A list of medical conditions that no longer disqualify people from enlisting in the military and no longer require a waiver has been expanded by the Defense Department. (Ivy Thomas/U.S. National Guard)
The Defense Department has expanded the list of medical conditions that no longer disqualify people from enlisting in the military.
More than 6,000 people have enlisted through a pilot program’s relaxed requirements, which allow recruits to enter basic training with previously disqualifying medical conditions, said Lin St. Clair, deputy director of the Defense Department’s accession policy directorate.
When the program began in 2022, it included 38 conditions but was expanded earlier this year to 51. The program changes also further eased restrictions on previously included conditions such as attention deficient hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
Each of the conditions listed would have disqualified a candidate unless the military granted a waiver to allow enlistment. By removing this step, it can speed up the enlistment process and free up medical evaluators to review candidates with more complex medical histories.
The program outlines when a recruit could have last received treatment or showed symptoms for their medical condition. Some of the medical ailments included are related to the eyes, orthopedics, hearing impairments and the digestive tract.
ADHD makes up 60% of enlistments through the pilot program, St. Clair said. The latest changes moved the time without treatment for ADHD from the past three years to one year, opening the door to quicker enlistment for many who recently graduated high school.
“High school students who have some type of learning accommodation, an individual education program or are on medication, once you graduate high school, you don’t need that anymore. By lowering it to a year, that’s allowed [the military] to pick up a whole bunch of folks,” he said.
Childhood asthma is the second-most common condition in the program. Though it was added in June, asthma already makes up 11% of the pilot program, St. Clair said. People who haven’t needed an inhaler in the last four years no longer need a waiver.
Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases among children, with about 9% of teenagers diagnosed with the lung disease, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This is all with the help and the review of the medical professionals,” he said. “They are the ones who review the medical qualifications front to back every couple of years.”
Tech. Sgt. Catherine Auckerman, who has spent four years working in Air Force recruiting in San Antonio, Texas, said it was very common to have potential recruits waiting for a waiver to come through regarding childhood asthma. When the policy changed in June, she said those people likely went straight through, which is what accounted for it making up such a large percent of the pilot program so quickly.
“If you’re able to get to your dream job faster, I think that’s the goal,” Auckerman said.
While these medical conditions offer a minor adjustment to who can enlist, recruiters have needed every opportunity available to find viable, interested candidates on the heels of a recruiting slump. After failing to meet recruiting goals for two years, fiscal 2024, which ended Sept. 30, was the first time the active-duty services came out ahead.
Recruiters watch these policy changes closely and communicate often so they can act on the changes quickly, Auckerman said. Databases allow recruiters to track what illness disqualified interested candidates so they can call them back if something changes.
Military entrance stations conducted 312,000 medical exams in fiscal 2024, with about 36% of people disqualified during the initial exam, St. Clair said. That dropped to 19% after service medical waivers were applied.
The longer the process can take to enlist, it increases the likelihood that someone can lose interest. It’s that recruiter’s job to keep the candidate interested while they wait, Auckerman said.
“Recruiters get really creative,” she said. “You want them to feel like they are part of the Air Force already.”
