Letters Of Assurance

Pima said:
I agree CC...band and athletics typically are better off in preparation...maybe it is due to the fact that they are structured to live in 100 degree heat during the summer and freezing rain in the fall, whereas, the JROTC cadet only knows how to wear their uniform and PT is not a part of their structure, which is a big deal at BCT.

I am not trying to slam the JROTC people, but just trying to highlight that JROTC will mean nothing when they are screaming at you at the AFA, it is your internal strength that you will need to push through and JROTC doesn't prepare you for that...carrying a 50 lb drum in polyester while playing and following the choreography on a 95 degree day with 80% humidity will prepare you or 40 degree weather while it is raining.

OBTW, I have no children in band. DS2 is in hs football.

Also, the difference between being in band or athletics compared to JROTC, school is over the JROTC student can turn on the XBox and veg...the band or athletic person may not get home until 11 at night. This is one reason that the SA's like these type of candidates over JROTC because they have proven time mgmt while maintaining their gpa. JROTC is not an EC, it is at school as a class.
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JROTC has something called Raiders. It's very physical and lots of hard work. Somehow I think running miles and various other physical things in 95 degree heat with 90% humidity is hardly vegging after school on the XBox. There is also conditioning for Drill Team, Rifle Team, Honor Guard and various other things. Marching and formation are held outside, again in high heat.
JROTC is also not over when school is done. There are hundreds of hours of community service, parking at every home football game, 2 days a week of Drill Team practice for hours, Rifle Team practice, etc.
Now it may not be that way at your school, but I know that at our school it is very time consuming.
Being in the band and on sports teams at school are the best, but unless you see the kids spending hours and hours every day, Friday nights, Saturday and reports on Sundays for JROTC it's a bit unfair to put them down.
 
Now, I'm not here to disagree with anyone - because frankly, I way out of my league when it comes to specific AFA items. I've done my homework for the past four years, and am now just applying and a candidate. But, I do want to give some props to my Civil Air Patrol guys and gals out there.

Granted, you'll find people who don't give it their all in any given situation - including CAP. I know a lot of cadets that think it's a "youth group" or "hang out session" on Tuesday nights. I genuinely feel sad for them, and do my best to motivate them to seek the opportunities.

However, I am a strong believer of "You get out of it what you put into it." I've been in Civil Air Patrol for three and a half years, and it has given me an edge even in my own school, where there are 13 seniors this year, academic competition is peaked, and one of our students who transferred to a local public school is practically teaching her AP English teacher about Shakespeare. (DISCLAIMER: I'm not slamming public schools - just giving a statistic).

I've been to a Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, and Officer Training School, been a Flight Sergeant, Flight Commander, and a Cadet Group Commander. I'm now the Cadet Squadron Commander for my school, and have been selected to attend a national activity as one out of twelve cadets nation wide to go through a Air Force Security Forces Familiarization Course. DISCLAIMER: I'm not trying to brag - only reinforce the main point here - "you get out of it what you put into it." And I've put a lot of time into CAP with the Air Force Academy as my goal - plus one of the Thunderbirds was in CAP, but that's besides the point.

My point is, Civil Air Patrol has taught me the essentials such as public speaking, time and stress management, people skills, and countless other things that I know will serve me well if I'm accepted to the AFA.

Now that I've given Civil Air Patrol props, I got to give credit to the other guys.

JROTC - pretty intense stuff from what I've seen, but each school is different. But it does give good background essentials.

Band - dang, those guys are tough. I once made the mistake of joking about band, and was instantly shot down on all sides. Those guys are tough, and down here in Texas, the heat is absolutely no joke.

Athletics - again, those guys are tough. I'm on my school's varsity soccer, varsity basketball, varsity tennis, and junior varsity track teams (at various times in the academic and calendar year), and you've got to be tough to compete and get good grades, good relationships, and still have a good time.

Again, not trying to argue, but simply assert that personally, I think that all of these ways can be beneficial preparation to the AFA, or any service academy. You just get out of it what you put into it.

I'm done now. If you made it through, thanks for sticking with it. I did just want to do a bit of CAP defending for those on the forum who are thinking about it, but aren't sure. *cough* *cough* The Academy specifically asks about CAP *cough* *cough*.
 
nbbgolfcmdr said:
Now, I'm not here to disagree with anyone - because frankly, I way out of my league when it comes to specific AFA items. I've done my homework for the past four years, and am now just applying and a candidate. But, I do want to give some props to my Civil Air Patrol guys and gals out there.

