DODMERB is an acronym for Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board, which you will complete during your senior year in high school. The DODMERB is required to get into the Military Academy at West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Merchant Marine Academy.

At this point in the application, you are only one of two things in the eyes of the service academies: medically qualified or medically disqualified. Most candidates are not perfect humans and they were injured or sick at one point in their lives. Therefore, do not be surprised when you get the ominous disqualification letter from DODMERB. It’s okay because many medical issues can be bypassed with waivers.

The following are three tips to maximize your success rate with the DODMERB. One thing to mention before we go on is to never lie on the DODMERB. All of the service academies take pride in their honor codes, and you automatically void your qualification as an officer by lying during the admissions process before you even get in.

You Can Be Rationally Discrete

The DODMERB application is so painstakingly exact that it asks you about every possible medical issue that you may have had since your birth. For the sake of practicality, avoid mentioning the following:

• A medical condition that has not affected you in recent years (as in, when you were 5 years old).
• A minor condition that you diagnosed on your own but did not seek medical attention for because it was not serious.

If you use your common sense with this, you will figure out how to be discrete while not lying to DODMERB. And no, this is not the same thing as flirting with other girls and then “being discrete” by not telling your girlfriend about it (if you’re a guy).

If You Lie, Is It Worth The Risk?

No. Do not intentionally lie about any medical conditions that you may have had. This is the government that you are dealing with, and they can and will find out about every written record in your medical history, and you be assured that they do better detective work than a jealous girlfriend going through your cell phone. There may be leftover records in your high school transcript, and DODMERB requests your full medical records for confirmation for every minor issue.

It is better to be truthful on the DODMERB and risk the disqualification, which can be fixed with a waiver, rather than lie and risk being banned from the service academy admissions process altogether.

The Medical Waiver Is Your Savior

Waivers are a realistic possibility.

In my case, I fainted after sitting in a fire ant nest in 8th grade. The heavy dosage of poison caused an allergic reaction and my friend’s mom hauled me to the emergency room. I had to mention this on the DODMERB, and they disqualified me for it. But after filing for a waiver and making multiple calls to the Air Force Academy (where DODMERB is located), it went through and I passed the medical examination portion of admissions.

If you are taking the DODMERB medical exam, I congratulate you on making it this far in the admissions process.

Did this article help you? Please subscribe via RSS or email.