Hey, guys! My younger bro is dead set on going to a military academy and I wanna help him out. By any chance, does anyone know the process to nominate someone? Can anyone besides politicians do it? Thanks!
Hello! The application process for the U.S. Military Academies, specifically West Point (Army), Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, and Merchant Marine Academy, involves securing a nomination as part of the application process. There are five sources of nominations:
1) Presidential: Available to children of career military personnel.
2) Vice Presidential: Each year the Vice President may nominate individuals applying from across the U.S.
3) Congressional: This is the most common source of nominations. Both U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives from your home state can nominate applicants.
4) Service Connected: Available to children of Medal of Honor recipients and children of deceased or 100% disabled veterans.
5) ROTC/JROTC: Army and Air Force JROTC units can nominate their cadets to their respective service academies.
To be nominated, your brother needs to take the initiative to reach out to the above sources. For example, if he is applying for a Congressional nomination, he'd need to contact his local representative and senators to request nomination. Each office will have its own specific procedure for this, so he'll need to go to their respective websites to find out the details. Remember, securing a nomination does not guarantee acceptance to the academy. The nomination allows the candidate's application to move forward in the review process.
As far as your question about who can nominate beyond politicians, the answer is a bit mixed. While the nominations largely come from those connected to the government or military, there are some exceptions such as the ROTC/JROTC nomination.
I hope this helps guide your brother! Please carefully review the specific details on each service academy's website to make sure he fully understands the application and nomination process. Good luck!
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