Airmen need commander approval before eye surgery

Beth Young
75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Advancements in laser eye surgeries have made it possible to get rid of a lifetime of eye glasses and contact lenses in one procedure, but before military members talk to the eye doctor, they need to talk to their commander.

“Because it is so easy to do, they don’t think of it as a surgery,” said Maj. (Dr.) Marvin Acquistapace, 75th Optometry Flight commander. “It hasn’t been really frequent but there have been several cases where people have gotten refractive surgery done on the civilian side, and it impacted their ability to be deployed.”

Because an adverse outcome or an extended recovery time could make them non-deployable, military members must get written approval from their squadron commander before getting any type of laser eye surgery, he said

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