A Cure and The Military

[Ares]

I have researched into the military and to my dismay have found because of Diabetes I cannot join the military. However, I was wondering if a cure were to be perfected, would the policy change or would I still be excluded?

[JDRF-Team-bret]

i'm no doctor but i became diabetic in the US Air Force, working in the administrative section of the base hospital. Soon afterwards i was medically discharged for the reason that they couldn't guarantee they'd be able to get insulin to me in a combat type situation. There are no restrictions on civilian jobs on a military base because civilians aren't going to go into combat situations. It is easy to see how insulin would be low on the list of priorities during combat situations. i deal with the VA and get excellent care from there.

[JDRF-Team-LRS]

Interesting question that we can only wonder about at this point.  Since the reason for excluding diabetics from military service is that we cannot survive without our meds and in conflict situations, it's not clear we would have access to our meds, much less blood test supplies, etc.  We would pose a danger to ourselves and those in our units who depend on us.

I would imagine that if we no longer had those special needs, we'd be welcome.  What do you think?

A few months ago, there was a discussion on this board and someone posted rather eloquently about all the supporting roles we *can* play as civilians working with the military.  There are far fewer restrictions on those types of exciting careers.

[JDRF Team SGG]

I am the one who posted the info about civilian jobs in partnership with the military. My husband is an Air Force officer, and his job is personnel, so he deals with issues such as your question about whether a person who had been cured of type 1 diabetes could be admitted. I do think that this would have to be decided by the military at the time that a cure became possible. I also know that there probably would be some sort of a wait at least, for the military is not able to readily accept new treatments for physical problems when studies have not been done to see how the patient does in the long term. A case in point is that officers who have laser surgery to correct vision problems cannot become pilots even though their vision is now 20/20.  The reason for this is that no testing has been done to see if air pressure in a pressurized cabin will damage eyes that have been surgically cured to have 20/20 vision. The military health care system cannot take risks in admitting people who may become health problems in the future and who would then need military health care coverage. So even though some type 1 diabetics are not removed from active duty if diagnosed as adults (I know one doctor who was diagnosed as an adult and is still active duty), they will not bring a new person into the military if there is a risk of that person becoming chronically ill. So I think I am safe in telling you that even after a cure, it will take some time for military branches of service to admit folks who were once type 1 diabetics.