Can we serve in the Military after gastric bypass?

Hi. Can anyone tell me if after gastric bypass does the military allow us to serve? I'm well on my way to reaching my weightloss goal, but can't get a straight answer out of a recruiter! 
Thanks for you input! And, if there are any specific websites related to this topic, please let me know. Have a great day!
Laurie

I've seen this asked before and it seems to me the answer is no.  I believe, and don't quote me on this, that any type of weight loss surgery is a permanant DQ to join the military.

Thank you....I thought I had seen that before as well, but I can't find it in writing anywhere!

No you absoluty can not join the military after Surgery. Our special dietary needs are the show stoppers the MRE's (meals ready to eat) are HIGH HIGH carbs and they can't accomidate our needs.

Nope. Having your guts altered means, in the mind of the military machine, that you have a permanent gastrointestinal medical condition that is severe enough to disqualify you from military service.

According to  AR40-501 Standards of Medical Fitness

"(2) History of open or laparoscopic abdominal surgery during the preceding 6 months (P54) is disqualifying.

i. Other.

History of any gastrointestinal procedure for the control of obesity is disqualifying.   Artificial openings, including, but not limited to ostomy (V44), are disqualifying. 

Well that sucks ..   Mighty choosey for a military that claims they have such a shortfall at present! ..   I don't see why banders or even VSGers should be disqualified, since they don't have special supp. requirements or high protein needs (i.e. no malabsorption problems)  ..  Looks like even if the WLSer had their surgery reversed they would still be "disqualified" under this standard, as well  ..

  FYI, I see where the enlistment age was recently raised to 45 for some persons with prior military experience ..

OMG!!! An AR number!! I can't tell you how strange it is for me to see that on here. Thanks for posting.

Hi Laurie,
I have been looking this up myself over the past couple days, more as a long-term goal for myself since I haven't had the surgery yet, but I did run across this page http://www.military.com/Recruiting/Content/0,13898,rec_step07_DQ_medical,,00.html which lists all the Medical Disqualifications for the Army. I found it completely by accident since this is not information you seem to be able to Google. One thing you should also keep in mind is that the Military recruiters have been known to look the other way when it comes to certain things, and maybe this is one of those things. You would really need to speak to a recruiter to be sure... or at least that's what their websites say.

Some of the reasons I can think of for the disqualification would be B12 injections, iron supplements, the need for a high-protein diet that is low in carbs, etc. Obviously in times of war it would be hard to get access to these things on a regular basis.

Another thing to check into is that these are specifically the Army's standards that I found the link for, and another branch of the Military may have different standards, like the Navy, since you wouldn't be so much "in the trenches" as you would be on a carrier vessel at sea, which is like a floating city and obviously a much more controlled environment. The website specifically says that the standards "generally apply to all other branches..." but it's something worth looking into.

Please let me know if you find any additional information.

Thanks,

like the Navy, since you wouldn't be so much "in the trenches" as you would be on a carrier vessel at sea, which is like a floating city and obviously a much more controlled environment.

Not necessarily. The navy can be sent anywhere. We have them all over the camp I work at.