Cadet Medical Standards

Although the DoDMERB medical examination qualifies Cadets for initial entry to USAFA and may even have predicted potential pilot qualification, cadets should note that formal occupational qualification for various career fields (AFSCs) in the US Air Force is determined by the so-called “graduation physical.”

This grad physical is not a single-component assessment completed with a single visit, but rather consists of a variety of essential components completed over the course of the C3C and C2C year, with administrative completion of the grad physical package and any required career field waivers in the C1C year.

This process begins with the completion of the graduation eye examination by the Optometry Clinic in your C3C year, and continues with accomplishment of other required components in the C2C year.

Who We Serve

USAFA Cadets Only

Specific Instructions

• Graduation Physical

  Appointments are required for accomplishment of the grad physical. Required paperwork must be completed and submitted back to our clinic BEFORE you schedule your grad physical online (see below).  Appointments are scheduled via the MHS GENESIS Patient Portal at https://patientportal.mhsgenesis.health.mil. See screenshot booking instructions at the end of this page - select the Primary Care Appointment type, then Air Force Medicine USAF Academy Cadet Standards location, next filter to the 7067 AFA Graduation Physical Provider (NOT the Neuropsych Testing provider). Select desired appointment date/time.  Read and follow ALL Instructions below:

  • Required Paperwork Before Appointment

• Medical History, DD Form 2807-2

  • This form will take 30 minutes to an hour to complete.  Please confer with your parents/guardians for assistance or review any medical records you may have to fill these forms out to the best of your ability.  You may or may not remember procedures or medications from infancy/early childhood that need to be documented on this form.

• Adaptability Rating Interview for Military Aviation (ARMA)

   Request this form via MHS GENESIS Patient Portal by sending secure message to “USAF Academy Cadet Standards”.

  • This form is intended to facilitate discussion with the flight surgeon in support of the required Adaptability Rating interview for Military Aviation (ARMA), Missile Operations Duty (ARMOD), or other rated or special operational duties.  It will require some self-reflection on potentially difficult questions such as participation in the military’s nuclear mission (which is NOT limited to Missile Ops career field and will not necessarily exclude you from selection for such a career field).  Completion of this form is required by all cadets regardless of interest in these career fields, but you are welcome to express your career field preferences in your responses.

• Additional Paperwork

  • AFSC Preference Worksheet

    This form will be completed at the time of your grad physical.  Your interest in pursuing qualification for specific career fields may drive requirements for additional special tests, medical specialty consults, and medical waivers.  Please accurately advise us of your career field interests on this form so that we may react accordingly.

    • If your grad physical has been delayed until later in the academic year and occurs AFTER you have already submitted AFSC preferences to USAFA/A1 (Cadet Personnel & Assignments), the preference list you provide to our clinic should match what you submitted to USAFA/A1.

    • Rated and Special Operational Duty (SOD) AFSCs have more extensive medical requirements associated with them and include the following career fields: 

      • 92T0 Pilot Trainee (Flying Class I)

      • 92T1 Combat Systems Officer/CSO Trainee (FC IA)

      • 92T2 Air Battle Manager/ABM Trainee (FC III)

      • 92T3 Remotely Piloted Aircraft/RPA Trainee (GBO or ground-based operator)

      • 13NX Missile Operations Duty/MOD (GBO)

      • 13MX Airfield Operations (ATC or air traffic control)

      • 19ZX Special Warfare Airman (SWA), including Combat Rescue Operator (CRO), Special Tactics Officer (STO), and Tactical Air Control Party (TACP)

• The following nonrated/non-SOD career fields also have some additional medical qualification requirements:

  • 31PX Security Forces

  • 71SX OSI (Office of Special Investigations)

  • 13SX Space Operations

• Lab work is required the day prior to appointment

  Report to the laboratory between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. (not during lunch between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m).  Ensure that you are well hydrated on the day of testing.  Females on their menstrual cycle may wish to defer urinalysis until after menses to prevent the finding of blood in the urine, which will require a re-test.

• Length of Graduation Physical

  Please allow 45 mins to 2 hrs for your grad physical.  The vast majority of visits do not take 2 hrs, but things may run long if several cadets before you showed up late or without appropriately completed paperwork.  Those seen earlier in the morning or afternoon can generally count on a shorter wait.  Please show up 15 mins before your scheduled appointment time.

