Can we join the military with Asperger's?

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I think you misunderstood my point. I am 100% disablied bc of my neck, back and knees, I don't want to loose disablity bc I have aspergers and shouldn't of been in the military in the first place. See what I am saying?

Since i can't be ars- err, i mean making a new thread might make the forum look untidy i thought i'd post my question here.

I have way more brains then brawn and i've been told by others i have leadership and communication skills (despite me being socially inept) that are beyond most other people.

Would i be able to take up a rear line commision in planning what actually happens on the battlefield rather then be fighting on the 'front if i have AS?'

Oh, my bad. No they couldn't do that. I don't think they will not consider you eligible for the military because of Aspergers, unless you are so bad off that they questioned your ability and then discovered a form of autism. Even then, you served in the military, and your disabilities are a result of that service. Your Aspergers doesn't change that. I really believe that even if you shouldn't have been in the military for another reason like they overlooked this awful criminal record you held (hypothetically speaking), unless they find a way to change your discharge (which I doubt they'd do at that point), then it wouldn't affect your disability, and even then, if the military changed the classification of your discharge, the VA may still see it as eligible for their benefits. I know many people with a dishonorable discharge collecting disability, but they had to write a letter explaining the events around their discharge for the VA to consider.

No I doubt that. Military needs come first, and if they don't need you, then they won't use you. However, you can increase your odds of a job like that by getting a four year degree and commissioning as an officer. If you really hate all the bronze associated to the military, my suggestion is to consider going into the healthcare fields of the military and have the military pay your way through medical school, and go Air Force. The reason being, even if in a combat area, medics are not allowed to be shot at according to LOAC (it doesn't always work that way, but it reduces the risk of you having to point and shoot). Another one is religion. They have pastors of many religious denominations and priests commission as officers and they aren't allowed to be shot at according to LOAC either. Talk to a recruiter (for officers, not enlisted) first before you embark on your degree plans. But if you don't have a degree and want to sign up now, then you'll be enlisting. Enlisted people who plan and lead get to do that after time in service and making lots of rank (we are talking 15-20 years in). They had to do everything else everyone else gets to before that, and they had to do it better than most to be able to get that.

Officers in all four branches are expected to be physically fit, and generally, they are expected to be better at all the aspects of the military than the enlisted, which includes killing people and shooting weapons as well as the work ethic. In order to be a leader in the military, you have to embrace all of the military's expectations and exceed it, no matter the branch. The higher the rank, the more politics that come with it. You can have great communication skills, but you have to learn how to make friends if you want to move up in ranks or keep your current standing.

The only way a person (AS or not) can get a job like what you described without having to do any fighting would be to run for President of the United States, or be chosen by the President for one of the many civilian leadership roles with the Dept. of Defense.

My commander medically discharged me, he didn't want me to hurt myself any farther. I have a honorable discharge. It's good to hear Va can't screw me. Might look into it.

JPanzer, all depends on your job (mos).

Very true!

AS is mandatory for GCHQ!

And there lies the rub.....
I was undiagnosed when i joined. Had I been diagnosed when I enlisted, I don't think they'd of let me in.

When I joined the Navy, I didn't tell them that I had Asperger's because I had a mild case and I didn't think it would get in the way of my performance. However, when I got in, my symptoms became worse because I was under more pressure than I was when I was a civilian. I had trouble absorbing the things I've learned and had a nervous break down every other day. It was then that I told them that I had Asperger's and they gave me an honorable discharge.

I tried to enlist in the army in 1988. I was able to do the physical crap I even was made a squad leader because I memorized the streets around our barracks I also would be able to rattle off the ranges of commonly used American weapons. The drill sargeants ate that up along with my need to do things by the book so they put me in charge of eight idiots who refused work when the drill sargeants were out of the room. But the other soldiers hated my guts. No matter how good I did something they would boo me or throw rocks when the drill sargeants weren't looking. I injured my leg when two guys kicked another soldier's feet out from under him when we were running up metal bleechers. They wanted to restart me with another training group so I took an entry level seperation instead. I told them I could not go three years in the Army only to be target of hatred for the white and urban trash they allowed in. At least not for what they were going to pay me.

You will meet the scum of the earth in the army. The stories these people told me about their home life or seeing how they did things around the barracks would make your eyeballs spin around in your head. There is a war on so I figure they are accepting even worse people then the ones I had to deal with. I would enlist in the air force or navy stay away from the marines or the army no sense in getting shot at for another man's freedom especially if he is not willing to fight for it himself. I will not get shot at for some third world NT for what our service men and women are paid.

