LDAC

Here are the facts:

Failing a Land Nav event results in an automatic retest the next day. Failing the retest requires a waiver to continue at LDAC. Failing the retest also triggers a performance board at the end of LDAC. You can perform well at all of the other events, but perform poorly at Land Navigation and get an overall N.

Failure rates for Land Navigation 1 have ranged from just over 20% to just under 50%. The most recent RGT performed more poorly than the 1st RGT. The RGTs that performed best had full moon, clear skies, and no rain. Weather is a huge contributing factor to success or failure. The "Paths From Point To Point" story is a myth. Lost cadets make trails too.

Here's the trouble with LandNav. It's LandNav. You can know how to do it and still mess it up... The other thing is that first Reg failed it. rumor has it by the time the later Regs go to LandNav, there are literally paths from point to point...

However, I do agree with you about balancing other activities and your GPA. If I want to have a life and enjoy college and other extra curriculars(which do help with OML), I have to be ok with a lower GPA. I go to one of the top Private shcools in the nation and classes are hard. My GPA affects my OML the exact same as the GPA of the local community college does for a kid that goes there for 2 years first. It's how the system works. It happens.
 
dunninla,

Are you sure there are minimum scores obtainable for categories such as PMS OML? I would have guessed last = 0 points.



This is slightly off-topic, but I can't find a better place to write this --

LDAC appears to me to be the single most important part of a cadets placement on the Order of Merit List (OML), which is a points based rank ordering from #1 to #5000, which determines, to a great extent, choice in Branch placement.

Here is the FY2011 weighted selection criteria (the points that compose the OML):

I have put categories called "Minimum Score" and "Maximum Score" to more accurately identify the range of scores.

Evaluation Category ../.. Min ../.. Max ../.. Pts. Cadet Controls
GPA ../.. 25 ../.. 40 ../.. 15
LDAC TAC Eval ../.. 0 ../.. 11.25 ../.. 11.25
LDAC Performan ../.. 0 ../.. 6.75 ../.. 6.75
LDAC Land Navi ../.. 0 ../.. 4.5 ../.. 4.5
LDAC APFT min ../.. 5.67 ../.. 9.45 ../.. 3.78
PMS MSIII CER ../.. 3 ../.. 6.75 ../.. 3.75
PMS OML ../.. 1 ../.. 4.5 ../.. 3.5
PMS Potential ../.. 1 ../.. 4.5 ../.. 3.5
PMS ECs ../.. 1 ../.. 4.5 ../.. 3.5
Language/Cultural ../.. 0 ../.. 2.25 ../.. 2.25
On-Campus Sports ../.. 0 ../.. 1.5 ../.. 1.5
APFT Campus Spr ../.. 1.42 ../.. 2.36 ../.. 0.944
APFT Campus Fall ../.. 1.01 ../.. 1.69 ../.. 0.676

Now, if you bear with me, there is a practical reason to look at the above list of points (which total to 100). Every cadet has X hours in a week to devote to study, drilling, non-ROTC community involvement, Duties within the Unit, etc. The question is this: Given the supreme importance of the OML in AD and Branch assignment, where should a cadet invest their hours to attain the highest OML?

Should a cadet spend an extra hour a week becoming a master of land navigation? Or running? On studies? Or volunteering within the Unit? Going overseas for six weeks to pick up another language? My first impression in reviewing what composes the OML is that LDAC is the single most important four weeks of a cadet's life, and the cumulative scoring while at LDAC is much more important than even GPA. I say this because though GPA is 40 of the 100 points, most colleges won't keep a student with under 2.5 GPA, which means all the cadets are really in a range from 2.5 to 4.0, a range of 15 points on the OML.

I need help, as an outsider to the system, understanding really what are the "minimum" scores awarded in the 13 categories of evaluation. I guessed on almost all except GPA. For example, in a post above somebody said a certain group at LDAC almost all failed the Land Navigation test. Does that mean they received 0 out of 4.5 possible points? If so, doesn't that have the same effect on the OML score as a reduction in GPA from 3.5 to 3.05?

I have always heard that GPA is the single most imporant part of OML, yet when I look at the above list, it looks to me like the cadet can control about 15 points of GPA, and about 25 points of LDAC. So which really is more important to the cadet trying to decide where the spend his/her time?
 
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Things you need to consider about LDAC and OML in general
1. E or an S at LDAC is largely a crap shoot, TAC officers are supposed to grade each cadet to a standard but that standards changes from cadre to cadre (some favor tactics others prefer the operations process when grading....or alter it as they see more and more cadets). A lot of awesome leaders will come away from LDAC with an S, just how it is.

2. GPA is 40% of the OML. With that being so many people choose to major in well...lets just say not so difficult majors to pump up their GPA. Until very recently engineers and science students were left out to dry but are now being offered a 1/.5 OML point incentive and the Engineering branch allots 50% of its slots to engineer majors (IMO more incentives still need to be made for those who do put in the time for more difficult majors)

3. Land Nav and APFT will determine if you pass LDAC. You can bumble through and attempt everything else and come away with an N at the least. Land Nav is considered more difficult during the early REGTs (1/2) because they break brush, they pave the trails. By 5/6 REGT you can drive a truck through the cadet forest trails (Ya there are false trails but the 50 red lights around a point at night don't lie). I don't really see an excuse for failing IMO. APFT is on you, you know they grade hard so prepare.

4. A lot of LDAC is politics and interpersonal tact (hehe). Peer evals count for a considerable amount and being a gung-ho spotlight ranger will screw you over in the long run. You deal with a lot of BS/hurry up and wait moments. Just roll with it. Abstain from complaing, take each day as it comes and don't focus on getting an E...people with see that.

5. Honestly, if I had any advice for a new cadet it would be to enjoy college, major in something with real world applicability, stay in shape and to not stress about LDAC. If you do average (strive for your best though) you will most likely get active duty, after that branch choice is seriously just a bonus. All 2LTs get paid the same so stressing over that IN or AV slot will just make college suck and piss off your fellow ROTC buddies.
 
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