I met with TSGT Bishop yesterday for a vision exam at O’Callaghan Federal Hospital as ordered by the MEPS as part of my package to join the military. This came as quite a surprise to me since last December when I went to the MEPS nobody said anything to me about needing to have my vision checked. Not only am I too old to become a rated officer, but it was never my intent to join the military in a combat position, and as such I figured my eyesight mattered less than it might otherwise have.
We learned as we signed in something very odd about the Air Force’s personnel database. When the SGT looked up my SSN, she discovered that my records are still in the computer, which apparently indicates that I have 26 years of military service and currently hold the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. That’s a neat trick and quite a surprise given my age. I wonder where they’ve been sending my paychecks… Ordinarily, my records should have been expunged at 23 years of age when I officially left dependent status irrevocably under my sponsor, himself a lt.col. in the USAF.
Despite my goatie and this encounter, the paperwork passed on to the doctors continued to proclaim that I held a rank I do not have. The doctors and nurses continued to call me “Lieutenant”, much to the surprise of everyone waiting to be seen seeing that I wore civilian garb and don’t conform to military grooming regulations.
Ultimately, and unfortunately, the doctors were not able to correct my vision to 20/20. If this ends up barring me medically from military service, I imagine, since it has been my bane all my life to have less than perfect visual acuity, that God never intended me to serve in arms after this fashion but has some use in mind for which I should be able to say I tried.
The military says I need a sight check. I think they need to take a second look themselves. Not to say I won’t take the extra rank and back pay, but it seems odd that I’m the one being held accountable and that in a time of war it should prove so difficult for a willing body to join the service.
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