Asperger's Syndrome and the Military

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Please help ! I've been working on my college degree for three years now and have failed almost every single class, As an alternative, I am strongly considering joining the U.S. Army as a last resort. What should I do ? Keep working on my degree or join the Army, or join the Army and then work on my degree while I'm in ? Please help !

If you can't manage college, what makes you think you'll do well in the military?

Unless a military person lacks the intelligence to do well in school, they are generally successful students because they have the DISCIPLINE to follow through with what they start. In contrast, a lot of college students would wash out of the military.

Academia has made it easier and easier for sub-standard students to graduate with a degree.

This document effectively ruined my life, killed a full ride to one of the best schools in my state... all because I was diagnosed via public school affairs.

The british military code of justice is similar to the u.s but with more focus and understanding regarding your own condition I think and seeing as ive been there and done that, I could honestly say that a logistics job may have been a good bet and the best one for aspergians out there seeing as all the other ones require a great deal of more input. no offence to others who are hoping to clean up their stratedgy, or hopefully scrub the decks clean.

Are there any other militaries out there that have a enlistment ban on Asperger's syndrome ? I know that it's possible to join the Canadian, Australian, and U.S. militaries with Asperger's but Israel and Iran, they don't have any restrictions or bans.

What about Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and the rest of Europe and Asia ? What are their policies towards allowing people with Asperger's to join the military ?

I was in the US Army for eight years. All that time I had no clue I had Aspergers so it was no block against enlisting. I just knew I was very different, maybe overly anxious in certain situations, and a bit sensitive to a few things.

My Army job was the only one that I had much success in. The military wanted me because of my science and mechanics aptitudes, my college credits and my physical fitness. All my other job hunting attempts required high social skills and lots of social interactions, and pleasant, feminine appearance -my FAIL!

My Advantages: The army trained me for a technical skill, I liked using my technical skills, working hard, the physical training, got licensed on lots of vehicles, I had the best pay I ever had by far, I had housing, I liked the structure, the teamwork (when it worked), liked learning how to use gadgets and stuff, enjoyed being around some things I am interested in like helicopters and airfields, learned more things about people than I ever did in my home town, gained some self confidence, learned a lot of stuff, and did some fun training activities.

My Disadvantages: My biggest problem in the Army was that I have sensory processing disorder (only recently identified what it is) so noise sometimes overwhelmed my senses (mainly loud music, cigarette smoke, some chemicals, sometimes loud yelling), I made a lot of mistakes with jokes and small talk and other social interactions where I failed to interpret social protocols, some gear I had to wear was uncomfortable, I didn't like getting yelled at much but it wasn't unbearable (I never was intimidated near as much as by my father as a child), I didn't like shop/office politics, some of the times when I was in really close quarters were pretty annoying, I am not much into the boredom during down times, I don't perform all that well when badly sleep deprived (move slower, make more mistakes).

Do the Israelis have any restrictions, regulations or laws not allowing people with any form of autism, including Asperger's and classic autism into the military ?

Initially getting into the military should not be the issue. [However, if you were Dx'ed prior to enlisting then that might pose as issue for MEPS] If you are going to a super technical field like being a nuke, IT, engineering, etc. then you should flourish, especially if you go Navy and end up on a submarine, as those things as jam-packed with awkward people as it is. However, anywhere else where all kinds of personality traits are around such as being on a ship or attached to a deployable unit such as a Construction Battalion or "greenside" like me and deploy with Marines, then that is where you might run into some obstacles.

If you are chill, relaxed and not much of an adrenaline seeker, then any MOS such as admin, computers, engineering, nuke (huge one) is all for you. In contrast, if you're the motivated prospect looking to kick down doors, blow sh*t up or sail from port to port with your crew, this can pose a problem as it is a social community with many people. My first assignment was easy as I worked at a small clinic with a very tight knit group so I felt comfortable but when I went greenside and was with the infantry, I felt ostracized as I was now "the boot" as well a Sailor among Marines so it didn't help that I sucked at engaging in conversation and didn't do well at telling stories like these guys were. It got worse when it came to field exercises and instructions were passed constantly so I struggled when it came to remembering fine details such as maneuvering and direction and which squad was doing what. I would forget the information and would lag behind my squad during live-fire maneuvering and if it were actual combat, I could easily be responsible to endangering myself or my guys because my inability to adjust on the fly and/or comprehend fast-paced directions.

Basically, doing infantry/special forces, serving on a ship, or any other motivated MOS where you are constantly in close-quarters with your co-workers on and off work might be a challenge if you severely struggle with social interaction and new settings. However, if you can wing it and are good at effectively audibly processing fast-paced dictation then sky is the limit for you. Most military (or at least in the case of Sailors and Marines) the bar is at least 90% of where off-time will be spent. Just sip a bit with them (most of them will be sauced before the first hour passes anyway) and your alcohol confidence should kick in. A fun night at the bar with board games thrown into the equation is always an easy and fun story to bring up when you guys are in misery during a field op or a deployment. Best of luck to all those hoping to serve alongside the ones who protect this fine nation.

