Lasik is now a widely used tool in our military to improve the safety and fighting ability of our troops. Lasik is recommended and provided to our troops in all branches of the military, from ground-based troops in the Army and Marines, to Navy and Air Force pilots.

The military has now performed over a quarter of a million laser vision correction procedures. The Department of Defense carefully monitors the results of all of their laser vision treatments. Some interesting results of the many clinical trials conducted by the Department of Defense include:

•In an evaluation of 785 Navy aviators, 89% of Navy pilots rated their ability to land on an aircraft carrier as moderately to significantly better after laser vision correction. None said it was worse after laser vision treatment. This includes difficult and dangerous nighttime aircraft carrier landings.

•Over 90 percent of marksmen had improvement in marksmanship skills after laser vision correction, a significant result given the visual precision of marksmen.

Troops who are treated with Lasik no longer need to worry about dirty, sweat-covered glasses, dirty and irritating contact lenses, or losing their glasses or contact lenses during life-threatening combat. This applies to troops on the ground, in submarines, or aviators who fly very fast and expensive fighter jets. As one Army sergeant explains, “After Lasik, our vision is always ready for combat. No worries about dirty glasses or watery contact lenses.”