Can I join the military with a hearing loss?
linny asked:
I have complete loss of hearing in my left ear and have been told by my father that The marines will not accept me. Does anyone know what their policy is?
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Military.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I have complete loss of hearing in my left ear and have been told by my father that The marines will not accept me. Does anyone know what their policy is?
January 30th, 2009 at 1:03 am
Uhm Your father may be RIGHT! Because i knew someone who had a minor breathing problem… got kicked out of the military. Marines
February 1st, 2009 at 12:10 pm
You have to be able to hear a certain amount in each ear. You basically have to go to MEPS to find out what that amount is.
February 2nd, 2009 at 3:51 am
I know that when I joined the Army they had a medical screening where I went through with people joining all different branches of the service. One part of the screening was a hearing test where you had to listen for beeps through a headset and tell them when you heard a beep and which ear you heard it in. I’m not sure exactly how strict they are on this test, but I can only imagine that if you have complete loss of hearing in one ear, then there would not be much of a way to pass this part of the screening. I’ve seen the doctors play with the numbers on stuff like weight requirements to help people get around some regulations, so I wouldn’t completely rule it out, but that will make it very hard for you. If you really have your heart set on being a Marine, then my advice would be to not tell your recruiter about your problem and hope that the doctor examining you during that test is one that will work with you on that issue.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:24 am
your dad is right
but check for your self, the military is famous for relaxing regulations when they hurting for personnel, like now. also remember there are other branches of the military, army, navy, air force, coast guard. they all have different recruitment regulations. call, they will tell you.
God bless you
February 8th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
WHAT ?!? PUT A GRENADE IN WHAT TENT?
February 11th, 2009 at 11:33 am
No, per the enlistment medical standards, you have to be able to pass a hearing exam. If you can’t hear at all from your left ear, they would consider that physically disqualifying. Review the below references, they specifically state “Complete loss of hearing in one or two ears” as physically disqualifying and unwaiverable. Even if the services are hurting for personnel.
Sorry, I know this may not be the answer you want, but it’s the best under the circumstances.
February 14th, 2009 at 12:56 am
You can not join. There is a hearing test at MEPS as part of your physical, and if you fail the hearing test you are a no go for military service. You can talk to a recruiter and see if a waiver is available but I doubt it. You gotta be able to hear clearly in the military.