Asking for Feedback

Insider,

I had a question regarding the Travel orders. According to my DS he received notice on the portal that he needed to bring 3 copies of the travel orders. He also said the last form on the portal was an authorization to travel.

Is the travel order the same as the Authorization to travel?

Does he need to bring 3 copies as originally stated? I don't believe it is listed on the Checklist.

Rocko

Rocko raises a good question. DS mentioned last night that there were other documents that had originally been requested to be hand carried but were not included on the checklist. He rattled off several, but the Tattoo/Brand, Travel Orders, and maybe Armed Forces Bank come to mind, but not certain. I just advised him to carry a second envelope with any document he thinks he may need. A few extra pages on top of that SF86 isn't going to weigh much.
 
It would be nice to have an item for final high school transcript received on the portal page. This way it can be verified, as snafus do happen. The USAFA admissions reps probably could do without all the emails asking if the final transcript has been received.
 
I propose:
CLAP (Candidate Long Acceptance Portal)
POOP (Pursue Other Opportunities Portal)


I don't thin I could take reading this:

"Yes! I got the CLAP today guys!"

And:

"I have to leave the portals talkers club guys, woke up to find the POOP sitting there for me..."

:yllol::yllol:
 
Rocko raises a good question. DS mentioned last night that there were other documents that had originally been requested to be hand carried but were not included on the checklist. He rattled off several, but the Tattoo/Brand, Travel Orders, and maybe Armed Forces Bank come to mind, but not certain. I just advised him to carry a second envelope with any document he thinks he may need. A few extra pages on top of that SF86 isn't going to weigh much.

The only document you list here that is to be hand-carried is the travel order (and it is available in the "mailbox" -- it never appeared in the appointee kit). The Tattoo form and the Bank signature card have to be physically sent to USAFA *beforehand*.

Insider
 
It would be nice to have an item for final high school transcript received on the portal page. This way it can be verified, as snafus do happen. The USAFA admissions reps probably could do without all the emails asking if the final transcript has been received.

USAFA is not extremely concerned with final HS transcripts (which is why it doesn't appear). It would be very unusual for an appointment to be rescinded because of a HS transcript (but we have already had several rescinded for unsatisfactory college transcripts). Also, some high schools (particularly in the NE) don't finish in time to send transcripts.

We do want them but don't consider them a requirement for in-processing (hence they do not appear on the checklist). College transcripts, on the other hand, *must* be received.

Insider
 
Insider,

I had a question regarding the Travel orders. According to my DS he received notice on the portal that he needed to bring 3 copies of the travel orders. He also said the last form on the portal was an authorization to travel.

Is the travel order the same as the Authorization to travel?

Does he need to bring 3 copies as originally stated? I don't believe it is listed on the Checklist.

Rocko

Truthfully, no. USAFA already has copies of the travel orders in the right hands for processing, and the orders are pre-placed in the personnel files. The main reason we recommend bringing copies is that while traveling government orders can be particularly useful (you may be able to have bag fees waived and you receive priority over others for available seats should the flight be overbooked). Appointees will not need a copy of their orders during in-processing since they are already in their records -- that's why they don't appear on the checklist.

Insider
 
DD doesn't have an account here, so I am recording her thoughts. We agree about what was said about about immunizations. DD said that she actually liked that the paperwork was released over time instead of in bulk, but the release time could have begun earlier, which won't be a problem next year. The security clearance PDF was a challenge for her as well; it kept freezing up. She was definitely happy that most things were able to be submitted electronically.

Feedback:
1. The Instructions to Appointees book wasn't in alignment with the information on the portal.
2. More specificity on the measurements would be helpful. Even the professionals measured differently, creating more confusion.
3. Information by email was difficult. Who received which emails seemed kind of random. Some appointees would get certain announcements by email and others didn't.
4. The May 22 text, saying that the appointee kit was incomplete, send panic through the group because it was stated that their appointment was in danger. However, not everything was even available at that point on the portal, so there was nothing that could be done to complete the appointee kit at that time.

Thank you for the feedback. We are aware that the Instructions to Appointees had issues (it will be completely revamped for next year). Cadet Issue has relayed your sentiments about the measurements (because of phone calls they received). The form is exactly as they asked so they are are going to tweak it for next year based on the feedback.

I guess I don't understand your comment about inconsistent emails as they are automatically generated. I suppose it could be that we typically don't send reminders to appointees that are already done with their kits.

