Welcome to the 673 Medical Group's Joint War Fighter Refractive Surgery Center!

We are located on the second floor of the DoD-VA Joint Venture Hospital on the Elmendorf side of JBER. We opened in August 2011 and offer two quality refractive surgery options, PRK and LASIK, for Active Duty members across all branches of the military (Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, & Coast Guard). We provide vision correction surgery in order to reduce dependency on glasses and our goal is to enhance vision and mission readiness for the war fighter. Refractive surgery is only offered for Active Duty members at this time.

                   The Refractive Surgery Team
                   673d ABW/MDG/MSGS/SGCUE
                   5955 Zeamer Ave
                  Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, AK 99506

All Active Duty members who meet the following minimum requirements may apply for refractive surgery.

  - Member must be 21 years of age.
  - Member must meet retainability requirement from date of surgery.
      o AF - 6 months
      o Navy, Marines, Coast Guard - 12 months
      o Army - 18 months
  - Member must not be tasked to deploy for 4 months from date of surgery.
  - Member must not PCS for 6 months following surgery.

Application Process

You will need to submit all of the following forms to our center before a pre-operative evaluation can be scheduled. Please ensure all forms are legible.

     Commander's authorization (Army form) (Air Force & Navy components form)
           - ONLY the Commander's Authorization needs to be routed up your respective Chain of Command.
     The "JBER Patient Information" sheet
     Managed Care Agreement
               -ONLY complete this form if you will obtain post surgical care at a location other than JBER. Contact your local optometrist to complete bottom portion.

Guard and Reserve Members: Submit Active Duty orders that meet retainability requirements.

You must have had a stable eyeglass prescription for at least 1 year. If your prescription has never been checked by an optometrist at a military clinic, please submit a copy of an eye exam or glasses prescription from your civilian eye care provider. Note, military entrance exams do not fulfill this requirement.
 

Please scan and email all forms to:
673refractive.surgeryclinic@us.af.mil

Once the above forms have been received electronically, we will notify you to schedule a pre-operative evaluation at the JBER Refractive Surgery Center.

Important Details about the Refractive Surgery Process

Following your pre-operative evaluation, if you are deemed a good candidate for surgery, your surgical date will be scheduled.

The pre-operative evaluation can be a long appointment (~3hrs). Your eyes will be dilated, near vision will be blurry, and you will be light sensitive for 1-3 days. It is extremely important you do not wear contact lenses 30 days prior to this appointment and 30 days prior to surgery or your appointments may need to be rescheduled due to corneal changes that occur from contact lens use.

The day prior to surgery, plan to attend a group surgical consent briefing. You will also need to pick up your post-operative medicines at the pharmacy and bring these to the briefing.

Plan to arrange for a driver the day of surgery, post operative day 1 and post operative day 5 visits.

You will be placed on convalescent leave for approximately one week from date of surgery to allow for post-operative administration of medicine and healing. This is a time for convalescence and not vacation, home/work projects, school work, etc. Intensive eye activity after surgery can adversely impact your result. Audiobooks are recommended. Your leave forms should be taken to your unit for signature prior to surgery. These will be given to you at the group surgical consent briefing.

After surgery, you will be placed on a profile annotating the following:

        i. No field duty, No operating GOV's, No chemical training, No water sports (includes hot tub/ sauna) or face camouflage for 30 days after surgery.
        ii. Refrain from unit PT for 30 days post-op. Members may resume individual exercise regimens approximately 1 week after surgery.
        iii. Sunglasses for 1 year after surgery when exposed to UV light.

AF Aviators/flying status career fields must obtain additional approval from the USAF Aviation Program manager prior to proceeding with surgery. This can be accomplished through the JBER Refractive Surgery Center after your pre-op exam.

Our commitment to a successful post-operative result does not end with the day of surgery. You will be seen at post-op day 1 (surgeon dependent), post-op day 5, post op months 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12. Again, anticipate a driver for the day 1 and 5 visits. Compliance with these visits and your post-operative medications is expected.

ALLEGRETTO WAVE™ EYE-Q Patient Information Booklet:

Nearsightedness

Farsightedness

Mixed Astigmatism