What happens to you when your in the military then find out your diabetic??

My husband is in the army and has served his country for a little over 2 years of active duty. He has recently been told he is diabetic. My husband doesn't like to tell me much about what will happen so my questions are,
can and will they kick him out of the Army?
If they do kick him out will he still get benifits and military pay??
Basicly I am worried about my husband and his health but have read enough to know he can be fine if he takes care of him self. Now I'm worried about what will happen to us? We have two young children and I dont want to be just thrown back into the cavilian life with no job and no home. Will the military help us or just send us on our way?? Please any help would be nice!

[Shirak]

I've been in the Navy for a little over 6 years now.  One of the guys I currently work with is Diabetic, he has been in over 16 years, the last 5-6 after he was diagnosed.  As long as the diabetes is able to be controlled the military will keep the service member, and provide whatever help they can.  If the military does discharge him however, it is not a quick trip to the curve.  He will be given time to find a job, and move if necessary, as well as having the military determine the extent of his disability.  General rule for the military, if you get discharged for almost any medical reason the military is going to end up paying you some percentage of your base pay for the rest of your life.

If you have any more questions let me know, I would be happy to answer any I can.  I may not be an expert on diabetes (although my mother was just diagnosed it), I do know the military pretty well.

[jojo143]

thank you so much for yor reply!! I do have one more question, do you know wether he will be put in a non deployable position or MOS or will he still be sent to Iraq?? He is woundering what will happen since his current unit is deploying soon and no one seems to know what he will be doing, he keeps getting different answers from different people. Do you know anything about this or maybe your friend does.

Thank you

[MomOfTwoGrls]

Hi, being the daughter of a 26 years veteran naval officer and the wife of a air force officer, plus haveing diabetis myself, I can tell you before he deploys due to his new diagnoses he will get a medical evaluation, or he should anyways.  I am not sure but in my opinion it wouldn't be wise to send him overseas if he just got diagnosed and his diabetis  isn't  controlled yet.

I can't really help with the military aspect but if you need answers on diabetis I am your woman.  My mother has had type one diabetis for over 30 years and I have had type2 diabetis for over 7.  

Good Luck!

[Soldier42]

I can tell you as a former Human Resource Specialist for the Army and  Type I diabetic that he will be put on Rear Det. and not deploy. Though I think that is bull b/c I personally proven that diabetics can deploy before I left Afghanistan I had diabetes(they made me leave early though for early signs of diabetes) but didn't know officially I had it til months later.

[brianyawn]

Hi, My name is Brian and I have had diabetes for 23 years come July 1st 2012. The best advise I can give is to not go overseas with this disease, even if you're a well fit and controlled diabetic you can't stop all the complications that can occur with the disease and your body and with that said we all know there's not time outs in war....

  Someday I hope there will be something out there we can do for the armed forces but for now it is best to let the men and women that are healthy without diabetes do what they do best. Keep your heads up diabetic people, there are plenty of things we can make ourselves useful for but the number one thing is to take care of yourself and live a long and healthy life!! God bless the U.S.A.

[JUNUS4303]

I have lived in both Germany and now in France. I have my pump for ten years now. In France all TYPE 1 have a pump, if you want one. I am an AMERICAN
spend 20 yrs in the U.S. Army, worldwide deployments . The American health system, is a joke. All of Europe have some sort national health care, most people don't pay a penny for health care. We just need to copy the European system, and stop treating Diabetes as a death sentence.Most of the answers in this blog, are wrong. Your all need to change Dr's, and get updated, on all the new treatments in other countries . Moving to Europe saved my life, no thanks on living in the US .