Association of Graduates

J

jghsrunner06

2014 Cadet
5-Year Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2009
Messages
46
Just wondering, but I have some information in my packet from AFA that discusses joining the Association of Graduates with a fee of like $600 or something.

It asks if you are interested, and, if so, to all the money to gradually be taken out of your cadet pay or do one lump sum.

I was just wondering how many people do this sort of thing?
Is it pretty much what everyone does?
Is it mandatory?
 
definetely not mandatory. i didn't do it. i know they say they refund it, but my tought was i didn't want to start paying for something when i didn't even know if i would be graduating 4 years later. so i waited

now i have joined, as my parent's gave me membership as a birthday present this past year. personally, i'd wait until after commitment and then make the call.
 
We also gave the "lifelong membership" to our cadet as a gift this past year -it was not something he was particularly excited about at this point in his life, and the $ they want from the monthly paycheck was already "allocated" in his budget for pizza etc. But we feel that this is something that he will grow to appreciate over time, and that will become more valuable to him in the future. The AOG allowed us to pay over 4 months or something, so it was not a huge hit to our budget either.
 
I was recently speaking to two (95 & 96) grads (married) who wanted to mentor my DS. They brought up this subject, saying it was a very good investment, cheaper fee if bought now. AOG helps fund alot of cadet building improvements and such. The other reason mentioned is that the AOG sponser/promote job fairs to businesses for the benifit of Academy Grads only.

I have not researched this myself, but I always take highly the recommendations of those who have traveled the road before me(DS) and is wiser for it.

A good investment for the future.
 
jghsrunner06 said:
So, overall, what are the benefits of obtaining a membership?
Click to expand...

You'll get the quarterly edition of Checkpoints and support the organization that helps fund many activities. I went ahead and signed up but know plenty that didn't.
 
We bought the lifetime membership for our son and also contribute to the Sabre Society ourselves. The AOG helps to support a number of programs not funded by the federal government. For those of you in 2014 - your parents will spend hours this summer going through the latest update from Webguy. That first Parent's Weekend just after my father got a cardiac stent and my Mom was getting frail the AOG arranged for a private tour of the cadet area for my parents - Webguy himself picked them up in a van and got them up to the Tzo using an elevator in the back of the library. My Mom has since passed - but it was a real treat for them - made possible by the AOG. I will always be grateful to the AOG for this courtesy extended to a nobody parent of a 2011 cadet from Pennsylvania. Needless to say we continue to give annually.
 
as for the value, part of the reason my parents bought it for me is my dad is a grad. he started subsricibing annually after graduation because he figured he'd use it some and then stop. 25 years later he's still buying annual membership, so getting the lifetime one definitely pays off in the long run.
 
I think it's one of those things you won't see the benefits of til later, but if you do it now out of your paycheck you'll be happy you did later when it would have cost more. If you elect to pay for it at the beginning you'll really never miss the money; sure it's money you could spend on pizza and stuff, but if you think of it as an investment for the future you can easily justify it. Of course if mom & dad will get it for you, that's even better.
Checkpoints is a pretty good magazine with interesting articles and class news updates.
Getting the AOG discount now on all those purchases you make to "show off" being at the academy is nice too.
 
I had them take it out of the pay and did not give it another thought. The AOG is a great organization that does a TON for the cadet wing. Take advantage of the cheaper rate now, and you will use it when you graduate.

You may be wondering if you will see a deduction in your take home pay and that could be some of the reason for the question. Things could be WAY different now, but when I was a cadet - we had a magic money account.

In 1995, the monthly pay was fixed - as a 4* we got $60 a month ( it is MORE now). You really earned more than that and the overage went into what we commonly called your magic money account. Things like books and uniforms and stuff came out of that fund. When you were about to graduate, you got a check for whatever was left over in the account. It was only then did you see how buying stuff at the uniform replacement store really ate away at what you could have been saving.

For us - the financial impact of signing up for the AOG at in-processing was 4 years down the road and we had long forgotten about it when we saw the magic money check.

Now, you get the money for books in your check and then pay for them out of your pocket. There are a host of other changes to the pay system that are in the cadet's best interest. I don't mean to derail your thread, but wanted to provide insight as to why the financial impact may not be as great in the short term.

Good luck!
 
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