Eyesight Question

sixteenninety

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Jun 28, 2010
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I apologize in advance, as I've already seen that this seems to be an extremely common topic on this forum. However, I can say that I haven't found a very clearcut response to the question I'm going to ask.

Background: I'm a Marine OCS junior candidate. I'm shipping out July 9th. I have never shot a rifle before, let alone do I have any preconceived notion or reason to believe that I will qualify Expert and have a snowball's chance in hell of ever making it to S/S Training. However, I do want to begin forming my goals for what exactly it is I want to achieve as a Marine, including the contract I'd like to go for (Ground/Air) and the MOS I'd like to get.

That being said:

My eyesight is fairly bad. My eyes are +5.00 and +6.00 (farsighted, not near). As far as I've researched, LASIK is my best surgical option for achieving perfect vision, being that PRK is mostly recommended for curing nearsightedness. So thus, I have a few questions in mind that I was hoping you folks could answer.

1) Minimum requirements for S/S eligibility say "vision must be correctable to 20/20." Does this include with the use of corrective lenses? Somehow I think that this can't be true. If not...

2) Is LASIK waiverable or allowable for S/S eligibility? If so, would it be recommended that I get the surgery prior to commissioning, or would I want to ensure that it was done after, such as right before/after TBS? It would be especially helpful if someone who underwent a similar dilemma could comment on this.

The second table on http://usmilitary.about.com/od/navy/l/bllasersurgery.htm says that a waiver is likely under the "USMC" column but not the "SPECWAR" column. I'm not sure if S/S includes "SPECWAR," or if that's just reserved for special ops and what not.

Thanks in advance for any insight. If it's any remedy, at least I'm not a twelve year old who plays too much Call of Duty, hoping to prepare myself 10 years in advance to become an elite sniper, which I've seen all too much of on these kind of websites.

Much appreciated.
 
Haha, I just discovered that last point today, and it occurred to me that someone was going to point it out on this topic.
 
If you can afford the surgery now, get it done. It'll take forever, and won't be a priority, once you put the uniform on.

Granted, my head has never been in a jar, but I'll say this - if you can see, the Marine Corps will teach you how to shoot - and, more importantly, how to hit what you aim at.
 
I would make sure that they will waiver surgery performed by a civilian doctor. I know that at least in the Navy you have to let them fix your eyes for you. I'm by no means an expert, but you should make sure that you'll be covered before you get irreversible surgery.
 
I would make sure that they will waiver surgery performed by a civilian doctor. I know that at least in the Navy you have to let them fix your eyes for you. I'm by no means an expert, but you should make sure that you'll be covered before you get irreversible surgery.

Dito. I got Lasik while I was out, and when I came back in it was a pain in the ass to get all the paper work that documented the surgery. It wasn't a real big deal but they wanted to make sure the Docter didn't do something messed up before they let me back in.

I'll say that having Lasik was probably the best thing I've ever done for myself. I went from barely being able to see the numbers on the alarm clock next to my bed to being able to spot a man sized target at almost two clicks. In medical terms my vision went from 20/260 to better than 20/10. The chart dosen't go any lower so I don't know how good it truely is. Just make sure the military is cool with it.

And yes you can wear glasses or contacts. We had one guy in my class who had to wear glasses and the instructors screwed with him to no end. But he's a HOG now so who cares.
 
I would make sure that they will waiver surgery performed by a civilian doctor. I know that at least in the Navy you have to let them fix your eyes for you. I'm by no means an expert, but you should make sure that you'll be covered before you get irreversible surgery.

Don't expect the DOD to fix your eyes for you. It happens, and happens frequently, but their main focus isn't to give you corrective surgery. I know people that got eye surgery after a year in the Corps, and other people that were never able to get it done due to scheduling conflicts, deployments, etc.

+1 on the Corps teaching you to shoot. If you do what you're told and apply what they teach you while on the rifle range at PI, there is no reason not to qualify well.
 
