District Slot/LOA/Nomination

[TinTin]

If I understand correctly, an LOA (Letter of Assurance) guarantees an appointment once a candidate has already passed CFA/DoDMerb and is nominated. Is that correct?

I recently heard that there are three LOA recipients in the same district. If the MOC (Member of Congress) nominates all three as part of the 10 or 15-slate nominees, but there is only one available slot, what happens in that case? Will the 2 nominees be rejected?

 

[Capt MJ]

First, go read the pinned posts at the top of this Nominations forum.

Noms 101:
- Representative can have up to 5 appointees charged to them, spread over 5 years. (This is DoD SAs. USMMA has some variations based on nom sources and other factors.) This means a class might have 2 of the Rep’s nominees charged to them. That also means that in the class years with 2 available spots, 2 slates with up to 15 nominees each can be submitted.
- On each slate, one of the fully qualified nominees will be charged to the Rep.
- And - let this soak in - the SA can return to the slate and choose other fully qualified nominees, offer them an appointment, but charge the appointment to other nom sources they hold and manage.
- And - another point to soak up - just like you, other nominees on a slate have applied for 2 Senators, VP and any service-connected noms, such as the Presidential, they are eligible for. They may be offered an appointment, and it will be charged elsewhere. The smoke may not clear on where appointments are charged until late in the cycle, and you will probably not know where yours was charged, if you get one. It doesn’t matter. The elected officials who put you on their slate will “claim” all the appointees as constituents.
- Every year it also happens that fully qualified candidates with an LOA are not successful in obtaining a nom, and they will not be offered an appointment that cycle. Miracles occasionally occur, and a VP nom appears, but they are exceedingly rare.
- In general, fully qualified candidates with an LOA and a nom are offered appointments. Of course, there are the circumstances where the appointee becomes ill or injured close to their reporting date and is DQed. Typically Admissions works with them to develop a readmission plan for the following year, assuming the DQ can be cleared. Finally, there are occasionally appointees who get thrmselves in serious trouble, and their appointments are rescinded. Think hate speech on social media, drunk driving with a fatality, etc.

 

[Capt MJ]

And welcome new member of 1 hour exactly!

 

[time2]

I recently heard.......

One of the things you will learn when applying to any SA is there will be no lack of those trying to be 'helpful' who may be a friend/relative/neighbor or your postal carrier who will offer all sorts of input even when they have no idea what they are talking about. WP for example, gives out LOE's to 'encourage' applicants to continue the process. Some may confuse one for the other (either on purpose or by mistake). Those only involved on the periphery are likely not experts in all of finer points related to applying. Individuals may also be applying to multiple SA's and clearly they can eventually only choose to attend ONE of them. Even someone with an LOA may decide to attend a civilian college when the dust finally settles. You should focus on the things you can control when applying and avoid all of the 'noise' that will likely be going on around you.

MOC can provide NOM's to 15 applicants for every slot they have open. The SA eventually decides where to charge each appointment. A MOC NOM isn't the only type of NOM available.

 

[OldRetSWO]

One of the things you will learn when applying to any SA is there will be no lack of those trying to be 'helpful' who may be a friend/relative/neighbor or your postal carrier who will offer all sorts of input even when they have no idea what they are talking about. WP for example, gives out LOE's to 'encourage' applicants to continue the process. Some may confuse one for the other (either on purpose or by mistake). Those only involved on the periphery are likely not experts in all of finer points related to applying.

This includes many folks on this site who might be applicants themselves or successful applicants/parents who have the experience of their own application or the cycle when they applied. Be advised though that there are folks here who are Field Force/Blue and Gold, USAFA ALOs, etc as well as members of MOC interview teams. Pay attention to who is giving you the advice as some are really just giving their opinions based on little experience/contact.