Granted, you'll find people who don't give it their all in any given situation - including CAP. I know a lot of cadets that think it's a "youth group" or "hang out session" on Tuesday nights. I genuinely feel sad for them, and do my best to motivate them to seek the opportunities.

However, I am a strong believer of "You get out of it what you put into it." I've been in Civil Air Patrol for three and a half years, and it has given me an edge even in my own school, where there are 13 seniors this year, academic competition is peaked, and one of our students who transferred to a local public school is practically teaching her AP English teacher about Shakespeare. (DISCLAIMER: I'm not slamming public schools - just giving a statistic).

I've been to a Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, and Officer Training School, been a Flight Sergeant, Flight Commander, and a Cadet Group Commander. I'm now the Cadet Squadron Commander for my school, and have been selected to attend a national activity as one out of twelve cadets nation wide to go through a Air Force Security Forces Familiarization Course. DISCLAIMER: I'm not trying to brag - only reinforce the main point here - "you get out of it what you put into it." And I've put a lot of time into CAP with the Air Force Academy as my goal - plus one of the Thunderbirds was in CAP, but that's besides the point.

My point is, Civil Air Patrol has taught me the essentials such as public speaking, time and stress management, people skills, and countless other things that I know will serve me well if I'm accepted to the AFA.

Now that I've given Civil Air Patrol props, I got to give credit to the other guys.

JROTC - pretty intense stuff from what I've seen, but each school is different. But it does give good background essentials.

Band - dang, those guys are tough. I once made the mistake of joking about band, and was instantly shot down on all sides. Those guys are tough, and down here in Texas, the heat is absolutely no joke.

Athletics - again, those guys are tough. I'm on my school's varsity soccer, varsity basketball, varsity tennis, and junior varsity track teams (at various times in the academic and calendar year), and you've got to be tough to compete and get good grades, good relationships, and still have a good time.

Again, not trying to argue, but simply assert that personally, I think that all of these ways can be beneficial preparation to the AFA, or any service academy. You just get out of it what you put into it.

I'm done now. If you made it through, thanks for sticking with it. I did just want to do a bit of CAP defending for those on the forum who are thinking about it, but aren't sure. *cough* *cough* The Academy specifically asks about CAP *cough* *cough*.
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Texas heat sure is hot, just like South Florida. We are thankfully finally getting a break!
 
No one here has said that activities like CAP, JrROTC, Scouting, Band, Sports, etc... don't help in preparing you for the academy and military. Of course they "Prepare" you. If they didn't, the academies wouldn't look favorable on them. But you're really missing the point.

So what if you can do 200 pushups in 95 degree heat? That's great, but not what we're talking about. And it's great that you've held all these CAP positions. But again, that's not the point. The academy and military in general, is all about attitude and perspective. It's all about team work. If you are in better physical shape because you do a lot of exercises, great. If you're use to marching in 95 degree heat and know all the commands, fantastic. But non of that is what the academy and military are about. And that my friend, is where "Some people" (I'm not saying you will, because I don't know you); but "SOME" will have a problem. They think that there's a lot of similarity between the academy/military and CAP/JrROTC. And because they believe there are similarities, they believe they have a "Leg Up" on others who haven't done those things.

Do you really think the academy cares if you can do 100 situps or can run a mile in 6 minutes? They couldn't care less. Yes, they "NEED" you to be physically fit; but the majority of those who come in are, or can become, physically fit. Do you think the academy cares that you can do a left face, column right, to the rear, or any other facing movement ? No, they don't. Hell, you can teach a monkey how to march. Do you think they care if you can fold your clothes a certain way, clean you room a certain way, maintain your uniform a certain way, etc.? No, they really don't care. So, why then do they require all these things from a cadet? And how are they different than what you are doing at CAP or JrROTC? And why do I say of all the "Activities", that athletes and band probably have an edge? IF there's an edge to be had. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but you're going to have to find that out for yourself. Sorry, but I've been down this route way too many times. And there's some things that people just need to learn for themselves. But I gave you basis behind it. It's about attitude and perspective.

But I will give you a bit of advice. The physical skills you learned in CAP, JrROTC, Scouts, athletics, etc... definitely keep up on them. They can definitely come in handy. How and when you use those skills will be what determines how useful all that training was. And another bit of advice.... Don't even mention you were in CAP, JrROTC, Scouts, etc.... You could be the 1 in 100 that actually came in with the right attitude and perspective. However; the other 99% over the years that didn't, have left a really bad taste. So just keep it to yourself.

