§658 Medical Accession Standards for Members of the Armed Forces

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must create uniform medical rules for appointing, enlisting, or drafting people into the armed forces. The Secretary must make those rules easy to find and explain how an applicant can ask for a medical review or a waiver. The Secretary must set up a review and waiver process that uses all medical information and looks at the service’s needs. Waivers can be allowed for national security, meaning a strong government need for someone whose service would directly support the Department’s warfighting capabilities. Each year the Secretary must report to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on the number of people disqualified last calendar year for medical history, the number and types of waivers or approvals granted, and any changes to the standards or waiver process. If the Coast Guard uses the waiver process in any fiscal year, the Secretary of the department that runs the Coast Guard must report the waiver details to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.