You guys should get paid

C

cga82

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KP2001, Zaphod, Jamzmom and USNA69 you should get paid for you advise and help. But, since it's free I'm taking advantage of it.

I have to say that I am very fortunate to have a great son and I am very greatful that he has the opportunity to attend KP. I know that many, many would want to be in his shoes. He always wanted Naval Academy since he was knee high and to become Marine grunt or Aviator. He still remains unwaivered. It appears that USNA and USMA will not pan out but has been Appointed to Kings Point. He didn't want CG or anything to do with AF.

I know that the end game is the most important and for him it would be Marine Air. His eyes are now 20/30 and will probably worsen as times progress. I noticed that an article states that 1/3 of the Mids at NA get corrective surgery. Can the Mids at KP get the same surgery and compete for pilot spots? What can you tell me about the Marine Option at KP?

www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/20/news/navy.php
 
cga82,
Welcome aboard and thanks for the compliments, though, on my part, probably not that well deserved. RetNavyHM is the eye guru and up to date on all the latest waivers, etc. Maybe, since in your haste to post, you forgot to compliment him, you should do so. He is kind of sensitive, if you know what I mean. (can't find the stupid smiley faces but if I could, I would put a few here).

Since your son is obviously medically and physically qualified, do you wish to share why you think he has reached a dead end at USNA? It is a very slow process, applications aren't even due to the end of the month, and they don't normally do rolling rejections so I would not give up hope. The cutoff between USMMA and USNA isn't all that great.
 
CGA, welcome to the dark side. :beer1: And we do sorta get “paid”. We get some pretty good kicks from watching kids like yours prepare to serve in one of this country’s great service academies. I’m with USNA69, don’t discount the acceptance or rejection from the other academies unless you do in fact have a rejection letter in your hands. No news is good news in this case. I’d hold off until April with USNA when the fat lady sings so to speak. I have even seen with my own eyes, kids that have gotten a rejection letter then got a phone afterwards with an offer of appointment. Must have been like a kick in the pants that sent them over the moon all in one week. One of the kids it happened to was AFA (last year from my state). As to the KP Marine Ops Program, I know the kids go train many week-ends if they choose this. Its an added obligation but one the kids do well at. I have yet to find the specifics of the program only second hand hear-say through my kid. The eye/pilot thing? I know 100% of nothing on that one. I’ll let the others respond.

P.S. Your son will go far at any academy but he'll REALLY go far at KP! :shake:
 
cga82,

Currently the vision requirements for Student Naval Aviator (pilot, and yes Marine Corps aviators are considered Naval Aviators, much to their chagrin) is uncorrected distant visual acuity of 20/40 in each eye, corrected to 20/20 in each eye. So if your son's vision has remained fairly stable over the past couple of years, I don't think it'll get much worse in 4 years.
 
USNA69 Your absolutely right!-Doc RetNavyHm, your expertise has been invaluable-I bet that the folks at DODMERB are wondering how in world these candidates are on top of their solutions for med problems. Hopefully, those that read your forum will learn that the MEDICAL guys should always be at the top of their (take care of all of the HM guys) list. I found out in a hurry in CG Aviation (yes Doc, Coast Guard pilots are considered Naval Aviators). My son is fortunate to have no medical issues-yes Med Qualified. I didn't know if the KP Mids got the same treatment as the NA Mids. I was wondering about the reliablity of the article published on the NA Mids. I would think that the KP Mids and the NA Mids would have the same medical/consideration for flight status.

I am sure I forgot someone and as time progresses I will thank them for their selfless help. The Academies and everyone applying consulting ya'll have certainly made the process much easier and understandable. You're providing a great service.

I'm with you JM-I think or I know that KP has the most to offer but my son is stubborn (gets that from his mother). He's ready take KP if in the end he can go Marine Corps (he's got mom & dad worried for i know he won't shy away).

USNA69, I'd rather privately explain my thoughts on NA.
 
Unfortunately KP mids don't get quite the same treatment as mids at USNA. The mids at USNA are all considered future line officers and therefore are placed high on the list for people to get eye surgery. Since Bethesda is a very short drive away the midshipmen from USNA get their eye surgery done there on a weekly basis.

As far as I know (I have been away for a while though) the KP mids are not afforded this same opportunity. I think one of the problems is that KP mids are not obligated to go active duty so the Navy may be wary of providing that service to someone who has the chance to change their mind and be a reservist. One option if your son's eyes change a lot over the next couple of years, and he still wants to be a pilot at that point, (I'd bet there's a better than 50% chance he'll change his mind if he goes to KP) would be to pay for the surgery himself and have a it performed in the civilian world. One caveat is that I'm not too sure on the current laser eye surgery program affecting pilots. If you look up NAMI on google and go to their homepage they have a link to the current policies on eye surgery for pilots.

Regarding Marine Ops: you can sign up for this at any time at the Academy and it simply means you do a ton more PT (and runs in those little green short shorts) and do some Marine Corps type training on the weekend. The midshipmen will usually attend some official USMC Training (I think it's called Leatherneck??) during one or two summers before graduation and then after graduation go on to OCS as Quantico. (I think there may have been some recent changes to this part though, I think they may have made it where they don't have to go to OCS or they don't have to do Leatherneck, I can't remember right now though). But for anyone who wants to go Marine Corps from KP it's basically a lock, unlike at USNA where it is actually very competitive.

Best of luck to you and your son, thanks for the kind comments above. As JM said above we get our pay by seeing others get through this mess of an application in one piece.
 
USNA69,

I'll reveal part of why I think NA will not pan out. It has to do with football recruits signing today. (I will only tell of the facts as I verify other items). These kids appear on the Reps nom list. It is a competitive district. Does this signing indeed represent an Appointment?
 
cga82 said:
USNA69, Does this signing indeed represent an Appointment?
Click to expand...

It really doesn't matter. If the football players recieve the primary nomination, your son will go into the national pool. By in large, with very few exceptions, the 1500 most qualified candidates will receive appointements. If your son is one of these, he will, via the national pool. Over half the class is filled through this pool.
 
Darn wish I could send some of my son's eyesite to you. He was "pilot" qualified for all the academies and he does not want anything to do with flying! go figure.:confused:
 
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