<p>The nomination/LOA issue is fairly complex - I will try to enlighten a bit but I will surely leave out a scenario here or there… </p>
<p>To get to the National Pool the candidate must have a nomination of some kind. The National pool is comprised of those students that did not get an appointment off their MOC slate (or other nom source) but do have a nom - perhaps it is a Presidential nom (child of military - any qualified child of military, within the rules, can get the nom but only limited appointments allowed via that nom). If a student has an LOA and no nom then there is no guarantee of appointment. However, typically a MOC looks favorably on LOAs and grants them a nom, though not all - some MOCs will not allow an LOA to be in the decision process … some MOCs do not tell the committee about the LOA and thus if a committee did not deem the student qualified for a nom, don’t give it - it just depends on the workings of each MOC and their committee. I have heard of students with an LOA that either did not understand the process or for some other reason failed to apply or complete their MOC applications. That translated to no nomination. In highly competitive areas, if a MOC is of the opinion that the LOA is not something that the committee should use the decision, the student will want to be sure to do well on the nom side. In our area the LOA is kept from the committees knowledge - the thought being that if the candidate is good enough to qualify for an LOA, they should be good enough to shine through on the nomination process too (and typically that is the case). The SAs can grant a supe nom - but if the candidate did not do their homework and try to get the MOC nom the SA looks less favorably and may not grant the Supe nom. There are other reasons that a SA may decide not to grant a supe nom to an LOA recipient as well. </p>
<p>The MOC may not be charged with an LOA recipient … what I mean is that on the slate of noms from the MOC they can place 10 names per slate. They may have only one available slate this year or possibly more (one slate of ten for each vacancy in their district, up to five cadets/mids are allowed to be charged to a MOC at any given time - in other words, no more than 5 cadets/mids at any time at each SA). Let’s assume the MOC places ten candidates on one slate, including the LOAs but does not select a principal nominee … they just submit an unranked slate. In that scenario the SA is obligated to select the candidate to get the appointment based on the highest WCS of all ten names on that slate. If the LOA is the highest WCS, then the LOA is charged to the MOC and potentially no other candidates get appointed off that slate. If the LOA is either not the largest WCS or the MOC has nominated a principal (that is not the LOA) then the principal or largest WCS will be appointed and charged to the MOC and the LOA will be appointed and granted a supe (or other nom, maybe the VP). If the LOA is not on the slate (meaning the MOC did not give a nom) the SA is not obligated to give that candidate a nom. If the LOA is nominated with any kind of nom they will get an appointment (assume passes medical and/or whatever else limits are placed on the LOA). </p>
<p>It can get very confusing, I know, and there are any number of scenarios that can exist in the whole nomination process that can change things. The key here is that while an LOA is a very good thing, it is not an appointment. To get the appointment the student must get a nom and must any other stipulations set forth within the LOA. I am aware of LOA recipients that have not gotten an appointment, though it is rare. If you or your child receives an LOA, the student can view that as an excellent sign and a strong reason to do their best on the nomination process but it is not an appointment. </p>
<p>As to what happens when they change office - the charged cadets/mids are charged to the MOC District not the MOC as a person so they stay charged to the DISTRICT if/when there is a change of office.</p>