This is slightly off-topic, but I can't find a better place to write this --
LDAC appears to me to be the single most important part of a cadets placement on the Order of Merit List (OML), which is a points based rank ordering from #1 to #5000, which determines, to a great extent, choice in Branch placement.
Here is the FY2011 weighted selection criteria (the points that compose the OML):
I have put categories called "Minimum Score" and "Maximum Score" to more accurately identify the range of scores.
Evaluation Category ../.. Min ../.. Max ../.. Pts. Cadet Controls
GPA ../.. 25 ../.. 40 ../.. 15
LDAC TAC Eval ../.. 0 ../.. 11.25 ../.. 11.25
LDAC Performan ../.. 0 ../.. 6.75 ../.. 6.75
LDAC Land Navi ../.. 0 ../.. 4.5 ../.. 4.5
LDAC APFT min ../.. 5.67 ../.. 9.45 ../.. 3.78
PMS MSIII CER ../.. 3 ../.. 6.75 ../.. 3.75
PMS OML ../.. 1 ../.. 4.5 ../.. 3.5
PMS Potential ../.. 1 ../.. 4.5 ../.. 3.5
PMS ECs ../.. 1 ../.. 4.5 ../.. 3.5
Language/Cultural ../.. 0 ../.. 2.25 ../.. 2.25
On-Campus Sports ../.. 0 ../.. 1.5 ../.. 1.5
APFT Campus Spr ../.. 1.42 ../.. 2.36 ../.. 0.944
APFT Campus Fall ../.. 1.01 ../.. 1.69 ../.. 0.676
Now, if you bear with me, there is a practical reason to look at the above list of points (which total to 100). Every cadet has X hours in a week to devote to study, drilling, non-ROTC community involvement, Duties within the Unit, etc. The question is this: Given the supreme importance of the OML in AD and Branch assignment, where should a cadet invest their hours to attain the highest OML?
Should a cadet spend an extra hour a week becoming a master of land navigation? Or running? On studies? Or volunteering within the Unit? Going overseas for six weeks to pick up another language? My first impression in reviewing what composes the OML is that LDAC is the single most important four weeks of a cadet's life, and the cumulative scoring while at LDAC is much more important than even GPA. I say this because though GPA is 40 of the 100 points, most colleges won't keep a student with under 2.5 GPA, which means all the cadets are really in a range from 2.5 to 4.0, a range of 15 points on the OML.
I need help, as an outsider to the system, understanding really what are the "minimum" scores awarded in the 13 categories of evaluation. I guessed on almost all except GPA. For example, in a post above somebody said a certain group at LDAC almost all failed the Land Navigation test. Does that mean they received 0 out of 4.5 possible points? If so, doesn't that have the same effect on the OML score as a reduction in GPA from 3.5 to 3.05?
I have always heard that GPA is the single most imporant part of OML, yet when I look at the above list, it looks to me like the cadet can control about 15 points of GPA, and about 25 points of LDAC. So which really is more important to the cadet trying to decide where the spend his/her time?