What are my chances at a hearing waiver being granted?

Question

I was DQ'd at MEPS yesterday for the hearing test. In some parts, I got up to 50 decimals in both ears. They told me to go to a civilian doctor for an evaluation so the audiologist could write a request for a hearing waiver.

I told her my history, I know I have some hearing loss, I even wear hearing aids at school and work to make sure I don't miss anything. But even without them I can converse normally and my hearing loss has never kept me from anything.

It isn't nerve damage or my ear drum or anything, it's purely genetic. My father had worse hearing and he served 30 years in the army, 10 of those years being Sergeant Major. So I know I can handle the job.

I grew up at Ft. Bragg and know the hearing requirements and know all about "you are a soldier first" so save your breath in that area.

My recruiter told me he could get me a waiver by wednesday. Because I have to ship out by Thursday to get in before Christmas to work as a Public Affairs Specialist.

But as far as the waiver goes, what are my chances? What is the process? How long do waivers take in the pending process? Thank you for any answers!

Answer 1

The hearing aids are what disqualifies you. Plus the 50 decibels loss of hearing at any level of cycles per second pure tone. Your father probably didn't enter the service with bad hearing. It was probably acquired and they permitted him to remain in uniform. That's not unusual. I had a Marine Drill Instructor at Field Medical Service School who wore two hearing aids. So, if they permit you to enlist with marginal hearing comprehension and it gets progressively worse, they will have to shell out some big pension dollars down the line.

That being said, in 2005 (the latest data available) the Army processed 1,420 requests for waivers in the category of hearing loss. Only 617 waivers were granted and hearing loss was the number one category for medical waiver requests that year.