Asperger's Syndrome and the Military

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But how long is each part of the physical examination ?

10 minutes tops, most of the time is spent standing in line waiting for the examinations.

I apologize, but you're gonna have to be a little more specific. The total duration of the overall physical examination takes 10 minutes or each part of the physical examination takes 10 minutes ?

Each part I guess. There was one part of the exam where you're in a room full of guys in your underware and they'd line you up and have you move around while some doc generally assesses your skeletal structure (I guess it was cheaper than x-rays). They did a skin exam, then had us go into a room one at a time so a doctor could examine the rest if you know what I mean. This was more than 10 years ago, my recollection isn't very good on how long it took. All I know is that most of the time was spent waiting in line, when there are a hundred or so people getting examined and only so many doctors, they have to make time to examine everyone.

Thank you so much for your information. By the way, what unit were you in ? Were you in infantry, combat engineer ? Are you still serving right now ?

No problem. I was a medic assigned to an engineer unit. I was part of 172nd stryker brigade out of alaska at the highlight of my career. I'm a reservist now.

Good luck at MEPS, do you have an MOS in mind?

Hello all,

I am currently Active Duty and have been for almost 15 years. I have not been diagnosed, but all signs are pointing that this is where I belong.

Having said that, if you can put up with basic training and then the subsequent schools after that you should be fine. The active part isnt so bad, but some of the schools are rough - especially the ones you talked about heading toward being a Green Beret. I personally dont think thats a great place, but if it fulfills your dreams then by all means go after it.

If you have any questions please pm me or ask away. I am new to the forum but will try to revisit here more frequently.


FF

Please help ! I've been working on my college degree for three years now and have failed almost every single class, As an alternative, I am strongly considering joining the U.S. Army as a last resort. What should I do ? Keep working on my degree or join the Army, or join the Army and then work on my degree while I'm in ? Please help !

If you can't manage college, what makes you think you'll do well in the military?

Unless a military person lacks the intelligence to do well in school, they are generally successful students because they have the DISCIPLINE to follow through with what they start. In contrast, a lot of college students would wash out of the military.

Academia has made it easier and easier for sub-standard students to graduate with a degree.

The british military code of justice is similar to the u.s but with more focus and understanding regarding your own condition I think and seeing as ive been there and done that, I could honestly say that a logistics job may have been a good bet and the best one for aspergians out there seeing as all the other ones require a great deal of more input. no offence to others who are hoping to clean up their stratedgy, or hopefully scrub the decks clean.

Are there any other militaries out there that have a enlistment ban on Asperger's syndrome ? I know that it's possible to join the Canadian, Australian, and U.S. militaries with Asperger's but Israel and Iran, they don't have any restrictions or bans.

What about Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and the rest of Europe and Asia ? What are their policies towards allowing people with Asperger's to join the military ?

I was in the US Army for eight years. All that time I had no clue I had Aspergers so it was no block against enlisting. I just knew I was very different, maybe overly anxious in certain situations, and a bit sensitive to a few things.

My Army job was the only one that I had much success in. The military wanted me because of my science and mechanics aptitudes, my college credits and my physical fitness. All my other job hunting attempts required high social skills and lots of social interactions, and pleasant, feminine appearance -my FAIL!

My Advantages: The army trained me for a technical skill, I liked using my technical skills, working hard, the physical training, got licensed on lots of vehicles, I had the best pay I ever had by far, I had housing, I liked the structure, the teamwork (when it worked), liked learning how to use gadgets and stuff, enjoyed being around some things I am interested in like helicopters and airfields, learned more things about people than I ever did in my home town, gained some self confidence, learned a lot of stuff, and did some fun training activities.

My Disadvantages: My biggest problem in the Army was that I have sensory processing disorder (only recently identified what it is) so noise sometimes overwhelmed my senses (mainly loud music, cigarette smoke, some chemicals, sometimes loud yelling), I made a lot of mistakes with jokes and small talk and other social interactions where I failed to interpret social protocols, some gear I had to wear was uncomfortable, I didn't like getting yelled at much but it wasn't unbearable (I never was intimidated near as much as by my father as a child), I didn't like shop/office politics, some of the times when I was in really close quarters were pretty annoying, I am not much into the boredom during down times, I don't perform all that well when badly sleep deprived (move slower, make more mistakes).