Fitness & Medical Standards

How it works

Service-academy and ROTC-scholarship applicants are screened by the DoD Medical Examination Review Board (DoDMERB). Once your program enters your name, you're scheduled (through DoDMETS) for a medical exam and a separate vision exam; DoDMERB reviews the results and rules you Qualified, Disqualified, or Remedial (more records needed). The master list of disqualifying conditions is DoD Instruction 6130.03, Volume 1. (DoDMERB handles academy/ROTC accessions; MEPS does the same job for enlistment and OCS/OTS — same standards, different office.)

A disqualification is usually not the end

This is the most important thing to understand: a DQ frequently leads to a waiver. Waivers are decided by the commissioning program/service (not DoDMERB) based on the needs of the service and your specific case — and roughly a fifth of an entering academy class carries a medical waiver. You generally can't request a waiver yourself; the program does it once you're competitive. Don't self-eliminate over a condition.

Common conditions (many waiverable)

• Asthma — disqualifying if treated/symptomatic after age 13; often waived if symptom- and inhaler-free since then.
• ADHD/ADD — generally needs to be off medication and accommodations for roughly the last two years; then often waiverable.
• Vision beyond the limits — frequently waiverable (see below).
• Mental-health history — mixed; recent depression/anxiety can be waived after a stable period; self-harm and eating-disorder histories are harder bars.
• Anaphylactic allergies (food/insect requiring an Epi-pen) — among the harder bars.

Vision — and stricter rules for pilots

General standards expect vision correctable to 20/20 (academies) with limits on severe refractive error and color vision. Aviation is stricter (acuity, depth perception, normal color vision). Good news: corrective eye surgery (PRK/LASIK) is now generally permitted — even for aircrew — with a healing period, documented stability, and records.

The applicant's playbook: start early, be completely honest (DoDMERB cross-checks your electronic health record — omissions can void an appointment), keep thorough documentation, and respond quickly to records requests.

Academy and ROTC-scholarship applicants take the Candidate Fitness Assessment (CFA) — a single ~40-minute, six-event sequence administered by an approved third party (not a relative or your own coach):

• 1. Kneeling basketball throw
• 2. Pull-ups (or the flexed-arm hang option)
• 3. Shuttle run
• 4. Modified sit-ups (crunches)
• 5. Push-ups
• 6. One-mile run

It's gender-normed and folded into your admissions file (not a simple pass/fail). Train for it well in advance — the events reward general athleticism, and you usually get a limited number of attempts.

Height, weight & body composition

Every service sets height/weight and body-fat limits, and the 2026 trend is toward a waist-to-height ratio screen (Navy, Air Force/Space Force, and Marines have moved this way). If you're over on the scale, a tape/body-fat measurement usually applies — meeting the body-fat standard is what matters.