Dodgy knees

skiTTish

Hi ,My son has recently been sent home from selection with the news that his knees bend too far in the wrong direction .
He is gutted ,all he has ever wanted to do, from the age of 8 ,is join hte army
He is currently attending an army preparation course and already training with them and he has never had any problems with his knees and he never knew there was anything wrong .
He feels like all his hard work has been for nothing (over a years hard training with the Army prep )
I am trying to console him with the fact that they have said they are sending a specialist to see him here in his home town so surely they wouldn't be going to that bother if it was an outright 'no' would they ?
What are his chances ,realistically ?

skiTTish

Oh dear ...over 40 views and no reply ...guess its not good news then ?
Is the whole specialist business just something they say/do to try to break it more gently ?
The c/o at his Army prep course seem pretty hopeful for his as he is passing everything else with flying colours but maybe he just doesn't have the heart to break it to him ?

helsee

hello

my husband is an army man and he says theres no way the co would fob him off or not have the heart to tell him if he was out for good he would have been told. The fact that they are investigating further means the situation could genuinely go either way- theres no way to know the outcome until he's seen a specialist. This isnt an outright no.....but maybe your son should start and look for a plan B in case the army doesnt come off. The only other issue to be aware of is that the army is over whelmed with recruits just now, and they are in a position to cherry pick, so if there are equivilent candidates at full fitness they may be selected over your son.

fingers crossed for him x

oscardog

It may also depend upon which trade or arm he is aiming for.

What does he want to do?

Errata

Sounds like they're being sensible and making sure his knees are up to the job, or not. Although TBH, if he fancies being a para he may be out of luck.

Alias_Omega

With the amount of miles he is going to cover during training carrying weight, he is going to work working knees or face a medical downgrade.

Alias

coldstreamalways

They can afford to be really picky these days unfortunately. You can appeal though (not sure of the process). He may (may, pending your appeal) need to face the fact that if his knees are bad, he would do himself some serious damage in service and his health is more important.
Speak to his recruiter if you need some updates, don't be afraid to pester either!

Let us know how you get on.

skiTTish

Thanks everyone
He is after joining infantry .
He has passed everything else ,3 stage interview etc and even begun strenuous training ,done several 25mile + hikes carrying full equipment (or equivalent weight )
He would be so gutted if he was passed over in favour of someone who only wants to join the army as there are 'no jobs available ':( He has been dedicating so much of his life to it already
His recruiter is amazed and backing him all the way as he said he has proved to be out standing in everything else and his minute and a half time blew the Para requirement time out of the water.
Think we need another interview with his recruiter to try to find out where we go from here
Thanks

greytroot

Only a specialist will be able to help in this case, I had a wee problem with my knees hyperextending (which apparently came from playing rugby (hooker)). Did not stop me from getting in though (RAF), just highlighted on my med docs.

Until he has seen a specialist there isn't much you can do and after that if you are unhappy he could always appeal.

emay

My sister finally got into the RAF, with a health problem, she got turned down for her first 3 job choices but in the end just said tell me the jobs I am fit for then and she chose one of those!!!