# Should I be worried?



## Canidule (3 Mar 2002)

I‘m planning on joining the canadian forces this summer but I was pretty worried about not getting accepted. The only thing I wanna be is an infantry. I‘m really not interested at all by any other jobs, thats what I always wanted to do.
Well, I‘m 16 and I‘ll be finishing high school in 4 months. I ain‘t bad at school, just a bit under the average but I‘m still very smart. I‘m in perfect medical conditions(I think, I hope). I‘m 100% canadian. I‘ve been in the cadets 1 1/2 years but left because these kids were way too dumb, liar and annoying and also I had to live my teenage years. I don‘t have any criminal records or anything like that. I‘m in not the guy the most in shape around but I run everyday and work-out a few times a week. My only real problem is that I wear glasses. Should I be worried about getting accepted? And how much time would it take? Is it an advantage to be young? Do they provide cool heavy duty nerd glasses? And I was wondering, how is the daily life in the army? And do you work on the weekend?.........additional information would be appreciated, the recruiting information they give out really doesn‘t tell much


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## L.Ron (3 Mar 2002)

Don‘t worry. I have just finished the recruiting process and start basic training next monday. Be fit, work out. I‘m 27 years old and am going armour, I was worried about being too old .
Mostly, be confident in your interview. Understand as much as you can about your trade, know your goals and convince the interviewer that you really want to be in the forces.  Glasses are not an issue. Maybe you can‘t be a sniper or something but...

There are a lot of great people on this forum who are experienced and can answer more about what to expect on the job. I‘ve asked a lot of questions over the last while and these folks have helped a lot. they don‘t mind at all

Good luck


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## Korus (3 Mar 2002)

Make sure you‘ve got a GOOD pair of glasses... get the no-fog coating (or just smear your lense with shampoo in the morning, and wipe it off with a dry cloth so it‘s clear; I‘ve heards from skiers this works really well to prevent them fogging up), light non-breakable plastic lenses, a strong frame that won‘t break, and that fits good and won‘t wiggle around. Make sure you‘ve always got a good prescription... (and note that the most expensive frames aren‘t nessecarily the best.. i.e. if you‘re paying for a brand name). 

My current glasses (soon to be replaced) aren‘t the best fit, and aren‘t my newest prescription, and I‘m really begining to apreciate the value of a good pair of glasses... (It was a bit annoying in the SAT) I‘m thinking of getting a good pair for in the field and keeping my current pair for civvie stuff, since I‘m assuming won‘t have to look snappy for the ladies when I‘m crawling through the mud   

I‘m still in the recruiting process for res infantry (yes, I‘m admiting my FNG‘ness), so I don‘t know much about glasses in the field (yet), thus if anyone who‘s been in the feild with glasses could post experience/hints/corrections, that‘d be great for me too...

Just one more quick note, I‘ve been told it‘s best to go to your optometrist before you go for your CF medical. Get a current prescription from him/her, and give it to the medical assitant during your medical, along with any other pertinent. It will greatly speed up the process, since you won‘t have to do it after. Having glasses apparently does cause your medical to take a day or two longer to clear, but that‘s nothing compared to the length of the good ol‘ recruiting process...   

Wow.. I typed a lot there... Cheers


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## Recce41 (3 Mar 2002)

The Army will supply you with your glasses. It will give you anything you need in recuit school. when you show up, you will be told to give in any drugs, knifes, etc. in recuit school all you need is you.
 Sgt J.  CD,CDS com


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## Korus (3 Mar 2002)

> The Army will supply you with your glasses.


Is that Res force too ot just the regs?


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## cagomez (4 Mar 2002)

Ive been wearing glasses throughout my training and never had any real problems. yes they will fog up but that isnt much of a problem. The only real crappy thing about having them is when doing NBC drills with the gas masks, they wont fit and when someone screams GAS GAS GAS !!!you have to add "taking off glasses" to the 9 sec drill !!    ! I never knew the CF gave glasses in the RES F. There use to be this small rubber framed combat glasses but the dont make them anymore. Ive heard some news though they may be making new ones for CTS. When getting a pair of glasses make sure they are a dull colour with strong frames. You may want to get a band of somesort for them. One guy I knew had his glasses knocked off during heavy bush crashing ! When taking them off always keep them with you (especially in the field at night) and get a strong hard protective case so they dont get crushed. Vision isnt that much of a problem unless you want airforce or sniper training or something  :flame:


