Stealth_81 said:
He explained to them that he already had an nomination, and an appointment, and he had already accepted it. The assistant congratulated him and said goodbye.
Well....today he got a letter from the Congressional Rep. congratulating him, and letting him know that he had received the Rep's nomination to the Academy. Isn't this a waste of a nomination? Will it just automatically go to the next candidate in line? Why would the Rep nominate someone who had already gotten a nom. plus and appointment, and had already accepted it?
Is there something that I am missing?
Call your MOC and thank him for looking out for your son. Somewhere into the process, someone probably decided incorrectly that your son was confused. From all the nomination, LOA, and appointment discussions on this thread, you can agree that it is a complex process. So they went ahead and gave your son another nomination.
Why? You stated previously that your Senator submits candidates on a competitive basis. This means the MOC leaves it to the Academy to pick the best of the 10 candidates. Application packages aren't even due to the Academy until the end of this month. For your son to be appointed in December, it means the other nine applicants had to have their packages complete to the extent that your son could definitely rise to the top. I would go out on a limb and say that very very few competitive nominations are awarded appointments in December. My guess is that your MOC truly wanted to ensure your son had a nomintation. Thank them.
Did this action hurt anyone else? Absolutely not. The odds of all the other nine being competitive is very slim. If there was a tenth who was competitive that fell by the wayside, remember, the CGO "finds" nominations. One of the ways they do this is to locate nominations that will not be filled and ask the MOC to change them. They simply call your MOC, tell him that one of his nominations received a Senatorial and is therefore unused, and ask him to substitute this tenth candidate in your son's slot. It is your MOCs choice whether to do this, but why would he not? Additionally, these are the types of things the CGO is doing at this time of the year when some people are complaining that it takes several days to get things posted, etc. Instead of complaining, we all should be thanking them.
The system is very complicated but consistent and fair. The Academy will do everythng they are able, within constraints of Federal law, to get the "best" mix for each class.
We must also all remember that applications aren't even due until the end of January. Any appointments to date are probably only Presidentals and Congressional/Senatorials who ranked their candidates. All others are extremely rare. There are highly qualified candidates each year who, without the advantage of this forum, do not understand the application process and only apply to their MOC. Only in December, after they have received a nomination, do they even commence their Academy applications. If the MOC submits competitively, the Academy must wait on this application before they can award the appointement.
Waiting patiently is a valuable attribute at this point in time.