What about ASD in the military?

[Ragnahawk]

Curious as I was told that it is a disqualifier for the military. I made it 5 years in the army with grit and determination.

 

[AGXStarseed]

Curious as I was told that it is a disqualifier for the military. I made it 5 years in the army with grit and determination.

I myself aren't in the military, but I've read stories of individuals with Autism/Aspergers joining the armed forces in different roles. One story I posted a good while back (and which you commented on) was about Autistics been deliberately recruited into the Israeli army as part of a 'Visual Intelligence Division' (Story here).

I suppose it depends on the individual's abilities and performance the military's rules in each country regarding hiring those with disabilities. I think some country's military will have tests for any disabled individual to see how well they perform before they choose whether to accept or decline their application.

 

[Beguiling Orbit]

Curious as I was told that it is a disqualifier for the military. I made it 5 years in the army with grit and determination.

Did you ETS, or are you still in?

 

[Ragnahawk]

Did you ETS, or are you still in?

Still in :/

 

[Crossbreed]

I was in the US Navy for about a year (during peace time). My instructors were happy with me, my superiors, not so much.

Prior to that, I was in the Marine Corps Reserve. Due to a false fail of a color test, I was transferred from an Electronic Tech MOS [good match] to a recon MOS [bad match]. I transferred to active USN for an electronics MOS (where I passed the color test, knowing what I did wrong the first time).

I completed both boot camps.

 

[clg114]

I was in the Army for three years, six months and four days. I did not like it at all. I got by just keeping to myself. I got a medical discharge because I got busted up in a motorcycle crash.

I joined the Army to keep from getting drafted. I hated being in the military, but looking back at it, I think the experience was good for me. Still, I would have never joined if I did not have to.

 

[Jordyn]

I wanted to join the military just to prove something to myself and others, but I decided not to due to solving my issues and my growing political reservations about authority figures.

 

[Crossbreed]

...reservations about authority figures.

Every arena has its legitimate authority figures.

 

[Mr Allen]

In the UK, the Armed Forces are exempt from current anti-discrimination laws for disabled applicants, and someone from the Job Centre once told me the Police were as well, then I asked on a Police forum I used to post on and they said that I'd been wrongly informed, sounds about right, the clueless cretins in the Job Centre don't know their own flipping rules!

 

[Ragnahawk]

In the UK, the Armed Forces are exempt from current anti-discrimination laws for disabled applicants, and someone from the Job Centre once told me the Police were as well, then I asked on a Police forum I used to post on and they said that I'd been wrongly informed, sounds about right, the clueless cretins in the Job Centre don't know their own flipping rules!

Better to stay that way XD

 

[Zuliac]

I was a hospital corpsman in the US Navy for 4 years. I did not know at the time that I was aspie, but if I did, I am not sure I would have joined.

Parts of it I could handle pretty easily. Boot was the easiest money I ever made. There were distinctly designed parameters of behavior that were easy to learn and follow (I joined in my mid-twenties and had already gone to college and had jobs, etc.) Hospital training was similarly easy because you are still in a training environment. I don't mind following rules if they are there for a good reason and know how to skirt the rules just up to the point of trouble. I've definitely slept in a couple of broom closets during field day.

Life after training is when I started to have serious issues adjusting. Being older than most of the other enlisted people made it hard to conform. The rigid, inflexible lifestyle designed for children straight out of high school often seemed silly and irrational. Once I was able to move off base, things eased up a bit. I had a sanctuary to go to when duty was over.

What got to me more than anything else was the irrationality of a crippled bureaucracy. Why do I have to talk to my chief so that he can talk to a department head so that he can talk to a different department head and then he gets back to my guy through my chief and down to me? Why am I spending 3 hours doing online waste training instead of taking care of patients?

My largest and longest bout of depression happened during this period. Again, I did not know about my condition, which would have really helped understanding why I was not adjusting very well.

Grit and determination pretty much sums it up. And alcohol. A lot of alcohol.

 

[SteveNomad]

Has anyone here ever been in the military or had closeness to it? This is especially addressed at Americans but other countries may comment also. I was not. I'm way too old and crippled now.
I have read that, as of now, an admission of being Asperger's/spectrum is an automatic disqualification from joining the US services BUT if it's discovered after you get in and you are performing satisfactorily it is not an automatic discharge from the Services whether positively (You want to get out) or negatively (You don't).