your generalized statements are getting pretty wild, Thud.
The military doesn’t accept any candidates that have sickle cell.
:-)
Oh.
Blueplum,
You are wrong.
See:
Sickle Cell and Recruit Training
https://navymedicine.navylive.dodlive.mil/archives/3184
“Sickle cell disease is a genetic hematologic disorder in which normal adult hemoglobin is substituted by hemoglobin S. Under certain circumstances, this form of the oxygen-carrying part of blood becomes viscous, resulting in damage to the body. Situations which may exacerbate this include low-oxygen conditions, such as those faced by pilots or service members at increased altitudes. Notably for the military, in 1968, four recruits with sickle cell trait (a carrier condition for sickle cell disease) died during training exercises at elevation. Following this, the U.S. Navy began testing all recruits and limiting the operational billets available to those who tested positive. This persisted until 1981, when a class action law suit was filed against the Air Force Academy, citing racial discrimination by declining to admit students with sickle cell trait, which is predominantly found in African Americans. In 1981, the Department of Defense mandated that restrictions be removed.”
And see:
Sickle cell trait and health concerns in Army soldiers
At a Glance
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/sickle-cell-trait-health-concerns-army-soldiers
August 23, 2016
Researchers found that sickle cell trait does not raise the risk of death in active-duty U.S. Army soldiers.
Soldiers with sickle cell trait did have a higher risk of a severe breakdown of skeletal muscle caused by strenuous physical activity.
This risk, however, was also increased among older soldiers, those who smoked, were obese, or who had recently used certain medications.
And See:
Sickle Cell Trait Prevalence Among U.S. Military Service Members: 1992–2012
https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/182/3-4/e1819/4099332
David W. Niebuhr, MC USA (Ret.), Ligong Chen, MD, Stephanie Shao, MPH, Jonathan Goldsmith, MD, Celia Byrne, PhD, Darrell E. Singer, MC USPHS Author Notes
Military Medicine, Volume 182, Issue 3-4, March-April 2017, Pages e1819–e1824, https://doi.org/10.7205/MILMED-D-16-00136
Published: 01 March 2017