Forum: Future F-16 crew

Hi,

I'm new to this thread and would like to get some advice.

I'm currently a freshman in college and my ultimate goal is to be an F-16 pilot. But two months ago I got the worse eye results possible. I seem to have developed a slight color deficiency. I have research like hell into waivers and such, but have come up with no such luck. It has always been my dream to be a combat pilot, hell it's in my blood, my uncle is a pilot, his uncle and grandfather were combat pilots as well.

The advice I need is if I should continue to pursue my dream by joining the AFROTC and hope something in the rules will change or should I choose a different career field, although I don't think I'll be happy doing anything else.

Any advice at all would be appreciated.

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Don't give up buddy, I'm sure that yours efforts will make your dream come true. Truth is that if you have good health then you can everything ! Wink

Thanks for the moral boost, I don't think I will ever completely give up.

I wouldnt give up just yet either..do some more research

www.baseops.net

look around that site, look through the forums, use the search function, if nothing comes up, ask in the aviation medicine forum

good luck

My ROTC buddy has the same thing and jus got done with his Brooks physical and things seem to be working out. Deifinately to not give up, who knows what the standards/"needs of the AF" will be in 4 years. When I get an update on his exact condition and results I'll let you know.

That would be appreciated BDA. I am enrolling in ROTC next year. I still want to join the Air Force, but my ultimate goal is to be a pilot. A Viper pilot would be my dream job.

Honestly it all depends on who you get for your doctor when you get to Brooks, and also how badly they want you will decide how much they will waiver. My best friend is proof that if you are a good enough canidate they can and will waive almost anything.

It can be done. No details for [Link pending approval] it can be done.

If there is a way to get it done, then I will find it.

Wow... This topic gave me a flashback to nearly 20 years ago.... However, from the replies you've got it sounds like you have reason to be hopeful and I honestly hope you reach your dream of flying F-16s... I wish there'd been a forum like this available for me to use back in the late 80s so I could get other opinions from those in the know. At least then I wouldn't have just given up on the spot and dropped out of all my required subjects in a deep depression only to regret it now all these years later..
I know here in Australia I was told flat out that there was absolutely no way they were gonna let me fly so much as a kite with my color problem I had no chance of getting into the seat of an F/A-18. The RAAF is very strict on that. I can understand it, but in some ways it would do them good to have a mix of pilots, because during the war I know they used color blind observers due to the fact that we can see through camoflage netting and it has no effect on us...
I still see the posters advertising for pilots in the RAAF, I lament what could have been, but at nearly 36 now, I know there's no chance at all...

I ask one thing of you.. PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP... If for no other reason, do it for me...

Andrew.

I'm with Aussie on this one. Dont give up like I did when the same thing happened to me. Color-Deficient Viper Pilots 4 Life!!

I just found this thread. I have exactly the same problem as Joey. When I found out on those internet tests that I'm really slightly color blind(altough in real life, real objects I see everything perfectly, it's very rare that i make an error with colors altough it happened few times) everything fell apart. Good luck to you.

Quote:

Color-Deficient Viper Pilots 4 Life!!

hahahahahaha, i'm pretty sad at the moment but this still makes me laugh.

I'm going to do some tests these day to see how much color deficient I really am. Slight deficiency is probably tolerated. And one question, do you just get an answer yer or no, or they tell you HOW MUCH color deficient are you ??

To make things worse I just heard of a guy here who went to a flight controller school and got laid off at the start because of the color blindness.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... id=googlep

If this above is true, that might be good if you live close.

I also read something about a cure for that, and doctors say it's just a matter of time when it will be made. We lack some genes in our eyes or something like that, and by injections they can put the missing genes into our eyes. They are experimenting on rats. Anyway, when it gets available we are probably going to be already anyway.

they give you a score based on the number of color tiles you see numbers in, I scored too low to fly, but you may be luckier than I.

if you remember, do you know how many plates did you have to see and how many did you have to correctly identify to pass the test ?

Forum: Future F-16 crew

Color deficiency - Should continue to pursue my dream?