Background: I'm a Marine OCS junior candidate. I'm shipping out July 9th. I have never shot a rifle before, let alone do I have any preconceived notion or reason to believe that I will qualify Expert and have a snowball's chance in hell of ever making it to S/S Training. However, I do want to begin forming my goals for what exactly it is I want to achieve as a Marine, including the contract I'd like to go for (Ground/Air) and the MOS I'd like to get.

I wouldn't worry about your eyesight so much as I would your defeatist attitude. You have already failed because you told yourself you will. This type of thinking has no place in any military environment. No offense meant, but you better get your head screwed on straight and buckle your chinstrap before you waste your time, the USMC's time, and thousands of tax dollars, before you go spend money and time getting your eyesight worked on. Just trying to be honest my friend. :2c:
 
I wouldn't worry about your eyesight so much as I would your defeatist attitude. You have already failed because you told yourself you will. This type of thinking has no place in any military environment. No offense meant, but you better get your head screwed on straight and buckle your chinstrap before you waste your time, the USMC's time, and thousands of tax dollars, before you go spend money and time getting your eyesight worked on. Just trying to be honest my friend. :2c:

Is that how it came off? Oh trust me that wasn't a defeatist attitude that I meant to come through, more so an I-don't-want-to-look-like-a-complete-idiot-by-implying-that-I'm-not-even-technically-in-the-Corps-yet-but-I'm-still-gonna-be-the-next-great-sniper-like-every-kid-who-plays-Call-of-Duty..type attitude. I've scoured enough military forums as it is over the past couple months to know that it certainly seems that every other military hopeful either wants to be a Scout Sniper or a Naval Aviator, and I didn't want to give the impression that I was totally clueless on the idea.

HOWEVER.. one of the earlier posters (sorry, didn't note the name) did bring up the fact that it's Enlisted who end up going to S/S school, regardless. For some reason I thought that I read somewhere that Marine Officers could do it too. I know I have read on a few places that under extenuating circumstances they can do it, but that it's done for little more than "bragging rights" and Officers almost never actually end up as snipers. Other than that, the closest it seems that one can get is to lead an S/S platoon, or maybe join MARSOC. Does anyone have any extra info on this?
 
Is that how it came off? Oh trust me that wasn't a defeatist attitude that I meant to come through, more so an I-don't-want-to-look-like-a-complete-idiot-by-implying-that-I'm-not-even-technically-in-the-Corps-yet-but-I'm-still-gonna-be-the-next-great-sniper-like-every-kid-who-plays-Call-of-Duty..type attitude. I've scoured enough military forums as it is over the past couple months to know that it certainly seems that every other military hopeful either wants to be a Scout Sniper or a Naval Aviator, and I didn't want to give the impression that I was totally clueless on the idea.

HOWEVER.. one of the earlier posters (sorry, didn't note the name) did bring up the fact that it's Enlisted who end up going to S/S school, regardless. For some reason I thought that I read somewhere that Marine Officers could do it too. I know I have read on a few places that under extenuating circumstances they can do it, but that it's done for little more than "bragging rights" and Officers almost never actually end up as snipers. Other than that, the closest it seems that one can get is to lead an S/S platoon, or maybe join MARSOC. Does anyone have any extra info on this?

It was Invisibile J who said that. Maybe you need to pay a little more attention. A trait I always expected out of the officers I worked for.

Officers are not snipers. The sniper MOS is 0317, an enlisted MOS. Most often the scout/sniper platoons are led by either an infantry officer or an intelligence officer. No reason for them to be trained snipers as their job is to remain in the command post and plan operations and advise senior officers on sniper employment. The most they may do is go to a sniper employment course so they can learn how to employ snipers. Any officer that goes to sniper school is only going for the cool guy points and is taking a slot away from an enlisted Marine that needs that training.

WTF is a Marine OCS junior Candidate?
 
It was Invisibile J who said that. Maybe you need to pay a little more attention. A trait I always expected out of the officers I worked for.

Don't I feel welcome. As for not recalling the name of the poster (Invisible J), I certainly hope no harm was done given that it was 5 days ago that he/she replied, and I already acknowledged his/her reply. I hit the reply button and typed up the majority of my response (of which, Invisible J's post played a very minor role) and didn't quite feel like hitting the "Back" button on my browser and having to retype my response simply to get the username. I know, very selfish and lazy of me, and I probably don't stand a chance of becoming an Officer because of such terrible Internet etiquette. It's a fact I'll just have to deal with.

