Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signs a memorandum regarding medical waivers at the Pentagon on April 23, 2025. (Madelyn Keech/Department of Defense)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is reviewing the medical standards for military enlistment during the next month with plans to update the list of health conditions for which potential recruits can request medical waivers.
“High, uncompromising, and clear standards are a hallmark of the U.S. military and are essential to helping us remain the most lethal and effective fighting force in the world. To uphold these standards and ensure that our warfighters are capable and ready, no matter the domain, adversary, or conditions, the secretary of defense has directed my office to conduct a review of existing medical standards for enlistment or appointment into military service,” said Jules Hurst, a senior Defense Department official for personnel and readiness.
In 2022, the Pentagon eased restrictions on medical conditions that would have previously disqualified a person from military service unless they were approved for a medical waiver. A medical waiver is a formal request to consider an individual for military service despite a current or past medical condition that does not meet the medical standards for the armed forces. The Defense Department initially eased restrictions on 38 conditions. The list was expanded to include 51 conditions as of October 2024.
The intent was to boost recruiting numbers. By removing the requirement to get a medical waiver for select conditions, the enlistment process could be sped up, as well as free up medical evaluators to review candidates with more complex medical histories.
In recent years, the services have struggled to meet recruiting goals. In 2023, the Air Force reached only 89% of its active-duty recruiting goal of 26,977 enlistments, according to Defense Department data. The Army also fell short at 77%. In 2022 and 2023, the Navy only contracted 22,000 and 30,000 sailors, respectively, and emptied its delayed-entry pool, a program that allows people to sign up for the armed forces up to one year before they start basic training. Only the Marine Corps met its 2023 goal of nearly 29,000 new recruits. Each of the services reportedly met the 2024 recruiting goals and are on track to meet the 2025 recruiting goals, the Defense Department has said.
The two most-common conditions for which recruits seek new waivers are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, and childhood asthma, the Defense Department said in late 2024. Changes last year had further eased the restrictions on such conditions, moving the time without treatment for ADHD from the past three years to one year, and allowing people who have not needed an inhaler for asthma in the last four years to bypass the waiver process entirely.
Military entrance stations conducted 312,000 medical exams from October 2023 to September 2024, with about 36% of people disqualified during the initial exam, the DOD said. That dropped to 19% after service medical waivers were applied.
The new review of medical conditions was ordered Thursday by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He noted in a memorandum that conditions such as schizophrenia, paraphilic disorders, congestive heart failure, and chronic use of oxygen, are now eligible for medical waivers.
“While the desire to serve the United States is honorable, individuals with such conditions are generally unlikely to complete initial military training or their first term of service,” Hegseth said.
The review aligns with broader efforts to balance recruitment needs with operational effectiveness, the Defense Department said. Proposed updates to the medical standards for military enlistment must be submitted to Hegseth by May 24. The forthcoming review, the department said, will ensure “only fully capable applicants” join the military services.
“High standards equal lethality,” Hegseth said in a pre-recorded video posted last week to X.
