The Nomination Process
To be considered for an appointment to a service
academy, an applicant must meet the eligibility requirements established by law
and be nominated from an authorized person including a Member of the United States
Senate or the House of Representatives. I may nominate applicants who are
legally domiciled within the boundaries of the sixth District of Ohio.
Who Is Eligible?
An applicant for a nomination must meet the following
eligibility requirements as of July 1 of the year of admission to a service
academy. He or she must be at least 17 years old, but not have passed the 23rd
birthday, must be a United States citizen, and must be unmarried, not pregnant,
and have no legal obligation to support children or other dependents.
Applying To My Office For A Nomination
Students interested in a nomination should contact my
Washington office in the spring of their junior year in high school. Also,
please note that it is extremely important that the student begin the
application process with the academies themselves.
Service Academies
There are five Service Academies: The United States Air
Force (USAFA), Naval (USNA), Military (USMA), Merchant Marine (USMMA), and
Coast Guard (USCGA) Academies. Nominations are required for all but the U.S.
Coast Guard Academy, to which appointments are made on the basis of an annual
nationwide competition.
As far as the USAFA, USNA, and USMA are concerned, there
are various nomination authorities, with each eligible young person being able
to apply to both United States Senators from the applicant's state, his or her
United States Representative, and the Vice President (if very highly
qualified). The other nomination categories are military-affiliated.
With respect to the Congressional category, each
Representative and each Senator is allowed to have at each of those academies
at any one time five persons charged to his or her quota. There are three
methods of nominating, and I use the competitive method. For each vacancy, ten
nominations may be made on a strictly competitive basis. The competitive method
provides that the nominees compete among themselves for final appointment
determined by the admissions authorities. They take into consideration a
nominee's academic record, extracurricular and athletic activities, physical
aptitude, ACT and/or SAT scores, leadership ability, and medical
qualifications. Such facets of an applicant's record are also considered during
the nomination selection process. No person will be offered admission if he or
she does not meet the physical standards of the Academy unless awarded a
medical waiver.
As competition for nomination and appointment is very
keen, it is wise for all interested persons to apply through all sources for
which they are eligible and for all Academies in which they have a real
interest. An individual may be nominated by more than one nominating authority
and/or to more than one Academy.
With regard to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, the
locality boundary for nomination by a Representative is the State in which the
District lies rather than just the District itself. Each Representative and
each Senator may nominate ten candidates each year to compete for admission.
|