• Neuropsych Testing

  If you have an interest in Pilot or RPA qualification, you will also need to schedule your neuropsych test.  This can be done before or after you’ve completed your graduation physical.  The test should take 3.5 hrs.  No preparation/studying is required, and this is not a component of the PCSM (Pilot Candidate Selection Method) score.  This test is intended to establish a baseline in the unlikely event of future brain injury and is primarily used for research purposes by the Aeromedical Consult Service.  This is a requirement only for pilot and RPA physicals and your waivers/physical cannot be sent up for certification until neuropsych testing has been completed.

  • Book via MHS GENESIS Patient Portal: See screenshot booking instructions at the end of this page - select the Primary Care Appointment type, then Air Force Medicine USAF Academy Cadet Standards location, next filter to the 7067 Cadet Neuropsych Testing provider (NOT the Graduation Physical provider).  Select desired appointment date/time.

• Timeline Considerations

  Cadets are now expected to submit AFSC match preferences to USAFA/A1 (Cadet Personnel & Assignments) early in the winter semester of their C2C year, which means only half the class is likely to have been seen for their grad physical and to have been provided a realistic expectation regarding their potential medical qualification for specific career fields.  If you are concerned that you may have medical issues that could affect your graduation or AFSC choice, please schedule an appointment as early as possible during your C2C year.  If you are undecided about what path you would like your career to follow, it is easier to start with the most extensive exam rather than having to make an additional appointment to “upgrade” later in the year. 

  • If you have an interest in pursuing SWA (Special Warfare Airman) selection, schedule your grad physical EARLY (before Thanksgiving of C2C year)!!!!  Until recently the special warfare communities accepted an AF Form 422 in lieu of a completed/certified physical in the application process for selection.  With recent transition of STO training to AETC, the 422 will no longer suffice, and having a fully complete and certified physical exam (with approved waivers) is now a prerequisite for attendance at Selection.  Processing a physical exam to certification often requires 6+ months, so ensuring your grad physical is done in the Fall semester is essential to ensuring eligibility to attend Selection.  At the moment this is a requirement only for the STO community, but CRO and TAC-P communities may soon follow suit and also require a completed/certified physical as part of the requirement for application.

• Waivers

  USAFA is NOT the certification or aeromedical waiver authority for rated or special operational duty AFSC qualifications.  That waiver authority resides with the Accession Medical Waiver Division (AMWD) under the AF Recruiting Service in San Antonio.  You do not need to “ask” for a waiver or do anything to initiate waiver other than to tell us that you have a rated/SOD AFSC preference and show up for your grad physical.  We will submit a waiver request as part of the process for obtaining certification of your physical exam unless after discussion with the flight surgeon you have decided to change your mind about pursuing rated/SOD AFSC qualification.  Note that your package cannot be sent for processing for individual conditions… rather, the package must be held until all required information is obtained (to include special studies, medical specialty consults, and/or the accomplishment of required waiver timelines) for all conditions for which waiver is required.  Timely waiver decision will not be possible without timely action on pending waiver requirements.  Your flight surgeon will discuss any waivers required with you at the time of your grad physical.  Our goal is to provide clear expectation management to the best of our ability at the time of your physical and as the waiver process unfolds as additional information is obtained.

• ETPs

  Should an aeromedical waiver be denied, appeal back to the waiver authority for a change in decision is generally possible only if incorrect information is later determined to have been submitted.  An Exception-to-Policy (ETP) process exists in which a board led by the 3-star AETC/CC may decide to accept the risk for candidates deemed “exceptional” to be allowed entry to career fields for which medical waiver was denied.  This process typically involves presentation of your case by the USAFA Superintendent to one of the ETP boards convened in the Spring of the C1C year.  ETP nomination originates from your AOC and must be supported at every level of the chain of command to include the Superintendent.  The Cadet Standards Clinic does not manage any aspect of the ETP process, to include solicitation of nominations, although we do participate in the board discussion as nonvoting members.  The ETP process is a LINE (i.e. non-medical) process.  If waiver appears unlikely, your flight surgeon may be able to address prospects for ETP approval based on past board decisions, but please recognize that such decisions have often been highly variable/unpredictable.  The requirements for cadets to be demonstrated as “exceptional” candidates have similarly varied considerably, but certainly cadets must be in good standing to receive ETP nomination consideration.  Documented medical disqualification (i.e. waiver denial) is required prior to submission of an ETP package for consideration.  “Applying” for an ETP generally just means having a discussion with your AOC regarding whether he/she would be willing to nominate you.

