Asperger's and Millitary

Post Reply New Topic

I am also quite mild, people usually just assume I'm kinda weird and cranky . I'm pretty sure mild Asperger's isn't an issue here, as long as they see you as capable enough and you aren't on meds (for at least a year). Multiple people from my old high school have joined, all of them had Asperger's so I'm assuming it's not an issue, unless it has changed. My problem is that at some point I was hospitalized and put on very heavy medication. It was a misdiagnosis and the diagnosis was taken out of my files and it is no longer an issue. However, I was still in the hospital, which did nothing more than make me worse. My current doctor (I obviously am not going to *that* moron any more) has added to my files that it was a mistake, but I'm not completely sure how official that is, and how much it means, legally and medically. Should I talk to my current doctor about this? What should I ask her then? Any experiences with this?

I'm thinking of applying once I have my high school degree, which is next year (turns out I would have to gain 20 lbs though ). So it's obviously important that I get things sorted before then.

Can someone please tell me what's the best way to go about this? My current doctor is very helpful and let me correct my own files before. If someone knows can they please post in this thread or drop me a PM?

Talk to your Dr. and Recruiters. I know not what nationality you are, but if you're Canadian the recruiters are good, but you HAVE to talk to them a lot because they have so many other applicants they need to deal with.

I'm not really sure, but I think in my country we don't have 'recruiters', you just apply directly for the job, and then either get accepted or rejected. Of course I did some looking around and from the official websites it looks like you just apply and then get the screening, if you pass the screening you start your training a little while later. I'm Dutch by the way (small country).

I did ROTC and was planning on making a career in the Army. In the end, I just couldn't bring myself to blindly follow orders I didn't understand or agree with. I don't mean controversial orders, but regular day to day commands that seem stupid when you look at them.

But... this is the only way the Army can work. It is a machine, and the command parts of the machine need to know that the actuation parts of the machine will do as they are told. A lot of people like us want to understand WHY we are doing something, and you just can't have that luxury in the military.

On the flip side, I think that many ADHD traits can be really useful in carrying out missions. Additionally, once you are in, the military can be a very warm, welcoming place. I often look back and wish I had stayed with it, even though I know I made the right decision by dropping it.

if you say so.

I daresay it depends on the country though. I have friends in the Canadian Forces who say that once you get through BMQ (basic military qualification) and are fully trained it can be very welcoming. Can't say anything about the US military though.

^^^
ah yes, the canadian forces which ARE much more civilized than what i was in. a lot less picayune chicken[stuff]. even their basic is much more civilized. in american basic [back in the early 80s] we were subject to physical violence and abusive language, being screamed at face-to-face [with only an inch of separation].

I tend to agree. I am not in the military, but I work on a US military base. I can tell you that the level of inefficiency and political nit-picking I see daily is reason enough to make me steer clear of actual military service. After that, hearing from my military friends the nonsense they deal with has further dissuaded me.

I'm not saying AS makes it impossible, but I can attest firsthand just how wearing it can be, just being involved on the sidelines.

when i was in the mean green machine, the noncoms were busy giving us privates the mean green wienie. they were taught their job#1 was to weed out unfit GIs [IOW weaklings]. i hated them more than the officers! i could count on the number of digits on my hands and feet [and have surplus digits] the number of decent humans beings i've met in the NCO corps. a bunch of strutting preening martinets IMHO. i got on better with officers. i watched a formation/in-ranks inspection of the engineer company across the road from my unit, and i saw some hapless GI being tortured by his first sergeant for having [what i found out later] was a loose button on his uniform- he was forced to drop for punitive push-ups, yelled and cursed at, then [i later found out] was given 2 weeks of article 15 extra duty, having to report to the CQ every hour on the hour [ from after final formation to lights-out], with his whole issue of uniforms which he was to [in front of the CQ sergeant] button and unbutton. the people i served with thought that was a just punishment jeez louise, that's crazy as a soup sandwich! and anybody who'd think that would be reasonable must be some kind of a psycho, IMHO. the fact that i heard about all this is another evil thing- the gossip that can spread like wildfire around an army post, is too much.

