As others have said; no you don't have to become a member. Also, as others have said; it is definitely a worth while organization. They are who assist in funding your son/daughter in having many opportunities away from the academy during their 4 years. They assist all the candidates with a lot of things that would normally cost more.
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When put into perspective: A one time expenditure of $700, which doesn't have to be paid all at once; and what your cadet, and you get for that money, is definitely not expensive. Not considering what you WOULD HAVE PAID if they didn't get an appointment. But if you believe that you wouldn't have had to pay ANYTHING for their education had they not received an appointment...... then it could seem to be an expensive request.
CC. If you could expand on what the AOG does for the cadets, that would be helpful.
The AOG paperwork is due by June 1st and my DS asked me "is this worth it". I've pulled up the AOG P&L statement (see
http://www.usafa.org/Documents/AOG/Financial Reports/2011 Audited Financial Statements.pdf )and I am trying to decipher what they do. I am staring at the "AOG Member Benefits" and here is what they mention: a register of graduates, member directory, email forwarding life, golf reservation, tours, shop discounts, T-Mobile discounts, visitor center discounts, Doolittle Hall Discounts, USAA MasterCard etc.
The bullets that looked more substantial were the Career Services, and Dependent Sponsorship. Each of those bullets were given a 6-8 word description. A
s an outsider looking in, it looks like fluff.
We are a non-military family so I'm leaning on your opinion based off of experience. A well written fact sheet will attract a higher amount of cadets. Without more information, I would recommend for him to sign up at $60 a year if it made sense for him in the future. With an ending net assets of $29M, I know a lot of people are convinced it is worth it. So if anyone could expand on the advantage of committing in advance to a $700 membership, I'd appreciate it.
I probably will pay the total amount if it makes sense. But the AOG didn't make a convincing reason to join using their 1 page highlight sheet. I'm sure others are feeling the same way so this is thread might be helpful to others.
Thanks!