Relevance of family military service on application

okcanup

5-Year Member
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Dec 19, 2009
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My daughter submitted her USNA application with no mention of our family's military service tradition and now, having learned the actual history, would like to add that information on the advice of one midshipman's parents. Is this helpful, can it be added and, if so, does only Navy service, particularly USNA graduates-only history, merit introduction? Finally, are we talking about only blood-related family or would it include reference to relatives by marriage who are, in fact, active members of our family who served honorably?
 
Your daughter should be able to update any aspect of her application up until the deadline (March), or whenever a decision is made wrt her application, whichever is sooner. Many applicants update their packets to include new awards/accomplishments, better test scores, and so forth. I believe that any updates need to be made through the CGO. She (not you) can ask her BGO or the CGO.

As I understand it, military service in an applicant's background is mostly seen as a measure of how much the applicant understands about attending a service academy (to be followed by their service commitment). Attending a service academy is NOT going to college. It is joining the armed forces, during which your first four years of service will be to get a high quality, college-level education. There's a big difference. A good friend of mine left West Point because he really didn't understand everything he was getting into. To show that level of understanding, it's (IMO) probably more important that the service time was by a close relative, moreso than whether it was service in the Navy.
 
As I understand it, military service in an applicant's background is mostly seen as a measure of how much the applicant understands about attending a service academy (to be followed by their service commitment).

That is true. As a general rule, the only USNA family members who really count are parents and siblings and even then it's the fact that you likely have a greater understanding of military life than the rank achieved. Maybe if your dad is the CNO . . . not naive enough to say that wouldn't make any difference. But the mere fact a parent or grandparent is an Admiral isn't determinative -- trust me on this. I've personally seen more than one Admiral's kid get rejected and many kids of alums are rejected.

Also, the "bump" you get for this is not huge. It's equivalent to attending NASS, being an Eagle Scout, being a team captain, doing really well on CFA, etc. It all adds up but military background is not given more weight than other things on your record.

So, if a parent is military, let USNA know. Probably ditto for a sibling who attended a SA or is in the military. If the relative is an uncle, grandparent, cousin, etc., it's not going to make much of a difference unless you lived with that person for an extended period of time.
 
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