What jobs in the military would be perfect for the deaf?

Steinhauer

Steinhauer

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This topic has come up elsewhere. I am dealing with some old school marines who think very poorly of the deaf (understatement) who believe the deaf and HoH have absolutely no business serving their country in the armed forces. Most of their perceptions are flawed, so I do not hold anything personally against them - they are simply acting out on what they perceive would be a liability - to them.

So, I am wondering if anyone out there could come up with a list of military jobs where the deaf would have an advantage over their hearing peers. I would think underwater construction would be one - as ASL could be used, and spoken communication could not. Well, of course, unless the hearing have radio in their scuba suits.

That is just one example - are there others?
 
Well, I know my dad was a great mechanic, so there's that. My ex-husband was in the Navy and worked on F-14 aka Tomcats and when they were on the ship they all had to wear special headphones to protect their ears because of the tremendous noise of the fighter jets. They used made up military signs to communicate.
 
Steinhauer said:
This topic has come up elsewhere. I am dealing with some old school marines who think very poorly of the deaf (understatement) who believe the deaf and HoH have absolutely no business serving their country in the armed forces. Most of their perceptions are flawed, so I do not hold anything personally against them - they are simply acting out on what they perceive would be a liability - to them.

So, I am wondering if anyone out there could come up with a list of military jobs where the deaf would have an advantage over their hearing peers. I would think underwater construction would be one - as ASL could be used, and spoken communication could not. Well, of course, unless the hearing have radio in their scuba suits.

That is just one example - are there others?
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Surely some REMF paperwork positions? Logistics, contracts, accounting? Does the military have accountants?
 
MichaelS said:
Surely some REMF paperwork positions? Logistics, contracts, accounting? Does the military have accountants?
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I think so. Didn't they routinely pay 450 dollars for hammers a while back? :lol:
 
Steinhauer said:
...So, I am wondering if anyone out there could come up with a list of military jobs where the deaf would have an advantage over their hearing peers. I would think underwater construction would be one - as ASL could be used, and spoken communication could not. Well, of course, unless the hearing have radio in their scuba suits....
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You might like to look at this:

Navy Diver : Special Operations : Careers & Jobs : Navy.com

(The video clips are captioned.)
 
My guess is that a deaf person would have far better luck at a long career if they thought about DoD (or Nat'l Security Agency, or CIA, or other defense-related agencies) if they thought in terms of a civilian career rather than military. The Federal gov't is one of the better employers around in terms of what they will do regarding accessibility issues.

The military itself, not so much - and rightfully so, IMHO. If you're too short, too tall, too thin, too fat, not physically capable of standing up to basic training for any reason, you're not going to have a career in the military. It's a physically demanding job; not everyone is cut out for it.

Civilian support jobs have way more flexibility. Not to mention less risk of getting your legs blown off, or worse.
 
I can ask my hubby who is a former Marine. Right now, he is at work.

I have to admit, there are times his attitudes about deaf people serving in the military does suck. He does have strong opinions against deaf people serving in the miliary and in the past, we have gotten into arguments about it hence why we havent touched that subject in years. However, I think he has mellowed out more so I will bring it up with him when we arent busy doing crap around the house. lol
 
Great thread! My father is military, one brother was in the air force and the other is a police officer. I wanted to join the military to carry on the family tradition. It means the world to me to do what my brothers and father do ( I'm the only girl in the family ). I was denied after 9/11 though...

I asked my brother once about serving in the police force and this could apply to military as well. Doing intelligence work, eavesdropping, reading a persons body language or lips on video tape. He said that the FBI would have good use for me since they train hearing people to read body language and being that mine comes naturally ( everyone can but I think ours is more developed) it can be used in that area.

Deaf spy...how cool would that be?
 
I do have a college degree in criminal justice but just haven't had the galls to go all the way just yet. I tried to join the atlanta PD several years ago and took the all of the tests required minus the physical and hearing test and passed with flying colors. I left the building because I knew I would not pass the hearing test. They didnt know I was Deaf and the sergent begged me to stay and gave me his card if I changed my mind. I regret running out like a chicken....I could be ( maybe not I'll never know ) an officer right now.
 
Going to have to agree with Beach Girl on this one. It doesn't matter what MOS you choose, each branch has hearing standards and if you don't meet those standards, well, you can't join, simple as that.

Unfair, but true.
 
There are deaf people working as civil servant at NSA, CIA, DIA, FBI, etc. You can meet them at the NTC/DHHIG conference biannually. And beach girl, never write "my guess". Network, network and network....


Beach girl said:
My guess is that a deaf person would have far better luck at a long career if they thought about DoD (or Nat'l Security Agency, or CIA, or other defense-related agencies) if they thought in terms of a civilian career rather than military. The Federal gov't is one of the better employers around in terms of what they will do regarding accessibility issues.

The military itself, not so much - and rightfully so, IMHO. If you're too short, too tall, too thin, too fat, not physically capable of standing up to basic training for any reason, you're not going to have a career in the military. It's a physically demanding job; not everyone is cut out for it.

Civilian support jobs have way more flexibility. Not to mention less risk of getting your legs blown off, or worse.
Click to expand...
 
Steinhauer said:
This topic has come up elsewhere. I am dealing with some old school marines who think very poorly of the deaf (understatement) who believe the deaf and HoH have absolutely no business serving their country in the armed forces. Most of their perceptions are flawed, so I do not hold anything personally against them - they are simply acting out on what they perceive would be a liability - to them.

So, I am wondering if anyone out there could come up with a list of military jobs where the deaf would have an advantage over their hearing peers. I would think underwater construction would be one - as ASL could be used, and spoken communication could not. Well, of course, unless the hearing have radio in their scuba suits.

That is just one example - are there others?
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intelligence. logistics. support. engineering. analysis.

chance is... your old school marines or their young friends have been assisted by a deaf civilian personnel in the time of needs at least once.
 
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