Just so everyone know, it is not just the doors of military that are closed to us deaf / hard of hearing but police, firefighting, CIA, FBI, etc. It's hard to push the door open in some of these specific jobs but the vast majority are closed. Even getting a teaching job is hard. Many USPS jobs are closed, etc. There's a lot of discrimination for disabled people too, to the point that they have to make advertisement saying that if you hire deaf, gov't make help with the tax.
Herkdriver Military was my first choice because my whole family served (men/women save the few like myself) so I know how you feel and what you mean.
If it was me, I'd let it go...there are specific reasons why the military maintains physical standards for enlistees and appointees... which include a person's hearing level. It's not about your needs, it's about their needs.
I understand that but I'd still like to put it up for discussion. Considering that there might be something else that both of us have never seen.
Who said anything about being a pilot? The jets also need maintenance crews. And my late fiancee used to work as an ASL interpretor. A lot of industrial companies love hiring the deaf, because of the lower liability in regards to hearing damage. And those articles said not a single thing about recruiting murderers. And look at those dates, 3-4 years ago. Trust me, it is a different world today. The waivers for past transgressions are just about totally gone. And no, not evrybody gets a security clearance. I did, because my first job was guarding weapons. And my current job is dealing with the PATRIOT missile. But when I was a grunt or worked on a rifle range, I did not have a clearance.
Can you show me a single company that hired deaf/hard of hearing that required math/science degree as a requirement? I could do those jobs. It said it recruited those with felony; felony means murderers too. 2011 doesn't count because the year is relatively fresh (we're just about 3 months into 2011) but I can find 2010 articles that show that they recruited those with felony. I know, I didn't say everyone got one. I said I can get one, there is literally no reason I cannot get one. I've done my research on this and I qualify for the lowest one at least. The lowest one is enough to get me into jobs that I want/wanted.
Sounds like that is your problem. And in case you have not noticed, the nation is in a huge recession. A friend of mine with an engineering degree recently moved to China to find work. Maybe it has more to do with the economy then your impairment. It said it recruited those with felony; felony means murderers too. Some felonys. And mostly the lesser ones. If the crime was a major felony, like drugs, sex crimes, murder, and the like, they were disqualified. Not every felony was waived, and not all were allowed in. And waivers have gone back for decades, this is nothing new. The situation is looked at on a case by case basis. Some are allowed in, most are rejected. The lowest clearance is "Confidential". And that is pretty worthless unless you are an administrative type. After this you have Secret, and Top Secret. And on top of that you have Code Word security. This is an even higher clearance for specific projects. And all most security clearances are is credit and background checks. However, they are expensive. In the area of $20,000+ for a civilian company to have the Government run one. And they take time, mine took about 4 months.
Should blind persons be permitted into the military and be trained to fly jet fighters so they may move on to flying commercial jets?
We call that strawman argument and extreme examples and in some case vacuum. Nobody said anything about blind people flying planes. Right now deaf people can't even get a job stocking boxes for minimum wages.
That is because everyone that was laid off of their other job had to go find minimum wage work to make ends meet. Everyone is having a hard time finding a job. Let go of the military thing. I cannot think of a job that would have relaxed enough requirements for the hearing impaired. Aircraft maintenance? Forget about it.
I can find a job doing aircraft maintenance in China too but I don't feel like learning how to read/write Chinese at the moment nor do I feel like traveling to a super hot place. I speak it fluently but it's not enough if I want to, for example, do software engineering for a security company in China. I might just end up getting my PhD and be satisfied with that.
I am saying forget about doing maintenance in the military. Get your PhD and find a job. Forget about the military.
Bump. I don't know if the guy who originally started this thread still posts here or not, but I thought he might be interested in this article. August 22, 2011 Associated Press|by Julie Watson NORTHRIDGE, Calif. -- Keith Nolan spent a decade applying repeatedly to the Army's Reserve Officers' Training Corps program before the deaf man's tenacity paid off and a commander finally let him audit the classes. Nolan became a top performer in the ROTC program's Bravo Company at California State University at Northridge, and his instructors were so impressed they let him wear a uniform. He was distraught when he turned it back in and said goodbye to the other cadets in May. He could advance no further under the military's current policy that requires cadets pass a hearing test to be commissioned by the Army. http://www.military.com/news/article/deaf-man-battles-to-join-the-army.html
First of all, convicted murderers aren't allowed in the military. Second of all, it's not the the armed services fault you don't meet minimum physical standards. Face it, you are not military material due to your hearing condition.
You're definitely not cut out for the military then. In my 4 years in the military I spent 3 and a half of them in the desert.....7 month deployments in 120 degree weather wearing full gear and no AC. You seem to have an unrealistic feeling of entitlement. This wouldn't mesh well with the military; You go where you're told and do what you're told. A masters degree doesn't make you qualified or capable of serving in a war zone. Some of the worst Marines I knew had Bachelors and graduate degrees, while some of the best struggled to write a coherent paragraph. Modern society may idolize college degrees, but sitting on your a*** in class 20 hours a week and trying to bang sorority girls all weekend doesn't make you any better equipped to deal with the physical, mental, and emotional demands of a warzone. I suggest you take your degree and do something lucrative. Leave the dangerous, uncomfortable work to those who are qualified.
Why would gender matter to the specific issue of the hearing impaired being unable to serve on the military?
Well, for example females can't serve as infantries. I guess that's just one of a few things I figured that would impact my decision. Either way, it's just curiosity now.
If you have a hearing condition that disqualifies you from military service, you really don't have an decisions, concerning military service.
Support troops regularly go into harm's way. They still have to be able to fight just like everyone else. I love that you reference drivers. Who do you think are in those convoys that get ambushed?
