Asperger's, Air Force, and Careers

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I hid my Asperger's diagnosis from the US Air Force (I ship out for basic come winter time) and I was wondering if there was any advice any Aspie veterans could give me in order to get through my six years with no authority incident or medical discharge.

I have no current intentions on making the Air Force a career.

I am hoping to pursue a civilian career as one of the following after I get out:

Anesthesia Technician
Diagnostic Imaging Technician
Histopathology Technician
Mental Healthcare Services Technician

Though I am going to basic on Open-Mechanical, my ASVAB score is high enough that my recruiter said I have a very good chance to be in a position to request a medical job (the four careers I listed are med. jobs in the Air Force).

I also wanted to know if I at any time after the military say that I have Asperger's, will the military remove my veteran benefits?

Another possibility is that I could get a re-diagnosis as my mother destroyed all my Asperger's records on the faulty belief that God cured me of the diagnosis. But would it still affect my veteran benefits?

Basically, is there any potential nightmare situations that can arise at anytime during or after my service due to having Asperger's but not telling the Air Force?

Any advice on anything in this post would be most helpful.

Hi

I just happened to see your post in the "new posts" over at the side.

Wondering if you have already signed a contract with them?

Yes. I signed a contract.

I'm sorry, I'm probably from a different country and thus can't comment in terms of the exact requirements, but given that you signed a contract, there should be details in there about what medical conditions are notifiable. I'm not sure how Asperger's would directly impact your performance in the Air Force - you would probably know that better. Probably not the best idea not to tell them, but I highly doubt it would be an issue... good luck though - hope it all goes well!

(Oh, and if your medical records were destroyed, then there is no proof of the diagnosis, right? I doubt they will give you a hard time about it!)

One question, How the heck did you hide it? In the British Army they look over your medical records before you even get to do Selection. It's the reason I can't get in as I was diagnosed with mild Aspergers about 12 years ago. IF you have it and aren't Diagnosed just don't say a word, After all Officaly if your not diagnosed you don't got it.

The US is different. Why should they go through the work of looking to see if you have a medical history if there is no need?

It is unknown if they will find out later. If there is an incident then they might look into it. If I remember correctly the punishment for not disclosing that, or lying, is dishonorable discharge, up to 2 years in prison, and I think a monetary charge too.

True, But there's a hell of alot of people that are Self Diagnosed. If it's an offical one then I say keep quiet but if you think it's affecting things then tell some one before any trouble happens. If your one of the Self Diagnosed army, Don't say a word.

Yeah I was just talking about an official diagnosis. But that is how honorable the military is, just lie.

Official diagnosis when I was 9.

I would advise you not to expect any promises to be kept unless they are part of the contract. Recruiters lie. They have to.

In a way, of course, I understand the attraction. After all, I joined the military myself. There are things to like about it. It's very structured, and I find it difficult to create my own structure. Everyone wears a name tag, and insignia designating their rank. That's helpful.

I was under a lot of misperceptions, though. If I had not been outright lied to by the recruiters, I would have decided differently.

My opinion (which obviously you are free to disregard) is that you should use your Aspergers diagnosis to get out of the contract and think of something else you can do. Go to college. Work at Dunkin Donuts. Anything. The Air Force is a war machine. People are literally expendable. Ignorance and low intelligence are common (although the Air Force is not quite as severe in these ways as some other branches). Make no mistake about it: the military is filled with bullies - every branch. The people who are going into it with their eyes open, the ones who know what they are getting into, are the type of people who are willing to kill strangers at the command of their supervisors! Even if your job title is about something else, when it comes down to it, everyone in the military is expected to kill on command. Oh, and of course, to put themselves in extreme danger of being killed, at the command of their supervisors.

It's against the law to quit and it's against the law to disobey a lawful order from a person of higher rank. It is legal for them to order you to go kill someone, or to put yourself in a position to be killed. That's what these people do for a living. They do not have your best interest in mind, and never will. It's their job to be able to send you out there to kill or be killed.

These are not unlikely scenarios, I am sorry to say.

I don't mean to imply that you haven't researched it, or that it's not a good decision for you. Obviously that isn't for me to say, but I hope you do have a realistic idea of what the military is like. It's all too easy to be taken in by a recruiter. They are professional deceivers. You wouldn't think they'd be allowed to lie, but they do it every day. If the promise isn't in writing, it doesn't exist. It's a different sort of ethics than anything I could ever hope to understand. Being a cute young woman at a time & place where women were very scarce on the job did help smooth the way for me a bit. (Although it caused a lot more problems than it solved, come to think of it.)

On the military recruiters...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwxlEmTx7Zo[/youtube]
That video cut out the last words, "Your experience may differ."

Broke - can't afford college. And I don't have a vehicle so a job is very hard to get in my small town. This is my only shot. It's going to be awful, I know. But the ends justify the means. If I can't possibly last my whole enlistment, I may just construct some ruse to get a re-diagnosis and have them think it's a first-time diagnosis.

Basic training will be rough, but keep in mind nothing they say is personal. They want you to be the best you can be, and they use a very tough love approach. It's not personal.

After basic training, it should become a decent gig and the GI Bill is a nice perk. Plus, I would suggest getting into a trade and learning it. USAF is a good reference when your enlistment ends, and a lot of places give preference to veteran applicants.

I seriously doubt there's some form of McCarthyism going on where they try to uncover people with AS who somehow got past MEPS. Their biggest concern is that you wouldn't be able to receive the counseling or psychological assistance you receive in the civilian world if you need it. If you can show you're a normal-functioning member of society (and don't mind scrubbing toilets), then there shouldn't be a problem.

I retired from the USAF about 2 years ago after 20 years of service, once your retired its a done deal, you get your benefits until you and your spouse are dead, in the case of my wife, she has a grandmother who is pushing 100, so they will be paying for a very long time. However I just discovered that I have Asperger's, but I also went through a lot of crap as a teenager which i wont get into here, but neither was any of the stuff from my childhood an issue as far as my retainability was concerned. As far as your Asperger's, lets just say that as far as I can tell I am pretty dang autistic, I'm still in the process of getting diagnosed but life has not been easy for me. What help me survive for twenty years in the USAF was always trying my damndest to perform at the highest level I possibly could, I never made excuses when I made a mistake, this attitude of always trying and never giving up saved my career on numerous occasions. I am proof that an Aspie can serve in the military, but it aint easy, but now that I have my retirement, my medical benefits, my disability for sleep apnea, the GI bill and base privileges as well as the honor of having served my country, f**k ya it was worth it.

Best of luck to ya man

Oh and assuming that you don't want to disclose your Asperger's there are lots of people in the military who are on ADHD and anxiety meds, while there are some obviously sensitive jobs which may preclude some medications, most careers and jobs do not, if in doubt ask your PCM, but I am quite certain that you are under no obligation to disclose conditions which you have under control or do not wish to disclose which were not discovered by MEPS. Except of course you probably cannot be on basically any meds prior to enlisting like within a year or so but I really have no idea because I wasn't on anything when I enlisted. Hell you might know more about this then I do.