Our DS got LOA today, contingent on nomination. Pack (including CFA and pilot-qual DODMerb) is complete, interviewed with senators and MOC, done well in each area academy looks at. Awaiting word on noms from MOC, senators, VP. Any insight on likelihood of nom?
Insight on Noms if DS has LOA?
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FMHS-79
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There have been a couple of threads with essentially the same question within the last couple of months.
Nominations and LOAs are from different organizations using different assessment criteria. While receiving a LOA is something to be proud of, candidates should not assume that nominations are assured for all LOA recipients.
Congratulations on the LOA, but make sure you keep working on plans b, c, etc.
Nominations and LOAs are from different organizations using different assessment criteria. While receiving a LOA is something to be proud of, candidates should not assume that nominations are assured for all LOA recipients.
Congratulations on the LOA, but make sure you keep working on plans b, c, etc.
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Noms from MOC - depends on the direct competition, who your DS is being compared to in the District.
Senator nom - same, only competition is state-wide.
VP - that’s a huge unknown. I believe the SA chooses for the VP. The SA looks across all the candidates, and there are bound to be ones they are very interested in, across the country, from direct out of HS to college re-applicants to all other sources, who, for whatever reason, did not obtain a nom. That’s just one scenario. The SA has great leeway to use the VP nom as it sees fit, rather like an ace in the hole. It may well be one of the last used, way down the road, in the spring. Or not.
There will be many others in your DS’ position, all application actions complete, apparently solid all-around, even with LOA.
Most regular posters here recommend ensuring the MOC and Senator staffers be provided a copy of the LOA to add to DS’ package. That can be done by your DS in a low-key way, and provides a bit of extra info, that the SA is confident enough to essentially say, we are saving a spot for you if you can get a nom. That also allows those elected officials who use the principal nom method to give that to someone else, since all your DS needs is a nom of any type.
As @FMHS-79 notes, keep the Plans B and C in play.
Senator nom - same, only competition is state-wide.
VP - that’s a huge unknown. I believe the SA chooses for the VP. The SA looks across all the candidates, and there are bound to be ones they are very interested in, across the country, from direct out of HS to college re-applicants to all other sources, who, for whatever reason, did not obtain a nom. That’s just one scenario. The SA has great leeway to use the VP nom as it sees fit, rather like an ace in the hole. It may well be one of the last used, way down the road, in the spring. Or not.
There will be many others in your DS’ position, all application actions complete, apparently solid all-around, even with LOA.
Most regular posters here recommend ensuring the MOC and Senator staffers be provided a copy of the LOA to add to DS’ package. That can be done by your DS in a low-key way, and provides a bit of extra info, that the SA is confident enough to essentially say, we are saving a spot for you if you can get a nom. That also allows those elected officials who use the principal nom method to give that to someone else, since all your DS needs is a nom of any type.
As @FMHS-79 notes, keep the Plans B and C in play.
USMAROTCFamily
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I guess the question is were the MOC's informed about the LOA prior to the interview or after they had already made their decision. Our DS got an LOA after he had already received his nomination, so I'm assuming the nomination board had not been informed prior to making their decision. If that is the case for your DS, then the likelihood of him getting a nomination is just based upon the strength of his application against all of the other candidates and the LOA would make no difference.
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What is a "pilot-qual DoDMERB?"
As I recall, the physical exam prior to Academy entrance is to see if your child is healthy enough to withstand the rigors of SA life. Does s/he have a history of asthma? ADD/ADHD drugs, surgeries, eye conditions, etc.
Just because one passes the physical to complete qualifications for Appointment does NOT mean that same child/adult will be qualified for pilot training. I recall my kids saying that they NEVER went to the doc their 2* year unless they had broken bones because they didn't want to be DQ'd for pilot training based on some sinus infection or sore throat.
GreenGate1
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Dodmerb actually states "pilot qual" now. I think this is a fairly recent change.
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When he got his exam, doctor asked if he was trying to fly, and he said, "if I can." The paperwork he got a copy of said, "passed - pilot qual" or wording like that. I assumed (first time for us) it just meant his eyes were in the ballpark.
He got the LOA Dec 1, a couple hours before his senator's interview (only one of our senators interviews). By time he showed up for interview, they knew and congratulated him. They spoke well of him to me after the interview w/him not in the room, and said "he's one we feel really good about. We can't make promises, but we hope we can be involved w/ him going forward." MOC interview was six weeks earlier.
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Well, hush my mouth.
A DodMerb "pilot qualified" two-three years before flight slots awarded.
These new fangled ideas have me all afluster.
A DodMerb "pilot qualified" two-three years before flight slots awarded.
These new fangled ideas have me all afluster.
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I find this to be such a head-shaking idea, I came back to it and re-read the thread.
So, I 16 or 17 year old kid goes to the doctor who qualifies him/her, right then, medically, for a pilot slot four YEARS hence?? So much can happen to a young person between 17 and 21. For females, it usually means ten pounds and decrease in speed running. For males, it may mean many inches in height (my friend grew FIVE INCHES after he joined the Army right out of high school, and he gained 25 pounds!), pounds, lots of muscle. And then there is the change in eyesight which often occurs at about 21 years. Sports, eating habits, drinking, all play their part.
Anyway, I am thinking it is some new jargon and not an actual pilot-slot qualification.
skiergirl24
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My DoDMERB status stated "POTENTIAL Pilot Qualified", and so I think that is what people mean right now. I understand that there is another exam in a cadet's junior year that will determine whether or not they're medically qualified for flight school...
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Fencersmother,
Being PPQ is not a brand new thing for incoming cadets. That designation was given to incoming cadets back when your boys arrived at USAFA, too. You probably just didn’t know about it. All it really means is that they don’t have any disqualifying conditions to be a pilot.
Stealth_81
Being PPQ is not a brand new thing for incoming cadets. That designation was given to incoming cadets back when your boys arrived at USAFA, too. You probably just didn’t know about it. All it really means is that they don’t have any disqualifying conditions to be a pilot.
Stealth_81
USMAROTCFamily
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That sounds good then!
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Stealth, maybe I had other things on my mind back then! 
Thanks to all for putting up with my nonsense.
Thanks to all for putting up with my nonsense.
It’s not pilot-qualified in the way the term has been used in other settings. Just means the Academy, looking for pilots, knows that these candidates qualify physically from a medical health standpoint at the time of DoDMERB exam. Just gives them one more data point on an applicant’s potential value to them down the road.
Tucker2023
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Huge congrats on the nomination and LOA!
However, I'm a tad confused maybe. You posted on the appointment thread, but here you are telling us he received a nomination yesterday. Did he also receive the actual appointment?
No. LOA said "you are being accepted contingent on receiving a nomination." Yesterday MOC notified him that she had nominated him.
So I thought LOA + Nom = Appt since everything else was done, and the LOA said all you need now is a Nom.