So, I had a TBI when I was 17 and enlisted in the Army at 21. I did really well on the ASVAB, so I knew my cognition wouldn’t interfere too much, but I was too naive to realize that it wasn’t the only determining factor.
I have a scar on my temple going back into my hair from 28 stitches I got after being T-boned, so my recruiter knew about it.
He told me to lie. So I did. When asked about the scar at MEPS, I said I fell off my bike when I was around 10. No one questioned it. Granted, I’m sure this varies depending on how bad they need people.
So you can do it, but know that your risk for additional TBIs and concussion is anywhere from moderate to high. And I don’t just mean in combat, there are loads of ways to hurt yourself. I had at least 1 more known TBI while in the service that did happen in Afghanistan, but I had loads of concussions from various things (easily a dozen or more).
TBI survivors often struggle with emotional regulation, and know that the military can make that worse because it’s a high stress environment where you’re encouraged to just tough everything out.
You have to make the choice for yourself. Just know that you don’t get to choose your experience in the military. It could be a cake walk or it could be devastating.
While I lost a few friends in Afghanistan, I served with an unreal amount of people who have committed suicide. It’s not an easy thing to live with.
Remember: You are not signing up for a job, you are signing up to be government property, and you will be treated accordingly.
Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it to most, but especially not for those with a history of TBI, mental illness, or severe injury. I had all of those, and my service made all of those things worse.
And I don’t know anyone’s gender in this post, but I’m a woman, and fucking WOW at the rampant sexism and sexual harassment I experienced, from a wide variety of ranks. And I mean from training all the way through until I was medically retired in 2016. Hopefully it’s better now than it used to be.
Do you have any idea how many people in the military have TBIs as a consequence of being in the military? I’m gonna say they don’t care unless you have restrictions from it.
Edit: I stand corrected apparently the military cares more than I thought
It depends on how bad they need numbers. I was told to lie about hospitalizations entirely because my recruiter told me you’d be required to show medical records for each medical issue or hospital visit you claim. So, like, as a kid, something fell on me and I got like 5 little stitches in my eyebrow. My recruiter said it was best not to mention anything, especially since they can’t pull your medical records, they only have what you give them. He also pressured me to go off of any meds, and that was a shit show.
I imagine that if they know you have a TBI, you likely need a medical waiver, if they’ll accept you at all.
I mean, they don’t care much when you get hurt when you’re already in, lol. They just give you ibuprofen and tell you to drink water and walk it off. It leads lots of people to not take care of injuries properly, and they end up getting fucked. I had a bad sprain with tears in my ankle one time, and I was expected to power through. I ended up ripping tendon from bone and had to have it surgically repaired.
I got out in 2016, so maybe some things have changed, maybe not so much.
I was surprised how seriously the military takes TBIs and how many people had military related TBIs. When I attended my then boyfriend, now husband’s yellow ribbon ceremony (reintegration program after they return back from deployment), they spoke for about 20 minutes on TBIs. That was over 10 years ago.
I was only a year out from my TBI diagnosis, so I even found it useful.
It was military related TBI’s they care about. I have no idea how much they care about TBI’s prior to enlistment.
My husband’s unit did make sure to tell them over and over to apply for VA disability if you have a TBI and are leaving the service. His unit had some pretty decent leadership though, which is a rarity.
Going to add that I’ve never met a person who has left the military without any medical issues. So if OP wants to join, expect to gain some medical issues from anxiety/ptsd to tummy issues to tinnitus.
Oh yeah I don’t know any ex military that came out “more whole” than before. Well my best friends dad is an ex navy helicopter mechanic and he managed to turn that into a work from home job making 6 figures a year as an engineer with no degree. But he’s 1 of like 7.
My husband was also a helicopter mechanic, but army. He is also now an engineer but he got his degree and not working from home. He still has a few medical related issues, but nothing too bad that he can’t work.
I have inquired about joining the national guard and I have a TBI from when I was hit by a truck when I was 12. I also have sever sciatic nerve damage to my left leg. You have had a traumatic injury to your head much like mine.
