[sticklist] - Some Clarification on JROTC Situation at VFMA

[Richard Forno]

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Gentlemen --

The President of the Alumni Association, has been in touch with the
Administration at the Forge referencing the cancellation of the Jr. ROTC.
One of several questions that arose from concerned Alumni was the Honor
School with Distinction award and its impact on cadets in seeking
nominations for the Service Academies. Mr. McGeorge, President VFMA&C, has
sent this information to the BOT and to the General Alumni Population that
may help clarify this particular question.

As more information is received, there will be further announcements

- - -Rick Forno '90 '92C

< - >


From: McGeorge, Tony
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 9:04 AM
Subject: JROTC "Nominations"

JRR,

Enclosed is the information you requested for distribution. This
information 
comes to us from both Navy and Army. All service academies are the same.

³Honor Schools with Distinction Nomination²

There have been a number of questions revolving around the JROTC Honor
School nominations to Service Academies offered through JROTC and how our
decision to exit that program impacts Valley Forge Military Academy cadets.

A popular misconception of the schools that earn the title ³Honor Schools
with Distinction² is that they have nominations and/or appointments
directly 
to the Service Academies. While that may have been accurate at some point
in 
past history, that has not been the case for quite some time.  ³Honor
Schools with Distinction² do not have direct nominations to the Service
Academies.

There are currently ten basic categories for Service Academy nominations,
one of which is the JROTC Honor School category that Valley Forge Military
Academy was in.  Any qualified applicant may apply in any or all of the
categories, if they meet the prescribed qualifications for the category in
which they are applying.  Honor School nominations are not nominations in
the traditional sense that most people think of, which is a Congressional
nomination.

In the Congressional category, each representative has ten (10) nominations
to award to candidates for each of the various academies.  These
nominations 
do not guarantee appointment.  They are handled on a competitive basis and
only allow the candidate to go to the next competitive screening level of
Appointment.  An Appointment is a highly competitive process, emanating
from 
the Admissions Office of the Academy.  Once an applicant is accepted he or
she is then appointed directly by the individual Service Academy.

An ³Honor School Nomination² today is in essence a lottery that
combines all 
honor military schools, ROTC units in High Schools, Colleges and
Universities into a massive pool.  If one is an Honor School or Unit (High
School, College, University or independent ROTC Unit) they will receive
three (3) tickets (nominations) to the lottery.  If one is an Honor School
with Distinction you get six (6) tickets (nominations).  This means that a
school may have between three and six individuals competing in the lottery
for approximately 20 true nominations nationwide to each academy.

The United States Naval Academy informs VF that there are literally
thousands of people in this lottery competing for the 20 designated Honor
School nominations to each academy. USNA says ³the Honor School
Nomination 
is the most competitive category and we encourage applicants to purse all
other categories of nomination.² West Point refers to these nominations
as 
really ³request for nominations.²

The vast majority of qualified applicants are nominated through either
Congressional or Senatorial Nominations and/or Presidential or Vice
Presidential Nominations.


Tony McGeorge
President 
Valley Forge Military Academy & College

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