Urgent and Interesting Situation

eligarrard15

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Dec 23, 2014
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I applied for only the Air Force Academy and interviewed for a congressional nomination. I did not receive a nomination to the AFA, but somehow received the principal nomination to West Point! I immediately submitted the pre- candidate questionnaire, and was given candidate portal access. My application has not been reviewed, and so information regarding completing the supporting documentation- CFA/Interview/Ect. has not given to me. Can someone please tell me my chances of completing all of this on time( one month remaining), and my chances of appointment with my principal nomination? Thank you very much!
 
Principal nomination is what you make of it. You are guaranteed a spot. You could finish in a month, but do you really want to? If you want Air Force, politely decline and inform your MOC that you will be reapplying next year for a nomination. I'm sure there is another candidate in your area second on the list that would give anything to go to usma.


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I would double check with your moc to ensure this isn't in error, since you didn't list WP as an option. Is you are interested, DoDMERB paperwork is good for both and afa will send your cfa. Your essays for afa can be tweaked, and your teachers will likely do a reference after Christmas. There's no reason you cannot be finished with time to spare.
 
I would double check with your moc to ensure this isn't in error, since you didn't list WP as an option. Is you are interested, DoDMERB paperwork is good for both and afa will send your cfa. Your essays for afa can be tweaked, and your teachers will likely do a reference after Christmas. There's no reason you cannot be finished with time to spare.

When our DS got his nomination letter from the MOC, it listed that he had gotten nomination to two academies, one he had applied to and another one he had not applied to, nor requested. Then the appointments, showed up on the portals for the 2 academies he had applied to. He contacted the MOC coordinator who let him know that an error was made in the letter they had sent out.
 
The first question is - how do you feel about being an Army officer?
If you will always be yearning to be an USAFA officer, then don't apply to West Point.
Basically, the MOC has made that decision for you, but do you agree with it?
If not, follow Plan B and re-apply to USAFA next year.

If you decide that being an Army officer appeals to you, then yes, you can complete the app in time. The deadline is 28 FEB.

Here is the application timeline: http://www.usma.edu/admissions/Shared Documents/Admissions Timeline.pdf

Your chances depend on your file. How competitive are you?
Once your file is complete and reviewed and you are deemed fully qualified, then thanks to that P-nom, you will receive an appointment.

If your dream is to be an USAFA officer, then don't make yourself miserable by going to West Point. Try for USAFA next year.
 
I applied for only the Air Force Academy and interviewed for a congressional nomination. I did not receive a nomination to the AFA, but somehow received the principal nomination to West Point! I immediately submitted the pre- candidate questionnaire, and was given candidate portal access. My application has not been reviewed, and so information regarding completing the supporting documentation- CFA/Interview/Ect. has not given to me. Can someone please tell me my chances of completing all of this on time( one month remaining), and my chances of appointment with my principal nomination? Thank you very much!

If you do really have a principal nomination and assume you are fully qualified, I have questions for you. One should want to attend a service academy to serve our country by becoming a military officer. No one can tell the future. I am pretty sure that you haven't flown a jet before. So why is becoming an Air Force officer the only way you can serve our country. I served on a Congressional nomination panel. We sometimes see kids only asking for nomination for only one service academy and no ROTC. My interpretation, the kid wants only to attend a service academy.
 
I would say go for it if you want to serve our nation.

There are some minor differences between being an Army officer and an Air Force officer culture-wise, but the work/life style is very similar. Unless you only want to fly jets (in which USNA is a very viable option as well), what an Air Force officer and an Army officer do, overlap tremendously.
For instance, as an Army officer you could be flying helicopters (or even fixed winged if you are lucky enough) or working as a signal or military intelligence officer and in the Air Force you could be doing some hardcore operations as a pararescueman.

There is also the option for cross-commisioning into the Air Force from West Point, which if you pursue it hard, you can probably get it.
 
Well if you really want to be a pilot, then Army Aviation for you!

