Last week, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signed new guidance that updated the list of conditions that could disqualify potential recruits from serving in the United States military.
Under the new guidance, those with issues including congestive heart failure, undergoing treatment for schizophrenia, or who have a history of paraphilic disorders, will be ineligible for a medical waiver. The secretary suggested it was part of efforts to return the military to its warfighting ethos.
“America’s warfighters must be physically and mentally capable of performing their duties in the harshest of conditions,” Hegseth wrote in the memo announcing the changes. “Severe underlying medical conditions introduce significant risks on the battlefield and threaten not only mission priorities, but also the health and safety of the affected individual and their fellow service members.”
Additional Conditions Will Still Need a Review
Recruits with less serious issues, ranging from asthma to skin disorders, as well as past psychological illness and sports injuries, may still seek waivers that will need to be reviewed.
Some conditions, such as those involving the loss of an eye, foot, or hand, kidney disease, the presence of a pacemaker, or corneal transplants, may be eligible for a waiver, but only by the secretary of the respective military branch.
A “Nothing Burger”
The release of this memo essentially updates what was already well-established. Few could expect the armed services to accept recruits with such serious health problems as congestive heart failure.
“The bottom line, in Pentagon-speak, is that this is really a ‘Nothing Burger,'” explained Alex Wagner, adjunct professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and the former assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.
Wagner told ClearanceJobs that the military has largely precluded those with far less critical medical conditions.
“All of the conditions that came to my attention were much less severe,” Wagner added. “I can’t imagine someone would be waivered in with Type 2 Diabetes today.”
Maintaining the Warfighter Spirit
Hegseth has regularly made a point of sharing videos on social media where he can be seen working out with service members. He has maintained that the primary mission of the military is to be prepared for and to win wars, while he has called for promotions, notably to leadership positions, to be based on performance, readiness, and merit.
However, the Pentagon has increasingly relied on waivers to enlist young people who might otherwise not meet the criteria to join the armed forces.
Recent studies have found that just 23% of young Americans are eligible to enlist without some form of waiver. The number of recruits receiving a waiver has increased in recent years.
However, the change in the waiver policy isn’t about raising the bar for those interested in military service.
“My sense is that Hegseth wanted to show that he was doing something to maintain a warfighter spirit,” said Wagner.
That fact explains why conditions that would never have been assessed were included in the recent guidance.
Won’t Impact Recruiting Goals
It is also unlikely that the new Department of Defense (DoD) guidance will impact the recruiting goals of any branches of the military.
“I can’t imagine that waivers would have ever been submitted for someone with any of those conditions,” added Wagner. “I’ve seen mild food allergies, mild hearing loss in one ear for example.”
He further told ClearanceJobs that as part of a year-long process, the Air Force made changes to waiverable conditions, but nothing like Type 2 Diabetes, paraphilic disorders or congestive heart failure. Wagner explained that part of the rationale is that the military needs healthy individuals and doesn’t need to add to medical costs by having unfit individuals in its ranks.
“The Pentagon wants this to be seen as a big deal,” said Wagner. “The leadership sees that in order to have a warfighting culture, you need to have those who are ready to deploy on demand. This means having a young, healthy workforce.”
