This is just a mother's observation but it seems that when my son asks people about the Academy (ALOs, alums, etc.) he gets lots of talk about how it's sooo difficult and he reallyyy has to want it and so on. It's the equivilant of "they're going to lock you in prison for four year because...
A lot of ALOs are commercial pilots. They're not able to check email as frequently when they're on trips. Try contacting him again. They don't mind at all.