The Pentagon has issued new guidelines that might forestall individuals at present handled for schizophrenia, congestive coronary heart failure, having a donated organ or another points from receiving a medical waiver to serve within the army, based on a new memo revealed Tuesday.
The steerage, signed by Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth and dated July 11, updates the checklist of situations that forestall potential recruits from becoming a member of the armed forces. The choice follows a assessment of the medical situations which are at present eligible for a waiver, introduced in April, in addition to the Pentagon’s ban on transgender troops, enacted earlier this yr.
“America’s warfighters should be bodily and mentally able to performing their duties within the harshest of situations,” Hegseth wrote within the memo. “Extreme underlying medical situations introduce vital dangers on the battlefield and threaten not solely mission priorities, but additionally the well being and security of the affected person and their fellow Service members.”
Among the many medical points that disqualify somebody from serving is a historical past of cystic fibrosis, present continual supplemental oxygen use, a number of sclerosis, epilepsy, any suicidal try throughout the previous 12 months, osteogenesis imperfecta, also called brittle bone illness, and a historical past of paraphilic issues — outlined as a persistent sexual curiosity in something apart from a legally consenting human associate.
The memo additionally lists a number of situations that require a waiver granted by the secretary of a army department. These embody a earlier coronary heart assault, the presence of an implanted pacemaker or defibrillator, a lacking eye, hand or foot, previous corneal transplants, liver failure, kidney illness requiring dialysis, neurodegenerative issues and previous psychotic issues.
“Our excessive requirements are a cornerstone of lethality, and the Division should stay vigilant in preserving these requirements,” Hegseth stated.
The army has lengthy used waivers to enlist younger individuals who would possibly in any other case be unqualified for the armed forces on account of medical or conduct points, with solely about 23 p.c of younger Individuals eligible to enlist with out some kind of waiver, Katie Helland, then the Pentagon’s director of army accession coverage, stated in October.
Previously decade, there was an increase in medical waivers, with about 17 p.c of recruits receiving them in 2022, up from 12 p.c in 2013, based on a assessment by the DOD inspector common.
The rise is partly attributed to the Pentagon’s 2022 growth of medical situations that not disqualify individuals from enlisting, together with childhood bronchial asthma and attention-deficit/hyperactivity dysfunction.
Waivers additionally have been beforehand allowed for coronary heart failure, present therapy for schizophrenia and a historical past of paraphilic issues, now struck from the checklist beneath the Pentagon’s new guidelines.
Hegseth has aggressively gone after something deemed by the Trump administration as negatively impacting army readiness, together with grooming and health requirements and transgender troops.
The Pentagon started removing openly transgender service members from the army in June, after the Supreme Court docket dominated that the Division of Protection could implement a coverage that President Trump ordered in January.
In contrast to a coverage enacted throughout Trump’s first time period that prevented most transgender individuals from serving however made an exception for troops who had already began their gender transition, the brand new coverage provides nearly no leeway, deeming anybody with a present prognosis, historical past or signs of gender dysphoria unfit for army service.