Opinfo

ProudDad2022 said:
Does anyone know if USNA pays for travel if accepted for Opinfo?
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No. The extra days away from the Yard are the tangible reward. A midshipman who expects to travel home during a leave period does so at their own expense, just as staff officers and enlisted personnel do. Volunteering for OPINFO work gets them additional time off, a real bonus for the fast-turnaround Thanksgiving holiday for those who live far away.
 
Capt MJ said:
No. The extra days away from the Yard are the tangible reward. A midshipman who expects to travel home during a leave period does so at their own expense, just as staff officers and enlisted personnel do. Volunteering for OPINFO work gets them additional time off, a real bonus for the fast-turnaround Thanksgiving holiday for those who live far away.
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With us living on the West Coast, if this comes to fruition, this will be the first time our mid has come home for Thanksgiving. I was just hoping for a little added bonus of paid for travel.
 
While it’s true that they are home for an extended amount of time, they DO work their tails off!! The whole point, is to visit schools, etc. They do a presentation, answer questions, provide materials and collect contact info. And then do that all over again, at each of their presentations. All of which is returned to USNA. At a minimum amount of schools. With travel time, it’s a very busy time for them. Mine added in extra contacts, meeting privately. We didn’t see him much those days! And he was tired. It was fulfilling work….with work being the operative word. On top of that, they are tasked on the front end with setting up their visits. So this requires added time requirements beforehand, at USNA.

My point, is that it’s nice to have them home…but they are working and we actually didn’t see ours much.

And I can also confirm that USNA doesn’t routinely fund travel. Perhaps on an individual, case by case basis, if needed. Not sure about that piece. But it’s not included in the program, in general.
 
ProudDad2022 said:
With us living on the West Coast, if this comes to fruition, this will be the first time our mid has come home for Thanksgiving. I was just hoping for a little added bonus of paid for travel.
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I will caveat my comment that Admissions might have a pot of discretionary money that could be tapped or perhaps the Alumni Assn would assist, where the OPINFO mission met a highly critical recruiting/USNA exposure goal AND the only midshipman available to go had zero funds to go home and wasn’t planning on traveling due to personal financial situation.

The Joint Travel Regulations, use of appropriated funds and related ethics guidance are a big part of military life, and one of the top ten reasons leaders can be fired from a role. If there are exceptions to a regulation or policy, the supporting business case must clearly meet the criteria.
 
DS did this last year. Our area is considered underrepresented (putting it mildly). He was in the throes of test prep, and getting counselors to reply to emails was a challenge, it's an odd time of year for schools. The other challenge to consider is whether or not schools are in session the week of Thanksgiving. It helped that I had worked at the schools for a decade and had great POCs for multiple sites. He had maintained the relationships he had with mentors so that was a bonus as well.

We were lucky, he was able to present to multiple classes at his alma mater and a newly constructed high school 45 minutes away. That and some one-on-one contacts, and an interview with a journalist met his requirements. It requires having a smartly pressed uniform ready to go, presenting with the PowerPoint the academy provides and disseminating the pamphlets the academy also provides.
 
justdoit19 said:
While it’s true that they are home for an extended amount of time, they DO work their tails off!!
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This is so true. When DD did OpInfo, I think we saw less of her than during her regular breaks. She covered a lot of ground, visited a lot of schools, met with a lot of students, fought through a nasty snow storm, and even appeared on a radio talk show. Very fun, rewarding and productive. But a lot of hard work. I think she’d highly recommend it.
 
Unfortunately, the program does not play well with varsity athletes in season.
No pun intended.
 
FutureAdademyDad? said:
Unfortunately, the program does not play well with varsity athletes in season.
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The cool thing is that varsity athletes execute their own OpInfo every time they step onto the field or court, or into any other arena. They rep USNA well.

DD was a club athlete at USNA (team captain as a firstie) and did a bit of “recruiting” during OpInfo. She visited her high-school traveling team to tell the players of the opportunity to continue playing as a mid. She enjoyed that.
 
OPINFO is a great opportunity to go home early for Thanksgiving break. However, there is a mission to get done…midshipmen aren’t being sent home to go on leave, they are being sent home to help the admissions office…which is a job (temporary additional duty, TAD). The benefit is they can spend the evenings with family and friends. Families need to understand this expectation…so if you aren’t seeing DS or DD from 0800-1600 each day…that is because they are somewhat earning a paycheck. To add to CaptMJ…not only does JTR apply, but fairness and consistency across the brigade in any potential funded travel. This is probably part of the reason OPINFO is voluntary…the government isn’t forcing anyone to go TAD.
 
I've told my son to be on the lookout for this opportunity. Can Plebes do it or do you have to be 3/c+?
 
Huursoldaat said:
I've told my son to be on the lookout for this opportunity. Can Plebes do it or do you have to be 3/c+?
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Plebes are not eligible.

Other classes are eligible; midshipmen must be sat. Varsity athletes in season typically don’t get to go. Finally, Admissions determines the mission necessity based on location, if the geographic area has been designated as one Admissions sees in need of more exposure. Not every midshipman who applies gets to go.

Or, to sum up, as always, needs of the Navy/USNA rule.

This is the current instruction I found on USNA’s list of current instructions (policies):

 
OPSINFO is a LOT of work for the BGOs to solicit schools to set up events, plan a schedule, etc.
Then after all of that, sometimes USNA cancels that mid with VERY little notice leaving the BGO
with egg all over their face with "their" schools.

Ask me how I know. . . :mad2:
 
OldRetSWO said:
OPSINFO is a LOT of work for the BGOs to solicit schools to set up events, plan a schedule, etc.
Then after all of that, sometimes USNA cancels that mid with VERY little notice leaving the BGO
with egg all over their face with "their" schools.

Ask me how I know. . . :mad2:
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Concur

OPINFO is a great deal for the mids - not so much for the BGOs.....
 
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