My DS may have some hard decisions ahead and I hope someone can help us understand how things will work going forward. Being in the US Navy has been his dream since he was very young. Although he's applied to USNA, USMMA and NROTC, to make sure he's on track, he's already enlisted in the Navy Nuclear program to start next summer if none of these materialized (scored a perfect score on the qualifying exam). His contract allows him to instead go to a US service academy or NROTC if one of these comes through. His SAT scores were 760 math and 630. His GPA is 3.65 and majority of his classes are honors or AP (AP calculus, AP physics, AP English, etc.). He's an outstanding musician on saxophone and guitar and involved in marching band, jazz band and city HS honor band all years of HS. A lot of service at work camps in West Virginia summers to help the poor. He's a top level ice hockey player who's been a captain and MVP on his HS hockey team for 3 years and led his team to the city championship last year and played on top travel teams. Also pays lacrosse. He's had other leadership positions in HS. He excelled on the CFA. One obstacle he's had to overcome was having cold-induced bronchitis when he started hockey at age 7 and until 9 or 10. He was treated for that for a few years and then it just disappeared and meds were stopped but "chronic bronchitis" was carried forward on his electronic medical record until he was 14 despite never having anything beyond 10. He passed the methacholine challenge test with flying colors two year ago and pulmonary specialists documented he had no evidence of asthma or bronchitis past age 10. Despite this, DODMERB disqualified him and he needs a waiver. He's received 2 MOC nominations each for USNA and USMMA in the past two weeks. We think both MOC use the method where they have no primary nominee but send the list to the service academy and let the service academy decide.
USMMA gave him a waiver on his DODMERB disqualification and sent him a LOA two weeks ago, and has noted he's "fully qualified". Of course, if you graduate from the USMMA you can join the US Navy as an officer. One of the Blue Angels is a USMMA, so it seems you have a wide range of opportunities if you enter the US Navy from USMMA.
His USNA application is complete and only lists "Complete Medical Qualification Exam" as remaining before his final consideration. His two MOC nominations were listed on the USNA site this week.
So here are the questions:
1. How long will USMMA allow him to wait for a final decision from the USNA before accepting his appointment to USMMA that is likely to come?
2. My DS talks about possibly declining USMMA and going to Navy Nuclear or NROTC (if offered) and then reapplying to USNA again a year or two later. His concern is somehow USMMA graduates might not have all the same opportunities in the US Navy as USNA graduates. Is that a real concern? My advice to him is to take the bird in the hand if USNA appointment doesn't happen this year because who knows if he and his commanding officer will get along and who knows if DODMERB will derail him again in the future.
3. Is it common to get a DODMERB waiver from one service academy (USMMA) and not from another (USNA)?
4. When is USNA likely to complete evaluation of his DODMERB disqualification to determine whether he gets a waiver from them or not?
5. Is a NROTC experience as rich as the USMMA experience is likely to be?
Thank you for any information you can give us. Any insights will be much appreciated.
USMMA gave him a waiver on his DODMERB disqualification and sent him a LOA two weeks ago, and has noted he's "fully qualified". Of course, if you graduate from the USMMA you can join the US Navy as an officer. One of the Blue Angels is a USMMA, so it seems you have a wide range of opportunities if you enter the US Navy from USMMA.
His USNA application is complete and only lists "Complete Medical Qualification Exam" as remaining before his final consideration. His two MOC nominations were listed on the USNA site this week.
So here are the questions:
1. How long will USMMA allow him to wait for a final decision from the USNA before accepting his appointment to USMMA that is likely to come?
2. My DS talks about possibly declining USMMA and going to Navy Nuclear or NROTC (if offered) and then reapplying to USNA again a year or two later. His concern is somehow USMMA graduates might not have all the same opportunities in the US Navy as USNA graduates. Is that a real concern? My advice to him is to take the bird in the hand if USNA appointment doesn't happen this year because who knows if he and his commanding officer will get along and who knows if DODMERB will derail him again in the future.
3. Is it common to get a DODMERB waiver from one service academy (USMMA) and not from another (USNA)?
4. When is USNA likely to complete evaluation of his DODMERB disqualification to determine whether he gets a waiver from them or not?
5. Is a NROTC experience as rich as the USMMA experience is likely to be?
Thank you for any information you can give us. Any insights will be much appreciated.