Thank you I will.
Worthwhile noting that the only evidence they’ll accept as part of an appeal is medical. You saying “oh, it’s not that bad” will have zero effect. For an appeal to be successful you have to present medical evidence that there was either something wrong with the original diagnosis, or that there’s new and relevant information that wasn’t on his medical records.
If you have neither then an appeal is, frankly, a waste of your time.
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When I applied for a bursary and completed the paper medical as I had previously used an inhaler for my hay fever (primary school) I was deemed permanently unfit for all trades.
This was over 10 years ago now though
The other thing to consider is that with so few jobs available in the forces, they can be ultra picky, so anything slightly remiss they can just say no, as they’ll have others to fill the gaps.
I’ve told cadets there are plenty of other avenues to work within the military sphere, now there is so much given over to normal (think the word civilian is condescending) companies, under contracts. I met a couple of blokes (iirc BAE bods) who looked after flight sims, they lived and worked on the base, with none of the agg and a Chief Tech who was getting made redundant by the RAF and walking straight back in the door doing the same job for more money, overtime and none of the RAF stuff, a week later.
So getting binned by the forces while at the time may seem like set back, can just open other doors, that haven’t been considered.
I personally feel I had a near miss when the RAF sent me a Dear John, as 8/9 years later there was the first SDR. Some of my mates got binned, through no fault of their own and they were and remained very bitter for years and even now a couple of them won’t have anything to do with the RAF.
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What would you use then? If you want to go with “normal” to mean “civilian” then surely you use “abnormal” instead of “military”?
Though come to think of it that does describe a large number of people in the forces.
It’s the way it’s used to effectively suggest something inferior. When you consider the military doesn’t actually make anything and now large parts of its maintenance and admin functions are farmed out, without these firms the military would not operate. I’ve been on camps and heard people referred to as “only civvies” by their uniformed counterparts, as if they were lesser beings.
The Chief Tech I spoke to said if there’s a job to do that goes on after we’re meant to finish, we’re told go and eat then come back and if we’re lucky we might get a slab to share and then if you’re on, do guard duty, but you’re still expected to be in by lunchtime. The other blokes, come 5.30 their off, unless they get overtime. I sensed real disenchantment.
Looks like things might change - but I wonder if there will be specific limitations for some branches such as aircrew?
Acne and asthma sufferers to be cleared to join army Acne and asthma sufferers cleared to join the army - BBC News
People with asthma or severe acne will no longer be banned from joining Britain’s armed forces, Defence Secretary John Healey has announced.
Long overdue.
With the exception of some front-line roles, there’s no reason to exclude personnel with a whole range of medical conditions that currently are excluded. Especially asthma, which is easily managed if it isn’t severe.
This is being announced as though it’s a policy change by the MOD, this is not the case. Def sec has said this is what they want to happen whilst at the Labour conference. This has happened before with previous governments and then not actually gone anywhere, so watch this space. But as of today, nothing has changed.
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Spotty, wheezing, oiks will strike the fear of god into our enemies!
I jest. A lot of great candidates who had childhood asthma which has often gone decades without treatment are rejected for no good reason at all.
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In a number of cases this is possibly because their medical records still mention asthma! Heard situations that candidates have had annual inhaler replacements still on record 
I was certainly advised to not even bother applying due to annual inhaler repeats being on my medical record. Despite them not being used/issued. Although I can’t say for certain that it was that great a loss to the RAF. I suspect that there a many talented cyber engineers/analysts that wouldn’t make the grade currently which the MoD desperately needs to attract.
I recently had a client where that was the case. Not touched an inhaler since he was 8. Mum has dutifully been picking up his prescriptions ever since. And no medication reviews from the GP since!
Client is now 18 and bounced as the prescription is “current”. And nobody was interested in investigating further or supporting his application!
GP’s get cash money for annual astmha reviews (as they do for Flu Jabs etc) so not in their interest to sort it out.
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Officially, the rule for the RAF is one year clear of asthma.
However, my former GP used to carry out annual reviews for anyone who had had asthma. They’d sign you off after 2 years of clear reviews, but that means you de facto needed to be 3 years clear of symptoms and medication before you’d be eligible to be considered as one year clear.
The problem with Asthma is what is the trigger factor, allergens, chest infections, stress etc. RAF personnel maybe required to deploy at short notice into areas where such trigger factors exist. Would the duty medics have the resources to assess and treat a service person having an asthma attack in the field, and the evacuation chain to safely remove them from the area?
To my mind, anybody with a history of asthma should be seen by a consultant who is a specialist in asthma management, not just a GP. Acute asthma attacks may progress to be rapidly fatal if not treated expeditiously by the medical team, is this an acceptable risk??
Unfortunately, they’ll never let him be aircrew. However, if he’s 4 years clear of inhalers, never been admitted to hospital and never needed oral steroids, he could still join in other roles. He could also join one of the other services (medical and some trade restrictions permitting).
This really shows a change in attitude since the recruitment process went fully private.
I had asthma as a child, and was collecting my inhalers until aged 14. When I applied to the Army at age 18 it turned out my mum had been collecting my inhalers until I was 16, even though I wasn’t using them.
We explained the situation to the recruiter, and they signed me off as clear. I think it only took a signed letter from my mum explaining such for the cogs to turn again.
Clearly, lower medical standards than the RAF! 