“He got a Presidential Nomination and still was not accepted? There’s something going on there.”
A Presidential nomination is not exactly what it sounds like. It is not a nomination from the President.
Children (biological or adopted) whose parent has served as a career officer or enlisted personnel in the U.S. Armed Forces, active or reserve, including the Coast Guard, are eligible for the Presidential nomination. A parent serving on active duty (other than for training) must have served continuously for at least eight years or have been retired with pay or granted retired or retainer pay. A parent in the reserves must be serving as a member of a reserve component and be credited with at least eight full years of service (a minimum of 2880 points) or must be entitled to retired pay except that he or she is not yet sixty years old. An unlimited number of Presidential nominations can be granted each year for those eligible. However, only one hundred appointments may by appointed from this nomination category.
I am a USAF retiree. My son couldn’t get into the Academy, so he is in OTS as we speak, and will get his commission just the same. It used to be where Academy grads were regular officers, where ROTC and OTS grads were reserve officers. USAF, and I figure all the services, changed up. They are all regular officers now.