Curious how this "new" (I know its been in place for years) Service Assignment process works, and what role class rank has. In the old day, the Midshipmen selected their service selection by class rank, ie. no interview/acceptance process. This sometimes lead to undesired results , e.g., I had a Squad Leader during Plebe Year who selected USMC solely because he wanted an Aviation slot; he had no interest in USMC but his class rank wasn't high enough to get a USN Pilot slot. This guy was worthless ....and I've alway wondered whether he got chewed up and spit out at TBS. That being said, Navy assignments generally reward performance, so Class Rank should have some effect. The question is whether a high class rank and mediocre PFT/Leatherneck performance would trump that kid who lives and breathes being a Marine Officer, but is at the bottom of the class ?