What's the point of a nomination?

aznarkarus

aznarkarus

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I know it's a blunt question, but I'm wondering that if a MOC commission mirrors academy's criterion (not even as strictly), why is it mandatory?
 
It is a blunt question; to the point, however. a point well taken. It is mandated by Congress that they nominate you for the selection, ultimately, by the SA. It appears, however, that even if the SA identifies you as one of their desired ones, the MOC and/or their respective selection committescantrump the Academies desires!?! Go figure!
Do you have a LOA or are you 3Q'd. Best wishes with the nomination process.
 
Both committees usually select the same nominees/appointees for an obvious reason: they are more quallified. Given that, what would change if the nomination process was removed?

Yes, I have a LOA.
 
The Congressional nomination process was put in place to ensure an equal geographic distribution of cadets/midshipmen. Congressmen and Senators want to make sure that their districts/states are receiving their "fair share." Each MOC gets 5 cadets/midshipmen at USNA, USAFA, and USMA, and the President and VP get a few slots as well. USMMA uses a slightly different process (proportional based on you state's representation in Congress).

The USCGA does not use nominations, cadets are chosen on merit without regard to geographical limitations.

However, there is a bill before Congress to change that. :thumbdown:
 
Thanks for the info, that clears things up. I used to think that the academies take care of this matter, but I guess MOCs are able to do it more efficiently.
 
Just because it is done does not mean there is a good reason for it. The word "efficient" doesn't come to mind when I think of Congress either. :rolleyes:
 
My Representative asks the Academy for their top picks and nominates those people. No interviews, no nothing. When nominations are handled that way, they do nothing but force geographic diversity, perhaps at the expense of some worthy candidates. It does seem like a somewhat duplicative effort but I doubt it will go away any time soon.

Luigi or LITS - the CGA catalog for this year says "Starting in 2009, CGA will use a modified nomination process to identify and
select students for appointment." Any ideas on what that means?

The word "efficient" doesn't come to mind when I think of Congress either.
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That's actually by design. We're supposed to be a weak state. Change is supposed to come slowly. That's why the founding fathers threw in so many checks and balances. The purpose of the Congress is to both pass good laws and stop bad laws. If you are a bill and you can maintain the support of a majority of your peers through the entire process, you are probably a bill worthy of being made law (or that's the theory at least). If we weren't a weak state, the entire system could change on a whim and we'd look a lot like the Brits. Not a great thing in my opinion (no insult to the Brits... really).
 
That's right, and it's good to be slow. That "slow" process however does not apply to the selection of nominations.

Can you imagine if we were just changing laws willy nilly? Every 2 to 4 years cops and judges would have to go back to school.

Not sure what the new wording is regarding the selection process.
 
As for what your Representative does, the process still limits the number of qualified nominations he can give out. Even if he has 20 times the qualified applicants of another district, they still can only give out a certain number.
 
zaatarmonster said:
Luigi or LITS - the CGA catalog for this year says "Starting in 2009, CGA will use a modified nomination process to identify and select students for appointment." Any ideas on what that means?
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Printing costs are high, they were covering their bases in case the bill before Congress passes.

By "modified" they mean they would probably use (if the bill ever becomes law) the system that USMMA uses, which is different from what USNA/USMA/USAFA use.
 
My daughter has an interview scheduled with our congressman, but we havent heard from our senators yet, except for the note that they had received a complete packet.

The congressman's website says he does interviews, but the Senator's sites didnt say so.. ??? so do they just choose by paperwork submitted??
 
J Collins said:
The congressman's website says he does interviews, but the Senator's sites didn't say so.. ??? so do they just choose by paperwork submitted??
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Some MOCs interview their candidates, and some do not interview their candidates.

And believe it or not, some do both. They give nominations based on the paper qualifications for some of their candidates, while other candidates are asked to come in for interviews before a decision is reached on their nomination.

It all depends on the whims of a politician.
 
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