ADHD and military service

You don’t say which branch of service you are in and this could effect the answer. Each branch of service has its own governing regulations both medical and administrative. In the Air Force AFI it says that “individuals determined to have primary mental deficiency or special learning defect (which would cover ADHD) which interferes with the satisfactory performance of duty are unsuitable and subject to administrative seperation. They must be referred to their unit commander.” What I interupt this to mean is that if your condition DOES NOT interfere with the performance of your duty you should not be discharged. Since you have 19 years in and have been progressing I can only assume that your condition has not interfered with the duty of your performance. Now since you are on a maintance mediciation you may be refered to a medical evaluation board to determine your ability to continue on active duty. Usually if a medication controls the condition, the individual has not lost duty time due to the condition, the commander supports the individual staying in ect, the individual is usually returned to duty. If you are perhaps security forces they may recommend medical crosstrain if your provider feels you can not carry a weapon. The MEB may return you to duty with a restriction of not world wide deployable it is hard to say. In my experience though an individual with 19 years in with a condition that is not life threatening or threatening to others or really limiting is usually returned to duty.

The air force doc that dxed my younger son with adhd at the air force hospital told me he also was adhd and taking adderall. He didn’t seem too concerned about getting the boot. My husband was dxed adhd at age 38 (couple of yrs ago)he has been in the army for 22 yrs, 15 active. He doesn’t take medicine (he won’t even take motrin unless he is in severe pain) and getting out because of adhd never came up. Honestly, it is an advantage I think, his evals usually mention his ‘high energy’ and other things that reflect his adhd positively.

I definitely think this could be a subjective thing, if adhd negatively affects your performance(after 19 yrs I would think not) or you have a supervisor who is looking for something to get you out on. I have not heard of anyone having this difficulty from the army. I don’t really know who to talk to about resolving this though. Sorry I can’t be any more help.

Let us know how things go, I have a cousin who joined the army in the past year, diagnosed adhd in elementary school but hasn’t taken medicine since about the 5th grade. As far as I know, he disclosed this to the army. It could be the medicine issue making the difference

My husband has been told by his Chief (Navy) that he needs to have testing done for learning diabilities, and I am trying to find out what would be involved, and what are the potential consequences on his career. He is currently having difficulty with learning retention, and distractability, and these are causing problems in getting his work done.

My son is ADHD and is interested in joining the Civil Air Patrol which is a junior Air Force ROTC type thing. I was told flat-out that after the age of 12 (when they can join) he CANNOT be medicated for ADHD (dx was not an issue) and be in the CAP. I was also told that he could not be accepted into the Air Force if he was on medication at that time. The reason I was given was that after the age of 12 it is considered to be a psychological condition and no longer a medical condition. If anyone has definitive information in writing, I know I would appreciate knowing where to find it.

It appears that we have all received a multitude of different answers, all being from different individuals and not in the form of a written policy.

What they tell you is correct. According to AFI 48-123 medication use for ADHD after the age of 12 is disqualifying. What they don’t tell you however is that just because something is disqualifying does not mean the door is obsolutely closed. It is possible depending on the facts to get what is known as a waiver. In this case the individual does not meet the medical standards but based on available information is allowed to join, or stay in. This usually occurs when it is documented that despite the problem the individual is still able to funtion adequately. I have never seen meds waived for an individual coming in but have seen individuals waivered after they were dx’d after being in the military X number of years. Like I stated before each branch of service has its own rules so you need to check with each branch the individual is interested in.

I definately know how you all feel. I tried going through Basic Training at Fort Jackson last Summer. I was ssent home because I was on medicine that I “was not supposed” to be on. It was very hard for me. I kept on getting conflicting messages between my company commanders, and the Medical Staff at the Base Hospital. About a month after I was sent home, my mom told me that there was some action being taken to include men and women with ADD/HD to be allowed in the service. I have to research and ask around about that but anyone interested to obtain that information, please email me at [email protected] and I will forward that info to you. Remember that you are not alone. God Bless.

This is really interesting. After being led to this forum, I did a little research and came across the article. This the first paragraph from the website: http://add.about.com/library/weekly/aa091601a.htm

“During World War II, Japanese, Russian and German armies used Ritalin as a means of combating battle fatigue. They discovered that soldiers using Ritalin followed directions more easily and focused better on their tasks. Although we may not agree with the intent of these armies, we can certainly agree with the positive effects of Ritalin on those soldiers. Today, the US Armed Forces faces another enemy and the entire military service is gearing up for a long war. Ritalin, however, has no place in the military.”

Ok. World War II is over. If the United States Military can see what good it did the armed forces of Japan, Russia & Germany, then why will they not allow the many good men and women who have been diagnosed with ADD/HD to serve their country by joining the armed forces? Someone have any thoughts about that?

Will

I’ve been off meds for several weeks now and have definitely noticed the difference. My ability to concentrate has diminished remarkably and the piles on my desk have grown ten-fold. I was told that to remain on active duty, I had to be “Fit for Full Duty” (FFD). I could not be FFD and be on meds. I am now FFD and have orders to a new unit. I’ll keep you all informed about things on here.

Thank you all for your insight and helpful commentary.

Mike

To Whom it may concern:

If I sent you the following email:

I got all of your emails from the Adult Bulletin Boards off ldonline.org. I was just sending this message to you because I have read all your entries. I am wondering if you would like to join this group so that we can continue to help our fellow men and women know that they are not alone with the problems that we face with ADD/HD and other attention disorders. If you do, that is great. If you don’t I understand and I will not bother you anymore.

Thank you for your time.

Will Haeger

I would like to apologize. I did not mean any offense. I only meant that I read all your entries that you have placed on this bulletin board and have really appreciated it. Again, I did not meant any offense. Thanks. Will

My son was discharged after one weekend in the guards.
With 19 yrs. I would try to cool it and try to get my twenty without incident.
If you have to fight it…use there own rule against them. ADA it;s Federal and they are Federal. For some unknown reason haha they seem to think they can break any rule they wish.

Funny story to cheer you up. My sons first weekend was spent doing pushups.
they were supposed to go into the mess hall through one door and go to the Sgt. SIR name serial # SIR Then take the tray out the other door.
He would go in and say SIR serial number
SGT would say WHAT
Son would say SIR serial #
SGT said WHAT
Son would say SIR serial #. Finaly he was ordered to do push ups but was never told what he did wrong. (forgot to add the SIR at the end.
This was repetitive thoughout the weekend and so weren’t the pushups.
Anyway he was discharged. ADD.