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## Canidule (4 Mar 2002)

hmmmm.....they should stop making tv and computer....they just hurt my eyes so much.....well anyway.....can you wear contact lenses or get laser surgery? fog is so annoying, i just can‘t stand seeing nothing.....when I play paintball I really can‘t see anything so i just hide in a corner and wait to get shot....both my glasses and the goggle have fog in them.....last time I killed like hmmmm.....1 guy and it was luck.....and in the dark I don‘t see anything with glasses, they get fog and theres always a little bit of light that reflect into them....like when I was in the cadet we were in the wood doing a night game.....I was following the sound of the guy in front of me was making he was at like 5 metre and i couldnt see him....and its hard to do a sport that requires any skill, like hockey or soccer.....well right now my sport that i do the most is ATV racing and some motocross....there‘s usually no fog because of the wind.....and why do you say vision isnt a problem? I‘m seriously thinking about getting laser surgery but they say you need to have a stable vision but right now it isnt stable and my brother is 21 and it‘s not stable for him too....when will it ever be stable?


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## cagomez (4 Mar 2002)

There is a HUGE difference between paintball and infantry work. I do every now and again get fog ups but very rarely. There is no paintball mask to deal with. Like I said, the absolute worst scenario is gas mask drills. The onlu glasses that fit underneath them were the super small rubber combat frames but they dont make them anymore (RES F anyway). Some people have tried contacts in the field but I dont recommend them. Ive worn them for two days doing boring winter indoc (No tactical stuff, very easy) and even applied moisturiser drops and my eyes still felt crispy by endex. Even if you did have time to take them out odds are your hands would be dirty and they arent something you could throw on at a minutes notice (eg STAND TO STAND TO !!). Laser surgery could be an option... a very expensive one. I know one or two inf guys who have had it done and they swear by it but its very expensive, you have to wear sunglasses for  several days and possibly take medical leave. Plus I really dont trust the procedure, too many rumours and stuff. Ive been wearing glasses in the field for several years. Get a good strong pair, thats a semi cam colour with a band and a protective case that you can ALWAYS keep with you. No fuss no muss. By the way, the guy in my earlier post who lost his glasses on ex did get reimbursed by the unit


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## Canidule (4 Mar 2002)

hmmmmm....well I have to wait 2 more year anyway before I can get laser surgery. 

what do you think about these things? prescription lenses would fit in those thing?

 http://www.army-technology.com/contractors/personal/oakley/index.html 

 http://www.army-technology.com/contractors/personal/se/index.html 

 http://www.army-technology.com/contractors/nbc/avon/avon2.html


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## Korus (5 Mar 2002)

Well, well, well.. I didn‘t worry about my glasses. Found out today that my vision isn‘t good enough for 031... or any combat arms. I guess my eyes are pretty bad, even though it‘s never really been a problem to me.. I‘m pretty sure you all can tell just how happy I am right about now.

damnit.


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## Canidule (6 Mar 2002)

.....how bad is your vision? mine is pretty bad too,.......its the first time i ever hear that someone can be refused because of their vision....what the **** is this bull****? you got any more information on that?


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## portcullisguy (7 Mar 2002)

> Originally posted by Fus:
> [qb]Laser surgery could be an option... a very expensive one. I know one or two inf guys who have had it done and they swear by it but its very expensive, you have to wear sunglasses for  several days and possibly take medical leave. Plus I really dont trust the procedure, too many rumours and stuff.[/qb]


I had my surgery done in Nov 2000.  I had the LASIK procedure, which, briefly, involves leaving the surface layer of cornea intact and removing a gnat‘s pubic hair‘s thickness of middle corneal tissue, resulting in faster healing.

I did the surgery on my first day fo rest from work, and was back to work on my first day back in, after 2 days recovery.  I only had to wear the stupid sunglasses for the first day.  After that, any pair of shades will do, and since I work shifts, I was mostly driving to and from work at night.

I have had no problems.  The left eye had some corneal inflammation (quite normal), and experienced regrowth of tissue.  The doctor‘s can tell, looking through their scopes, but I can‘t tell.  Vision is better than 20/20 to this day.

I passed the CF medical/vision with flying colours in Jan 2002, and all I had to do was provide a referral slip detailing the procedure and my pre- and post-operative visual acuity.

I **highly recommend** corrective laser surgery, if your vision is poor enough that you need corrective lenses to read, say, licence plates while driving.  My prescription was -3.75 both eyes before.  Now I have perfect vision.  At 27, I can expect to not have to wear glasses for about 20 years.  Very worth it.  $700 per eye was my cost.


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## Korus (7 Mar 2002)

How old where you when you had the procedure, portcullisguy? Probably older than I am now...

I‘m pretty po‘d that I couldn‘t get into 031 because of my eyes.. It‘s what I really wanted to do.

I can still qualify for some service/support trades, so I‘m looking for something there that I‘d be interested in. Then maybe look into eye surgery when I‘m a bit older (and hence won‘t grow) and go 031 if I can..