WTF is a Marine OCS junior Candidate?

Assuming you're busting my balls on details, correct that to Marine PLC junior candidate. If not: http://www.ocs.usmc.mil/

Thanks for the insight.
 
Don't I feel welcome. As for not recalling the name of the poster (Invisible J), I certainly hope no harm was done given that it was 5 days ago that he/she replied, and I already acknowledged his/her reply. I hit the reply button and typed up the majority of my response (of which, Invisible J's post played a very minor role) and didn't quite feel like hitting the "Back" button on my browser and having to retype my response simply to get the username. I know, very selfish and lazy of me, and I probably don't stand a chance of becoming an Officer because of such terrible Internet etiquette. It's a fact I'll just have to deal with.



Assuming you're busting my balls on details, correct that to Marine PLC junior candidate. If not: http://www.ocs.usmc.mil/

Thanks for the insight.

Stay in your lane, you're here asking questions about something you don't know about. If you get your chops busted, then take it like a man and learn from it. Otherwise, you are in no position to be running off at the keyboard to anyone on this site, especially in this forum.
 
Stay in your lane, you're here asking questions about something you don't know about. If you get your chops busted, then take it like a man and learn from it. Otherwise, you are in no position to be running off at the keyboard to anyone on this site, especially in this forum.

Trust me, I expected to get flak for that. The fact of it all though is that it was an arbitrary matter to appear hot and bothered over. Insinuating that I'm inattentive and won't cut it as an Officer simply because I didn't note a username, and even apologized for it is ridiculous, no matter how you look at it. There was no disrespect meant toward 0699 or his/her expertise from a military standpoint, but the comment was out of hand. Either way, I'd like to move past the issue - all I asked for was an answer to a question.
 
... but the comment was out of hand...

No it wasn't. Grow a thicker skin or you'll never make it in the military. Your correct response is "Yes/No Sir/Ma'am", and if needed followed with a "I'll correct that Sir/Ma'am". Take the spot correction, adjust your behavior/attitude/performance and move on.

If you can't learn to do that on an Internet military forum, how do you think you'll do in real life? Remember, the people on this board could be your superior officers or your troops down the line. Learn to treat us correctly with respect and it'll come much easier when the real life situations come around.

LL
 
No it wasn't. Grow a thicker skin or you'll never make it in the military. Your correct response is "Yes/No Sir/Ma'am", and if needed followed with a "I'll correct that Sir/Ma'am". Take the spot correction, adjust your behavior/attitude/performance and move on.

If you can't learn to do that on an Internet military forum, how do you think you'll do in real life? Remember, the people on this board could be your superior officers or your troops down the line. Learn to treat us correctly with respect and it'll come much easier when the real life situations come around.

LL

You're completely right on that. Seriously, good advice. Thanks.
 
Don't I feel welcome. As for not recalling the name of the poster (Invisible J), I certainly hope no harm was done given that it was 5 days ago that he/she replied, and I already acknowledged his/her reply. I hit the reply button and typed up the majority of my response (of which, Invisible J's post played a very minor role) and didn't quite feel like hitting the "Back" button on my browser and having to retype my response simply to get the username. I know, very selfish and lazy of me, and I probably don't stand a chance of becoming an Officer because of such terrible Internet etiquette. It's a fact I'll just have to deal with.



Assuming you're busting my balls on details, correct that to Marine PLC junior candidate. If not: http://www.ocs.usmc.mil/

Thanks for the insight.

EDIT: Deleted because you aren't worth the time. Good luck at OCS.
 
Best thread in a long time......an OCS candidate getting lippy with a retired Marine Master Sergeant.

1690: I'm not going to bust your balls and I'll presume that you've read One Bullet Away. Some thoughts to keep in mind for you: 1) Not everyone who starts OCS will finish OCS (my Army class alone had a 48% or so washout/ dropout rate) and 2) situational awareness is something that I would invest in and learn about.

Good luck.
 
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