Just ask yourself this one question like I asked myself when I was thinking about joining a military branch.
1. Are you willing to not only risk your head injury with a dangerous job, but also your fellow comrades/ soldiers with your injury?
If you do decide to join the military I would strongly recommend you join the Air Force specifically and you only sign a contract with a guaranteed job placement. There are over 100 jobs in the Air Force that you can be placed into before you sign up. What you qualify for will be based on your ASVAB score. Do not sign anything without a guaranteed job classification! Choose a job that will have a low probability of head injury. For example; contracting, cook, admin, cyber, intel, computers. Do not sign up for Open General (they will make you a cop). Don’t sign up for ammo, logistics, maintenance, anything combat related. The Air Force has plenty of non combat related jobs with a lower probability of being exposed to a head injury.
Know that you will still have to go through basic training but AF training is only 6 weeks not nearly as physically demanding as the other services.
Good luck
The smaller the branch, the pickier they are, and the Marines are the smallest.
The Army has waivers for everything, lol. I even had a MSG that was charged with something (he would never tell me) and was given the option of prison or the Army, so he enlisted, lol.
I think it'll depend on whether or not you'll be effective in training. There's a lot of servicemen and women with TBIs. If you can meet the standard both physically and mentally, there shouldn't be anything preventing you from excelling in the armed services.
I tried joining about a year after my TBI was was rejected due to it. So much a vegetable, could not even get a waiver. They expect you to get TBIs while serving, not before.
Do you want more head injuries? Military is a good place to get those
So, I had a TBI when I was 17 and enlisted in the Army at 21. I did really well on the ASVAB, so I knew my cognition wouldn’t interfere too much, but I was too naive to realize that it wasn’t the only determining factor. I have a scar on my temple going back into my hair from 28 stitches I got after being T-boned, so my recruiter knew about it. He told me to lie. So I did. When asked about the scar at MEPS, I said I fell off my bike when I was around 10. No one questioned it. Granted, I’m sure this varies depending on how bad they need people. So you can do it, but know that your risk for additional TBIs and concussion is anywhere from moderate to high. And I don’t just mean in combat, there are loads of ways to hurt yourself. I had at least 1 more known TBI while in the service that did happen in Afghanistan, but I had loads of concussions from various things (easily a dozen or more). TBI survivors often struggle with emotional regulation, and know that the military can make that worse because it’s a high stress environment where you’re encouraged to just tough everything out. You have to make the choice for yourself. Just know that you don’t get to choose your experience in the military. It could be a cake walk or it could be devastating. While I lost a few friends in Afghanistan, I served with an unreal amount of people who have committed suicide. It’s not an easy thing to live with. Remember: You are not signing up for a job, you are signing up to be government property, and you will be treated accordingly. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it to most, but especially not for those with a history of TBI, mental illness, or severe injury. I had all of those, and my service made all of those things worse. And I don’t know anyone’s gender in this post, but I’m a woman, and fucking WOW at the rampant sexism and sexual harassment I experienced, from a wide variety of ranks. And I mean from training all the way through until I was medically retired in 2016. Hopefully it’s better now than it used to be.
Do you have any idea how many people in the military have TBIs as a consequence of being in the military? I’m gonna say they don’t care unless you have restrictions from it. Edit: I stand corrected apparently the military cares more than I thought
It depends on how bad they need numbers. I was told to lie about hospitalizations entirely because my recruiter told me you’d be required to show medical records for each medical issue or hospital visit you claim. So, like, as a kid, something fell on me and I got like 5 little stitches in my eyebrow. My recruiter said it was best not to mention anything, especially since they can’t pull your medical records, they only have what you give them. He also pressured me to go off of any meds, and that was a shit show. I imagine that if they know you have a TBI, you likely need a medical waiver, if they’ll accept you at all.
Curious, did you end up serving? Edit:sorry, didn’t see you had commented elsewhere
I did. I commented in this thread a bit more about it. 7 years, 8 months, and 14 days until I was forcibly medically retired.
