medicineman
Army.ca Legend
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After what seems to be a perpetuity of answering questions, often which are the same, often with exactly the same answer, I think it's time to add this little thread in here to try and capture some of the common "What if's...?" and general answers to those.
1. "What is my Vision Category with 'x' visual prescription?"
A lot of people say their vision is - this or + that...that is the Rx your optometrist gives you to make the lenses, it is NOT your visual acuity. Your visual acuity is what we initially use to give your vision category a general number, and it's measured as a number x/20 or x/6...we then look at the Rx to determine if you fall outside the allowable number of diopters of correction. So find out what your vision is and then look at the link for the Vision categories and see where you fit in.
2. "I have/know someone with condition 'x' - can I, my cousin, my cousin's boyfriend's sister get in with it?"
You have to go through the Recruiting process or at least ask the medical personnel at the CFRC if this is acceptable or not - we won't do it here, since we don't have your/your friend's/extended relative's whole medical history. Some conditions are automatic disqualifiers, while others are not so much depending on where you or your friend/relative fall into the continuum of that illness. There are enrollment standards that change with the moon phase or wind sometimes, so again, ask at the CFRC or just go through the application status.
3. "Don't worry - I know someone who had 'x' that got in with no problem."
I'll be blunt here - "WE DON'T GIVE MEDICAL ADVICE HERE (even me, RP, Modlr Mike, Combat Doc, etc) AND IF YOU'RE NOT QUALIFIED IN MILITARY MEDICINE, YOU SHOULDN'T BE SAYING THIS TO ANYONE ON THIS SITE". You are not the person asking, likely don't know the whole story, and as mentioned, unless you're in the military medical system, you aren't remotely qualified to make that statement. I used to get letters from family docs saying "Patient 'x' should have no issues with military service" when they had conditions that would have them barely walk to their front door, much less put up with the rigours of military operations - most people, unless they've done the job, have ZERO concept of what actually goes on.
4. "I have conditions X, Y, and Z and get by in normal life...maybe I should just accidentally on purpose forget to mention this during the Medical?
It is an offense under Section 117 of the National Defence Act to give a false statement for the purpose of enrollment - in plain English, if you lie and get caught (and with most things you do), you can be formally charged and if found guilty, can be dismissed, do jail time, be fined or all of the above. In the same vein, there are many folks that suggest you do that...to those, would you counsel someone to rob a bank, drive drunk, etc? There's no difference here - and a dismissal can leave a BIG black mark that follows people around everywhere they go to try and get a job. WE DON'T COUNSEL PEOPLE TO BREAK THE LAW HERE...and if you're in the military and we catch you doing it, well it isn't a big place and most of us know someone who does know your boss and they will have a kind word dropped to them.
5. Just a suggestion...bringing your parents with you in the vain hope that they'll try and force you down our necks and out of their house, despite your shopping list of medical problems, isn't going to work. If you're over the provincial age of majority, we're not even allowed to talk about your issues with your parents without SIGNED permission from you - they shouldn't be calling up asking about stuff. It's your job application, you do the phoning. You would be surprised how many people that are in their 20's show up, dragged in by mommy and daddy glowering at us expecting us to bow to their will...and also try to throw around some military rank/weight. It doesn't work...and if the parents are military or try name dropping, I just politely tell them that next word they hear from me will be through that person's chain of command and it won't be polite.
6. One last thing - if you don't meet the Common Enrollment Medical Standards, it's not personal, it's business. If it's something that can be fixed, do what you need to do to get it fixed. If you think there is a misdiagnosis, get a second opinion. If it's not something that can't be fixed though, you have to get on with things, because this job is very demanding of you mentally and physically. A line has to be drawn somewhere regarding health issues and the potential of how those will affect you and as a result, everyone around you. You might think you can do the job with disease x, but if it flares up in the middle of Ungabungaland with no proper medical support in reasonable proximity, some poor souls have to extract you, look after you, replace you and evacuate you - if it's in a combat situation, those lives are invariably put at risk to facilitate all that.
