How can HIV positive persons join the military?

Department of Defense

INSTRUCTION

NUMBER 6485.01

June 7, 2013

SUBJECT: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Military Service Members

3. POLICY. It is DoD policy to:

a. Deny eligibility for military service to persons with laboratory evidence of HIV infection for appointment, enlistment, pre-appointment, or initial entry training for military service pursuant to DoDI 6130.03 (Reference (c)).

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DoDI NUMBER 6130.03

POLICY. It is DoD policy to:

a. Utilize common physical standards for the appointment, enlistment, or induction of Service personnel and eliminate inconsistencies and inequities based on race, sex, or location of examination in the application of these standards by the Military Services.

b. Precisely define any medical condition that causes a personnel action, such as separation, medical waiver, or assignment limitation, by utilizing the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) (Reference (f)), Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) (Reference (g)), and the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) (Reference (h)), and annotate qualification decisions by standard medical terminology, rather than codes. The standards in this Instruction shall be for the acquisition of personnel in the Military Services.

c. Ensure that individuals under consideration for appointment, enlistment, or induction into the Military Services are:

(1) Free of contagious diseases that probably will endanger the health of other personnel.

(2) Free of medical conditions or physical defects that may require excessive time lost from duty for necessary treatment or hospitalization, or probably will result in separation from the Service for medical unfitness.

(3) Medically capable of satisfactorily completing required training.

(4) Medically adaptable to the military environment without the necessity of geographical area limitations.

(5) Medically capable of performing duties without aggravation of existing physical defects or medical conditions.

ENCLOSURE 4

MEDICAL STANDARDS FOR APPOINTMENT, ENLISTMENT, OR INDUCTION

2. MEDICAL STANDARDS.

Unless otherwise stipulated, the conditions listed in this enclosure are those that do NOT meet the standard by virtue of current diagnosis, or for which the candidate has a verified past medical history.

24. SYSTEMIC

a. Current or history of disorders involving the immune mechanism, including immunodeficiencies (279).

b. Presence of human immunodeficiency virus or serologic evidence of infection (042, V08) or false-positive screening test(s) with ambiguous results on confirmatory immunologic testing.

Hiv In The Military

You guys are a bunch of assholes. How about responding in a caring manner? A simple no would suffice. As for those who say it is highly contagious- no, wrong again. An HIV infected person is NOT a danger to everyone around him or her. If a person is diagnosed once in - Wrong again - they will NOT be discharged. However, there are jobs that an infected person will not be allowed to do, which makes sense. As for being separated from fellow Sailors at work, and the asshole that commented that he hopes so.. I hate to tell ya, but WRONG AGAIN. Anyone diagnosed with HIV who is already enlisted will be given a specific position and allowed to continue service. An HIV positive person is still, at this time, not allowed to enlist, which shows a horrible trend in the stigma this country has toward those afflicted by disease. This is part of the reason why America will fail. That, faulty spending, greed, lust, alcoholism, lies, manipulation.. the list goes on. Most of all, America will fail because of your false sense of security, and how you treat others.

The military doesn't want to pay for a serious illness such as HIV or AIDS. What if he got serious ill out on the battlefield and he was miles from an aid station or hospital. He would be a detriment to other soldiers and himself. The military has an obligation to care for all their service members. They can't knowingly recruit someone with a serious illness.

I have a roommate which AIDS and I know the battle he's had dealing with it. There's been times when he was so seriously ill I didn't think he was going to make it. Yes, he's taking a lot of those miracle drugs that extend his life, but they aren't a cure. People with HIV and AIDS also develop other illnesses that would be military disqualifiers.

I don't recommend your friend trying to join, but I will say I respect his wishes to do so.

not gonna happen. for one retention standards are very different from enlistment standards.

2 you have no idea how long it will remain dormant. could be 20 years. could be 20 months.

anyone HIV+ may NOT enlist, period, end of subject. the military WILL NOT take on the burden and responsibility of caring for this person's medical needs in the future when or if it does become full blown AIDS

furthermore the military cannot guarantee access to any of the necessary meds or care required to keep it under control.

if you contract it after being in, a determination is made for continued service.

and you would be WRONG. anyone carrying the virus, dormant or not can infect others through contact. again, the military will NOT take that risk.

HIV is a permanent disqualifier for enlistment. There are no enlistment waivers or considerations available to anyone who is HIV+ at the time they attempt to enlist.

Those who contract HIV while serving are screened on a case-by-case basis and you can bet that only a very small percentage will be retained or deployed and they will have to be in HIGHLY-critical jobs with HIV that requires minimal intervention. In other words, the language is there but my bet is that virtually all service members who contract HIV while on Active Duty will be given medical discharges.

No one is going to be allowed to enlist with active HIV.

To add to what everyone says, "How does a HIV+ (undetectable and healthy) pass the medical waver and get enlisted." We are not going to be responsible for your Fraudulent Enlistment.

"HIV+, as long as they are on medication (and undetectable), won't cause any threat to anyone."

Sure. Until a mortar round lands in the compound he's in and his HIV infected blood sprays all over his battle buddies.

And that is the reason they disqualify HIV positive people from enlisting. Blood gets all over the place in combat. And when someone needs a transfusion, they go with a "hey you!" roster.

He is a Permanent DQ from enlisting into any Service...EVER !!!!

There are NO Waivers for HIV...

The Military does not want a Contaminated Blood Supply...

I just don't see how that would work out very well. Too many issues for HIV people to be in active combat- maybe some other role- go to college first and then think about it.