Hello,
Im newly diagnosed with T1D and am currently serving in the Air Force. Does anyone have personal stories about being discharged or retained? Im in the dark right now so any help is appreciated.
@Ebblair, hi Elizabeth, sorry to hear about your diagnosis I hope you are doing ok.
a diagnosis of T1 will result in you failing the entrance physical, but you have already passed.
that being said, my friend Andrew was diagnosed while an active marine and he was honorably discharged. The military has many operations that depend on a person’s physical status, so for example if you were a pilot and had a low, it could compromise the normal levels of safety, you, and others. It’s possible that some medical issues might be ok for certain operations… I am guessing
I hope things turn out the way you want them to. Please let us know how you are doing.
Hi Elizabeth @Ebblair,
I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis and I fear that there is an history for diabetes diagnosis to lead to discharge; but times ARE CHANGING and I have heard of “individual consideration” permitting continuation of service - it may depend on certain assignments your “indispensable” skills.
The only personal experience I’ve had was with one my [late] younger brothers who was discharged after diagnosis even though he had been commander of the Army School of engineering. He, and 76% of the men who served under him in Vietnam all contracted TypeFour Diabetes [ caused by external poisoning by Agent Orange]. TypeFour is a very violent form of diabetes and wasn’t recognized as being caused by Agent Orange and designated as a military disability until April 2001 - after most of those affected had died from its affects.
It was just recently that I was told of military exceptions that permitted continuing in service - if I recollect who told me I’ll be in touch.