DifferentViper

Anyone know if Rickenbacker has sent invites?

I am looking for some information about the waiver process. I was hired by an Air Force Reserve unit and DQ and was DQ at MEPS for a history of chondromalacia. Passed everything at MEPS and all the info was sent on for the flight physical which was denied. Is there a way to see why I was denied the flight physical beyond the basic "Because of MEPS Chondromalacia DQ" that I am hearing from my recruiter? I would like to know what the specific concern is or if there is a piece of information they want to see or if it's just a hard no. Any recruiters know if such info exists or can be requested?

I would like to know the answer to this question as well... My waiver was denied for the third time for a reserve slot.

As another data point, I got hired at tankers with 20 hours. At the interview I had 10 and they wanted more so I borrowed money from my parents to get the next 10 as quickly as possible. Good advice above.

Whole person concept. Are you visiting units? There is at least one guy on the forum with quite a bit lower stats than you that got fighters (ANG I think) and he is only a couple years younger. I was dumped off a full ride ROTC scholarship at an out of state school and ended up over 80k in debt. I did bad on my first tbas. My mom's word of encouragement was "maybe it's not meant to be". Second time i practiced and nailed it. I ran out of money to keep flying after 11 hours. At 28yo I went to my parents for help. After i got hired i was denied a trip to MEPS 3 times but finally got there. I was DQ at meps for something they had in my medical history before i ever got there. I've been denied a waiver twice and I'm trying it again. Even though I'm probably going to get denied again I'm going to keep pressing on till my squadron gives up on me because I'm not ready to give up. So yeah things don't always go to plan and for our generation when we were in our prime fighters were rare. Sometimes luck and timing aren't on your side. All you can do is take ownership and make the best of it. Also you have a few years for heavies so keep that in mind. Many times the advice on the forum is its not what you fly that makes the experience great. Also after meps an opportunity came up at work but i didn't pursue it because i figured i was going to be a pilot soon so it didn't matter. After the waiver was denied it occurred to me that i can't stop flying the plane of life until i land it. Get your job in order because you need it to keep focusing on the hunt. Imagine trying to visit units while unemployed. TLDR: visit units, keep trying even after you get some no's, get your job straight. Hopefully you take something positive from that even if it's to laugh at my misfortune.

Depends how bad it was. Me and wannabe had grade 3 going to the bone. Chondromalacia is just cartilage damage so it can be mild fraying or severe. You will need to get details about it from your surgeon to either defend it as not a problem or have it removed as misdiagnosed. It doesn't heal though so that is the biggest issue with it. Sometimes it can be degenerative even if caused by an injury. This leads to arthritis later in life. I'm still fighting this but easiest path is probably convincing the doctor it was misdiagnosed but you can't tell it's conditon without surgery so you will need to talk to your original surgeon. FYI not a doctor but been fighting a DQ on this for a year. They let me go to meps though just dq me while i was there even though i passed all the other tests no problem. Hope you have better luck than us.

Maybe I'm misreading things but the Medical Standards Directory item K44 says that chondromalacia is disqualifying if symptomatic or has history of joint effusion, interference with function, or residuals from surgery. I have not had any of that since the surgery which was 5 years ago. The Aeromedical Waiver Guide does not have anything about chondromalacia that I could find so I guess they are standing by the DODI in this situation and ignoring the MSD? Anyone have any insight into this if I'm not applying the MSD correctly?

Good post. Just to add a bit, no bacon or orange juice either. My blood pressure was a over the first 2 times too because of the bacon. I have never seen my blood pressure that high before. The experience must be different depending on where you go. My group was maybe 20 people. I wore jeans and a polo untucked. All the staff were super nice (except one doctor and the check in guy at first but he chilled out later) and joking around with us. We could talk amongst ourselves and if we got too loud we would get a polite shushing. It was a bit chaotic since they had all the tests in different rooms you would just go where there was an opening in no specific order. I was the last to be seen for the physical exam because i had a longer medical history than the all the youngsters in my group. I got finished around 4pm. I expected the worst but it was actually a pleasant experience. I got DQed for a past knee injury and was denied to be seen for the flight physical so get familiar with the DODI if you have a questionable medical history. I didn't see anything in the waiver guide about it so i thought i was good.

No I haven't. I'm kind of stuck where live because of family reasons and there are only air force units around. I just wish i could get more of an explanation about what they are concerned with even if it was that they are not doing waivers for that condition at all, just something. I am pursuing ETP. I think the unit will be willing to do it but I left it up to them since they are the ones doing the work. Just sucks to be DQ because of an injury that I've fully recovered from without any evaluation. Don't plan on quiting but I see that I'm starting to run out of options.

Returning to answer my own question. I was denied from going to the flight physical. I appealed with an evaluation from another doctor saying everything was good and it was also denied. It appears this is not something they mess with.

I was picked up by a reserve unit. Depending on your age i would suggest keep applying to any guard or reserve squadrons that are hiring just so you have some control of where you live. If you are getting close to max age then you can try unsponsored but if you want to fly heavies and have decent scores and resume and aren't a tool you should have your pick even if you are too old.

I said this in another thread but if you want a systematic approach just go around the circle naming the direction the parking lot is until you hit the one they want. For example if the uav is pointing southeast then you know the first square to the right is south and then go around saying west, north, east. The ones pointing the Cardinal directions should be easy enough without doing this. It's systematic and can usually be done before the timer starts. The picture pops up showing the parking lot they want you to click then it audibly tells you which one to click then the timer starts so you have about a full 2 seconds before the timer starts.

What i did was start working my way around clockwise. If the yellow arrow pointed north east i knew the first square clockwise was east, the next was south, then west, then north. It wasn't super fast but it was consistent. After practice it can be pretty quick.

You can get a free practice test for the old version on afoqtguide if you sign up for the newsletter. They also sell practice tests for the new version.

Wow MEPS and FC1 in the same month! It's been 6 weeks since meps and I still don't have a FC1 date scheduled. Took about 5 Months to get to meps (paperwork issues).