As an enlisted airman, we only need our Commanders's nomination. However, I have also received a congressional nomination. I know there is everything else involved (academics, leadership, sports), but specifically the nomination. How much of an impact does this make on my application, especially for rack and stacking, and prep school?
Congressional Nomination
- Thread starter P4ckers78
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Its actually pretty cut and dried. No Nomination means no appointment so having a nomination give you the first leg of the three legged stool. The other legs are Academic (including CFA) and Medical . All three of the legs need to be through the racking and stacking to get into USAFA. The prep school is different as it is there to help candidates who have an Academic stool leg that needs bolstering.
An actual nomination is not really needed to get prep school but many direct candidates that I've seen make it to Prep do have nominations which they will need to re-apply for in order to move from prep into USAFA.
Thank you for this information! What do you mean by “people that make it into prep school need to re-apply in order to move from prep school to USAFA?”
During Prep school you will still have to fill out an SA application for the following year, but the process will be streamlined. You will have already completed several of the components, such as medical.
Depending on how stiff the competition for the Regular Airforce appointment is, the congressional nomination could help somewhat since you will compete on that slate as well. It will give the academy some flexibility in how to charge an appointment.
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If they are at USAFAPS, they must complete whatever modified application is required to apply in the next cycle for the Class of 2028. They must complete USAFAPS satisfactorily. DoDMERB exam is good for 2 years, only requiring any updates to medical history. I know at NAPS, NAPSters must also apply for any noms for which they are eligible, including Sen/Rep noms. If they are not successsful in obtaining a nom, since they are in enlisted status at NAPS, they can be given a SECNAV nom by USNA. Bottom line, a nom for the next class cycle is needed. The SAs’ Class of 2027 is closed out on or about the class report day this year.
For sponsored prep, those who received Falcon Scholarships, they must also go through a re-application process for the 2028 cycle. At the designated schools, there is a lot of help with this.
Per my understanding, you'll need to get at least one nomination from either a Senator or your local congressman to get an appointment with a service academy. Yes, it is true you also need to be medically fit, and academically competitive. If you received a nomination from the mentioned parties, I would think academically you are there. Since you are an enlisted airman, I assumed you already know what you are signing up for. I was disappointed to hear many basic cadets dropped out during BCT. Yes, they have a lot of weird and crazy rules at the academy. Then again, it's a service academy, not your typical college.
NeverSayNever
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As an enlisted member, please consider other opportunities towards a commission outside of the service academies. You will likely find the amount of time it takes to get a commission will be the same regardless of the path from the enlisted ranks. Even if you want to attend an SA for that experience alone, it could take you a couple of years to even make it to the prep school. Consider during that time you could also complete a fair amount of your college education using tuition assistance etc. I had to spend 2 years enlisted plus 1 year prep school to gain entrance to USNA. Total years to reach O-1 was right at 7 years. I likely could have completed a bachelors degree on my own using tuition assistance in 6-7 years and applied for commissioning school. Attending the academy in that situation cost me 4 years towards an A/D retirement. I'm not discouraging you from pursuing USAFA (also look at USMMA) but there usually is a few years of "proving" yourself as an enlistee first. Pursuing other paths towards a commission also reenforces the perception to your the boards (and your leadership team) that your overall goal is the same as theirs...making O-1s.
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Not correct. There are other sources of nomination such as Presidential (Children of career military), Secretary of the Air Force/Army/Navy for Enlisted servicemembers, and Vice Presidential as well as noms for children of deceased or service disabled vets.
What you said is true. However, I would not count on those unless you fall into one of those categories. Since we want to be specific, then there is one other category as well. Children of Medal of Honor recipients who are fully qualified for admission are automatically appointed.
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A fair number do qualify for ROTC/JROTC noms and they show up in the appointment threads here as well which I did not mention as my intention was to show that there was more available than Congressmen/Senators.
FWIW, Children of Medal of Honor recipients is a VERY tiny cohort at this point- probably less than five across all DoD academies over the span of a decade if its even that many.