Air Force Academy Question

[Falconjet]

I would like to point out that there are 4 service academies.

FJ

 

[Andy]

I would like to point out that there are 4 service academies.

FJ

Not to be picky, but there are 5.
West Point
Naval Academy
Air Force Academy
Coast Guard Academy
Merchant Marine Academy

 

[Falconjet]

Well if you count Kings Point, you are heading into the private, have to pay your own way arena, a slightly different animal, and might need to add the Citadel as well (and probably some others). But again, we don't want to pick nits.

Hope you are well Andy. Its been a long 5 years.

FJ

 

[Andy]

FJ, the MMA is paid for by the Federal Govt and you get there through a Congressional nomination. Same process as the other service academies.

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Merchant_Marine_Academy

On a personal note, I've had a few setbacks but it is what it is. Hope all is well with you.

 

[C-17 Driver]

There are also scholarships provided by the Falcon Foundation which is sponsored by a bunch of retired generals. These scholarships are offered to those applicants that just missed the cutoff for appointments. The recipients can go to one of several military schools around the nation to include Valley Forge, Northwestern, Marion Military Institute.

When I applied in 1991, I had all the boxes checked (Eagle Scout, varsity athletics, strong SAT score, National Honor Society, congressional nomination, etc), but I still did not receive an appointment. I had all but given up because I was also turned down for AFROTC, NROTC, and the Coast Guard Academy. Being a white male in 1991 during the post cold war drawdown may have had some disadvantages.

I got the Falcon Foundation information in the mail and just threw it in the trash. My dad (a retired AF Lt Col Vietnam Vet) saw the USAFA logo on the brochure and fished it out of the trash, read it and asked if I had read it. I replied that I hadn't and he strongly recommended I read it. I made a phone call to the Valley Forge Military College admissions department and they invited me for a visit. I reluctantly accepted with the idea that I would only visit the school to appease my dad. I was pretty beat down from the multiple rejections.

Well, the visit was going well and I was still not convinced until I sat down with the admissions department and they said their record of USAFA appointments from those who attended under the Falcon Foundation scholarship was 99%! That statistic was enough to give me the motivation to give it one more try.

It was a grueling year. Things were different 20 years ago and there was not much "adult supervision" after work hours and the upperclassmen or "Old Men" were not limited to the types of "military training" they could subject us to. Needless to say, I grew up a lot that year. However, it was worth it when I, along with my 15 plebe brothers were all offered appointments to the class of 1996.

Yes, it still stings a little bit from being rejected from USAFA/AFROTC/NROTC/USCGA because to this day, I do not know why I was not considered. Other than my attendance at Valley Forge for a year, my record was not much different. However, I have no regrets. It gave me an additional year to "grow up" that I needed. It gave me 15 close friends that I went through hell with that I could lean on during my time at USAFA.

So, if there is a takeaway from my experience, is to not give up. There are many paths to a Service Academy. Some paths are more rugged than others, but the destination is the same.

To this day, I still thank my dad for eyeing that brochure in the trash and demanding I take a look at it.

Here is the link to the Falcon Foundation: http://www.usafa.org/falconfoundation

Good luck. I hope my experience can help.

 

[Scrapdog]

I'm a 99 grad. Tough 4 years but well worth it. As time passes on, I'm more and more proud I graduated from USAFA and am part of the long blue line.

 

[Falconjet]

Andy: I am doing well, thanks.

I actually called Kings Point after searching their website for info to talk to the admissions office about how to apply, having a child about to start applying to college and wondering if it might be a possibility for her.

I learned a bunch, and I was incorrect about the funding, but there are some significant differences between Kings Point and the other Academies.

Admission to Kings Point does require an appointment and the cadets are eventually inducted into the inactive Navy Reserve during their plebe year. They receive no stipend or pay. After their junior year they are obligated to serve in either the Navy (or other service) Reserves, or in the merchant marine community (which most of them do, because that is where they make the most money, according to the LT I spoke with). After graduation they are required to maintain their USCG Captain's License for a certain amount of time regardless of which career path they chose after graduation.

A big difference between Kings Point and the other Service Academies, as far as I could tell from my conversation with the LT, was that their cadets don't receive any pay from any branch of the military and they aren't subject to the UCMJ while they are in school. Couldn't determine what type of ID card they would be issued when they were inducted into the inactive Navy Reserve. I found that odd that he wouldn't know the answers to those questions.

Cadets and Midshipmen at the other 4 service academies, do receive a stipend (they say its not pay, but really it is, since they have to pay income taxes on it, or at least file a return) and they ARE members of their respective services from day 1 and thus subject to the UCMJ.

Another huge difference between USCGA and the other Academies is the fact that the USCGA does NOT require any kind of congressional or presidential appointment for admission. It is simply a direct application and competitive admission process, which may or may not appeal to some people.

Anyway, I stand corrected and better informed now, thanks for a good discussion.

FJ

 

[Andy]

FJ, thanks for the additional details on both the MMA and USCGA. All the best to your daughter - I wish that one of my kids had been interested in going to a service academy, but they had no interest.
No matter which academy one goes to, it's a tough way to get a 'free' education, but as Scrapdog said, the longer since you've graduated, the more proud one is of not only being chosen to attend, but also to have graduated.