I've always been overweight and I have always dreamed of having a military career, this is one of the reasons I decide to have lap band surgery. I could never mange to lose wieght and keep off on my own. Now that I've been banded for slightly over a year, I'm doing good with my wieght loss, I still have a little ways to go but I'm geting there. I'll be eighteen soon, old enough to enlist. But I never knew that any form of wieght loss surgery was an automatic disqulifier for all branches of the military. I thaugh this would help me obtain my goal, but now I know I never achieve it because of this. I am having a hard time dealing with this. I've wanted for like ever, and don't know what to do now.

You might want to take a look at the Peace Corp or AmeriCorps (the domestic version). Good luck to you.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=learn

Volunteers serve in 77 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Peace Corps Volunteers live, learn, and work with a community overseas for 27 months, providing technical assistance in six program areas: education, youth and community development, health, business and information and communications technology, agriculture, and environment.

http://www.americorps.gov

I think I remember hearing that the military can request your medical records and if you have been overweight in the last x years that you will also be rejected. So having the band may not be really what is causing a denial. I read articles recently that the military brass is saying that the general overweight state is causing problems with recruiting.

I've always been overweight and I have always dreamed of having a military career, this is one of the reasons I decide to have lap band surgery. I could never mange to lose wieght and keep off on my own. Now that I've been banded for slightly over a year, I'm doing good with my wieght loss, I still have a little ways to go but I'm geting there. I'll be eighteen soon, old enough to enlist. But I never knew that any form of wieght loss surgery was an automatic disqulifier for all branches of the military. I thaugh this would help me obtain my goal, but now I know I never achieve it because of this. I am having a hard time dealing with this. I've wanted for like ever, and don't know what to do now.

Will they remove the band from you?

I think I remember hearing that the military can request your medical records and if you have been overweight in the last x years that you will also be rejected. So having the band may not be really what is causing a denial. I read articles recently that the military brass is saying that the general overweight state is causing problems with recruiting.

Maybe they CAN disqualify people for being overweight, but many times they don't--a lot of currently overweight people join, and the weight usually falls off during basic training. Obesity is another story--they take few obese people (unless it is for high BMI due to muscle mass, as in bodybuilder types--and that usually requires a waiver), as that often comes with more health problems.

I wouldn't take anyone's 'word' for it. I would contact your local congressman to find out where you start in applying for a waiver...keeping in mind that they will most likely want the band removed and maybe some time without it to see if you can keep the weight off.

The best offense is a good defense, as the old saying goes. Meeting with people face to face and educating them about your WLS will go a long way. After perusing some of the military sites, most of them equate WLS with gastric bypass or think that you won't be able to eat enough calories for the physical demands you'll put on your body. Please. I'm at my sweet spot no hunger) and I could still eat as much as I did prior to my band.

While I might understand their stance if you still have a band, removal of the band *should* make you acceptable since you do not have a medical condition which would prevent you from fulfilling your obligation. Personally, this sounds like a form of discrimination to me but then there still are no laws to prevent discrimination towards the obese...or previously obese.

There was a time when women weren't allowed into West Point because of the bigotry and ignorance regarding our abilities. The same is true of the band. Most people, including the military group all WLS into one bucket and the effect on our body is vastly different. So how badly do you want it. No offense, but not too badly if you're willing to give up on it based on a few posts in a weight loss forum.

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