My son got LOA to Navy. He just visited AF on recruiting trip and the coach said they want to get him an appointment and not bother with the LOA. They said it should take about a month. How is this done? We are wrestling with a bird in the hand vs two in the bush right now
Well, I would think that whatever promises and encouragement has been given you - you are
still going to have to jump through all the required hoops.
You
still have to complete the application process.
You
still have to receive a nomination.
Has your son been pursuing
all the service academies on a parallel course? i.e. He has been completing all the requirements with the MOCs? That's usually a parallel process. One submission accomplishes
all the requirements for
all the service academies.
True - each of the individual academies have their own specific requirements - but that is usually a parallel process as well. The recommendations, for instance, are just duplicated and sent out saying the same thing, maybe just substituting the word "Air Force" academy for "Naval" academy or "Military" academy.
You certainly do not have to make any immediate decisions.
My twin sons got their appointments and those forms sat around our house for a very long time. We just kept the forms on the kitchen table. They'd come down to eat breakfast in the morning and would just push them off to the side, eat their cereal, and head off to school. My wife and I would just shake our heads.
Whether you get an LOA or not, the appointments generally go out in one big batch. As rejections come in, more are sent out. If you get your appointment in late June, you can pretty much be certain that is because somebody else rejected their appointment. But that makes no difference! You're either IN or your NOT. And once you're IN, nobody much cares HOW you got IN and it is almost never a topic of conversation amongst cadets and midshipmen.
So - if your son prefers to go to the Air Force Academy - there is nothing he has to forfeit or give up as far as his status is concerned with the Naval Academy. If you notice, there is nothing on the LOA that requires him to indicate his intention or make any commitment.
All the appointment acceptance deadlines occur around the same time (if not the exact same date). If your son has numerous service academy appointments, he can make his decision at
that time.