Good luck.
MM
Edited for a spelling issue.
1. "What is my Vision Category with 'x' visual prescription?"
A lot of people say their vision is - this or + that...that is the Rx your optometrist gives you to make the lenses, it is NOT your visual acuity. Your visual acuity is what we initially use to give your vision category a general number, and it's measured as a number x/20 or x/6...we then look at the Rx to determine if you fall outside the allowable number of diopters of correction. So find out what your vision is and then look at the link for the Vision categories and see where you fit in.
2. "I have/know someone with condition 'x' - can I, my cousin, my cousin's boyfriend's sister get in with it?"
You have to go through the Recruiting process or at least ask the medical personnel at the CFRC if this is acceptable or not - we won't do it here, since we don't have your/your friend's/extended relative's whole medical history. Some conditions are automatic disqualifiers, while others are not so much depending on where you or your friend/relative fall into the continuum of that illness. There are enrollment standards that change with the moon phase or wind sometimes, so again, ask at the CFRC or just go through the application status.
3. "Don't worry - I know someone who had 'x' that got in with no problem."
I'll be blunt here - "WE DON'T GIVE MEDICAL ADVICE HERE (even me, RP, Modlr Mike, Combat Doc, etc) AND IF YOU'RE NOT QUALIFIED IN MILITARY MEDICINE, YOU SHOULDN'T BE SAYING THIS TO ANYONE ON THIS SITE". You are not the person asking, likely don't know the whole story, and as mentioned, unless you're in the military medical system, you aren't remotely qualified to make that statement. I used to get letters from family docs saying "Patient 'x' should have no issues with military service" when they had conditions that would have them barely walk to their front door, much less put up with the rigours of military operations - most people, unless they've done the job, have ZERO concept of what actually goes on.
4. "I have conditions X, Y, and Z and get by in normal life...maybe I should just accidentally on purpose forget to mention this during the Medical?
It is an offense under Section 117 of the National Defence Act to give a false statement for the purpose of enrollment - in plain English, if you lie and get caught (and with most things you do), you can be formally charged and if found guilty, can be dismissed, do jail time, be fined or all of the above. In the same vein, there are many folks that suggest you do that...to those, would you counsel someone to rob a bank, drive drunk, etc? There's no difference here - and a dismissal can leave a BIG black mark that follows people around everywhere they go to try and get a job. WE DON'T COUNSEL PEOPLE TO BREAK THE LAW HERE...and if you're in the military and we catch you doing it, well it isn't a big place and most of us know someone who does know your boss and they will have a kind word dropped to them.
5. Just a suggestion...bringing your parents with you in the vain hope that they'll try and force you down our necks and out of their house, despite your shopping list of medical problems, isn't going to work. If you're over the provincial age of majority, we're not even allowed to talk about your issues with your parents without SIGNED permission from you - they shouldn't be calling up asking about stuff. It's your job application, you do the phoning. You would be surprised how many people that are in their 20's show up, dragged in by mommy and daddy glowering at us expecting us to bow to their will...and also try to throw around some military rank/weight. It doesn't work...and if the parents are military or try name dropping, I just politely tell them that next word they hear from me will be through that person's chain of command and it won't be polite.
6. One last thing - if you don't meet the Common Enrollment Medical Standards, it's not personal, it's business. If it's something that can be fixed, do what you need to do to get it fixed. If you think there is a misdiagnosis, get a second opinion. If it's not something that can't be fixed though, you have to get on with things, because this job is very demanding of you mentally and physically. A line has to be drawn somewhere regarding health issues and the potential of how those will affect you and as a result, everyone around you. You might think you can do the job with disease x, but if it flares up in the middle of Ungabungaland with no proper medical support in reasonable proximity, some poor souls have to extract you, look after you, replace you and evacuate you - if it's in a combat situation, those lives are invariably put at risk to facilitate all that.
Good luck.
MM
Edited for a spelling issue.