I applied for only the Air Force Academy and interviewed for a congressional nomination. I did not receive a nomination to the AFA, but somehow received the principal nomination to West Point! I immediately submitted the pre- candidate questionnaire, and was given candidate portal access. My application has not been reviewed, and so information regarding completing the supporting documentation- CFA/Interview/Ect. has not given to me. Can someone please tell me my chances of completing all of this on time( one month remaining), and my chances of appointment with my principal nomination? Thank you very much!
 
Could that maybe an unfair interpretation to make? If a kid picks just one - the one they think they would make a career out of - they face the criticism you note. If instead they apply to them all they may well get nominated to an SA associated with a service branch they feel they would be less likely to make a career of and thus 5 and dive. Why instead is your interpretion not that here is a kid that wants to serve and has thought through what branch they want to make a career of and focused solely on that?

This is not intended to be critical but its interesting to me that USCGA has such as high 5 year retention rate for its officers, whereas USNA, USMA and USAFA all have junior officers leave the service at much higher rates.

Maybe that is the different mission, but could it also be related to a nomination process that drives the behavior you suggest is desired? How many (or what %) of kids do apply to multiple SAs and get nominated to a path that is not their preferred branch? Be curious to see how that impacts retention rates.

I don't t think it's unfair. If I end up going down this rabbit hole, I ask some follow up questions. It might be better if I give you an example. A kid only applies for a nomination to Naval academy. Tells me he wants to be a fighter pilot. I ask why not Air Force Academy? Navy is close to my home. I ask any idea on his chances of becoming a fighter pilot if he attends Naval Academy? Kid didn't really think about that outcome. I ask so if you don't become a fighter pilot, what would you like to do. The kid does not know. My last question is I think you are pretty smart as you have good grades and it makes me wonder about your maturity when you are about to make one of the most important decisions in your life that you haven't done any research.

Ultimately, I don't care about the answers. But I care more about how they got the answer, right or wrong. In four short years, these kids will become 2LTs and Ensigns. There is no issue point or magic pill they will get that will make them suddenly responsible or mature. I rather be little harsh than to allow to a kid to think that he or she is great. Sooner or later, some of these kids need to face the harsh reality of life.
 
I agree its a matter of framing the answer. I was one of those the only applied to USNA and didn't even apply for ROTC. I was a recruited athlete for all the schools I looked at, some did not have ROTC. As a basketball player at a D1 school I just didn't think I had the time to put into school, ROTC and basketball. I explained this at my interview and told them I planned to go the OCC route after graduation and the details of how to get there. It showed I wanted to be a Marine and the options I had get there.

There are alot of kids who would be happy to serve and would be fine with any SA and there are others with a service in mind. I think either answer is fine, but its exactly as stated, its key to know the details and show you did research to support either answer.
 
This is coming from an '09 grad from West Point and a current Captain in the Army, serving as an officer in the Army and Air Force are DRASTICALLY different. Do not for the life of you go to West Point just because its an opportunity unless you are truly ok with the Army life style. If you were dead set on Air Force then I personally don't think the Army is for you. There are so many roads leading to officership, ROTC, cadet at a smaller academy, you could wait another year and apply to USAFA again. You really have way more time to make these decisions than you think. If you have to wait a year, so be it, its better than getting locked in to almost a decade of a job you won't be happy with. When you do become an officer, your age, degree and commission source just don't matter, just how you perform. If you are not happy with your job then you will perform poorly.

Short answer, take your time and reapply next year or go have fun at college and do ROTC.
 
This is coming from an '09 grad from West Point and a current Captain in the Army, serving as an officer in the Army and Air Force are DRASTICALLY different. Do not for the life of you go to West Point just because its an opportunity unless you are truly ok with the Army life style. If you were dead set on Air Force then I personally don't think the Army is for you. There are so many roads leading to officership, ROTC, cadet at a smaller academy, you could wait another year and apply to USAFA again. You really have way more time to make these decisions than you think. If you have to wait a year, so be it, its better than getting locked in to almost a decade of a job you won't be happy with. When you do become an officer, your age, degree and commission source just don't matter, just how you perform. If you are not happy with your job then you will perform poorly.

