About five years ago, my firstborn was conditionally selected to receive a NROTC scholarship to help pay for his education at the Georgia Institute of Technology. We got as far as signing the contract, committing him to service in the US Navy after graduation. (I had to sign the contract since he was still 17 at the time.) The only thing left was the physical exam. He passed all parts of the exam except for his eyes. They're pretty bad; he wears -8.5 contacts. His application for a waiver was rejected, and corrective surgery wasn't accepted for NROTC candidates at the time.
Now this same young man holds a B.S. in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering from one of the best schools in the country. He still wants to serve his country, if they'll have him in the Navy. So, upon getting back here in NOLA after commencement, he drove up to Baton Rouge to talk to the officer recruiter. It turns out that Lasik and RK surgery are now acceptable to the USN. Next step for firstborn was a trip to the eye doctor, to see if he is a decent candidate for the surgery. Most people have corrective eye surgery so they can get rid of glasses and/or contact lenses. The ophthalmologist told him that surgery would reduce how bad his eyes are, but he'll still have to wear contacts.
Firsborn scheduled the surgery for this morning, and paid for it himself.
He is going to undergo the Lasik procedure (that's the laser one) this morning. From the perspective of civilian employment, there's no reason for him to do this. With his current glasses/contacts, his eyes are corrected to 20/20. A civilian employer or other governmental agency would be OK with this. But, to join the Navy and serve, he needs to get down to -4 contacts from -8.5. And for that, he's willing to get his eyes cut.
Damn I'm proud of him.
