I’ve been there. The good news is you can come out on top! Here’s the lowdown on your knee scope. Last spring when I decided to apply for OCS, I had some pain in my ankle when I ran. I ended up having to get it scoped in late April to remove some damaged cartilage. A week later it felt much better and within two months I was running with no pain. My OSO had thought that it was two months before I could be considered for a waiver, but when we sent in my paperwork, we found out it’s a mandatory 6 month wait period for waiver requests on scope surgery. At that point I knew January OCS (November selection board) was the earliest I could shoot for. So while I was waiting for late October to roll around, I got the rest of my application completed (no small task), worked on my PFT, and got all my ducks in a row other than the waiver. I was applying for and Air contract, so in September (after my ankle was fully rehabbed) I went to the required flight physical armed with documentation on my ankle including words like “full strength, full range of motion, no limitations or disabilities.” He checked it out and made the request for the waiver which can take up to 90 days to complete for Air. Since 90 days took me into January, my packet went to the November board with everything except the waiver. To make a long story a bit shorter, I ended up getting accepted Air for the January 18th ship to OCS with the condition that my waiver comes through in time. In early January my waiver came (took approx 70 days) so I was good to go at that point.
The whole process from surgery to full acceptance took about 9 months, and with any setback would have taken longer. At this point you’re probably shooting realistically for OCS in January. But if you are going ground it may take less time because your waiver gets to skip the Naval aviation step. Talk to your OSO and see what they say about it and press for details. Remember, though, that you’re OSO may not know every detail about what it takes to get a waiver for your medical condition because every injury, surgery, recovery, and request is a little different. The key is to send your paperwork for the waiver request in as early as possible. Then you can respond to whatever the medical “powers that be” say rather than guessing what it is they want.
It can be a long waiting game, but in the end you’ll be glad you were able to work a bit more on your rehabbing, PFT, etc. Just know that you can still make it. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any additional questions. Good luck!
when i run to the point where i can't use it. i'm hoping to get scoped this winter so i can go to OCC this fall or winter. do these surgeries send up a red flag to selection boards about your capabilities? how do i go about handling this (mentioning it to my recruiter, MEPS, etc)?