Brandon, I just want to pop in here and say thank you to you and everyone else who is now serving or who has served our nation. I'm also a Junior in high school (and 17 next Wednesday) and plan on doing AFROTC. I want to be a pilot too (fighters specifically), and so far things have been going well (C/2d Lt in the Civil Air Patrol, relatively good chance of getting into a CAP Flight Academy this summer, and definitely going to college), but my main concern has been eyesight too.
I currently use contacts, but to my knowledge, that won't cut it in the military.
There has been one thing that's been bugging me for a long time:
From AFROTC Website:
Pilot:
Distant vision: Uncorrected 20/70, but corrected to 20/20
Near vision: Uncorrected 20/30, but corrected to 20/20
The wording on this has always mixed me up. Does uncorrected mean that I can fly with 20/70 vision, or does it mean that the worst it can be before I get corrective surgery (whichever one the Air Force allows) is 20/70? I wouldn't understand why the latter would be true since it could be corrected to 20/20, but it's just always been something that's been eating at me - particularly since my eyesight is actually a lot worse than 20/70.
Also, are there any other things I should be aware of concerning eyesight and the U.S. Air Force?
There isn't a way in hell the military won't be in my future, but obviously being a pilot is my number one goal, and my overall dream, and having vision hanging over me is a big deal.
By the way, sorry for diverting the topic my way Brandon, but I figured since it's pretty much the same thing I should give it a shot. Again, thanks for your future service.