Background: In all countries with obligatory military service, there are circumstances in which the person can exempt from military service. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the most common ophthalmic reasons in exemption from military service.

Materials and methods: In this study, all medical records of soldiers who exempted from military service, for ophthalmic reasons, were examined according to factors such as causes of exemption, age, education level, and the interval of dispatch to exemption in a military hospital between 2007 and 2008.

Results: Among 545 exempted who were 19 to 27 years old, the most of ophthalmic reason for exemption was related to the soldiers with high school diploma or less education whose sum of the refractive errors of the two eyes was higher than 8 diopters (49.2%). Time of entry into military service until exemption in most cases was four (range: 1-118) months.

Conclusion: Myopic refractive error is the most common medical cause for exemption among soldiers with ophthalmic disorders. Thus, it seems to be necessary a complete medical examination before entry into military service to avoid wasting time and material and psychological costs.