Let those who want to serve, serve, medical issues notwithstanding. Basic training can filter out those who are physically incapable of serving. The medical should only be done after that, to weed out certain issues like epilepsy, which may not be revealed during basic but could pose a liability when deployed.
It doesn't serve anyone to proceed with training if there's a disqualifying condition. We bear the same costs only to then decline to admit the candidate, and for that individual, it is a tremendous waste of time, energy, and opportunity.
Is eight weeks of basic training really that much higher in cost compared to a comprehensive medical work-up? The effort is mostly borne by the candidate. I'd wager the latter is significantly more expensive to the military.
