{"id":1548714,"date":"2025-07-24T02:35:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T06:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1548714"},"modified":"2025-07-24T02:35:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T06:35:00","slug":"recruits-with-heart-failure-some-mental-health-issues-cant-join-military-hegseth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/recruits-with-heart-failure-some-mental-health-issues-cant-join-military-hegseth\/1548714\/","title":{"rendered":"Recruits With Heart Failure, Some Mental Health Issues Can’t Join Military: Hegseth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recruits With Heart Failure, Some Mental Health Issues Can’t Join Military: Hegseth<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours),<\/em><\/p>\n

People who want to join the military cannot do so if they have congestive heart failure or one of a dozen other conditions,<\/strong> Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a memorandum released on July 22.<\/p>\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington on June 26, 2025. Madalina Kilroy\/The Epoch Times<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Being treated for schizophrenia, having a history of paraphilic disorders, or suffering from multiple sclerosis are other conditions that are ineligible for medical accession waivers, Hegseth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica\u2019s warfighters must be physically and mentally capable of performing their duties in the harshest of conditions,<\/strong>\u201d Hegseth wrote<\/a> in the memo, which is dated July 11. \u201cSevere underlying medical conditions introduce significant risks on the battlefield and threaten not only mission priorities, but also the health and safety of the affected individual and their fellow Service members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Medical waivers allow applicants for military service to serve even though the applicants have a current or past condition that means they do not meet military standards. Approximately 13 to 16 percent of applicants were rejected<\/a> for not meeting the standards from fiscal year 2016 through fiscal year 2020, according to the Department of Defense\u2019s inspector general.<\/p>\n

The full list of conditions newly ineligible for the waivers includes the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
\n\tCurrent chronic supplemental oxygen use
\n\tCurrent congestive heart failure
\n\tCurrent epilepsy
\n\tCurrent treatment for schizophrenia
\n\tHistory of cystic fibrosis
\n\tHistory of receiving a solid organ transplant
\n\tHistory of paraphilic disorders, or disorders involving abnormal sexual interests or behaviors
\n\tMultiple sclerosis
\n\tOsteogenesis Imperfecta, or brittle bone disease
\n\tSuicidal attempt(s) within the previous 12 months
\n\tThoughts or plans of killing another person within the previous 12 months
\n\tTrisomy 21, or Down syndrome<\/p>\n

The list of conditions for which secretaries of military departments are the only officials who can now approve waivers includes the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Current central nervous system shunts
\n\tCurrent ostomy
\n\tEye missing or lack of vision in at least one eye
\n\tFoot missing
\n\tHand missing, or bony portion of hand missing, excepting digits
\n\tHistory of chronic hepatic failure
\n\tHistory of chronic kidney disease requiring dialysis
\n\tHistory of corneal transplant
\n\tHistory of disorders with psychotic features, including schizophrenic disorders
\n\tHistory of myocardial infarction, or heart attacks
\n\tHistory of neurodegenerative disorders, such as disorders affecting the spinal cord
\n\tHistory of scleroderma, a disease that features tight skin and tissue
\n\tHaving an implanted pacemaker or defibrillator<\/p>\n

The Department of Defense, in its most recently updated military standards from 2024<\/a>, had said that a number of the conditions now deemed by Hegseth as ineligible for waivers could be eligible for waivers.<\/p>\n

Waivers for medical and other conditions are widely used. Just 23 percent of America\u2019s youth were eligible to enlist without a waiver, a defense official told<\/a> reporters in 2024.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon said the updated medical waiver eligibility is aimed at making sure America\u2019s military has high standards and stays ready to fight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department remains committed to mission success by ensuring that the young Americans who serve are physically and mentally capable of performing their duties in the harshest conditions,\u201d Sean Parnell, the department\u2019s chief spokesperson, said<\/a> in a statement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nWed, 07\/23\/2025 – 22:35<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/recruits-heart-failure-some-mental-health-issues-cant-join-military-hegseth<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recruits With Heart Failure, Some Mental Health Issues Can’t Join Military: Hegseth Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), People who want…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1548715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1548714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1548714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1548715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1548714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1548714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1548714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}