Question:
I would like to enlist with the NAVY, will they reject me because of my wls surgery?

   — DOROTHY A. (posted on May 22, 2000)

May 22, 2000
I work on Ft. Campbell military base and Blanchfield Army Community Hospital is now routinely doing WLS. Additionally, I personally know 2 active duty military females who have been recommended for WLS and are now in the process of doing their pre-op tests (urine, blood, ekg, etc.). Your best bet is just to ask...can't hurt, but I guess if the Army is allowing active duty personnel access to WLS then they would be hard pressed to bar anyone having this surgery from enlisting.
   — Alicia B.

May 22, 2000
Unfortunately, the same thing that is treatable in an active duty service member may be a bar to enlistment for a civilian. Example; if you're in the Navy and develop asthma, no problem. Already have it? Sorry, they won't take you. The only way to find out for sure is to go through the physical exam and see what the doc says. It won't cost you anything, so you've got nothing to lose. Each service has it's own protocols (ashtma gets you kicked out of the marines) so one thing you *might* be able to do is enlist in another service that *will* take you, then transfer over to the Navy in a year or two. A friend's son did just that. He had a rare childhood disorder that the Navy didn't like, but the Marines took him. Today, he's a Navy SEAL. Good luck!
   — Duffy H.

May 22, 2000
My husband is active duty Coast Guard and has been in for 18 years. He had WLS in 1980 and was accepted by the CG and has been out on deployments for as much as 4 months at one time and has been assigned to 6 boats in his career. I don't know about the other services but the Coast Guard accepted him and may still accept persons who meet thier other criteria.
   — JLynn B.

April 30, 2001
I just got out of the Army about three years ago and I don't see how you will be able to enlist. There are certain things that they make you do in basic training, like drink a whole canteen of water in just a couple minutes, eat a tray of food very quickly, things like that. I haven't had my surgery yet but understanding how small the pouch will be, I don't see how gulping water and eating food as fast as you can will be possible after surgery.
   — [Anonymous]

April 26, 2003
I know this is an old thread, but for others out there considering-- I would say this is a total crapshoot, having mostly to do with the extremely different commands in and within different branches of the military. Right now, it is a hassle for most, but the military treatment facilities are performing (or at least putting us on wait lists for-haha) wls, for dependants AND servicemembers and they make accomodations for us. However, that is once you are in. How much consideration and leeway they will be willing to make for an enlistment potential would probably be largely dependant on how badly they need people (usually really bad,) what you want to do or are qualified to do, (Some types of workers are harder to find than others) and how much getting around the norm you would require. My husband is enlisted in the navy's most difficult program, in the hardest slot to find qualified people to fill, and with a 4.0 college gpa. However, even with this demand, he was denied a commissioning as an officer due to his feeble eyeglass prescription! There's no telling what those people will do sometimes! You might get enlisted, but I would talk to recruiters at length about your requirements. Furthermore, remember that recruiters are there to fill quotas. No one ever remembers this, but recruiters are generally folks who are there in that office recruiting because they so desperately hated sea duty that they were desperate to be home with their families, (and probably save their marriages) even if it meant coercing others into the same situation. Have pity on him, but don't just take that poor guy's word for anything, go over his head as high as you can. He's just trying to fill his monthly quota before he gets seriously punished and sent back to sea. Assuming you do get in, you must be aware that once the navy owns you it is body and soul and you must be prepared to come up against serious opposition to your necessary medical accomodations. Some commands are worse than others, but it unfortunately isn't all that uncommon for peoples medical needs to go unanswered,despite serious danger to their health, for the sake of the efficiency of the command. What I'm saying is that on several occasions where it should be perfectly well understood that he required medical care, my husband was denied attention and/or the time to seek it due to the command's "to-do" list. These included broken bones, serious illness, chronic sinus infections, and an enlarged liver. Yes, this is starting to sound like a rant, but I think you should know that it is possible you would receive an assignment where a person could easily laugh off your very real post op needs and put your nose to the grindstone. That would terrify me. Personally, it's not a situation I would put myself in, knowing what I know about the drastic situations that sometimes occur when times are tight and the only way to relieve one's situation and advance is to eek more out of the people under you. I should take a moment here to say that I'm not against the military or your decision to want to serve. Our family has served for almost fifteen years, so we keep re-electing to serve, ourselves. I'm just saying that sometimes conditions can be very harsh, and I think there's more to consider than just whether they would allow you in. There's also what COULD happen to you once they do. Not all commands are as bad as I've portrayed, but in any case, you will be losing a significant amount of control over your own condition.
   — christied