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USAF Pilot wearing glasses
- Thread starter AirGuy
- Start date
Can't speak for the AF, but on the Navy/USMC side, you have to meet the minimum standards (i.e. "20/40 correctable to 20/20") to get in the door. Once you start flying, you can basically deteriorate from there. I got glasses in advanced when I read 20/25 one time. Never wore them until my first fleet night CQ. Boltered 3 times in a row, and finally trapped by the skin of my teeth. Took them off, and didn't bolter another time. That is basically a useless anecdote, but I can tell it once more if you want me to 
I'd say around 50% of guys I know fly with glasses at night around the boat.
I'd say around 50% of guys I know fly with glasses at night around the boat.
AirGuy
Member
To be honest, it doesn't make sense to me why they do it this way. Why would they rather have 19 year olds getting laser, with a high risk of vision change, rather then guys in their 20's whose visions have stabilized?Can't speak for the AF, but on the Navy/USMC side, you have to meet the minimum standards (i.e. "20/40 correctable to 20/20") to get in the door. Once you start flying, you can basically deteriorate from there. I got glasses in advanced when I read 20/25 one time. Never wore them until my first fleet night CQ. Boltered 3 times in a row, and finally trapped by the skin of my teeth. Took them off, and didn't bolter another time. That is basically a useless anecdote, but I can tell it once more if you want me to
Please tell me you listen to "Wild Thing" on the AUX radio too...Can't speak for the AF, but on the Navy/USMC side, you have to meet the minimum standards (i.e. "20/40 correctable to 20/20") to get in the door. Once you start flying, you can basically deteriorate from there. I got glasses in advanced when I read 20/25 one time. Never wore them until my first fleet night CQ. Boltered 3 times in a row, and finally trapped by the skin of my teeth. Took them off, and didn't bolter another time. That is basically a useless anecdote, but I can tell it once more if you want me to
You can be 20/40 correctable to 20/20 and not need or even be eligible for laser surgery. I was certainly in that category. Like MIDNJAC, I was given a pair of glasses in flight school. I wore them for a few flights and then never wore them again until I was having a hard time seeing a chart while flying at night some 7 years later. Now I wear them all the time because seeing is, I find, helpful to the overall mission.
Calculon
It's Calculon! Hit the deck!
That's because no one is forcing a bunch of 19 year olds to get their eyes zapped - most surgeons would tell you to get your vision stabilized first then worry about getting them zapped
Heck there used to be a time when if didn't have naturally good eyes, you weren't getting in
AirGuy
Member
So basically take the risk or wait a few years. Which mean miss out on a few years of flying.
All I'm saying is that if they are allowing winged people, then why not students. Does this have something to do with who does the physical? (NAMI vs N3M)? So if I was able to somehow able to get a physical clearance from NAMI for OCS instead of going through N3M, then I would be cleared for glasses? Because like I said, I have seen videos of guys in primary wearing glasses. Perhaps they are within 20/40 though.
They do allow students to get glasses. But nobody really cares about applicants or guys in a pool. There are 1000 other unproven people to fill your shoes if you don't meet the minimum requirements. The equation makes less sense when you have already dumped a load of money on training someone and then their eyes deteriorate. You have to draw the line somewhere, as everyone loses acuity with age naturally. Not being a dick here but applicants or guys in OCS aren't "students" at least as far as flight school is comcerned
Exactly. The physical standards are not there because it makes everyone sleep well at night. It's just a means to an end in reducing the overall pool of applicants. Sometimes the standard is 20/20. Period. Sometimes it gets extended to 20/40. It just depends on how many bodies they need.
Also, as an applicant, you're held to a tighter standard than once you're past your initial NAMI-whammy at API. That's just the breaks of Navair. And believe me, I've been on the "wrong" side of those breaks. It sucks. Get over it.
ETA: Ninja'ed by JAC.
I wouldn't waste your time trying to get NAMI to clear your physical if your not already in. I spent the last 9 weeks or so bugging the heck out of the folks at NAMI and was repeatedly told no because I was outside of their scope. I wasn't even trying to get my physical completely cleared, all I was asking was for them to make contact with N3M to discuss my physical.
I was fortunate enough to catch one of the program managers on a good day and he said he would "do me a favor and call N3M" since he saw I had no other option. Nonetheless, they can't do anything official for applicants especially a full physical with approved waivers and such.
In my case, I was very lucky.
Yeah…I guess…just like they are everywhere else. Maybe not at "entry level"…but certainly afterwards.
FWIW I also know a couple guys that did get PRK back in the day, and they now have "halo" issues when looking unaided at the ball at night (and thus require "cheater" glasses). Doesn't really seem to be a problem with guys who never had it, so maybe there is something to be said about it. I don't know as I'm not a doc.