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## cagomez (7 Mar 2002)

ive heard laser surgery is free for air force pilots after they have been fully trained and in for so many years. Not sure though, it may be that they are just allowed to wear glasses when flying. Laser surgery would make sense, would be a shame to lose all that money for training and stuff and $1400 would be a drop in the bucket. Glasses would not be practicable, especially for fighter pilots.


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## Korus (7 Mar 2002)

I read somewhere on the DND web site a while back that they don‘t allow eye surgery for pilots, as they‘re not sure how it reacts to all the pressure changes.. They allow it for aircrew, though.. (i.e. navigators)

I think you need 20/20 to be a pilot...


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## cagomez (7 Mar 2002)

Weird..

Yes you do need perfect vision or better for pilots. It is absolutely essential.


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## Canidule (7 Mar 2002)

portcullisguy, I‘ve looked at lot of documentation on laser surgery and they say you need to have a stable vision. Do you have any idea what it is exactly? From what I‘ve heard you can‘t have a perfectly stable vision, my brother is 21 and his vision is still going down and he‘s currently at    like -6.5 and I‘m at like -3.5....I‘ve asked an optometrist and she doesn‘t seem to know....I just thought you might know that.....


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## Korus (8 Mar 2002)

You can‘t measure eye-sight with absolute accuracy; The way its done is inaccurate, and can produce slightly diffrent results under different conditions.

Plus everyone is different; Some people‘s vision will get relativley stable, and not decrease (as mine‘s been for the past year or two) while other‘s will continue to get worse...


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## rceme_rat (8 Mar 2002)

I had LASIK surgery on both eyes about three years ago.  

Your optometrist will be looking for a number of things in assessing your suitability for surgery.  
Among these will be stability of vision, which my optometrist considered to be a prescription that had not changed for at least two years and that showed no signs of imminent changes.  I was told that it is normal for vision to continue changing until 30+.  

Many surgeons will consider doing the surgery in people as young as 18, however, where it is essential for qualification for an occupation - e.g., pilots, police officers.   Most 18 year olds would not otherwise be good candidates.

You may find that once having had the surgery, there may be a waiting period for recruitment to ensure that it was successful.  Some change is expected in the period immediately after surgery.  I would not be surprised if you were told that your eyes must be assessed a year after surgery.

While I‘m very glad that I had the surgery, I would suggest that you talk to as many patients as possible, do as much internet research as you can bear, and consult with a number of top surgeons before you do it.  The liability waiver was fun - it warned of blindness, of course (although I‘m not aware of any documented cases).  Scarier was the warning that there might be problems post-surgery that could not be corrected with corrective lenses, even if glasses worked perfectly well pre-surgery.

If you want any more info, feel free to email me.


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## portcullisguy (11 Mar 2002)

> Originally posted by Korus:
> [qb]How old where you when you had the procedure, portcullisguy? Probably older than I am now...
> [/qb]


I had the procedure done when I was 25, in Nov 2000.

I am told that your eye growth stabilizes at that age.  I haven‘t seen many people get it done before that.

Don‘t forget, you can always switch trades later.


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## Korus (11 Mar 2002)

Yeah, looks like that‘s what I‘d have to do, although I‘ll have to wait until I‘m older to see where I stand with it all... I hear the surgery is more risky when your eyes are worse, so I‘ll have to weigh all the risks and benefits when I come to it.. (and now we play the waiting game      )

As for now, I‘ve still got some interesting trades open to me, so I‘m looking into that..


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## Pikache (12 Mar 2002)

Interesting...

How bad does your eyes have to be before you are barred from combat trades?

Because I have pretty bad eyesight, but I‘m right now doing Res BMQ...


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## Spr Earl (12 Mar 2002)

I friend of mine who just got out who wore COKE BOTTLE‘S was Air Born Engineer in Pet and was a unarmed combat instructor ,heavy equipment operator before he got out had no propb‘s but when he went for laser surgery the army threatened to release him as you are non operational for 6 month‘s as you eye sight has to recover.

 All‘s he said was " Are you denying me the right to improve my life style?"Whoa it threw a wobbler into the system, they backed off but said if your eye‘s are worse you will be released with no medical or recourse as this was your own choice!

 So beware if you are Reg. and do it , you do it risking you career if the op. fail‘s!

 Oh and his operation was A1.

 Oh the reason he got out was to many tour‘s back to back and no support from our higher and Gov.
and he was a bloody good Sapper!


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## Brad Sallows (13 Mar 2002)

It was the correct response.  If sex change operations will be funded for the sake of self-esteem, why should a member‘s eyesight, or knees, or whatever be any less worthy?


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