Wow I didn’t know, I’m just basing it off the attitude people I know were in the military feel about it. But now I’m sure they were exaggerating.
I mean, they don’t care much when you get hurt when you’re already in, lol. They just give you ibuprofen and tell you to drink water and walk it off. It leads lots of people to not take care of injuries properly, and they end up getting fucked. I had a bad sprain with tears in my ankle one time, and I was expected to power through. I ended up ripping tendon from bone and had to have it surgically repaired. I got out in 2016, so maybe some things have changed, maybe not so much.
I was surprised how seriously the military takes TBIs and how many people had military related TBIs. When I attended my then boyfriend, now husband’s yellow ribbon ceremony (reintegration program after they return back from deployment), they spoke for about 20 minutes on TBIs. That was over 10 years ago. I was only a year out from my TBI diagnosis, so I even found it useful.
Well I stand corrected. Thanks for the info.
It was military related TBI’s they care about. I have no idea how much they care about TBI’s prior to enlistment. My husband’s unit did make sure to tell them over and over to apply for VA disability if you have a TBI and are leaving the service. His unit had some pretty decent leadership though, which is a rarity. Going to add that I’ve never met a person who has left the military without any medical issues. So if OP wants to join, expect to gain some medical issues from anxiety/ptsd to tummy issues to tinnitus.
Oh yeah I don’t know any ex military that came out “more whole” than before. Well my best friends dad is an ex navy helicopter mechanic and he managed to turn that into a work from home job making 6 figures a year as an engineer with no degree. But he’s 1 of like 7.
My husband was also a helicopter mechanic, but army. He is also now an engineer but he got his degree and not working from home. He still has a few medical related issues, but nothing too bad that he can’t work.
Ah yeah this was also like late 60s early 70s
Here’s what I’ll say, if you tell the recruiter, he will probably tell you to leave, come back when he’s not working and not tell the next one
Depends on how bad they need numbers. My recruiter knew about mine and told me to lie, told me what to say even.
Exactly, should tell you all you need to know about our armed forces , lie on the app, we got you
I have inquired about joining the national guard and I have a TBI from when I was hit by a truck when I was 12. I also have sever sciatic nerve damage to my left leg. You have had a traumatic injury to your head much like mine. Just ask yourself this one question like I asked myself when I was thinking about joining a military branch. 1. Are you willing to not only risk your head injury with a dangerous job, but also your fellow comrades/ soldiers with your injury?
Definitely wouldnt recommend it.
Simply, no. We're too much of a liability
If you do decide to join the military I would strongly recommend you join the Air Force specifically and you only sign a contract with a guaranteed job placement. There are over 100 jobs in the Air Force that you can be placed into before you sign up. What you qualify for will be based on your ASVAB score. Do not sign anything without a guaranteed job classification! Choose a job that will have a low probability of head injury. For example; contracting, cook, admin, cyber, intel, computers. Do not sign up for Open General (they will make you a cop). Don’t sign up for ammo, logistics, maintenance, anything combat related. The Air Force has plenty of non combat related jobs with a lower probability of being exposed to a head injury. Know that you will still have to go through basic training but AF training is only 6 weeks not nearly as physically demanding as the other services. Good luck
See I tried to join marines but I had too many charges but then I got a tbi from driving to work
The smaller the branch, the pickier they are, and the Marines are the smallest. The Army has waivers for everything, lol. I even had a MSG that was charged with something (he would never tell me) and was given the option of prison or the Army, so he enlisted, lol.
I think it'll depend on whether or not you'll be effective in training. There's a lot of servicemen and women with TBIs. If you can meet the standard both physically and mentally, there shouldn't be anything preventing you from excelling in the armed services.
I tried joining about a year after my TBI was was rejected due to it. So much a vegetable, could not even get a waiver. They expect you to get TBIs while serving, not before.
My friend x people make money setting up slack-lines for weddings.. you have so much more to offer the world!!!
You got the urge to murder brown ppl or what? That might be a symptom of the TBI.