My Congressman got destroyed today. Now what?

The Commissioner

The Commissioner

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My son is hoping for a nomination and unfortunately our Congressman went down in flames at the polls today. :unhappy: How does the nomination process work with a lame duck Congressman?
 
Existing congressmen will do this year's nominations. This is the reason for the Jan 31 application completion date.
 
According to one Mid's parents I interviewed, when our Senator retired 4 years ago, he broke with tradition and designated a primary nominee which happened to be their kid. The kid was a solid pick but not of LOA quality (similar to my son). Which led me to believe that there could be some gamesmanship by some nominating authorities.

Scenario: Senator X Nominates 10 candidates, he/she knows that 3 already have an LOA, therefore he/she desinates one of the 6 remaining nominees as the primary. This could be a candidate they are impressed with but who might otherwise stuggle to get an appointment. But by choosing a primary nominee, the Senator knows that he/she will be sending a minimum of 4 people to the academy instead of a minimum of 3. More bird in the hand.

My son interviewed with 1 Senator committee last weekend, They told him that the USNA appointed all 10 of his nominees last year and 6 out of 10 made it to the AFA.

For what it's worth...

FoF
 
I seem to recall this noted in a much earlier thread where this has been done regardless of political status, i.e. maximizing?

btw, same scenario here.
 
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I agree with WP here... I think the MOC's committees work hard to maximize nominations. Good for the candidates and good for the academies.
Our congressman's nominations manager told us that his committee does everything they can to maximize the number of nominations.
I also think that is the reason he does his interviews and makes his nominations after our Senators announce their nominations.
Call me naive but I seriously doubt that politics plays a part. The MOC's have committees that do the leg work for them and some of these people may not be of even the same political party.
 
I concur Mom. Committee members have to live where they're planted long after the polls close. I'm sure there are exceptions though.
 
My parents were actively working to unseat the Congressman who gave me my nom. He lost. I still got my nom.

In any event, I have never heard anyone in modern days say that noms are political (as in Republican/Democrat). I think that people who serve on the citizen committees generally tend to be of the same political persuasion as the MOC. However, when I did it years ago, I don't recall any litmus test or questions regarding my party affiliation. They were so happy to have additional volunteers . . .
 
Update

I received a call from my defeated Congressman's staffer who handles the academy nomination applications. She said the process has changed due to the fact the staff has to be out of their offices by 15 DEC. Instead of the Congressman's traditional merit board conducting interviews, he will review the applications and make the nomination decisions himself.

This could be good or bad. Sometimes kids come across better in person than on paper or vice versa. The only personal benefit that I can think of is the Congressman has known my son, and his desire to attend an academy, for several years now. As a local politician myself, I know the Congressman on a first name basis. Hopefully when he sees my son's application, he will recognize the name and read instead of scan.
 
Had interviews not been scheduled already?

My daughter interviewed with a defeated Senator's committee last Saturday - apparantly he is committed to perform his duties until he end of his term.
 
His staff hadn't scheduled the first interviews until later this month. Now they're all canceled.

Just_A_Mom said:
Had interviews not been scheduled already?

My daughter interviewed with a defeated Senator's committee last Saturday - apparantly he is committed to perform his duties until he end of his term.
Click to expand...
 
Update

The lady from our lame duck Congressman's office called today and informed us that he nominated my son for the USAFA, USMA, and USNA. Considering the fact that my son hasn't received any 'LOAs' yet, is our Congressman being a nice guy by throwing us a bone?

I'm really ignorant about this process, thus my questions. In and of itself, is a nomination worth anything if the Academies have different selection criteria than the MOC?

Thanks for the input!
 
The nomination is worth a huge amount. In the case of the USAFA, only 200 of the 1600 eventual appointees had LOA's. So your son's nomination, especially to multiple academies means he is still very much in the running for an appointment. The MOC only nominates candidates who he feels are competitive for an appointment.
 
FatherOfFive said:
According to one Mid's parents I interviewed, when our Senator retired 4 years ago, he broke with tradition and designated a primary nominee which happened to be their kid. The kid was a solid pick but not of LOA quality (similar to my son). Which led me to believe that there could be some gamesmanship by some nominating authorities.

Scenario: Senator X Nominates 10 candidates, he/she knows that 3 already have an LOA, therefore he/she desinates one of the 6 remaining nominees as the primary. This could be a candidate they are impressed with but who might otherwise stuggle to get an appointment. But by choosing a primary nominee, the Senator knows that he/she will be sending a minimum of 4 people to the academy instead of a minimum of 3. More bird in the hand.

My son interviewed with 1 Senator committee last weekend, They told him that the USNA appointed all 10 of his nominees last year and 6 out of 10 made it to the AFA.

For what it's worth...

FoF
Click to expand...

I'm so confused about this....

I thought that each senator/congressman was allowed to have only 5 people at each academy at any given time...
So how could all 10 of his nominees go, or even 6 out of 10...???
 
i think its because candidates with LOA's dont count against an MOC's quota
 
LOA's do count against a MOC's quota. Only one person on the slate of 10 counts against an MOC's quota. The others go into the National Pool, if they are offered appointments then they don't count against an MOC's quota. In fact the National Pool also consists of candidates who apply for but did not receive a nomination. A plus for candidates from really competitive districts.
The process is a huge chess game and very confusing. In fact it is so confusing that MOC's often don't know who is counted against their quota. Each year the Academies inform each MOC of how many openings he/she has. If they have one opening available then they may nominate 10, if they have two openings available they may nominate 20. Openings occur with graduations and separations. So you want to apply the year all of your MOC's appointments have dropped out! (HaHa)
Here is a link that might help. It is from 2005 but the process has not changed:

https://admissions.usafa.af.mil/RR/Congressional%20Guide.pdf

BR2011: Congrats on your nomination!
 
Should a MOC's primary selection be a candidate with an LOA, it does count against his quota. Google "US Code, Title 10. Subtitle C, Part III, Chapter 603". Read Section 6954 and do the math. After all the designated appointments are selected, a substantial portion of the 1500 or so appointement offers have not been filled. First, these openings are filled as per Section, 6954.b.5, then by the provisions of 6956. These appoints, by in large, will be from the MOC's alternate nominations and will not count against that MOC's quota.
 
USNA69 said:
Should a MOC's primary selection be a candidate with an LOA, it does count against his quota. Google "US Code, Title 10. Subtitle C, Part III, Chapter 603". Read Section 6954 and do the math. After all the designated appointments are selected, a substantial portion of the 1500 or so appointement offers have not been filled. First, these openings are filled as per Section, 6954.b.5, then by the provisions of 6956. These appoints, by in large, will be from the MOC's alternate nominations and will not count against that MOC's quota.
Click to expand...


Try this link:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title10/subtitlec_partiii_chapter603_.html
 
You are welcome. And congratulations to your son for earning his nominations - he won those by competing against other applicants in your congressional district. You don't need an LOA to get a nomination.
 
I too add my congrats to the Commish. Great news. Its a big deal to get one. The powers that be have picked your son because they feel he is the best choice for success at an academy. Now that your son has the nomination under his belt, its time for that really fun waiting game you've been hearing about. Don't be too concerned if son doesn't get an LOA. Appointments rarely come from LOAs. Most kids will hear between Feb./March and some as late as April. You probably knew that part but I wanted to throw it out there again in hopes that an ounce of stress is taken away. What an exciting time. Enjoy every minute. (I'd frame that nomination) :D
 
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