• Cross-Commissioning

  Cadets with an interest in cross-commissioning to a sister service (Army, Navy, Marine Corps) should start by seeking out the current USAFA liaison officer for each of those services.  Our sister services unfortunately do not use the same electronic systems for transmission and review of qualification medical exams, so you will be asked to submit paper copies of DD Forms 2807 and 2808 as part of your cross-commissioning application.  Those forms can be generated by the Cadet Standards clinic AFTER your graduation physical is accomplished, so please get your graduation physical scheduled before you need to submit your application.  Note that waivers granted by appropriate AF authorities for commissioning in the USAF/USSF or for specific AFSCs will not necessarily be honored by sister service authorities.  A separate record review and waiver process applies.

• Overseas PCS Clearance

  Cadet Standards Clinic coordinates medical clearances for cadets selected for OCONUS assignments. This process cannot begin until base assignments are released in the latter part of the C1C year.  A new physical exam is NOT required for this clearance.  Cadets with OCONUS assignments will receive three medical forms for signature:
  
  1. Medical Clearance Memo
  2. Immunizations Clearance Memo
  3. Dental Clearance Memo
  
  The medical clearance memo is signed off by Cadet Standards Clinic personnel. Cadet Standards Clinic personnel may also be able to sign the Immunization memo but that is dependent upon your IMR status and/or an assignment to Asia. The dental clearance must be signed off by the Dental Clinic. Contact Cadet Standards or call 719-333-0533 if you have questions. Should a medical condition exist that requires waiver evaluation for OCONUS PCS move, the decision authority rests with the gaining MAJCOM, not USAFA.

Medical School Applications

Applications often require submission of medical clearance paperwork.  The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) will coordinate with DoDMERB for such clearance.  Upon notification that a USAFA cadet has applied to USUHS and received an interview, the Cadet Standards Clinic will coordinate with DoDMERB to ensure that your grad physical paperwork is submitted to USUHS.  You do not need another physical.  This submission of medical documents, however, cannot occur until after you have received a USUHS interview.  Cadets applying to non-military medical schools may be asked to submit a copy of a physical examination.  The Cadet Standards Clinic can provide you a copy for you to release to the school(s), or if the school insists on use of their own forms for documentation, we can transcribe the findings of your USAFA grad physical to the medical school’s form(s).  You should not need to schedule an appointment for a new examination in Cadet Medicine or the Cadet Standards Clinic.

Frequently Asked Questions

View the USAFA Cadet Standards Frequently Asked Questions PDF for more information 

How to Utilize the MHS GENESIS Patient Portal

Submiting Paperwork/Message Cadet Standards

From the Dashboard, choose the option to Message My Provider.

In the New Message menu, select the patient that the message is on behalf of.  In the To field, search USAF Academy Cadet Standards.  Type the appropriate subject, attach the required files as appropriate and type the desired message.

Schedule Graduation Physical or Neuropsych Testing

From the Dashboard, choose the option to Schedule an Appointment



Select the option to Schedule a New Appointment.  From there, choose the patient that this request is on behalf as well as the Primary Care (Military, Family Medicine, Women’s Health) Appointment option in the field Choose a reason for your visit, then Search.



Next, choose the location of Air Force Medicine USAF Academy Cadet Standards.



For Graduation Physicals, filter to the 7067 AFA Graduation Physical Provider.  Select the appropriate date/time as desired.  For Neuropsych Testing, filter to the 7067 Cadet Neuropsych Testing provider.  Select the appropriate date/time as desired.



Provide all applicable details in the Review and Schedule Appointment menu. Once all details are entered, click the blue button to Schedule Appointment.