The United States military generally allows service members to use contact lenses, but their wear is subject to regulations driven by operational safety and medical readiness concerns. While contacts offer visual advantages over glasses, their use is heavily restricted in training and deployed environments due to inherent logistical and health risks. Governing policies vary significantly depending on the military branch, the service member’s job, and the physical environment. These regulations ensure corrective lenses never compromise a service member’s ability to perform duties effectively or safely.
General Regulations for Contact Lens Use
Service-wide policy dictates that all personnel who use contact lenses must maintain strict hygiene to prevent ocular complications. The most significant baseline rule is the requirement to possess a current pair of military-issue prescription glasses as a mandatory backup for all duties. Contact lenses must be clear and non-cosmetic; the use of tinted or colored lenses not medically prescribed is prohibited while in uniform.
The military strongly discourages continuous-wear lenses, favoring daily disposable lenses whenever possible to minimize infection risk. Daily disposables eliminate the need for cleaning and storage solutions, which are often unavailable in field conditions. However, a “flexible extended-wear” regimen may be authorized for specific missions where continuous vision is necessary.
Continuous wear significantly raises the risk of ulcerative keratitis, making spectacles the default corrective lens for all routine activities. Compliance with strict hygiene and wear-time rules is mandatory to maintain corneal health.
Branch-Specific Policies and Waivers
While the Department of Defense sets the overarching standard, each branch implements policies tailored to its primary mission set, especially for high-risk occupations. For example, the Navy and Marine Corps have developed a formal Soft Contact Lens Program for designated aviators. This program facilitates the use of soft contact lenses during flight duties, often without requiring a formal waiver, provided the service member meets specific, stringent visual and medical requirements.
The Army and Air Force historically maintained stricter prohibitions, particularly for aircrew, though policies have evolved with modern lens technology. For all branches, specialized roles like aviation and Special Operations Forces (SOF) maintain the most rigorous vision standards and strict controls on contact lens use. Personnel in these career fields often require a specific medical waiver, endorsed by their commander and approved by the Surgeon General’s office, to use contacts.
The waiver process is an extensive medical and operational review assessing the service member’s ability to tolerate lenses under mission stressors. These stricter standards relate directly to the unforgiving nature of their environments, where a contact lens complication could have catastrophic consequences. The general attitude is that contacts are only permitted if they actively enhance mission performance without introducing unacceptable risk.
Restrictions During Field Operations and Deployment
Contact lenses are explicitly prohibited in nearly all field training exercises, combat deployments, and basic training environments. This blanket restriction stems from the inability to maintain the sterile conditions necessary for safe contact lens wear. Environments with high particulate matter, such as desert sand or dust, dramatically increase the risk of foreign bodies becoming trapped under the lens.
This debris can cause corneal abrasions, creating an entry point for bacteria and other pathogens. The most serious risk is microbial keratitis, a severe corneal infection that can be caused by organisms like Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Acanthamoeba. Microbial keratitis can lead to permanent corneal scarring and significant loss of vision.
Furthermore, contact lenses are strictly forbidden in chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) training, such as the gas chamber. Certain chemical agents and even tear gas can bind to the soft lens material, trapping the irritant against the eye’s surface and potentially causing severe, long-term damage. In these austere or contaminated environments, the logistical burden of maintaining sterile lens solutions and clean hands is impossible to meet, making glasses the only authorized corrective option.
Surgical Vision Correction Options
The military actively encourages and often covers the cost of refractive eye surgery, viewing it as a superior readiness solution compared to long-term contact lens use. This preference is formalized under the Warfighter Refractive Eye Surgery Program, which aims to eliminate dependence on glasses and contacts in high-risk operational settings. The Department of Defense Instruction 6130.03 governs the medical standards for service, including post-surgical requirements.
While both Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) and Photo-Refractive Keratectomy (PRK) are generally accepted, PRK is often the preferred procedure for personnel in combat and aviation roles. This preference is due to a key structural difference: PRK does not create a corneal flap. The flap created during LASIK can potentially be dislodged by blast pressure, high-G forces, or blunt trauma, creating a medical emergency in the field.
Because PRK avoids this flap complication, it is considered the more robust and stable option for warfighters. By undergoing surgery, service members remove the logistical and medical hazards associated with corrective eyewear, thereby enhancing their personal and unit readiness.