I am a huge fan of the USNA SWO selection night event. It is a visual demonstration of the meritocracy Service Academies can be, and should be in my opinion. I understand the current process for USAFA to be the "Dream Sheet" where you send in your preferences and are subject to order of merit, your preferences, and needs of the Air Force.
In 1999 it was the true meritocracy I wanted when I picked USAFA as my destination - we walked into Fairchild Hall, in a line based on order of merit, and walked into the large theater (F1???) and every AFSC was shown on the screen. It had numbers of slots associated with each role. If there was not a degree requirement for the role (like chemist), you could take whatever was available when you got to the front of the line. In real-time, numbers would tick down. IT WAS AWESOME. You truly had a sense of getting what you earned, and an anxiety of was your performance the prior 3.5 years enough to get the career you had hoped for. If you wanted something that was no longer on the board, you could look no further than yourself as to why you were sitting in the slot you were - and the guy/girl who beat you to it, beat you out fair and square in overall order of merit (academic, military, and physical fitness). Several weeks after AFSC selection, the base list for each role came out and the process repeated itself. This time, order of merit within each AFSC. I want to say I was 16 of 40 communications officers. Early off the board were international assignments, and then head scratchers like Korea or a UPT base (presumably to co-locate with a future spouse). I wanted a big city or something close to a big city like DC or Atlanta and the student in front of me took the last DC slot. With each pick, groans went out from those still waiting as their list of remaining options were being shaped by those in front of them. I took the last GA slot and with it went another round of "ugh" from those still waiting to select.