I enlisted in the Marine Corps right after I graduated high school (2004). I initially signed up under the generic "Intelligence" field, but when I got to basic training I was offered the chance to switch to a linguist. Long story short, I spent two years in training, learned Arabic, went to Iraq twice, and then got out after five years. I had a lot of good times, and a lot of bad times.

I wouldn't go back in again now, but if I could go back in time I would still make the same choices I did. There were a lot of reasons I enjoyed being in the military. There was a very strict rule system, and it made it easier to understand what was expected of you. You knew what you were required to wear and how you were expected to say things. There really wasn't a lot to figure out.

On the other hand, there can be a lot of immaturity. It seems like when you get a bunch of Marines together, they seem to make the stupidest decisions possible. I was fortunate enough to be in a field where the majority of the people were smarter-than-average. There are a handful of people I knew who, looking back, had a lot of signs of AS. This would certainly not be typical in an infantry unit.

Anyway, if you have specific questions, I can probably answer them pretty well. I've been there before. In general, just do a lot of research. Marine Corps recruiters are some of the best salespeople in the world. Some of them are very good people, but others will say just about anything to meet their recruitment numbers. Don't allow yourself to be pressured into anything, and don't sign anything unless you're committed to doing it.

John

I don't know when you were in, but it seems like some things have changed. Ironically, I think Iraq and Afghanistan have made people less insane about things like that. When I was in, NCOs had a better grasp of what was important in combat than the average Lieutenant or First Sergeant. Lieutenants being inexperienced and First Sergeants being insane always. I knew a lot of good Corporals and Sergeants. They had enough experience to know that loose buttons don't matter in combat. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of brown-nosers who would still do dumb things, but for the most part the NCOs were less insane.

I broke a growth plate in my foot and had to wear a cast just as a precaution when I was about 12. I told my recruiter about this, and he told me not to mention it to anyone else. He said it wasn't a big deal and would be a lot of paperwork to do over such a silly thing. There are many recruiters like this, that are more concerned with hitting their numbers than doing things correctly. I have met plenty of people who were actually weeded out for medical reasons, and many people who lied or were told to cover up a condition. There are recruiters on both sides.

When I went to MEPS and then boot camp, I was repeatedly asked if I lied on any of my paperwork. My recruiter had prepared me in advance to deny everything. That was pretty common in that recruiting office.

From what I experienced, Marine Corps recruiters were always more willing to meet their recruiting goals in any way possible. The Army recruiters seemed more ethical, but willing to budge if need be. The Navy recruiters were probably the most honest and straightforward. And finally, Air Force recruiters didn't seem to do much. They always had a huge backlog of people trying to get in, so they didn't really have to worry about recruiting as much.

Sorry for getting sidetracked. Long story short, there are recruiters who know that getting recruits to lie helps their numbers. There are others that are more concerned about getting caught. If you actually want to get in, I would recommend that you get a list of medical conditions/drugs that would disqualify you before you admit to anything. Compare that list to your medical record and make sure nothing negative is in there. That's probably unethical, but no more so than instructing kids to lie in order to meet recruiting goals.

1. If you are going to join the military then join the navy or Air Force.
2. It is very unlikely you could get a waiver for aspergers in the current economy.

the coast guard seemed the most civilized to me, all things considered. they are under the department of transportation and not DOD, that might be part of the reason.

My friend who is undiagnosed HFA joined the marine corps, because it helped with organizational skills. My friend had very little social skills to begin with and seems to have done well for himself, but he changed a lot. Where he used to be happy and carefree he turned into kind of a negative jerk.

good luck i hope you can get into the military, if you want to defend your country that is admirable, there would be many jobs within the military where aspergers would actually be an advantage in my opinion, i tried to get into the australian army and they wouldnt give me the time of day once they realized i had aspergers.