FREE LASIK IN THE ARMY???

Question

i'm in the us army currently deployed to afghanistan. i usually wear contacts back in garrisson,but out here i'm wearing glasses.I heard somewhere that lasik eye surgery is free in the army?has anyone else heard about this or is it just a myth?everyone i ask doesnt seem to know..i'm in transportation field if that matters

Answer 1

Navy does not allow LASIK, but only uses PRK.  It is a much more painful procedure, but apparently there is greater risk of failure of LASIK due to the flap they cut which is more susceptible to failure under pressure.

There are priorities for warfighters and pilots, divers, but anyone on Active Duty can get on the wait list.

Answer 2

I have heard of that also, my husband is ad army and we plan on getting it done as soon as he gets back from korea that way one of us has use of our eyes to watch our little troublemaker

Answer 3

all you have to do is get ahold of the optometrist when you get back in the states and they decide if your vision has changed in like the past two years. if not then they give you some paperwork and have your commander sign off on it and a couple weeks later you are glasses free.  

  remember you cannot smoke for the first year after the surgery or it could cause it to reverse back to your old vision. thats if your a smoker

Answer 4

I believe the waiting list is very very long though.

Answer 5

yes tricare will cover Lasik.  And it doesn't matter what MOS you are.  

Answer 6

I had a lot of my soldiers get it before we went to iraq.

Our Brigade set up a program were we gathered the names of all our soldiers who wore glasses, and had them goto hospital all on the same day.

Answer 7

yes it is free of charge...tricare covers it. i had mine done last year and it was the best thing i could ever do for myself...good luck and come back to us safe

Answer 8

I had Lasik done about 6 years ago and it was the best thing I have ever done.  I have also heard they are not doing it anymore due to risk.  When I had it done we had to sign a form of understanding that it (Lasik, not PRK) would exclude us from certain jobs (SF, Pilot, HALO).  

And by the way, for those of you who are CLEARLY not in the military and have never been (andrew).  Please stop trying to answer questions you have no idea about.

Answer 9

Maybe if you were a figher pilot. Youre in the Army so I would say no.... since they don't have fighter pilots (planes)

Answer 10

Yes the Army offers Lasik surgery...there are only a few things you need to do before you are able to have it done...and the doctor will let you know what they are.