I'm not trying to be arrogant or hide some secret knowledge. There isn't anything secret about it. But there are times in a young person's life, where they simply have to experience something for themselves. Trying to explain the whys or the deeper philosophical meaning, only makes a person rationalize their position that much more. I.e. I explain why certain things are the way they are, and the person responds with "That's exactly what and why I/we do this". Again, it's not the marching, the situps, the being in charge, etc.... Those are all skills that can and will be taught. And if you know some of those skills already, fantastic. What you do with those skills will determine if all those high school activities helped prepare you for the academy or not.

If someone wants to ask, philosophically what I mean, because you honestly want to know.... Then PM me. But I'd rather not openly discuss it. It will only lead to arguments. Especially about some things being BETTER than others. best of luck to all of you. Mike.....
 
nbbgolfcmdr said:
I did just want to do a bit of CAP defending for those on the forum who are thinking about it, but aren't sure. *cough* *cough* The Academy specifically asks about CAP *cough* *cough*.
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Just throwing this out here, of the 35 four degrees in my squad three did CAP. The acadmey doesnt specifically look for CAP members but its certainly does help
 
So correct flyersboy. If anyone wants to see the "Class Profile" for the class of 2013, here it is: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...JQop_PNsHppWlTwug&sig2=dEPx0mkoUO2kGCQHxuHUww

Real quick; only 10% of the class was involved in CAP. Only 11% were involved with JrROTC. 83% were varsity letter athletes. 28% Boy/Girl scouts. 25% Band/Orchestra. So, the academy; or more precisely a particular ALO, might "Ask about CAP, Cough Cough"; obviously not that many of those who receive appointments have any experience. Matter of fact; my son had no experience with CAP, JrROTC, Band, Orchestra, Boy Scouts, or the vast majority of activities on the profile list. But on the list, he was involved in numerous sports, class officer, National Honor Society, Boy's State, Class Rank #1, and a couple of others. And, he received an Appointment, the 1st week of November.

I only bring this up, so those who aren't involved in CAP, JrRotc, or Scouting doesn't think that they have "LESS" of a chance of getting an appointment. Those activities listed, as well as many others that aren't on the list, are EQUALLY IMPORTANT TO THE ACADEMY!!!!! Let me reiterate that. All of those activities are EQUALLY IMPORTANT TO THE ACADEMY. CAP is not more important than Band; which is no more important than Scouting, which is no more important than boy's state, etc... What the academy is looking for in these activities are: Leadership, teamwork, commitment, and other similar traits. Obviously, athletics holds a special interest. Not because they are looking for IC College athletes, but because the military is a very physically demanding occupation. Even the admin type job can go off to war and be required to do many physically demanding things.

But again, this is not to demean CAP, JrROTC, or Scouts, Just that you don't have to be in those to get an appointment. Being in those don't increase your chances any more than if you were class president, choir, band and the swim team. As for if CAP, JrROTC, or Scouting prepares you MORE for the academy than if you weren't in those activities.... well, I've already given my opinion on that. Best of luck on the upcoming appointments. Mike....
 
Does anyone know if there is a point/date in time where they STOP giving LOA's?
 
Christcopr

I have a question about the demo numbers. I understand the applicant number, and thought the candidate pool was the applicants deemed competitive by the Academy. There is a huge difference in candidate pool vs qualified candidates. Does the qualified candidates include only those who have a nomination? If not, what is the difference?
 
bulldog31 said:
I have a question about the demo numbers. I understand the applicant number, and thought the candidate pool was the applicants deemed competitive by the Academy. There is a huge difference in candidate pool vs qualified candidates. Does the qualified candidates include only those who have a nomination? If not, what is the difference?
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Not sure I quite understand the question. But, if it helps at all, there's a BIG DIFFERENCE between "Candidates" and "Qualified Candidates". Remember how the academy defines the different stages of application??? prospect, applicant, candidate, appointee, etc.. "Candidate" meant that the academy either found you to be COMPETITIVE, OR you received a NOMINATION. QUALIFIED: means that medically you are clear, you have a nomination, and your application is 100% complete. There are going to be a LOT OF CANDIDATES who either a) Don't finish their application. (Changed their mind or something else was a factor); b) Don't get a nomination; c) Didn't pass the physical.

So, not sure if this answered your question, but there's a big difference between just being a candidate and being a qualified candidate. Mike.....
 
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