...... or is it?
Reading various posts over the past few days, it seems as though there is a lot of confusion regarding the NWL.
Understandable.
There are 2 uses of the acronym, NWL, which adds to the confusion.
1) The use of 'NWL' in the 3Q letter
Everyone who is 3Q'd goes on a NWL.
Yes, even those of you who have your appointment right now, were on the NWL.
Once the MOC nomination slates come in, the obvious slate winners are pulled off and given offers.
Also, once they determine who gets the Service Connection slots (Presidential, ROTC etc), those are pulled off also and given offers.
2) The use of 'NWL' in the US Code (Title 10)
Once the slot winners from MOC and Service Connected noms are determined, the class is not full. MOC and Service Connected slots add up to about 841 slots.
The US Code allows for 2 additional ways to fill the class.
a) By law, WP must appoint 150 from the NWL. These are called 'Qualified Alternates.' These 150 are those that are 3Q'd with MOC noms who didn't win their MOCs' slates.
Since the NWL is one big competitive slate, everyone is listed top to bottom by WCS ( this is why you continue to update your file until the file completion deadline at the end of FEB).
Therefore, the top 150 by WCS, non MOC slot winners, get the NWL slots.
b) WP can then throw out the WCS and appoint candidates who help them round out the class. This must be done at a ratio of 3:1 MOC noms to Service Connected noms. These are called 'Additional Appointees'
This is my best understanding of the NWL.
I seriously doubt that the selection of appointees happens in this exact order. It is too complex of a shell game determining which slot a candidate gets.
If you have multiple noms, you may think you have X slot, but you may not. Some of these slots are not determined for awhile.
To conclude -
being on the NWL is a good thing. It means you are 3Q'd.
If you don't get a MOC slot, then you can compete for one of the 150 NWL slots as a Qualified Alternate.
If you don't get a MOC or Service Connected slot, then you can be appointed as an Additional Appointee.
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I posted this 2 years ago and thought I'd repost in case it might help clear some confusion about the NWL. Hopefully, it didn't add to the confusion!