Thanks for your response. I read it with acute interest since we have some things in common. I am also a retired military aviator! And I agree that the best pilots didn't need to be the best students. Rather, they needed to practice the best CRM (crew resource management...names vary among institutions). The strongest pilots I've met combined superb airmanship skills with a healthy dose of humility. Some of the worst pilots I've worked with were extremely smart individuals, but completely lacking in any humility or modesty. The results ranged from "mildly annoying to fly with" to "downright dangerous."
My DD and I have come to the slow recognition that her lack of athletic prowess (and her petite form...she's 5'6" and 110 lbs) will probably not serve her well at USAFA. Example....We were at Yokota AFB for spring break (on a vacation) and I tried to imagine my daughter leading, motivating, and encouraging the recruits and airmen that we saw on base. The military has changed a lot since I got out 10 years ago. The military bearing, appearance, professionalism, weight standards, and even hygiene have all suffered in the intervening years. My experience at Yokota was a wake-up call....I couldn't really imagine my daughter being able to inspire and motivate many of those troops. She would probably have better luck building teams of engineers at Google than she would supervising watchstanders at a USAF command. The silver lining of all this is that she is going to be mostly immune to the sting of a TWE from USAFA next week. It'll probably bother me more than her. At this point, she might even decline an appointment.
I hope you get good news. It would be a thrilling to receive an appointment. But if his outcome is TWE, I also hope that he has a good backup plan that he can get excited about and quickly pivot towards with eagerness. Our "backup" plan has emerged as the new primary plan, and we're excited about it.