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Your PULHES rating of all 1's (or the "picket fence") is what is required for the 18X program. A broken bone would not preclude you to anything specific in your PULHES, nor does retained hardware. Fact is that for MOST enlistment choices, you must have all 1's, otherwise you would be entering the service with a permanent limitation to your assignment capability.
If the screw currently "serves no purpose", you can request a consultation with your Orthopod either directly or through your insurance / primary care doctor to see if they would remove it. This is usually not a "big" deal. Many screws serve their purpose in the civilian sector and remain in because it costs money to take them out and there is really no benefit (or need) to remove them.
Running marathons on it NOW is great - all things mechanical wear over time...the question becomes if you will be able to ruck "X" miles with it, over uneven terrain, carrying "X" pounds of team gear in 5-10 years.
The military is looking for any and all excuses to be choosy over who they let in right now. After the requirement for the "surge troops" expired, they looked / are looking at thinning the active duty force for things as small as tattoos that people were granted waivers for in order to enlist. It is a sign of the (current) times and administration.
As was previously mentioned, this one will probably last a bit longer than the last "no money fiasco" under Clinton.
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Primum non Nocere
"I have hung out in dangerous places a lot over the years, from combat zones to biker bars, and it is the weak, the unaware, or those looking for it, that usually find trouble.
Ain't no one getting out of this world alive. All you can do is try to have some choice in the way you go. Prepare yourself (and your affairs), and when your number is up, die on your feet fighting rather than on your knees. And make the SOBs pay dearly."
The Reaper-3 Sep 04
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