The text you refer to was an experiment. The completion rate for the "available" forms was alarmingly low at the time. The "panic" was intentional (and did result in a very large spike in activity) but in our review we acknowledge the wording was too strong. The original intended message was not nearly as frightening but we had to cull the text to meet length restrictions (and the final product was later deemed to be too strong). In hindsight we believe that it was simply too early for that tactic, however. By the actual deadline (15 June) the form completion rate hit 99.58%. We won't repeat that tactic next year.

Thanks again... the feedback is definitely useful!

Insider
 
Money Matters and Earlier Vaccines

I am an accepted Class of 2018 appointee. For the most part, I found the online system to be very smooth. I appreciate the "release as you complete" mechanism, as being presented with ALL the forms at once might be overwhelming.

However, I think the Immunization form could be released sooner...perhaps around February. Having it release in May and scrambling to find local doctors providing some of the required vaccines would have been a little less frantic if done earlier in the year. It was made even more so with the "exotic-ness" of some of the vaccines (there was only ONE doctor with an adult polio vaccine on hand in my area), and the fact (which several doctors informed me of upon inquiry) that there was a national shortage of skin TB tests.

These difficulties were (thankfully) overcome, but would have been significantly more easy to handle if I had more time to get the vaccines. Releasing the vaccine form in February would give appointees 5 months before entry to schedule all the necessary appointments and gather needed paperwork (if they don't have all of it), while still adhering to the "within 6 months of entry" rule some vaccines had.

Also, there's the money matters. We're REQUIRED to activate an Armed Forces Bank account, and we receive a follow up email from them upon successful processing of these papers. HOWEVER, we are not given our account information so as to access the online banking portion of the account prior to our departure for Beast.

This is a dilemma I'm currently finding to be highly stressful, as I'd like to take the funds from my current bank account and move them to my Armed Forces bank account, so as to have access to them on/near/before the beginning of the Academic year. Traveler's checks in the sum I'd like to transfer are simply not a good idea, neither is combining the funds into a debit-card-accessible checking account. What other options do I have available to transfer civilian money into a military bank before Academics begin?

Also, there's the matter of the "advance of pay" ("an interest free government loan") used to cover mandatory cadet expenses. It is projected in the handbook (Pages 35-36) that a cadet's annual salary is $12,000 dollars, while the mandatory expenses of the first year total $10,000, and that this money will be automatically deducted from the cadet's pay. Naturally, I would like to be rid of the loan as quickly as possible. However, nowhere in the handbook (or anywhere else) is it mentioned if we can use lump sums of money to pay it off more quickly. I have been saving money with the intention to pay down the $10,000 dollars, but there's no guidance in the handbook as to how one would go about doing this, which is rather important.

As bright as these appointees are, many of them are just simple kids with great potential, and have no idea how to do many of the things that adults may take for granted, such as transferring funds between banks or paying off loans. Matters like this are not addressed anywhere in the cadet handbook or online portal information, and while it may be considered "minutia", they are very important and highly stressful things for a young mind to consider.




If changes are to be made, I think adding the following would be most beneficial:
- Applying for the Armed Forces Bank account online, and sending a print out showing the process has been completed (along with the required copy of a photo ID)
OR
Sending appointees an email with login information to the online portion of the Armed Forces Bank upon successful processing of their registration paperwork.

- Including more information in the "Instructions to Appointees" handbook on the advance of pay loan, with particular attention to paying the loan down more quickly using personal money

- Opening the Immunizations form in February instead of late May

- Lessening the use of red text on the portal (perhaps blue or orange would be better; still eye-catching, but not as alarmingly so as red)
 
I agree with most, if not all that Kiowa said!

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One thing I'd like to add is that sometimes after I would complete a form and receive a black check confirming completion, it would turn back into a submit button meaning it was not processed or received correctly. This usually resulted in a call to my counselor. She never really gave me an answer. If the check went away intentionally, I would appreciate a message as to why, in case I had to correct something. If this simply happened due to error, that would be something requiring attention. Good system, although it doesnt look as good as West Point's. :rolleyes:

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I would like to be able to see the forms again after they are submitted and the check mark is received. Not to modify them, but just to refer to them. Currently, once submitted, they are gone forever. Could a "View" button, or something along those lines, be added along with the check mark?
 
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