Flat feet can affect a person’s eligibility for military service in the United States. A doctor examines new recruits to decide if they are fit to serve. If someone has symptomatic flat feet or needs corrective footwear, they may not be eligible. This is because flat feet can lead to other foot or leg problems during training and on the battlefield.
The regulations regarding the physical requirements for admission into the military usually depend on the laws of a particular country. In the United States, for example, there are several physical conditions that can affect a person’s eligibility for military service. One of the most common topics of debate regarding this issue is whether someone can have flat feet in the military. Someone who has flat feet can serve in the military, although it depends on the severity of a person’s condition, and there are some instances where having flat feet will keep someone out of the military.
A person has flat feet when the arches of their feet flatten instead of staying arched. This condition is also called pes planus or fallen arches. This can be extremely distressing for some people, while others are able to live relatively normal lives with some corrective footwear to ensure greater comfort. The degree of severity of the condition typically indicates whether or not someone who has flat feet is eligible to serve in the military. This is usually decided by a doctor who examines new recruits for the military and decides whether or not someone is fit to serve.
Military regulations in the United States specifically state that a person with flat feet does not meet the standards of physical requirements to serve in the military in two basic cases. If someone has “symptomatic” flat feet, meaning that the condition causes the person to experience persistent and severe physical pain, then he or she cannot serve. The actual process of dropping a person’s arches may be the only time of severe pain for a person with flat feet, and if the person does not feel pain afterward, then he may join the military. Continuing pain, however, typically prevents a person from serving in the United States military.
There is a second stipulation that can prevent someone from getting flat feet in the military, which is if a person needs to wear corrective footwear. This stipulation may have some leeway, and someone wearing basic inserts may be able to serve, but prescriptive or orthopedic footwear will typically keep someone out of the military. These rules are in place because someone with flat feet may be more prone to developing other foot or leg problems, especially during the grueling marches that are often part of core training. Specialty footwear can also be difficult to maintain on the battlefield, and most military agencies don’t recruit someone who could become a hindrance in a combat situation. Since having flat feet can keep someone out of the military, it was often used as a way to avoid service by those who didn’t want to enlist.
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