It appears he has a great cranium on his shoulders. He will be fine.
~ A favorite quote of mine from a movie
~~Everything will be all right in the end... if it's not all right then it's not yet the end.
I am a little confused with your ALO comment. I don't know any ALO that interfered with the nomination process. My point was the nomination process is part of the appointment process. He can be a superstar in his school, district, but no MOC nomination equates to no appointment.
~ ALO rec. is part of the WCS. 2 different things. You are confusing ALO rec. with MOC nomination.
~~ If that is response to my post about him as a BGO, you misread it. The point was, you and everyone else are superstars. Welcome to this world! Now tell me what separates you from them?
In his (cousin) harsh terms, what makes you the special snowflake? All of you are at the very least top 5/10%. You all have honors/AP/IBs. All of you are in athletics, and many are also Eagle Scout. NHS President. PT jobs. Hundreds of volunteer hours.
It is called WCS for a reason. Have you stopped and looked at the incoming class?
~ I truly believe he is strong right now, but nobody is psychic and can see his future.
I am going to be a Mom right now and disagree with one part of your post
I honestly haven't pushed him into any of this except Civil Air Patrol,
Maybe he will love it, maybe he won't. However, you state he has no time on his hand and that appears you are forcing more time away from home, because in some way you think it shows him something about military life.
~ That is like saying JROTC is going to help for ROTC scholarship or USAFA. Or the SAs are showing him the AD lifestyle.
~~ You don't see ADAF doing mandatory PT everyday. You don't see USAFA pilots getting fighters at a higher rate than any other commissioning source. You don't see ADAF having Generals only from USAFA. What you do see is success based on the person, regardless if their background.
I really am not trying to be harsh. I am just trying to highlight that HS to college is different. The slate is wiped clean. Just like it is after you commission.
OFF TOPIC
Just me, but I think we place such a weight on our kids to be competitive for acceptance that our children are no longer kids. They work more hours everyday than their parents. Being a kid no longer exists starting at the age of 12. It is all about, getting into a top notch college. Hanging out with friends at the pool is no longer an option, they must be volunteering somewhere, if not volunteering they better be in a sport summer camp. Playing FB because it was fun, is now a yearly program. Studying for SATs are no longer just your junior/senior year, it is starting in the end of your 8th grade.
I don't get it. I expect that the next generation will either resent us, or start forcing our grandchildren to start this as 6 year olds.
JMPO.