USNA questions

Teufel said:
As far as I know he would have to attend OCS in order to receive a Marine Corps commission (Naval Academy graduates do not). I have known at least one Marine Corps officer who graduated from the Merchant Marine academy. I think they earn pretty good money on their summer cruises too.
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I'll pass that on to him. I half-expected that would be the case with the Corps. When I began this thread months ago he was focused on the Naval Academy and the Marine Corps. Now, knowing how competitive the process is, I think he'd welcome the opportunity to go to any service academy. He still has the CDV nomination from the USNA, but we've heard nothing from them.

We were also surprised to learn that you needed a nomination to the Merchant Marine Academy, but not to the Coast Guard Academy.
 
MM academy would be a great path as well! As you have discovered, he would have the option of choosing a commission into any branch upon graduation...wish I had done more research on the MM option myself.

Best of luck to Chris.

Also wanted to take the opportunity to post this since some USNA grads are following this thread:

http://www.salon.com/2015/01/05/let...erve_no_one_squander_millions_of_tax_dollars/

If you didn't have the pleasure of spending a semester with Professor Bruce Fleming as I did...he is obsessed with the idea of getting rid of the service academies and soap-boxed about it constantly. I always appreciated his honesty although I didn't (and still don't) agree with him. Thomas Ricks (author or Making the Corps) has similar opinions.
 
bertboughtthepert said:
MM academy would be a great path as well! As you have discovered, he would have the option of choosing a commission into any branch upon graduation...wish I had done more research on the MM option myself.

Best of luck to Chris.

Also wanted to take the opportunity to post this since some USNA grads are following this thread:

http://www.salon.com/2015/01/05/let...erve_no_one_squander_millions_of_tax_dollars/

If you didn't have the pleasure of spending a semester with Professor Bruce Fleming as I did...he is obsessed with the idea of getting rid of the service academies and soap-boxed about it constantly. I always appreciated his honesty although I didn't (and still don't) agree with him. Thomas Ricks (author or Making the Corps) has similar opinions.
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Anyone ever ask him what he'd do for a job if the academies went away?
 
I served with an Officer in 4ID who commissioned from Merchant Marine Academy. He served a semester of junior year at sea. Sounds like a good deal to me.
 
DA SWO said:
Anyone ever ask him what he'd do for a job if the academies went away?
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Responding to this guy might be my first submission into Task & Purpose. I've had about a day to cool down and think it through rationally. Whether or not it gets published, I'll post the entire piece on the board.
 
We finally heard from USNA. Chris's "Blue and Gold" Officer (a former Navy 04) is coming to the house Tuesday evening. Apparently he'll be here 2 and a half hours. He interviews my wife and I and then Chris 1-on-1. That gives me 5 days to "field day" the barracks. I don't know what to expect but I'll let you know how it goes.

My son wanted me to pass on his thanks to you all for the comments and suggestions.
 
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I Chinesed the Chinese outta the place for two days. The man came last night, very nice guy, former P-3 driver. He showed us a DVD all about USNA, talked about life as a Plebe/Midshipman, career paths, facilities, etc. Very impressive stuff.

This was interesting to learn: if you're a Midshipman and you want to be a Marine officer, just graduating from USNA is no guarantee you're gonna go there. If you're in the bottom 200 of your class, you may end up in the Navy as Ensign Pulver on some rusty scow. :D
 
Chris did not get into the USNA. But that's okay, we still haven't heard back from the Merchant Marine and Coast Guard Academies. He's got a nomination to the former, you don't need one for the latter. I told him no sweat, he's got acceptances from two civilian universities, and if he wants to be a USMC or USN officer he can still go for it after graduation from college.
 
Ocoka One said:
My son goes before Senator Rubio's committee on the 25th, and Senator Nelson's committee on the 29th.

Anything I should tell him to be prepared for?
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just be honest and don't try to tell them what you think they want to hear. The panel is full of military members looking to screen out the people who are there for the wrong reasons. Lots of people want free educations. They are looking for future military leaders who want to serve their country and lead Sailors and Marines.
 
OK maybe I didn't see the most recent posting. I'm out of order. PM me and I'll arrange a phone conversation to make up for it.
 
As mentioned above, my son had a congressional nomination to the US Merchant Marine Academy. But his application was denied for the sole reason that his high school failed to submit the required documentation prior to the USMMA deadline; even though we gave school administrators had all the necessary forms and information almost 6 weeks prior to the deadline. And despite all our efforts to facilitate the process by offering assistance. My wife sent e-mails, made phone calls reminding school officials of the importance of the deadline; my son made repeated trips to the high school office. We ended up pleading that these forms be sent in time. They were sent...and arrived 3 days late. This honor, this potentially wonderful opportunity was squandered because of prevarication, incompetence and disinterest.

I've written the superintendent of schools and copied our congressman, but what's done is done.

I'm posting this in the hope it may help some future academy applicant. There are many pitfalls on the way to an appointment, but a high school admin fuck-up shouldn't be one of them.
 
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I am so pissed off for you - cannot even believe the incompetence involved.
 
School admin bureaucrats. It's bad enough just trying to get them to send transcripts out to civilian colleges. The upside is, he's still got an application into the Coast Guard Academy...and he's been accepted at FSU and USF so if he doesn't get into to the USCGA he's leaning toward FSU.
 
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It may not mean much to him now, but there's a quote from Douglas Adams I've thought of when things happened that changed the course of where I thought my life would go.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."-Douglas Adams
 

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