Asthma and already in military?

Question

Wondering if any air force people out there can help me out. I've been in the air force for eleven years. Was planning on doing 20. Now it comes up that i could possibly have asthma. I don't want to go to the doctor if they are going to kick me out for it. I've gone this long with just thinking i'm a crappy runner and need to stop smoking. So,..if I go to the clinic, they test me for asthma and it's positive will i get discharged? Anybody know?

Answer 1

stop smoking, and ask ur doctor how u can get ur stamina up, if u have asthima, thats pretty much an instant kick from the air force,
they just see u blacking out in a turn and crashing there multi-million dollar plane

Answer 2

Asthma, hay-fever, and some of those other types of things can be grounds for making them change your career field or job to another especially if your jobs carries a high mobility rating. Besides this the Air Force is getting tougher on fitness testing and bringing it in line with the standards that the Army imposes and starting to administratively penalize those that can not pass their fit test. They are also supposed to start discharging those people starting in 2008 and have been saying this for three years now. This is much like what they did when they first started the weight management program in the mid 70s. You may be able to get a waver and do the ergonometer testing and pass that and if your weight, waist circumference, push ups, and sit ups meet the standards and/or them wave the running portion. Asthma in itself is not grounds unless it adversely affects you and you doing your job but the fit testing thing might be a little tricky. Talk to your fit testing monitor and First Sergeant and they can give you the specifics and you may squeak by. Good luck.

Answer 3

I disagree with the idea and advice to keep this out of your military health record, mainly because in doing so you are placing yourself at huge risk. If you do have asthma and you do not include it in your records, your medical providers will not be in a position to provide you with the appropriate treatments for other issues. Many medications for asthma have a high risk for interacting with other drugs, increasing the risk for a doctor inadverntently administering somthing to you in an emergency that could make it worse. Also, some asthma suffers need to use steroids, which can lead to weight gain or make it difficult to take it off. Again, if this information is part of your military health records and you are allowed to continue your service, if you have weight issues due to the meds you can be given waivers or adjustments to your weight allowance. Asthma left untreated, especially for 8 years, is bound to become more severe and people can die as a result. I applaud your dedication to the military, but you need to do what is best for your health and for those you work with, deploy with and serve with...go to the doctor, get evaluated and go from there.

Answer 4

It depends on your asthma and what you're doing.
Asthma for a pilot is a no go. Light to moderate
asthma for an engineer or a paper tiger is not
really a problem. And if you know you have asthma
it can be treated to reduce the symptoms. If you
don't have critical asthma it's not necessarily a
reason for a discharge.

Answer 5

sadly, they will discharge you. My advice is go to a personal doctor don't tell him anything about your life, tell him you have no insurance and you re going to make personal pay. And he will tell you if you have asthma or not and you will know what to do after that.

Answer 6

My sister's fiancee actually developed asthma while being in Iraq and has it BAD. They actually sent him back for a second tour. He's in the Army so I am not sure.

Answer 7

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thisgroupisforyou/


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