Eyes Condition

[SammyG]

So what exactly is the basis for the bias against pilots who have had corrective LASIK and other types of eye surgery? Isn't 20/20 vision corrected with surgery identical to 20/20 vision natural? What are they afraid of, that the surgery will undo itself in the middle of a flight?

 

[about time]

I know for a fact that the Army is letting people in with PRK to fly, I am living proof. If I was you, check with every branch you are interested in and go for it.

 

[Fearless Tower]

It all depends on the service and procedure used.
For the Navy, they have no problem with PRK...as long as they are the ones doing it. Right or wrong, I guess you could say that they trust their doctors over some potential quack on the outside trying some new-fangled procudere. In other words, if you want to fly in the Navy and you don't have 20/20, you are better off waiting until you are already in the service to get your eyes done.

 

[rjacobs]

You can get PRK and even LASIK(the guidelines are alot more stringent) from a civilian doc before you apply for any of the services and you have to go through a waiver process. Each branch is different, but the actual pre-op and post op vision numbers are almost identical. The AF is a waiver, the Navy and Marines might still be a waiver, not sure if its changed, the Army is simply a flight doc sign off, not sure about the CG. Those are for PRK. LASIK I am not sure about since I had PRK so I know pretty much all the PRK stuff. The Army is allowing LASIK, it is a waiver unlike PRK. You can, and in most cases have to get it done before you go in so that you can be a pilot. Done listen to anybody who tells you to enlist, get your eyes done by one of our docs, then well send you flight school. Youll may never see flight school and you may never get your eyes done either.

 

[Fearless Tower]

I never said anything about enlisting...if it sounded that way, I apologize to the original poster. I was referring to getting commisioned or into a commisioning source and then having the procedure (PRK) done at the expense of the service.

Speaking strictly from a Navy point of view, last I heard they were more than happy to let guys into flight training who had PRK done by the Navy but were not granting any waivers for anyone who had the procedure done on the outside. Plenty of guys are getting it done at the academy for example. That was the situation less than 2 years ago, and I have not heard of any changes since the Navy isn't exactly hurting for prospective pilots. Each service is going to have its own policy and what it is willing to accept and adjust its standards in order to fill the demand for pilots.

The best advice is really to talk to an OFFICER recruiter for the particular service. Officer recruiters are typically less likely to blow smoke up your tail than your average enlisted recruiter. They should be able to find out and let you know just what is waiverable and what isn't.

 

[Air 1]

Just make sure you meet whoevers branch requirements before you have the procedure. I think rjacobs already mentioned something about this. I wanted go in but my numbers for surgery were out of range for what the branch would take. My astigmatism was too bad. Remember when you check those numbers also. I was told that those numbers are not for your prescription, its what is programmed into the laser or whatever you're having done. Maybe rjacobs can tell us more about that.

 

[Scrapdog]

So what exactly is the basis for the bias against pilots who have had corrective LASIK and other types of eye surgery? Isn't 20/20 vision corrected with surgery identical to 20/20 vision natural? What are they afraid of, that the surgery will undo itself in the middle of a flight?

When I went to my latest annual contact lens exam last month, this is straight from the AF eye doc's mouth - the AF will do PRK for you (as long as you're flying already), and you're good to go to fly both fighters and heavies...the catch is that it takes about 6 months to fully heal and you'll be DNIF during that time.

For LASIK, that is N/A for flying fighters. They're afraid the flap on your cornea may come unattached to your eye under heavy G. For heavies, I have no clue if it's good to go or not.

For actually flying airplanes in the AF - you don't have to have 20/20. As long as your vision is "correctable to 20/20" with glasses you should be good to go. When I had my full up pilot qual physical at the AF Academy my senior year, I was 20/40 and 20/50 for vision, but correctable with no other issues as long as I wore glasses. I wore glasses all through UPT and IFF. When I showed up for my F-15 B course, I got hooked up on the contact lens program and that has worked out like a champ from then on.

Hope that helps...As for UPT, don't show up first day and brag about all your sweet PIC turbine time in an RJ. You'll sound like a complete clown. The one regional pilot clown we had in our UPT class quickly washed out during T-37 instruments. No one cares about how much civilian time you have in your King Air, Learjet, etc...or how good you can shoot your ILS with your flight director. That's completely lame, no military dudes are impressed. I'm not saying that's you at all, but if you happen to get a UPT slot and you've got some civilian time...don't be that buffoon.

 

[flyingnerd]

Speaking strictly from a Navy point of view, last I heard they were more than happy to let guys into flight training who had PRK done by the Navy but were not granting any waivers for anyone who had the procedure done on the outside.

No, the PRK procedure doesn't need to be done by a Navy doc. I live with two guys (SNA's) who had PRK done before they joined the Navy (by non-Navy doctors), and they got their waivers just fine. I know a few others in the same boat.

The best advice is really to talk to an OFFICER recruiter for the particular service.

Definitely good advice, but be advised that recruiters don't always know what they're talking about. Sometimes you need to do your own research.

While the Navy, and USAF will grand waivers for PRK, getting LASIK will guarantee that you never fly for either.

 

[McGillicutty]

No one cares about how much civilian time you have in your King Air, Learjet, etc...or how good you can shoot your ILS with your flight director. That's completely lame, no military dudes are impressed. I'm not saying that's you at all, but if you happen to get a UPT slot and you've got some civilian time...don't be that buffoon.

Maybe I missed something, but, did Sammy ever ask for UPT advice or say he has turbine time?

 

[Charty]

It all depends on the service and procedure used.
For the Navy, they have no problem with PRK...as long as they are the ones doing it. Right or wrong, I guess you could say that they trust their doctors over some potential quack on the outside trying some new-fangled procudere. In other words, if you want to fly in the Navy and you don't have 20/20, you are better off waiting until you are already in the service to get your eyes done.

test test