I posted my story in this forum last year. I looked at the Air Force Reserve but never was able to get in contact with a recruiter. Short story of this, my neighbor turned out to be an Army recruiter and will get me in the Army Reserve; the process went kind of smooth.

With this cleared out, and back to the subject of my post, during MEPS I got high blood pressure readings.
The first time I was sent to the Chief Doctor's office and got a little better but still was high. He allowed me to continue. All the other tests were fine but at the end he checked again my blood pressure and was still high.
He then told me I was hyperventilating and there was nothing wrong with me BUT he gave me the blood pressure waiver form plus he wrote on my file that an EKG was preferable and if I could get a stress test and release from my doctor that I can do unlimited exercise will be better.
I told him I only go to the Doctor to get my annual physical because my insurance pays for it and I get a $500dll discount. I honestly never get sick, so other than that I don't have anything else to show.

So I went with my Doctor and I requested an EKG and the stress test. I told her why I was requesting this.
She sent me with a Cardiologist, I had another EKG done, plus an Echocardiography of my heart and the required stress test. All the tests were normal so Cardiologist sent a letter to my Doctor stating that my readings were normal, plus all the tests results.
My Doctor finally gave me the "release" letter in which she wrote that my "cardiovascular work up" was normal and I can do exercise and military training. Plus I got the blood pressure form with the required good readings.
In medical terms, "Cardiovascular work up" encompasses all the tests mentioned above.

I gave my recruiter the letter from my Doctor and the waiver form, he only asked me for that.
I told him if it will be better to sent my test results as well and said the letter and form should be fine and if they ask then we submit the records.

My question is, for anyone that had a similar experience or knows how this is reviewed, will the Doctor's letter and the waiver form suffice or most likely they will deny my waiver and ask for more documents?

It has been a long process and I am not clear yet, I don't want to get disqualified for something that I don't have. And now the waiting for the waiver approval is killing me.

Your letter and waiver will now go to an Army doctor, who will either 1) approve, 2) deny, or 3) ask for more information. If I was you I would have sent all exam documents for the Army doctor to see, which would have most likely taken #3 out of the scenario. Expect a wait, as these DODMERB issues do not go quickly. I would however get all documents together now so you can send them immediately if they ask for them. Good luck.

As for expect a wait, as an anecdote, I spent almost 18 months waiting on a waiver for a knee scope I had done in high school during ROTC. It's a long annoying process with little communication at times. Definitely prepare to need to be a squeaky wheel to get anything done.

I agree with this. I'm not very familiar with commissioning waivers, but I am pretty familiar with waivers for gaining flight status in the Navy. The central authority for aviation waivers (Naval AeroMedical Institute, or NAMI), will require all documentation even if all documentation is from Navy flight surgeons and the Navy flight docs vouch for the patient being qualified for flight duties.


Blood pressure, at least in the Navy, isn't that big of a deal. If all your documentation is in order and indicates no abnormalities other than mildly elevated BP, you should easily get a waiver

What does your recruiter think about the waiver?