vxc961
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I've been a Naval Academy Blue & Gold Officer (admissions rep) for about 5 years now, I found it a great way to earn points while in the IRR. I thought it might be worthy of it's own thread in light of recent RESFOR/BUPERS changes that seem to be making it pretty hard to get correspondence courses in the IRR. For what it's worth, I'll paraphrase what my BGO boss was told "while there are changes in place to make it harder for officers to sit in the IRR for years and do nothing but courses, funerals and BGO are in no danger of going away, and your contributions are appreciated."
So, how does it work? I'll do this from memory, so a few things in the process may be wrong, or may have changed since I started.
Contact the area coordinator covering where you live; google it, PM me, whatever...you can manage.
USNA will send you a guide, and an open book test; you'll send it in, pass, and get your Naval Academy Information Affiliate card.
IMPORTANT: In order to get points, you'll have to attend a 1-week session at USNA which will take place in June/July; the app deadline is usually mid-May. You'll go in a civilian status, but get airfare paid and stay at USNA and eat in the galley (when you're not partying in Annapolis--it's a fun town!). After that, you can get points.
USNA provides you with an Excel spreadsheet, which you'll use to keep track of your time. The sheet does not require you keep exact times/dates for things, but I have a little log book where I record every minute of everything I do. I also make sure I error on the side of caution in this regard.
What do you do? I wasn't a USNA grad, but I think it's a great place for the right person. BGO's help the applicant through the process, as well as educate/mentor them on life in the Navy and at USNA. For those that make it a decent amount through the app process, you'll also interview them for USNA.
How many points can you get? I have five local schools, and five that are about an hour away; Last year I got 63 points. I will usually interview/meet applicants and their families before they've even applied, I'll keep up with them as the go through the app process, I'll go to career fairs and college nights, and I'll try to keep a relationship with the high school counselors. I typically devote 30 minutes each Sunday toward logging into the system and checking the bulletins or reviewing stuff. The speadsheet keeps track of incremental hours, and lists points per month, AND carries over your remaining time to the next month.
I send my sheets to my BGO boss every three or four months, with a SASE and he mails them back. I then scan them and send the original. Surprise, surprise, but it can be a pain to get PERS to credit them (not legible was one excuse that made me start sending the originals), but after a bit of fighting I've gotten them all credited.
It's actually rewarding to talk to young people interested in a career of service, and with three kids of my own it's good to see what a good college looks like. Oh, I'm screwed btw, so I've started teaching my kids welding.
It's also nice because although there are "seasons", you make your schedule. BGOs can be a bit territorial about their schools, so it may take you a while to get assigned one. I think that if you stressed to your Area Coordinator your desire to sink your teeth in, he'd get you some schools, or at least send you to some career fairs/assign some busy work or something to get you the 105 hours of work you need to get 35 points.
So, how does it work? I'll do this from memory, so a few things in the process may be wrong, or may have changed since I started.
Contact the area coordinator covering where you live; google it, PM me, whatever...you can manage.
USNA will send you a guide, and an open book test; you'll send it in, pass, and get your Naval Academy Information Affiliate card.
IMPORTANT: In order to get points, you'll have to attend a 1-week session at USNA which will take place in June/July; the app deadline is usually mid-May. You'll go in a civilian status, but get airfare paid and stay at USNA and eat in the galley (when you're not partying in Annapolis--it's a fun town!). After that, you can get points.
USNA provides you with an Excel spreadsheet, which you'll use to keep track of your time. The sheet does not require you keep exact times/dates for things, but I have a little log book where I record every minute of everything I do. I also make sure I error on the side of caution in this regard.
What do you do? I wasn't a USNA grad, but I think it's a great place for the right person. BGO's help the applicant through the process, as well as educate/mentor them on life in the Navy and at USNA. For those that make it a decent amount through the app process, you'll also interview them for USNA.
How many points can you get? I have five local schools, and five that are about an hour away; Last year I got 63 points. I will usually interview/meet applicants and their families before they've even applied, I'll keep up with them as the go through the app process, I'll go to career fairs and college nights, and I'll try to keep a relationship with the high school counselors. I typically devote 30 minutes each Sunday toward logging into the system and checking the bulletins or reviewing stuff. The speadsheet keeps track of incremental hours, and lists points per month, AND carries over your remaining time to the next month.
I send my sheets to my BGO boss every three or four months, with a SASE and he mails them back. I then scan them and send the original. Surprise, surprise, but it can be a pain to get PERS to credit them (not legible was one excuse that made me start sending the originals), but after a bit of fighting I've gotten them all credited.
It's actually rewarding to talk to young people interested in a career of service, and with three kids of my own it's good to see what a good college looks like. Oh, I'm screwed btw, so I've started teaching my kids welding.
It's also nice because although there are "seasons", you make your schedule. BGOs can be a bit territorial about their schools, so it may take you a while to get assigned one. I think that if you stressed to your Area Coordinator your desire to sink your teeth in, he'd get you some schools, or at least send you to some career fairs/assign some busy work or something to get you the 105 hours of work you need to get 35 points.
