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- Jul 26, 2008
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- 6,212
I hate to toss in some negativity here but...
I sit on my MoC's nomination board and one of the things asked is: "which SA is your FIRST choice?" If you told me USNA and I thought you were a superb candidate, I would ask the USNA board "Are you going to nominate so-and-so because if you're not, we'd like to nominate him/her to USAFA." If they say "Yes, we are; superb candidate!" Then we will DEFER nominating them because they said USNA was their first choice.
We will then go nominate another candidate for USAFA that had USAFA as their first choice.
At the end of the day, there are NO nominations left to any SA. My guess is your MOC's boards are much the same. Our goal is to nominate as many deserving candidates as we can to serve our nation.
NOW...I had a candidate many years ago...he was so USAFA oriented that he would have died a thousand deaths to go. He did NOT get in; but received "full ride" AFROTC scholarship and went from the hills of Arizona to Embry Riddle in Daytona Beach.
Oh, did I mention that this young man could have been a male model? I assumed once he got to Daytona...that was it.
The next fall he called still wanting to go for it. So he did...and the congressman, remembering him, said: "I know his family has limited funds, he doesn't have to come back here, I'll nominate him!" And he did!
To WEST POINT!
You can imagine the reaction. Tears, frustration, etc... I took this young man to lunch and asked him this question:
"Do you want to go to USAFA because it's USAFA and air force and that's all that you care about? Or do you want to go to become an officer and serve the United States?"
He sat back with a surprised look on his face...thought for a couple of minutes and then said: "sir...I want to serve as an officer to defend our country, to better myself, and to make a difference." (Or words to that effect, it was early 1999...memory...)
Captain Chad, USMA '03 is now an MC/RC-12 Instructor pilot after having served as a UH-60 IP, and pilot, in ALL the AOR's you read about. He has accomplished amazing things, which little ribbons on his uniform attest to, but to me the most amazing thing is to see how much he's changed since I first met him as a 9th grader with a dream.
And yes, we still keep in touch...and I couldn't be more proud of him if he were my own son. I had a tiny little bit in this show...he's the star, but its nice to see him and say: "MAYBE I had a little bit in this..."
THAT makes my role in the military wholly satisfying.
And that is why, if you're offered an appointment to USNA and your desire is to SERVE as an OFFICER in the armed forces of the United States, you need to look LONG and HARD and what your goals are. If it's just to go to the AFA because it's a "family thing" or "I like USAFA" or anything like that, may I respectfully suggest you do NOT accept an appointment to USNA and then try to go to USAFA? You would be taking an appointment away from someone that truly wants to serve.
BUT...if you, like Chad, want to SERVE...and that's your goal, please tell me how USNA and either the US Naval service (and I include the USMC here) or a cross-commission is a bad thing?
You have, IMHO, some serious soul searching to do. I don't mean to sound "tough, hard-hearted, mean, etc.," but I think you're where Chad was and I just use him as an example all the time because of how proud I am of his choice and his accomplishments.
YOU could be like Chad.
Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
I sit on my MoC's nomination board and one of the things asked is: "which SA is your FIRST choice?" If you told me USNA and I thought you were a superb candidate, I would ask the USNA board "Are you going to nominate so-and-so because if you're not, we'd like to nominate him/her to USAFA." If they say "Yes, we are; superb candidate!" Then we will DEFER nominating them because they said USNA was their first choice.
We will then go nominate another candidate for USAFA that had USAFA as their first choice.
At the end of the day, there are NO nominations left to any SA. My guess is your MOC's boards are much the same. Our goal is to nominate as many deserving candidates as we can to serve our nation.
NOW...I had a candidate many years ago...he was so USAFA oriented that he would have died a thousand deaths to go. He did NOT get in; but received "full ride" AFROTC scholarship and went from the hills of Arizona to Embry Riddle in Daytona Beach.
Oh, did I mention that this young man could have been a male model? I assumed once he got to Daytona...that was it.
The next fall he called still wanting to go for it. So he did...and the congressman, remembering him, said: "I know his family has limited funds, he doesn't have to come back here, I'll nominate him!" And he did!
To WEST POINT!
You can imagine the reaction. Tears, frustration, etc... I took this young man to lunch and asked him this question:
"Do you want to go to USAFA because it's USAFA and air force and that's all that you care about? Or do you want to go to become an officer and serve the United States?"
He sat back with a surprised look on his face...thought for a couple of minutes and then said: "sir...I want to serve as an officer to defend our country, to better myself, and to make a difference." (Or words to that effect, it was early 1999...memory...)
Captain Chad, USMA '03 is now an MC/RC-12 Instructor pilot after having served as a UH-60 IP, and pilot, in ALL the AOR's you read about. He has accomplished amazing things, which little ribbons on his uniform attest to, but to me the most amazing thing is to see how much he's changed since I first met him as a 9th grader with a dream.
And yes, we still keep in touch...and I couldn't be more proud of him if he were my own son. I had a tiny little bit in this show...he's the star, but its nice to see him and say: "MAYBE I had a little bit in this..."
THAT makes my role in the military wholly satisfying.
And that is why, if you're offered an appointment to USNA and your desire is to SERVE as an OFFICER in the armed forces of the United States, you need to look LONG and HARD and what your goals are. If it's just to go to the AFA because it's a "family thing" or "I like USAFA" or anything like that, may I respectfully suggest you do NOT accept an appointment to USNA and then try to go to USAFA? You would be taking an appointment away from someone that truly wants to serve.
BUT...if you, like Chad, want to SERVE...and that's your goal, please tell me how USNA and either the US Naval service (and I include the USMC here) or a cross-commission is a bad thing?
You have, IMHO, some serious soul searching to do. I don't mean to sound "tough, hard-hearted, mean, etc.," but I think you're where Chad was and I just use him as an example all the time because of how proud I am of his choice and his accomplishments.
YOU could be like Chad.
Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83