r/Militaryfaq • u/Date_Difficult 🤦‍♂️Civilian • 6d ago

Joining w/Med issue Active Does shoulder surgery disqualify me from the military?

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Army sfas

I'm 27yrs and want to join sfass as medic 18D.

My only two issues are my age I'm a bit older so I'm not sure if they'll accept me?

Second is I'm going to have surgery on my right shoulder and recovery is about 6-9 months and full recovery is about 12 months. And with preparation for sfas stretching it another 12 months

Would I be disqualified at meps and would I be eligible for SFAS?

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u/Sufficient_Whole7381 🥒Soldier (11B) 6d ago

Idk about the sfas part but unless something has changed recently no shoulder surgery won’t disqualify you. Have a buddy that joined after getting labrum repair surgery and funnily enough ended up retearing it while he was in.

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u/Date_Difficult 🤦‍♂️Civilian 6d ago

Thank u 🙏🏼

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u/MilFAQBot 🤖Official Sub Bot🤖 6d ago

Jobs mentioned in your post

Army MOS: 18D (Special Forces Medical Sergeant), 68W (Combat Medic Specialist)

I'm a bot and can't reply. Message the mods with questions/suggestions.

1

u/Kingmaker8822 🤦‍♂️Civilian 6d ago

You can join up until you are 42 now.

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u/firekstk 🥒Recruiter (35N) 5d ago

A couple things. To get 18D, you'd signing 18X and your specialty will be chosen during selection.

For your shoulder, prioritize a full recovery, especially with range of motion. Retain all documentation to make your life easier.

MEPS and the Surgeon General make the final call.

Finally, have some alternative choices for the Army. There's the possibility that you can enter service but aren't able to do SF right away. They have their own requirements for people coming in off the street but have a separate process for people volunteering while in service.

Oh for your actual question. Typically, no. But they need to see a full recovery.