I ma interested in joining the US Army. There is one question that concerns me the most. I have a vision defect: RIGHT EYE 20/70 LEFT EYE 20/50 (with glasses my defect is eliminate to 20/20 - both eyes). I need somebody who can interpret the following e-mail ,reply on my e-mail which I wrote via Goarmy.com website. On my question (same as below) they answered

To enlist distant vision must correct to at least one of the following. 20/40 in one eye, and 20/70 in the other eye or 20/30 in one eye and 20/100 in the other eye, or 20/20 in one eye and 20/400 in the other eye. Diopters must be less than -8.00 but may be waiverable to -10.00.

I have 20/50 in one eye and 20/70 in the other eye. And here come my doubts.

Do the values mentioned above refer to the person with glasses or contacts, or without them.

Is it possible to start the enlisting procedure despite my eyes defect (I want to join an Infantry), please be specific. I am calling for help.

Ozharovsky

I can't speak officially, but as I understand it, the limits mentioned in the reply e-mail you received are for a person without vision correction. The thing is though, the Army is always looking to take in as many people as they can, so you probably can get a waiver for your eyesight. You'll find out for sure whether or not they can enlist you during your medical checkup before enlistment, since they check your eyesight during that time.

Good luck!

Giblackjack,
Thank you for your immediate response. But still I have doubts. Please focus on the last sentence of the quoted e-mail: Diopters must be less than -8.00 but may be waiverable to -10.00.
It shouldn't be considered seperately frombthe rest of the text.
Why did the Army Recruiter mention the vision requirements: 20/40 in one eye, and 20/70 in the other eye or 20/30 in one eye and 20/100 in the other eye, or 20/20 in one eye and 20/400 in the other eye and then, at the end, he stated something completely contradictory?
On that basis my conclusion is the following: the limits mentioned in the reply e-mail are for a person with vision correction. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm just searching for a reasonable solution. I'm waiting for the propositions.
Sorry for my mistakes.
Ozharovsky

like I said before, I can't speak officially, and I don't have a clue what Diopters are, much less what the measurements are for.

I still say your best bet will be to push forward with it, and if you don't meet medical requirements, they won't let you enlist.

a diopter relates to the curvature of the eye lense. corrective lenses can be positive diopter to correct farsightedness, and negative diopter to correct nearsightedness.

If you have corrected vision to 20/20 you should have no issues with joining. Myself, when I joined, my uncorrected vision was 20/400 in both eyes, but with glasses it was corrected to 20/20. Heck at boot camp they issues me two pair of black framed virgin specs. They even issued me inserts so I could see while wearing a gas mask. I just wasn't allowed to fly a plane or helo, not that I ever wanted to.

Listen to the Gunny – you are talking about guidelines – not hard and fast rules.

Thanks pals. I really appreciate your efforts.
Without the forum I wouldn't be able to find out an interesting staff about the US ARMY, and what is more, answers on my questions.

Maciek

quote:

Originally posted by Ozharovsky:
Thanks pals. I really appreciate your efforts.
Without the forum I wouldn't be able to find out an interesting staff about the US ARMY, and what is more, answers on my questions.

Maciek

If you have any further questions do not hesitate, we are here to help you

Good Luck

TAM

Oz,

The diopter value would be for contact lenses as they correct at the surface of the eye. Glasses are always a higher number(for myopia). I'm in the same boat - good luck to us both.