To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
Leveling Medical Requirements for Enlisted DOD Service Members Wishing to Commission to the Offic...
The current DOD policy singularly serves to keep enlisted service members from commissioning to the officer corps. The process concerning officer accessions from the enlisted ranks involving the use of “initial entry” (accession) medical standards as opposed to “retention” medical standards is inherently discriminatory.
Why is this important?
After 15 years of honorable service in the Navy and seven combat deployments, Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon M. Kent was seeking to commission in pursuit of a Ph.D. in military psychology. SCPO Kent was denied entry into Officer Development School because she was deemed medically unfit under medical standards for accession (DOD Instruction 6130.03) due to a brief bout with thyroid cancer two years prior. SCPO Kent sought a medical waiver from the Navy under MANMED Chap. 15. The Navy denied it. However, under medical standards for retention, the Navy simultaneously deemed SCPO Kent medically fit to deploy to Manbij, Syria where a suicide bomber killed her on January 16, 2019. This is an indefensible outcome as a result of a discriminatory DOD policy.
In the wake of SCPO Kent's death, the Navy changed its waiver policy on February 5, 2019. However, if a service member is deemed medically fit to deploy to a war zone, they should not need a waiver for a commission in the officer corps. Thus, the DOD needs to change its medical standards for commissioning to obviate the need for a waiver altogether.
In the wake of SCPO Kent's death, the Navy changed its waiver policy on February 5, 2019. However, if a service member is deemed medically fit to deploy to a war zone, they should not need a waiver for a commission in the officer corps. Thus, the DOD needs to change its medical standards for commissioning to obviate the need for a waiver altogether.