Should the Military Offer More Accessibility Options?
- Fisher Boisvert
- Dec 1, 2024
- 2 min read
My father used to be in the Army. And he recently retired after 12 and a half years in the air force and another 12 and a half years in the army. I am fascinated with the idea of being pushed to my mental and physical limit. Enduring and pushing through pain to be stronger. I am also very interested in the family benefits that the Army gave my dad. That line of work has always interested me and been in the back of my mind, and just this month I finally decided that it is something I am seriously interested in. But in my research, some problems arose. All my life I have had anaphylactic (a severe life threatening allergy) allergies to Nuts and Dairy. And I have always wondered if that would be a problem in recruiting into the military. So I asked my dad to reach out to a friend of his who was a recruiter for the army, and asked him if my allergies would be an issue for me getting accepted. And as it turns out, they were. A quote from an article by healio.com summarizes the main underlying issue with hiring people with health issues. It states “We want to ensure that these folks are medically capable of satisfactorily completing their training, that they are adaptable to the military environment, and that they are capable of performing their duties without aggravating their medical condition,”. All over the world hundreds of schools and workplaces are creating more opportunities and options for people with disabilities. But should the military? Another one of the main issues lie with the MRE (meals ready-to-eat). If someone was allergic to something in the MRES they don't have any replacements or accommodations for them. I was certainly bummed out to hear this news, but it got me thinking, should they even have accommodations for people like me?
The Army is a very demanding and tasking job to say the least. So if somebody has a disability limiting their physical capabilities, why should the Army make exceptions? The Army needs leaders, people who are strong inside and out. But do allergies really limit physical health that much? They don't make people any weaker, even if they are a major inconvenience. If someone with allergies has a physically capable body and mind, maybe they should be able to enlist. The Army and other branches could offer different variations of MRES and allow the personal carrying of Epinephrine pens (an auto injectable device containing epinephrine used to treat anaphylaxis). But this is a huge hassle for the U.S. military and could cost a lot of money. And in the end it might not be worth the hassle for only 5% of the United States population, plus only a small percentage of those people are of military age and are interested in joining up in the first place. While it would be nice for the few to have an opportunity to enlist, It isnt likely that the military will be making any new exceptions anytime soon, unless they are desperate for soldiers.
