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Celiac And The Military

minton

By minton
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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minton Contributor
minton
Posted

I am 19 years old and was considering enlisting in a branch of the military upon high school graduation. Problem is, I have celiac disease, a thyroid goiter, and asthma. I have been gluten free for 2 years, since diagnosis, and am being treated for the goiter and asthma. Does anyone know if the military would take me?

pleas email replies to anamia4life89@yahoo.com

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Tim-n-VA Contributor
Tim-n-VA
Posted

Do a search for: DODI 6130.4

That gives the medical standards for initial appointment, enlistement and induction. Each service has its own procedures to deal with medical conditions that arise or are discovered after someone is on active duty.

Celiac is not specifically mentioned but malabsorbtion and inflamation in the intestines are both disqualifying.

Like most things government there are waiver procedures.

On the other hand, I don't think there is a specific test for any of this during the processing but there is a questionaire. If you give false information there (conceal celiac) it could be consider a fraudulent enlistement. How that will be handled is subject to lots of factors.

psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

There is an old discussion on this topic that began over three years ago, but has had spurts of activity over time, and may be informative.

Click here for the thread.

*Daniella* Apprentice
*Daniella*
Posted

I'm currently in the Air Force and I can tell you to talk with a recruiter before you get your hopes dashed. Also, going into the military you will probably need to be deployable initially. Deploying with celiac will certainly be difficult and a huge issue. It's not like you can eat MRE's while out in the field. Good Luck! It's a great profession and I hope it works out for you.

minton Contributor
minton
Posted
  • Author

thank you for your replies and for forwarding me that thread. i will talk to a recruiter before just giving up but it does seem like the answer is no. Oddly enough though, many people on the other thread thought asthma disqualifies you but my brother is a smoker and has asthma and he was accepted to the Air Force just fine. They even give him discount inhalers.

lovegrov Collaborator
lovegrov
Posted

I know a guy on another list who had two years left to retirement when he was diagnosed. He got to retirement but said there was no way he could have made it earlier in his career.

richard

DMarie Apprentice
DMarie
Posted

Hmmm...I never thought about the military and celiac or gluten intolerance. My daughter is in college and is planning on going to medical school. She has seriously looked into trying to get an Air Force Scholarship for medical school (as in the Air Force would pay for medical school and she would serve x amount of years in the military).

She has not been diagnosed with celiac, but has clearly identified that gluten is bothersome.

I wonder how that would play out? She never had any bloodwork drawn to test - nothing - as she removed gluten from her diet before that could be done (wouldn't have mattered anyway - as bloodwork is negative for both my other daughter - who has the most severe symptoms - and myself - so I am sure hers would have likely shown negative as well).

She was just discussing this with me last night, ironically. She had looked up more specific information on what was involved - and thinks this is the way to go. I hate to suggest to her that it might not happen because of gluten - she is the one who is least accepting of being gluten intolerant. She eats well while in school, because she ends up having problems focusing/concentrating/thinking - but all bets are off when she is at home and not at school. :(

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  • 3 weeks later...
skydivejon Newbie
skydivejon
Posted

First post since joining but wanted to chime in on Celiac and the Military.

While you may be able to get in (under a waiver) the chances are not that great, if able once you are in the ability to accommodate your dietary needs may be difficult to impossible in some situations. Being deployed and eating MRE

DMarie Apprentice
DMarie
Posted
First post since joining but wanted to chime in on Celiac and the Military.

While you may be able to get in (under a waiver) the chances are not that great, if able once you are in the ability to accommodate your dietary needs may be difficult to impossible in some situations. Being deployed and eating MRE

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