Air Force Expands Waivers For Asthma, Allergies, Hearing Loss to Bring in More Recruits
Dec. 17, 2024 | By David Roza
In a bid to bring in more recruits, the Air Force recently expanded its waiver tolerances for asthma, food allergies, and hearing loss. The move should bring in between 600 and 1,000 more recruits per year, though they would have to stay out of career fields with stricter medical standards such as aviation and special warfare.
The Air Force Recruiting Service’s Accessions Medical Waiver Division is always looking for ways to expand its waiver tolerances, division head Col. Ian Gregory told Air & Space Forces Magazine. But the effort went up a notch after the Air Force missed its recruiting goals last year for the first time since 1999. Asthma, food allergies, and hearing loss are three areas with a high number of waiver requests and relatively low operational risk and additional medical support.
“We chose these three diagnoses because we wanted to get the most bang for our buck,” he said.
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs (SAF/MR) Alex Wagner signed off on the changes Aug. 29, which were implemented Nov. 1.
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-waiver-asthma-allergies-hearing-loss/
