A: Laser surgery (LASIK) is acceptable to West Point Admissions only if done after age 21 because the eyeball has not stopped growing until that time of life. It is possible that in two years' time laser surgery may be allowed for Cadets who are past the age of 21.
A: At the moment, I do believe that flying is out of the question for
young people who get surgical vision correction/laser correction. It is only just becoming available in the Army and under very strict rules. The military studies everything in great detail before it is approved. From what I have read, eye surgery is not a way to become flight qualified. In fact I do believe at this time it will disqualify that person. At least not at this time! If this is not correct I am sure someone will jump right in here. Best to have your candidate check with the Academies.
A: I don't know about flying, but I do know some of the limitations that LASIK and
PRK have on other career decisions. I was in the first batch of laser eye
surgeries done by the Army at Fort Bragg. They first let Special Operations
have the surgery. Mine was in September of 2000. At that time LASIK
disqualified you for Special Forces Qualification Course; Survival, Evasion,
Resistance and Escape (SERE); Scuba School; and High Altitude, Low Opening
(HALO) School. PRK did not have the same limitations. We must all realize
that things like this are a moving target. For the candidate who might decide
to go to Special Forces after four years at West Point and 3-6 years as an
Officer, the decision now to have eye surgery could be disqualifying. I'd
recommend putting off anything like that until later, until you were in a
position to make a decision based on the most current information, as close to
the decision point as possible.
