<p>The Academy has a choice as to which source they utilize to grant you an appointment. It really doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>Yes, as per the OPNAV, you must apply for the SecNav nomination. This serves two purposes, first off, of course, is the application for nomination, but also, probably more importantly, now that the USNA application is done online with no command endorsement, the nomination request becomes your official command endorsement. In the old days, prior to the online application, the application itself passed up the chain of command for endorsement.</p>
<p>At this point, you probably won’t get an LOA, just a letter of appointment, or possibly orders to NAPS.</p>