LOA vs appointment

My son got LOA to Navy. He just visited AF on recruiting trip and the coach said they want to get him an appointment and not bother with the LOA. They said it should take about a month. How is this done? We are wrestling with a bird in the hand vs two in the bush right now

An LOA is a guarantee or rather "ASSURANCE" of an appointment, IF the individual gets a nomination, passes the DODMRB, and satisfactorily finished the application 100% and meets all minimum requirements. If however, the individual already has a nomination, and all the other areas of DODMRB, Application, and minimum requirements are met, then an LOA isn't necessary. You can get the appointment. A COMMON direct appointment are for those who have a presidential nomination. They don't have to wait until November/December to meet with their congressman, because they already have a nomination. And they can get an appointment. WELL, depending on the athlete, the athletic director is ALSO allowed to NOMINATE "X" amount of athletes. There aren't a lot of these, and they are shared among ALL THE SPORTS/Athletic departments. e.g. football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, etc... all compete for some of these nominations.

My suggestion is that you progress AS NORMAL. Continue with scheduling nominations from congress. PRETEND that there is NO APPOINTMENT COMING YOUR WAY EARLY. If you get the athletic nomination and appointment; fan-airforce-tastic. If not, you could still get an LOA or selected in the normal chain. As for the navy, the LOA is the same. You STILL need to get a nomination and all the other stuff. Most congress/senate representatives don't give the nominations out until at least November/December. Navy knows that too. Once you get the nomination, you will need to make a choice. However, if air force gets you an EARLY NOMINATION via the athletic director; or however they want to do it; then that's even better. "STAY ON TARGET". Don't assume or take anything for granted. You're in a no-lose situation. Ask more questions if you need to. later... mike....

Texasrocks said:

My son got LOA to Navy. He just visited AF on recruiting trip and the coach said they want to get him an appointment and not bother with the LOA. They said it should take about a month. How is this done? We are wrestling with a bird in the hand vs two in the bush right now

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Well, I would think that whatever promises and encouragement has been given you - you are still going to have to jump through all the required hoops.

You still have to complete the application process.

You still have to receive a nomination.

Has your son been pursuing all the service academies on a parallel course? i.e. He has been completing all the requirements with the MOCs? That's usually a parallel process. One submission accomplishes all the requirements for all the service academies.

True - each of the individual academies have their own specific requirements - but that is usually a parallel process as well. The recommendations, for instance, are just duplicated and sent out saying the same thing, maybe just substituting the word "Air Force" academy for "Naval" academy or "Military" academy.

You certainly do not have to make any immediate decisions.

My twin sons got their appointments and those forms sat around our house for a very long time. We just kept the forms on the kitchen table. They'd come down to eat breakfast in the morning and would just push them off to the side, eat their cereal, and head off to school. My wife and I would just shake our heads.

Whether you get an LOA or not, the appointments generally go out in one big batch. As rejections come in, more are sent out. If you get your appointment in late June, you can pretty much be certain that is because somebody else rejected their appointment. But that makes no difference! You're either IN or your NOT. And once you're IN, nobody much cares HOW you got IN and it is almost never a topic of conversation amongst cadets and midshipmen.

So - if your son prefers to go to the Air Force Academy - there is nothing he has to forfeit or give up as far as his status is concerned with the Naval Academy. If you notice, there is nothing on the LOA that requires him to indicate his intention or make any commitment.

All the appointment acceptance deadlines occur around the same time (if not the exact same date). If your son has numerous service academy appointments, he can make his decision at that time.

thanks for input sounds like a plan

The coaches are just pushing for a verbal commit and it is putting pressure on him to decide

Texasrocks,
Congratulations to your son. He has two great options here. Best of luck to him!

thanks and yes two great options can't go wrong at either

what sport?

just curious, what sport is he being recruited to play? My son has his LOA and is being recruited for wrestling.

also jsut curious, what state does your son wrestle in and waht are his stats? ( I am a wrestler too, but not with the credentials to be recruited)

Just curious, but has your son visited Navy, had a Candidate Weekend Visit, or met the Navy coach? The Academies can seem similar on paper and great when visiting. If he actually SEES Annapolis, well, that often closes the deal.
Supporting all the posts above. You have plenty of time. Good place to be. You have (both) surely earned it.
Good luck!

So true. If you actually visit Navy, that will indeed close the deal. You'll want Air Force that much more. Couldn't agree with you more jscam87. Mike.....

He wrestles in Utah..... 1X State Champion (Sophomore) and 2X runner-up (Freshman and Junior). He should win it again this year as a Senior. 2X member of the Utah all-star team. Overall HS record right now is about 137-18. He's been to WP, Navy and AF facilities. He really liked all of the coaches at all three places. He liked Navy Facilities the best but feels AF is probably a better fit for what he wants to do in life, not just wrestling. He has a couple of other Universities looking at him also. He is just weighing all his options right now. I'm guessing (hoping) he'll choose Air Force if the actual appointment comes in the mail.