The FAA has taken a step toward removing a duplicate medical certification requirement that has been costing both trainees and the military branches a significant amount of money each year.
Essentially, if a pilot trainee has already met the U.S. military medical examination requirements, that applicant need not obtain a third class medical normally necessary prior to the first solo flight. The move is expected to save $946,000 each year, based on a medical application cost of $437, and streamline the military’s ability to use training programs at civilian flight schools in the U.S. The proposal would cover both U.S. pilots and foreign military trainees using the U.S. programs.
Military trainees typically graduate from said programs with a private pilot certificate with instrument and multiengine ratings, all in the airplane category. This allows those applicants to move straight into military hardware without having to spend time on basic aircraft handling, procedures, and theory.
Though military pilots have already been exempt from the requirement, and in 2018, foreign pilot applicants no longer needed the duplicate certification, the exemption did not extend to those who had not yet attained official military pilot status, namely military trainees. In 2025, the U.S. Air Force petitioned to have this last segment exempted, leading to this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), which will also define those terms (“military pilot trainee” and “military pilot medical examination”) to improve clarity. The exemption will not extend to remote pilots, though the FAA welcomes comments on whether the examinations remote military pilots undergo would be equivalent to a third-class medical.
The NPRM has been published under Docket FAA 2026-9177 on August 10, and the agency seeks comment by Oct. 9, 2026.