Short answer, take your time and reapply next year or go have fun at college and do ROTC.
How are they different? As a non military family figuring out the differences between being an officer in AF vs. Army is hardest thing to do but probably most important when choosing. Can you please elaborate? Your insight is greatly appreciated.
 
Yes. Thanks I saw that. Some great info in that thread. I guess I am thirsty for more and at even a more remedial level. For a non military family the acronyms are really hard to follow. Maybe it's not true but when you have no military basis to work off of, you kind of feel that for those in the military there is a level of obviousness as to why be AF officer vs why be army officer. I am not looking to start a contest of who's better just too uneducated to understand the differences that those in the know would deem obvious.
 
I'd say look at your options in both the Army and Air Force. Sure, both schools are amazing and will offer you great educations, but would you rather serve in the Air Force or Army?

I don't know if this makes a difference to you, but keep in mind that New York is ALOT different than Colorado. :smile:
 
keep in mind that New York is ALOT different than Colorado. :smile:

USAFA and USNA are both in towns that offer some options for entertainment, shopping, food, etc. USMA is in a tiny little village with a few restaurants (and a McDonalds). Plebes have "walking privileges," which means they cannot go outside of Highland Falls. It's very limiting, and at times frustrating (and boring as all get out). However, the town is not why you choose the academy. You really have to do the research here and decide which branch(es) you'd be happy in. For my son, it came down to this statement: "I do not want to land a plane on a boat. I do not want to live on a boat. I do not want to be on a submarine. Because of this, I'm going to West Point." (he did not have an offer to AFA).
 
So my counsel is simple. Ignore everyone. Ignore your friends, your family, your coach, your admission and liaison officers. Don’t let a nomination or admissions committee decide your fate. Have plan. Develop options. Listen to your heart. And may God bless you whatever path you choose.[/I]

Well said MDDADD...thank you.
 
Jebdad great question, its easy to forget that to many people the military is a foreign world. I can only speak from nearly a decade of service at USMA/Army as an engineer officer, so really I cannot speak very accurately as to the life of an airforce officer but I will tell you my impression from working with them. I will try to sum it up this way, what my dad told me before I went to the Academy. If you want to lead people, go to West point. If you want to lead machines, go to usafa. This is obviously very generalized, but in my experience it's somewhat true. As an airforce officer you will do one three things. One- be a pilot, two- be a leader in a support branch (most things revolve around supporting the flyers, could be maintenance, systems, radar, etc) three- if you are a badass be a JTAC where you call in bombings from the ground. As an army officer you will do one of three things. One- be a pilot, two- be a ground leader (infantry,engineer,tanker,artillery,etc) three- be a staff member in support of the ground guys. The parallels between airforce and Army are obviously the piloting. A staff member in the Army will have a similar style job to most airforce officers who aren't pilots. I would call these desk/office jobs.

My earlier warning about going to USMA just because it's an Academy was based on my opinion that most cadets going into the airforce prefer a technical job that is more office based and requires more brains than brawn. Cadets that go to USMA want a job that is out of the office and on the ground. Remember these are very generalized statements and not exclusive as both branches have both styles of service. However, I have seen many times officers who come into the Army in a branch that is not combat related and find themselves out in the field doing harsh training and they are shocked and miserable. If you go into the Army, you are nearly guaranteed to suck it up out in the field often. If someone decides to go to USMA instead of usafa, they have to be prepared for the reality of at least 5 years of of field rotations and training or they'll be absolutely miserable. Not saying airforce officers don't do that, but it's just not the same. They'll have 5 years of very technically based work in support of pilots.

I hope this helps. Its a bit of a ramble as I'm typing it on my phone. If you want more specifics feel free to ask!
 
MDDADD, thanks for posting those wise words! I will relay them to DD and I hope all candidates read them and take them to heart!
 
there is nothing fun in West Point

West Point is an hour on the train to NYC; plenty to do there. There is also much to see and do in the Hudson Valley...but very little near the academy. However, when I've visited, it was to attend events, so there was little time to sight see. Seeing one's cadet is generally enough. :thumb:
 
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