Posted on 12/20/2011 6:08:52 AM PST by TSgt
FRiends,
Is there any way to enlist and serve in the military and have Vaccines/Immunizations waived?
This isn’t about me, my shot record is a mile long, but for my nephew who desperately wants to serve. He enlisted two years ago with the Marines and was halfway through bootcamp at Paris Island when he had an autoimmune response, similar to Guillain-Barre, to some of the vaccinations he received. This response put him in the Navy hospital and actually paralyzed him for a few weeks. He is a tough kid and did not want to separate but was sent home to recover and listed by the VA as partially disabled. The VA is now stating that he is fit for duty however I’m afraid that is in the context of them no longer paying for his healthcare and not that he can reenlist.
My nephew feels terrible about the situation since his step-brother, father, uncle, grandfathers and great grandfathers have all served. He’s a good kid, no trouble, etc., physically strong, works out often and wants nothing more than to serve in any branch of the military that will take him.
Is there any way he can enlist and serve his country considering the situation?
Many thanks,
TSgt
TSgt,
No offer of any knowledge regarding vaccinations but wanted to offer my prayers for your nephew. He sounds like a helluva kid.
Our country needs a few good more men ( and women ) like him.
I hope you find/get the answers you’re looking for.
I looked this up years ago. I’ve been in the military for 23 years now. Years ago one of my Soldiers didn’t want to get a shot (he was just being a smart ass). I found out that a Commander can order a Soldier restrained so that he/she may be given a shot. Getting the vaccinations is more about the health and welfare of other Soldiers as much as the individual. I’m no lawyer but this is my interpretation. I hope your nephew can serve one way or another.
Thanks!
It pains me that the military bends over to allow queers to serve but can’t do anything for a normal all American kid who loves his country.
He needs to contact a recruiter and/or MEPS counselor for all the branches including reserve/guard. Each branch has different enlistment qualifications.
Sorry, but with his medical history, he is probably not medically fit to serve.
He should speak with a recruiter, get some phone # at DOD to call for special cases such as his, and progress from there.
-——He is a tough kid——
However, if he cannot tolerate immunizations, he is defective. He is not suited to be a Marine.
He must make other choices that are suited to his condition.
I know in the AF that some immunizations could be waived due to allergic reactions.
However, depending on which immunization it is it can directly affect the members availability for world wide duty, and that is where the problem lies. The immunizations can be waived, but if it causes the member to be declared world-wide ineligible it kills the career anyway. THere is a wide gap between ‘Fit for duty’ and ‘World-Wide Eligible’ unfortunately.
Not sure what the Marine policies are, but it will probably require a lot of research on your nephew’s part or behalf to determine if he can reenlist or not.
I believe the answer is a firm “no”. Taking the oath entails taking the shots.
You know, there are other ways to serve this country. Would he consider law enforcement?
So was this, given what all the poison in those vaccines did to a few hundred thousand Gulf War vets.
“Not Marine” does not equal “defective.”
There are many Marines who couldn’t make it as a Coast Guard rescue swimmer.
Vaccines dramatically enhance the overall health and welfare of the fighting forces, and vaccines allow deployments to situations where disease is rampant.
It is a duty to the service and to fellow soldeirs to be vaccinated so you won’t get any of the diseases and won’t spread disease. That way the service can count on his readiness and the readiness of his unit without having to wonder about succeptibility to disease.
While some folks choose not to get vaccines, I think that choice is selfish for the reasons outlined above. The only reason people can refuse vaccines without a high risk of disease is because their neighbors all get the vaccines.
This kid should have gotten his vaccines a little at a time while growing up. Vaccines are safe.
No. When I was in you couldn’t serve if you were allergic to eggs because eggs were used in vaccines. Everyone in the military is subject to deployment worldwide, so you have to be vaccinated for the region you’ll deploy to.
If he had a limp or asthma he would also be defective. The services have to treat soldiers as parts in a machine. The parts have to meet minimum tolerances, so to speak.
Your boy is out of tolerance.
This is not mean - its just not what oprah would say (but this aint the oprah channel).
The symptoms this man is experiencing must be his imagination. Vaccines are perfectly safe, especially the vaccines that use remains of aborted babies: http://www.cogforlife.org/vaccineListOrigFormat.pdf
As for getting a few at a time, that is usually not the option. As the mother of a three year old and and four month old, most vaccines are given together and there are no other options. For example, the MMR is only available as an MMR and not in single mumps, measles, and rubella shots. Finally, this man probably did get all of his vaccines and the Marines are giving him additional vaccines. It is my understanding that certain vaccines are given regardless of prior vaccination schedules.
You might want to post this on the Oprah forums - you’ll find more sympathy there.
It is laudable that he wants to serve, bu there is no right to be a soldier.
I agree that it is disgusting to bend over for the homos, but you are advocating for no standards at all now that homos are in. In fact when women were allowed in the same thing happened: standards dropped for all manner of things in the services.
It is part of the leftisit agenda: destroy western culture. Western culture holds out soldiers as brave patriots and warriors. They got girls in first, which allowed servicemen to be a bit more sissified. Then it made sense that full blown homos could serve because standards dropped. Now you are falling into the trap: “if homos can serve there must not be any standards, so my nephew with health problems should also be able to serve.”
I also raised my eyebrow when I saw you seem to whine about his benefits being cut - it is a sad day when we define a new recruit who had a bad reaction to his shots as a “disabled vet” and we give him lifetime benefits. What am I missing?
It depends on what the vaccination was for. These vaccinations are to protect both the individual and the larger group that make up the unit and who must live in close quarters under extreme conditions. If the particular vaccination can be waivered then he should be able to continue to serve and if it is any vaccination then he can be discharged for medical reasons. I served with guys in both the Marines and the Air Force over my career who developed various medical problems and who were forced to leave or retire. I wish him luck and Semper Fi, but I don’t believe an exception should be made if the medical board determines otherwise.
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