Hi, name is Skylar. I was wondering if anyone knows or is related to anyone that has type 1 and is in the military. I was looking at the Coast Guard but i'm not sure what they would say about me having diabetes. I play 3 sports in high school so i check myself alot durin the day, but being in the coast guard and the hard trainning they do i wonder if they'll let me take to time to check.
thanks, hope someone can help.
It's a no-go. The military doesn't accept Type 1 Diabetics...and if someone is diagnosed while in the military, they are almost always discharged.
thanks man... i figured that. i just wanted to get an answer from someone else
I was in the US Marine Corps when I was diagnosed at the age of 19. I was booted out right away. Unless something's changed that i don't know about, you're probably out of luck. If you like the Coast Guard thing though, look into the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. It is a volunteer organization but they do a lot of Coast Guard type stuff and are affiliated with the Coast Guard. You don't have to pass a physical or anything to join.
I know I’m way late to the discussion but I struggled with the fact that I could not join the military, I had wanted to since I was little and when I was diagnosed at 17 I was devastated and had to find a new path. Im in school for Physical Therapy now but my uncle found out some good info you could look into about being able to join the military with diabetes. U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. No medical and no age limits. You hold the same rates as the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and the uniform is the same except different patches. From my understanding, you do almost the same tasks as the regular Coast Guard. Go to wwww.GOAUX.us
You’ve probably already got all the answers you were looking for, sorry Im so late to the discussion. I’ve heard that there are some desk jobs that you can do in the military if diagnosed after you’ve already completed boot camp but I don’t know if we are allowed to go through boot camp and I know any combat related things are a no-go. If any new users see this and have interest in joining the armed forces I’d just talk to a recruiter things are always changing so there may be new opportunities that weren’t available when this post was made. I had always hoped to join the military to help with paying for college but gave up on that when I was diagnosed and never looked into what, if anything, I could do.
If you are interested in serving and cannot due to T1d, and you still have an interest in public service, try law enforcement. Unlike the armed forces law enforcement is required to comply with the ADA - meaning, no per se exclusions. I work for a law enforcement organization in a large city and we have officers who are T1s. And as an aside, most law enforcement organizations have good insurance which is always a positive.
Just a thought.