Competitive Slate MOC Nomination Still Give Principle Nomination?

[c.long]

My Congressman does the competitive slate process for giving out nominations. But last year, a friend of mine with the same Congressman was told what rank he was out of the people recieving nominations. Does that mean that you can be given a principle nomination with the competitve slate method?

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[kinnem]

Short answer is no.

This is extracted from the USMA stickies but it works the same for USNA.

Reader's Digest version of the 3 ways that a MOC can nominate candidates:
1) Principal with Numbered Alternates:
- Candidates are listed in order of preference with a Principal nominee and then alternates numbered 1-9.
- the Principal is offered admission IF fully qualified
- if Principal is disqualified, then the 1st alternate is evaluated and offered the appointment if found qualified and so on down the list until the highest numbered alternate who is qualified is offered admission.
2) Principal with Competing Alternates:
- principal is listed with alternates 1-9 not numbered.
- the Principal is offered admission IF fully qualified
- if Principal is disqualified then the next fully qualified alternate with the highest WCS (Whole Candidate Score) is offered admission
3) Competitive:
- ten unranked names are submitted
- WP then rank orders those names according to the WCS
- the candidate who is fully qualified with the highest WCS is offered admission
- this is the most common method MOCs use

 

[Bill_The_Goat]

MOC Options: Nominees may be submitted in three categories:
1) without ranking,
2) with a principal candidate and nine ranked alternates, or
3) with a principal candidate and nine unranked alternates.

When the Member specifies a principal candidate, that individual will be appointed to a DOD academy as long as he or she meets all other admission criteria. If the principal candidate is disqualified, the service academies will appoint the first fully qualified, ranked alternate, if specified by the Member. In circumstances where Members do not specify a principal candidate or ranked alternates, one individual from among the Member’s nominees who is found to be fully qualified will be appointed by the academies to serve as a cadet.

 

[c.long]

Thank you for the info. I'm just confused about how my friend was given a rank if they do the competitive process. Maybe I misunderstood something. Either way, I should be notified of whether I recieved a nomination or not from my Congressman before the month ends. I'll try and give their office a call later today to see if I can clarify what may have happened.

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[usnabgo08]

Does that mean that you can be given a principle nomination with the competitve slate method?

That is what Principal with Competing Alternates is. A principal is designated and all others are not ranked (i.e. left to the SA to pick ANY of the remaining 9 individuals per slate). If a MOC has more than one slate, I believe they can choose the method PER slate. So one slate could be totally different from another. However, MOST MOCs only have one slate per given year.

 

[usna1985]

Agree with Bill the Goat.

An MOC can give out a principal with ranked alternates. There is a sticky in the Noms Forum that explains the various approaches.

Whether you want to describe a slate as principal with ranked alternates or simply a ranked slate is somewhat irrelevant as, in either case, the SA must start with the first person and go down the list -- giving the appointment to the first fully qualified person on that list.

However, once that appointment is given, the others remaining on the list go into the national pool (assuming they are not on another nominating slate) and there they compete as competitive alternates.

For example: Candidate #1 on the MOC's ranked slate is medically DQ. Candidate #2 is fully qualified, as are Candidates #3-#10. The SA must appoint #2, even if they consider #5 to be the best candidate. However, once #3-#10 go into the national pool, #5 probably has a better shot at getting an "at large" appointment b/c the SA considers him/her to be the best remaining candidate on this MOC's slate.