see.

I am active duty and was read the regulations (by my hospital CC at the time) stating that "military doctors are not allowed to perform weight loss surgery on any AD military member". Now I was a self pay for Gastric Lap band. I would definatley research on how to get it yourself if you are serious about having surgery done. You can read my profile to get all the hoops I went through. The major part was that your medical records had to be annotated with the surgery and Tricare needed my to sign paperwork stating they were not responsible for anythink that happened to me. One reason I chose Lapband was knowing that if it didn't work that it was 100% reversible. I talked to a few doctors at my new base and they agreed that this was the better choice for me. That and I was 70 pounds overweight compaired to the 100+ you needed to be in order to qualify for the Bypass surgery. I have so far lost 55+ pounds and am no longer worried about not being able to continue my progression in the AF. I have lost to many awards, and promotion opps. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask. TracyK