# flat feet as excuse from U.S. military service **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 22, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-feet-as-excuse-from-u-s-military-service/251583 "2004-06-22T05:06:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-feet-as-excuse-from-u-s-military-service/251583/21 "2017-02-13T00:27:53Z")
this has nothing to do with the army. . .i had flat feet as a kid, but now i dont. i often wonder why. mc ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-feet-as-excuse-from-u-s-military-service/251583/22 "2017-02-13T01:11:23Z")
The first time I ever heard of flat feet was on _Hogan’s Heroes_. Sergeant Schultz said flat feet was a major reason they put him guarding a POW camp. (That and he was old and fat.) ---
**Author:** ![Pilgrim\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Pilgrim\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pilgrim_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-feet-as-excuse-from-u-s-military-service/251583/23 "2017-05-16T01:25:06Z")
I don’t know if my flat feet alone would have kept me out of the service. I considered the military, but I didn’t attempt to enlist because I had a myriad of OTHER health problems. I didn’t think I’d live to be 30 let alone be pushing 50! Anyway, I wear prescription orthotics in my shoes. The arch support prevents knee and back problems. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-feet-as-excuse-from-u-s-military-service/251583/24 "2017-05-16T03:58:16Z")
I have no arch. When I get out of a swimming pool I don’t leave foot prints, I leave duck prints. So in 1980 when enlisting in the Marine Corps, at MEPS the doctor looked at my feet and frowned, and said I had flat feet. I told him I’d been on my high school’s baseball and track teams, we ran 5 miles a day and I had no problems whatsoever. And he passed me. Six years later I was going for an OCS program and going through another military physical. That doctor said I could not join the military because of my flat feet – he apparently did not know I was already in. To be clear about the situation I asked a very specific question, “You mean, I cannot join the military at all because of my flat feet?” He said, that’s right. So I asked him to wait a moment, I got my ID card from the locker room, and showed it to him. My PEBD was clearly on there, 800126. He then passed me. I guess it’s somewhat arbitrary. > [@wolfman](#): > > The restriction as been dropped from U.S. military requirments… **wolfman** wrote that back in 2004, but when was the military restriction dropped? ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-feet-as-excuse-from-u-s-military-service/251583/25 "2017-05-17T15:37:02Z")
Flat feet are not a disqualifier but high arches are. Here’s a [list from the Navy of about 75 medical condition](http://navy.army.com/info/join/medical)s that will make you ineligible for enlistment. There’s also [a pretty long list of behavioral issues](http://army.com/info/usa/disqualifiers) that can keep you out, including criminal convictions, neck tattoos, or unpaid parking tickets. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-feet-as-excuse-from-u-s-military-service/251583/26 "2017-05-17T21:26:19Z")
Standards got pretty low during the war. They drafted my one-eyed uncle. But they used him wisely. He was an auto mechanic and a good one and they had him repairing tanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-feet-as-excuse-from-u-s-military-service/251583.md?page=1)