Can't join Fleet Air Arm due to "Hearing problems". Is this common?
First off I will acknowlage that this thread should probably be in the health and medical section but I suspect that people involved in military aviation, the ones most likley to have encountered this problem, don't frequent it too often and I would quite like their opinions.
I was recently told by the in house doctor at my local Armed Forces Careers Office that I could not join the Fleet Air Arm, Army Air Corps or the Royal Air Force due to my failing of their hearing test. I can't remember the specifics (In hindsight i maybe should have written my results down) but to be a pilot or observer i needed to be 'group/grade' one in both ears. Whilst i was group/grade one in my right ear, my left ear was half way into group/grade two hearing. This came as a total shock to me because i have never had any problems with my hearing, to me my hearing is fine, and to be told that I cant be a pilot because of it was devestating.
I guess I'm asking for advice really. To me this seems like a silly rule, especially as I'm within the limits for joining as an Air Traffic Controller. I was just wondering how I can get around this or what I can do basically and whether anyone has ever heard of exceptions being made.
Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks