Military Academies (2023-2024)

[serene forge]

i was done by like october for usma

yea, my FFR for USMA made a big deal about that

[distant fern]

yeah everything on my end was done by early december

[serene forge]

that should be ok

you'd think

[distant fern]

DODMERB took until early feb to fill it out same with my BGO

[serene forge]

unless some sweat in ur district did everything earlier

i was the sweat with USMA lmao

yea 4 yr for both

[distant fern]

what im worried about is this

even though on paper i am probably more qualified than they are

[serene forge]

nomination is so stupid

[distant fern]

they did it earlier

[serene forge]

yea

idk i dont fks with the nomination stuff

[distant fern]

i was chilling with my nomination they loved me

[serene forge]

i understand representation from every district in America but it makes admissions whacky

[serene forge]

oh yea same, but i couldnt apply to USNA or USAFA bc my district ONLY lets you choose one for nomination

and in texas you cant rlly rely on senators

[distant fern]

i only applied to USNA so that was easy for me

[serene forge]

lol

it is what it is

youll be able to commission either way

i wouldnt worry about it

NROTC and USNA get you to the same place

[analog aspen]

@distant fern do you know about navy stuff

what is the difference between

restricted and unrestricted line officers

[distant fern]

yeah im chilling...either way i dont have to worry!!

[analog aspen]

i’m very unknowledgeable with navy stuff lol

[distant fern]

just hoping the USNA stuff comes my way haha

[distant fern]

i think restricted ones can't do certain things

like they're basically office guys

unrestricted ones can be wherever the navy wants to put you

[serene forge]

restricted is like 10x harder to get supposedly

[analog aspen]

Restricted sounds awesome …

I was looking into NR engineers but apparently that’s the HARDEST job to get

[serene forge]

bc the navy NEEDS like 90+% of its officers to be unrestricted, command on ships, submarines, etc

[analog aspen]

Oh word

[serene forge]

i think

at least thats what my homie thats going to usna says

it is what it is

i might lowkey do the 20 years whatever the fk for the full pension

[analog aspen]

Lifer…

You might be able to hit bird and retire

Sounds like an awesome goal

[distant fern]

yeah that's pretty sick

[distant fern]

ngl...that sounds like it's the move

or stay in the navy for 8-10 years after academy

get an MBA and work in finance

or stay in the navy while working in finance

[blazing hawk]

I think this is one of the reasons I got into both NROTC and AFROTC. I got it done early and was on the first board for both

You have plenty of time to build up and do well on the CFA dude

[analog aspen]

Yeah I know, I just know I won’t be as competitive as most

[blazing hawk]

Mine cleared quickly too, but I did it VERY early before they had a bunch of people to deal with, and had only one issue that I was worried about, but they didn't care about it apparently. 🙏

[blazing hawk]

Nah, you can do it, but you'd definitley have to put in work. Marking the CFA off at NASS was the best thing ever because I never had to do it again since AF took it too lol

Still working on it all though, so I'm ready for I-day

[analog aspen]

Doing the CFA at SLE will be interesting

How was NASS?

[blazing hawk]

It was fun. More physical than SS at USAFA, but both were fun in their different ways. Doing the CFA was pretty fun because you had a huge group of people cheering you on. I'd imagine that could be imtimidating, or help you preform better depending on how you react to such situations lol

I got lucky to be in a position that the mile run wasn't backed up, and we could get a good time

[analog aspen]

I see

[blazing hawk]

You don't do the CFA at USAFA SS because of the altitude. Kids from low altitude would be puking left and right lol

[analog aspen]

Is it really that high?

How do people do PT

Can you feel the difference haha

[distant fern]

yes it sucks LOL

soccer tournaments in colorado always suck

[blazing hawk]

You know what's great though? The opposite. When you run and train at altitude, all that extra oxygen you get at sea level really makes running kind of awesome

[distant fern]

hahaha yeah

i dont ever train up there though

[blazing hawk]

I mean, I live within 2 hours of the AFA, so I'm chilling, but you can be fine when you first get here, if you're not used to altitude, or it can cause real problems for a few days until your body adjusts. It's always good to take it slow lol

[blazing hawk]

My dad and I ran a half marathon in February in Orlando, and we trained at altitude obviously. We shaved about 5 minutes off our time during the race lol

[analog aspen]

Insane

[distant fern]

still pending 😭

[distant fern]

holy shoot that's nuts

[blazing hawk]

I mean, part of that could be the excitement of doing the race. It was at Disney too, which was pretty cool

We skipped all the pictures and stuff, except in front of Cinderella's Castle

[distant fern]

woah that is really cool

[covert pike]

ty guys so much

i alr started working on next year's candidate package and reached out to my bgo as you suggested

[distant fern]

today's the day...

[serene forge]

NASS is so fun

except someone shitted in their shower in my company and we had a talk about it

[random needle]

Godspeed my friend

If you have any more sadness left after processing it

Turn that into aggression

Also piggybacking on what @serene forge said

Finish your application ASAP and correctlt

[analog aspen]

LOL

[serene forge]

You get ur CFA out of the way there if you did good

Like i didnt have to take it again

[hardy bane]

I ended up not applying to the academies or ROTC this year because of medical concerns with the DODMERB, so I found this article about waivers pretty interesting https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/rethinking-medical-dqs/

[distant fern]

waitlisted USNA

[cunning escarp]

the day of reckoning has come upon us

[cunning escarp]

good luck, hopefully you get in or end up as a napster like me

[distant fern]

hopefully!!

although i don't think they give a naps offer to academy waitlisted people...

they just say yes or no right

[blazing hawk]

Well hopefully you clear the list!

[distant fern]

hopefully!!

[cunning escarp]

I think they can actually

I think waitlisted folks also have a shot at naps or foundation

[distant fern]

oh deadass

i thought it was a separate waitlist lol

[umbral dew]

shit even intra-service waivers are inconsistent

my army rotc waiver for an ancient case of shin splints was approved like a week after i submitted a doctors note

west point hadnt even processed the additional info

stingy ass mfs

[serene forge]

id crash out fr

yea ROTC is soo much more willing to work with you

i deadass submitted some stuff for rotc late and they still processed it

[umbral dew]

yeah lmfao

maybe usma shouldnt have one dude doing every single waiver

crazy idea

[cunning escarp]

actually no I just looked, NAPS has THEIR OWN WAITLIST

so youre just waiting for the academy itself

[distant fern]

yeah

apparently there's around 75-125 put on the waitlist per year

[serene forge]

Is it deadass one dude

[umbral dew]

apparently it’s the academy surgeon general

[serene forge]

hell naw

[serene forge]

damn thats why my homie is cooked

no cologne allowed for CBT is fucking stupid

[umbral dew]

in what scenario are you going to need cologne bruh

you gon be in the a forest

[umbral dew]

lmfao

[serene forge]

im smellmaxxing

[umbral dew]

foul

nasty

[serene forge]

in every scenario bruh

i cant have it during CBT but during the academic year best believe am wearing that shit to class

[umbral dew]

what cologne is it

dont say dior sauvage

[serene forge]

jean paul gaultier

dior is fucking foul

not foul but its not great

[serene forge]

no lol

[umbral dew]

VALIDDDD

[serene forge]

Im going to dillards and macys to try sum more

[umbral dew]

macys employee watching me spray an entire bottle on myself

[distant fern]

LMFAO my brother uses dior sauvage

that shit is terrible 😂

he chose it i quote because "it was the closest one to the smell of a tree they had"

[umbral dew]

a tree 😭

someone fix him please

[hardy bane]

OPFOR boutta hunt you with your scent alone

[serene forge]

Im gonna be Best smelling soldier in us army fr

[blazing hawk]

You're gonna be so tired by day three that you're gonna forget what cologne is man

[analog aspen]

Scheduled meetings with AROTC, AFROTC, and NROTC at MIT same day

Let's hope one doesn't see me going to the other ...

[serene forge]

“I want to talk to get to know each service better”

[analog aspen]

Fr though

In terms of scholarships... bread is bread...

[serene forge]

I mean you might fall in love with a new service too

[serene forge]

For 3 years i was pretty dead set on Navy until i actually talked to army, navy and AF ppl then decided army culture and army career is more for me

[analog aspen]

Yeah fr

I just feel bad all of their emails are so welcoming and nice

I doubt I'll be at any of these detachments though, they all serve crazy colleges in Boston

[serene forge]

Yea fr 😭 i feel bad declining UT Austin, Vanderbilt and UMich rotc

[analog aspen]

Dude umich and vandy rotc

Trig westpoint'er...

[analog aspen]

Bro they're all in the same building

I might be fucked

[cunning escarp]

am I cooked chat

[analog aspen]

Get em next time

[tranquil loom]

Damn! I’m so sorry

[cunning escarp]

dont care

go navy

beat air force

[analog aspen]

🚬 go anything beat navy

[tranquil loom]

Nice

I’m biased tho. Family friend attended USAFA. I also have couple hoodies

[analog aspen]

posted my first thread on the service academy forums

woohoo....

[serene forge]

Some old heads and chronically online ppl are about to flame you

[analog aspen]

I actually got really helpful responses

I guess most of them stick to the SA related topics

I went in the ROTC section

[serene forge]

ROTC section is sm more chill

academies section is scuffed

like USMA had a dude bitching about how someone else in his district beat his daughter for an appointment and he was saying some shit about how "there's no way shes medically qualified" or smt

[analog aspen]

Insane bro

[blazing hawk]

Given some of the responses I've read there, I'll pray for you lol

[analog aspen]

🙏

[serene forge]

Luckily he was on the ROTC forum

Rotc is sm more chill

[blazing hawk]

Well that's good. Most of the responders there are nice and seem to know what they are talking about, but some are a huge yikes. Also, some parents of current applicants are also a yikes.

[analog aspen]

Fr

[serene forge]

are yall doing the NBIS shit rn for security check

im actually gonna crashout

[distant fern]

what's NBIS

[serene forge]

the security clearance stuff you gotta do

for the DOD or smt idk

its so fucking long

[distant fern]

wait whaaaat

is that for west point?

[serene forge]

the department of defense

[serene forge]

to go to west point you need secret clearance so yeah but im 99% sure the other academies and rotc do this too

[distant fern]

huh i havent heard of that from ROTC

USNA im on the WL

ROTC they just said submit the NSI package

[serene forge]

maybe you dont need to do it till after basic training for rotc

or NSI if ur nrotc

so annoying

[serene forge]

🫡 (go army beat navy)

[distant fern]

😂

hold fast

[serene forge]

@quartz bane bro have you done the e-qip/nbis stuff

after finger prints and police record check

[quartz bane]

yeah

its pretty long

u gotta get the info for a lot of people and addresses

[serene forge]

Its so bad 😭

[analog aspen]

In person with NROTC @ MIT done!

Was super cool

AROTC is right now but he’s not picking up the phone!!!

Nooooo army cancelled

We’re rescheduling

At least we got AFROTC in 37 minutes!

[serene forge]

Do they have any pull at admissions?

[analog aspen]

He said they have a portal where they notify admissions of people who get the scholarship

First board usually

He said it’s roughly 30/100 who get the scholarship get into the Harvard MIT Tufts consortium

It’s not 0 influence but it’s also not 100

[analog aspen]

Wow I can’t believe I’m gonna say this but navy was my favorite

[umbral dew]

yeah navy's pretty sweet

i wanna say they have the widest range of options out of all the branches

[serene forge]

30% is better than their 4% or whatever acceptance rate

[analog aspen]

I’m actually surprised

I was expecting to not like it very much

But the guy actually does in the navy what I want to do (nukes)

He is a SWO N

[serene forge]

Go army infantry

😏

[analog aspen]

real man's job

will i turn gay when i sign the navy contract

[umbral dew]

only if you do marine option

[analog aspen]

fortunately i wont be doing that ...

[analog aspen]

bro im gonna start tweaking

i think the army guy is dodging me

he rescheduled to 1PM today over zoom and didnt send a link

i called his cell and he didnt pick up

[umbral dew]

they might be prepping for spring ftx

Boston area units do theirs in April for some reason

Oh no I so lied they did theirs last week

[analog aspen]

🤣

[analog aspen]

@distant fern @umbral dew do yall know ab NUPOC and naval reactors engineers

the LT i spoke with told me about it

[distant fern]

no i do not

[umbral dew]

everyone i know in it loves it but its also a very specialized thing

nukes make a shitload of money though

[analog aspen]

Gonna be aiming for that

Comfy engineering position in DC?

Say less

But low key I’m warming up to the idea of SWO (N)

Carriers are cool …

[umbral dew]

you do also need to interview in dc for nupoc

[rocky comet]

for those going to USNA, whats the thoughts on SWOs?

i heard very mixed things of very bad and rewarding for SWO

[analog aspen]

Yeah he told me

It’s like a phone interview on physics and calc

Then an interview with NR eng command in DC, and then one with the 4 star admiral

Then they tell you at the interview whether or not you passed

I heard the few ROTC kids who do get NR eng interviews go before NUPOC kids

But most of the ones who do eventually get in come from NUPOC

[umbral dew]

interviewing with a 4 star is crazy

can you do rotc and nupoc?

[analog aspen]

That’s (the interview stuff) for NR eng, which is both but mostly NUPOC

and nah they’re exclusive

NUPOC u get paid as an E6 for like 3 years in college

as long as u do the PRT every half year

and meet with the recruiter

than u do ODS when u graduate

instead of NSI and all the midshipman activities during the year

[umbral dew]

oh interesting okay

thats kind of fire

[analog aspen]

yeah fr

all for a 9-5 in DC

suit n tie shit too

[random needle]

You will get your standard issue military grade thigh highs and cat ears

💀

[analog aspen]

Oh…

[analog aspen]

Coast guard beat annapolis in a sailing comp

Class of '29 needs to fix this ASAP. Counting on you guys

[rocky comet]

Has anybody ever regretted attending a service academy?

of the people i talked to they absolutely dont

curious if this is the case for a broader group of people

[analog aspen]

The worst I've seen is "terrible to be at, great to be from"

[cunning escarp]

yeah I can probably envision myself going to be bitching about going to an academy in the future but it gives opportunities you wont find anywhere else lmao

[serene forge]

aint nobody gon regret it whether they leave the service asap or continue in it for their whole career

[analog aspen]

Fr

[serene forge]

debt free + well respected degree + crazy experience (that you can exagerate on job apps)

[analog aspen]

Plus you get a cool ring at WP

So enough said

[serene forge]

do u get a cool ring at all the other academies?

i didnt apply to any other academy

lawl

[analog aspen]

I don’t think so

[rocky comet]

you also get a ring at the other academies

well idk for cga and usmma

[analog aspen]

Oh

[blazing hawk]

Pretty sure the ring is an important part of at least the big three. All have a ring dance I'm pretty sure

My dad is retired Army (but through ROTC) and when I decided to go to an academy, he told me not to become a "Ring Knocker," which is an academy grad who thinks they are the brightest person in the room and like to tap their Academy class ring against stuff to draw attention to it lol

[rocky comet]

i knew that academy graduates had a stereotype but thats the first time i heard about tapping their ring (let alone even wearing their ring after graduation and not in formal events)

[blazing hawk]

I mean, my dad's old so maybe the ring isn't as big of a deal as it used to be?

[rocky comet]

perhaps. Even for regular colleges, i think most people would find it tacky if someone is wearing their class ring on a normal basis and not for something like a class reunion

[rocky comet]

but if imma be real the academy class rings are way more asthetically pleasing than most regular college class rings (especially if its just the college logo)

[blazing hawk]

Unless you're an Aggie. Pretty sure that is how the cult members recognize each other in the wild (I am meming mostly because A&M was high on my list if an academy didn't work out)

I can't imagine getting a ring from any college other than an academy since those are a big deal to the students

[rocky comet]

lol thats pretty true

[rocky comet]

agree

especially when class rings for normal colleges are something you pay yourself of course (at least 500 dollars)

now the real question is it tacky to buy the academy sword?

[blazing hawk]

USC is my back up school, and if I break my leg in three places in the next 56 days and end up there, I can't see myself wanting a class ring. I have a high school one but I won't be wering it after I start college

I've seen various takes on the sword, but I don't see why it would be a big deal

[rocky comet]

did you also do the intent to enroll for USC?

idk whats the policy for putting intent to enroll for regular college and accepting appointment at an academy

[blazing hawk]

I don't think I get my deposit back

[random needle]

Crazy

💀🔥

[rocky comet]

For the police check how do you know which jurisdiction you fall under?

[blazing hawk]

So exciting!

[rocky comet]

did any of you guys join any c/o 2028 group chats?

[random needle]

Theres a snapchat group for UNSA

*USNA

[rocky comet]

what do they talk about in there?

was thinking about joining one of them

[blazing hawk]

There's a discord for USAFA

[random needle]

If you got your appointment then I could swing u an invite

Its full of excitements, occasional shitposts from me, sharing advice and discussing the required documents n stuff

[rocky comet]

Send usna por favor

[distant fern]

USNA waitlist warrior here

trust it's pulling through

[blazing hawk]

It absolutely is. Probably two days before you report, but still

Can you imagine? That would be crazy

[umbral dew]

yeah you got two days to get to annapolis lmao

i would cry

[serene forge]

Atp id do NROTC at x university

[distant fern]

i do have NROTC

at ASU

if i really want academy ill just reapply lol

[blazing hawk]

Both ROTC and Academy get you to the same place, and lots of people do ROTC and reapply. You got this, whateer you choose to do

[unborn field]

Would they have to repeat to year 1 or they could resume to their progress when they switch from ROTC to Academy?

[blazing hawk]

You always start at year one in the academy. Even if you're enlisted for a few years, and apply

[unborn field]

Hmm seems so unwise to do that since both sides still had to go to the same rank and title

[blazing hawk]

I think it would only be worth it if you really just want the academy experience

I have two ROTC scholarships and some great schools that I got into, but I've wanted to attend an academy since middle school, so when I got in, there was no question what I was going to do because I want that experience

If I hadn't gotten in, I would have done ROTC and re-applied, but for every me, there are people who want the real college experience

[serene forge]

Anyone have siblings or know anyone at a service academy that can talk about cross commission?

If i dont get military intelligence out of USMA, can i put air force or naval intel as preferred rankings or naw

[umbral dew]

I mean you’re gonna get intel out of usma

unless you’re a complete shitter it’s a pretty common branch

[rocky comet]

cross commissioning is extremely rare from what i heard

and if i recall correctly you need another person at a different branch thats willing to swap commissions basically

[serene forge]

i actually found the actual DOD memo concerning cross commission after asking that question lol. it's not a ''swap'' thats needed but approval from the losing secretary and from the gaining. you'll be re-calculated into the gaining academy for branching. they usually use this to fill more technical roles, ex. not enough midshipman pass flight physical

[rocky comet]

yeah that makes more sense than what i heard

[serene forge]

yea its more for filling roles, not really a swap

[rocky comet]

for the usna commits here did any of you guys have trouble uploading the documents for checklist?