EXACTLY RIGHT. Once you familiarise yourself with every possible situation and every variation it can become automatic. I was in the royal navy as a warfare operative for 5 years and when things kick off in the ops room it gets absolutely crazy. You start by keeping your head down and just doing your own job, but after a while you work out what everyone else is doing and why and slowly slowly it all begins making sense. For a long time I was continually stressed out but once you start seeing patterns in the way things happen you overcome that. I always find that in situations like that I'll sortof break everything down into smaller more manageable parts and then tackle each part alone. Like for example, if i wanted to learn how to drive I would learn the mechanics of controlling the car followed by the rules of the road, doing both at the same time would be way too much but If I'm on the roads and I know fully how to control the car, learning the rules is a lot easier.





I'm sorry but do where does this idea come from that you'd get loads of unjustified orders? Too much television? Could you give me an idea of what you mean? Unjustified orders would probably fall outside of your job, if that happened then you'd have a right to complain to your divisional officer. In that kind of situation I found that military ways of doing things actually are a lot better than civvy ways, they have a lot more at stake and so they WANT to solve the problems. Remember that you can't get away from your job in the military, things like bullying can't be ignored in the way you can ignore it in civvy jobs. In actual fact, the only reason you'd get bullied in the first place would be because you're not doing your job right and bullying is the groups way of fixing that problem, which to be fair is understandable, their lives are are at stake after all.


As for responding to new situations, that's not how it is. Every situation you enter you've faced countless times before. The training is extremely comprehensive, you simple don't come up against situations that they haven't already trained you in. What do you think the armed forces do if there isn't a war, sit around and play cards? And no, you won't have an answer for that one because you're already shown that you're not working with enough information on the subject. The life of someone in the military is continual exercises and training, preparing you for every situation they can. You easily get to the point where only doing it for real could possibly give you additional insight.

The rules in the military are exceedingly plain and clear and mostly all completely fair. About the only thing I disagreed with ( but understood and so accepted) was the way that if for example you got into a fight they would throw the book at both the person that started the fight and the person that got pushed into the fight. The only thing that made it acceptable in the end was the fact that this was done without prejudice and the fact that if you do get in trouble over it they give you your punishment and then almost completely forget about it after. They just blanket punish everyone involved, might sound harsh but you'd be surprised by how well it works.

Last edited by TechnoMonk on 18 May 2011, 1:30 pm, edited 3 times in total.

If they don't ask, then don't tell.

ruveyn

Well if you really wanted to I would say just don't mention the aspergers........though unless you have some amount of self confidence it is not a good idea because from what I hear they are pretty hard on you during training....I am pretty sure if I had to endure that sort of pressure I would get mentally destroyed not to mention I have depression, anxiety and PTSD so yeah that would never be an option for me.

No offence but you've got the wrong attitude. That's part of the reason i don't always like to post on wrong planet, the whole place seems to have this really negative attitude, like it's somewhere you can come and complain about how lifes been treating you.

You can do whatever you want in life, don't let aspergers stop you. They're not that hard on you in training, they won't be attacking you personally, more attacking how you're doing things, and it's never anything personal anyway.

Oh and as for anxiety and etc, when i joined the navy i found that there was a huge variety of people. A good portion had just left home for the first time and i can remember in particular there was this scottish lad that had this really hard to understand accent, must have come from a really isolated place, and he was so shy and anxious. Not all the armed forces jobs are based on physical fitness, a lot of the jobs are just normal, only slightly above average level of fitness required jobs, where once you pass all the fitness crap you'll only have to do an annual fitness test once per year and that's it. As such you get normal people joining, and that definitely includes plenty of shy/ anxious people. They get through it and if you decided you wanted it you'd get through it too. Armed forces jobs become normal jobs once you pass the training.

Well I don't know about the wrong attitude I know for a fact the military would not be a good option for me......and its just my opinion I have no problem with the military in general but I know it would be a terrible idea for me....its not a terrible idea for everyone. And Yeah I am not the most optimistic person, and wrong planet is a nice place to vent considering I dont get that oppurtunity in real life.

My guess it would depend on what degree of an aspie you are. If you have serious social problems or terrible motor skills, they'd most likely turn you down. But if you can stay cool and perhaps make them realize there's a job that would suit you, they might let you in. And if they turn you down just for being diagnosed, but you're not that severe of an aspie, you can always right letters and try to talk your way in.

I've survived 2 years in the Civil Air Patrol (USAF Auxiliary) and I'm a flight sergeant now, and so far no one's approached me or asked if there was anything "unique" about me yet.