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MEPS and eyes

xmid

Registered User
pilot
Contributor
My recruiter called me today and we talked about my MEPS appointment which is scheduled for this coming Saturday. The only thing is he told me that I have to schedule an appointment for an eye exam with a civilian doctor on my own (and on my own dime). I always thought they did all the vision stuff at MEPS, but he said no. This seems pretty odd, and a bit rediculous that I would have to go get my own eye exam. Can anyone confirm or deny? Is it possible he is mistaken?
 

docholiday

New Member
My recruiter called me today and we talked about my MEPS appointment which is scheduled for this coming Saturday. The only thing is he told me that I have to schedule an appointment for an eye exam with a civilian doctor on my own (and on my own dime). I always thought they did all the vision stuff at MEPS, but he said no. This seems pretty odd, and a bit rediculous that I would have to go get my own eye exam. Can anyone confirm or deny? Is it possible he is mistaken?

I was told it was going to be done at MEPS and they didn't do it while I was there. So I had to go to a civilian doctor out of my own pocket and submit the results.
 

WishICouldFly

UO Future Pork Chop
You may be better off...some of the people at MEPS don't know how to do the eye exams correctly. I had to remind mine to give me a depth percep test, and she didn't even know to turn the room's lights on for the FALANT.
 

millerjd

Stayin' alive
You may be better off...some of the people at MEPS don't know how to do the eye exams correctly. I had to remind mine to give me a depth percep test, and she didn't even know to turn the room's lights on for the FALANT.

Sounds like my eye examiner for MEPS, except it was a he, and couldn't understand anything coming out of his mouth to save my life.
 

coreymiller1

OCC 198 hopeful
They tested my eyes at MEPS, but it's probably the most worthless eye exam you'll ever get. I failed the color vision and then had to go to a civilian doctor to retest. The Marine Corps paid for me to go to him so I don't really know what's going on with you.
 

millerjd

Stayin' alive
They tested my eyes at MEPS, but it's probably the most worthless eye exam you'll ever get. I failed the color vision and then had to go to a civilian doctor to retest. The Marine Corps paid for me to go to him so I don't really know what's going on with you.

Well, that's good news. I went to civilian doctor before I went to MEPS for my normal FAA flight physical and submitted that with my paperwork once they failed me. I have another post on here that explains my gripes with how they tested me with the FALANT. I have passed the light-gun, Farnsworth D15, and FALANT from separate civilian doctors so I should have had no problem.
 

Slammer2

SNFO Advanced, VT-86 T-39G/N
Contributor
i had mine done at a walmart eye center before i went to meps. They paid for it. They gave me the normal eye test and then dilated my eyes and did it again. A few days later at meps, they just did a real quick read the chart type thing.
 

WishICouldFly

UO Future Pork Chop
Dammmmnn...maybe I should get a re-test for the FALANT...cuz I failed it and decided not to apply for Pilot/NFO because of that.
 

millerjd

Stayin' alive
Dammmmnn...maybe I should get a re-test for the FALANT...cuz I failed it and decided not to apply for Pilot/NFO because of that.

From what I have gathered, if you fail ANYTHING at MEPS, they have the situation reviewed by an independent doctor after you submit FINDOCS.
 

Goob83

Active Member
None
I would like you all to realize the MEPs eye exam only gives you an indication that you might make it thru the NAMI WHAMMY exam. Even if go out in town and have one done to circumvent the sloopy meps test this will not guarantee you are good to go when you get to the real deal at P-cola. Many a hearts are broken once they get to P-cola and have the real deal. Same is true for the anthropometric measurements. The OR does not have the proper setup to accurately do the measurement so if you are close to the minimum when you ship to OCS then you might not make the cut when you go for the NAMI measurement. not being negative but you should be aware more are DQ'd than most people realize and it is not really talked about on this site. If you are close to standards think about your options for selection and if your choice is to Be a Navy Officer not just a pilot. Maybe you should pick the choice you are 100% qualified for without a doubt. Other wise you may arrive at API to only be sent home by NAMI or if you are lucky redesignated to Human Resourse Officer living the dream of cubical warfare.
 

kevoGTO

SNA select OCS 8Sept07, ProRec SNA 26Jan09
Goob, how will a vision waiver affect that? As generally accepted above, the jackasses at MEPS can hardly give a standard vision exam - much less operate an autorefractor. Although I have to get a PRK waiver anyways, I would have passed all of their tests, had the woman using the machine known how to correctly measure cylindrical refraction.

So my question is this...if something, such as CylRefrac, is out of limits at NAMI...does the waiver cover that?
 

Wingnut

Kill your television
For what it's worth, I had the MEPS eye exam, I believe all went according to Navy aviation requirements, and failed (DP). So, not to be deterred, I went to the family optometrist (as in the one my parents go to, I've never had any issues with vision), passed his depth test, and sent the results with my final selection package. They approved it, and I went through NAMI without issue. The only other person there who took their depth perception test at MEPS that I knew of also failed it (she was going Air Force, enlisted, and she said it dropped her out of their aircrew positions, IIRC). Long story short, don't sweat it; there are plenty of people who pass the MEPS test only to get the NAMI whammy (probably in many cases because it's improperly administered), and plenty who are the other way around, like me. I found a webpage back when I was working on my application that has all the requirements, don't remember where, but you could probably find it with a Google search. Just make sure you're getting the right things if you're required to get it done independently.
By the way, there were three people, two pilot, one NFO, between the two classes I was in that got the NAMI whammy. One was back issues, one had something to do with a psych evaluation in the guy's record, and the NFO was because of a concussion in his record. So none of them were vision related, and I don't remember anyone losing their aviation slot because of vision issues while I was in OCS. Not that it doesn't happen, it does, but it's not necessarily the most common reason, and yes, MEPS probably carried some culpability with the cases I mentioned. As for the vision tests, just remember, if the ring doesn't jump out at you, shift your gaze a little, try to move your focus around, don't stare, and DON'T PANIC.
 
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