So I talked to one of my Army recruiter's co-workers and he said that the doctor at MEPS going through my paperwork disqualified me a week ago. Is there any way that I can still join, such as a waiver ? Also, I'm looking at joining the Marines but only as a last resort if my waiver is denied or if the waiver request is denied.

What were you disqualified for ?Did you mention autism/aspergers ?


Theres 0 reason to mention it EVER ,same with medication .If anyone asks you're taking no medication and you have no mental health issues,you've never thought or attempted suicide ,you have no social anxiety etc . No one plays by the rules kiddo ,it's just everyone else is smart enough to keep their mouth shut .

The doctor at MEPS reviewing my paperwork knows that I have Asperger's. But my recruiter doesn't. Come on man, what do you expect me to do ? The recruiter and the doctor can't process me if I don't tell the truth if I have anything that could prevent me from being eligible for military service. Otherwise, you know as well as I do that I can be charged with fraudlent enlistment if I enlist and they find out that I had a learning disability but I didn't tell them about it and lied about it.

Having been quiet for quite some time now about this, i've decided to go public.

Being employed in the Swedish Military right now, i can give you some pointers:

1. Aspies - or NT's - that have problems following orders while wearing any kind of uniform do not last long. I know one guy who works in the home guard that gave me good indications of him being an Aspie and he have a good service record - so being an Aspie does not rule it out. If you are low functioning - do not even bother.

2. Being overly analytical, specialised and very good at one thing gives you an advantage over NTs. There are other careers available besides the Army, Navy and Airforce. Logistics was mentioned ealier in the thread is a good bet. IT is another obvious career. Just make sure to stay away from positions with too much office politics, there are plenty of normal people who have problems working together towards one direction and love to play these kinds of games for personal benefit.

3. If you apply, be open. If they want to be as*holes - they will be that. People who recruit people are quite often ignorant and close minded and have a knee jerk reaction to all sorts of psychiatric conditions. If you get a job while being honest, you get good and understanding collegues. I was open from the beginning and said that "I've studied myself for a while and i'm almost certain i have some sort of Autism". They hired me anyway.

4. Even in a government agency like the military without any demands on making money, you have to deliver on time. If your boss says. "I need this document by tomorrow" - you better deliver it tomorrow, noonish latest unless a time was specified. Time is a substitute for Money, and even NT's fail at this and can drag on for weeks with their document writing and revisioning.

5. Sometimes even civilians get training. I got firefighting and first aid training that was compulsory. I made two observations about these courses that are critical:

* Medical training requires you to touch and be touched by others. If you are not ok with that, you will fail. Period.
* Firefighting exposes your senses to heat and bright light. If you are not ok with that, you will fail. Period.

6. As a civilian you usually get your own area of responsibility, i.e. if you work as an analyst in say, IT, you get to do that without other people interfering (much). If you are a military guy/gal, you are expected to follow orders and do things that others say. This may include going abroad and shooting at people. Most people have problems with this and people in uniform are expected to be able to do this. Civilians are not and may be a good alternative to applying for a uniform wearing position. I for one, prefer not having dead people on my conscience.

Having worked for around 6 years in the armed forces, i can say that there have been times and places that have given me problems because i am an Aspie - and there have been other times and places that have made me fit right in and performed very well because i am an Aspie. The one biggest problem i have is keeping my mouth shut when it comes to NOT pointing out idiots who do stupid, ineffective or pointless things and waste taxpayers money.

My conclusion: the worlds defence forces could use a few more aspies. Banning Aspies is really thickheaded and prevents unique specialised skills from entering the service. It should be up to the individual to prove that he or she is fit for duty - whatever that may be.

But if any psychiatric conditions should be banned from entering the service it should be Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder and Psychopathy (ASPD). People in the Antisocial spectrum disorders group cause lots of problems by their nature, and people in general prefer to not be around these manipulative, deceptive, egotistical, prone to violence, shallow and powerhungry people who only care about themselves.

Well why you let the doctor know I'll never understand . Noone would have ever found out if you kept your mouth shut ,and they wouldn't charge you with fraudlent enlistment unless you f****d up big time and they wanted to dig into your past.


Fact is the world doesn't revolve around you and you're just a number to them ,so stop being paranoid and try a different branch . Altho in the post 9/11 world all the agency's seem to be sharing records so on second thought your probbly screwed .


Best bet now is to go see a new DR and have them say your cured .