So proud of her. The only person in the state of Oregon who’s letter includes all 4

West Point has been in contact with her numerous times

https://www.lagrandeobserver.c...df-b714896bacd8.html


LA GRANDE — The news La Grande High School senior Ava Palmer recently received from the office of Oregon Congressman Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, was four times better than what she thought possible.

Bentz announced he is nominating Palmer for acceptance into four United States service academies — the United States Naval Academy, the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Military Academy and the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

“I thought you were allowed only one,” Palmer said. “I started dancing around the house because I was so excited.”

Palmer is one of only 15 students in Oregon nominated by Bentz for service academy appointments in Oregon’s Second Congressional District and the only student from the Union, Wallowa and Baker county area. Palmer is among just five students nominated for multiple academies and the only one nominated for as many as four.

“I am honored to nominate these outstanding young Oregonians to America’s service academies,” Bentz said in a press release. “Years of hard work, dedication and commitment to character have earned these future leaders these much-deserved nominations.”

Palmer said her first choice among the academes she has been nominated for is the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Palmer said she hopes to someday become a Naval fighter pilot, something she’s wanted to do since watching the Navy’s Blue Angels flying while she was living in Pensacola, Florida.

“I was so impressed with their discipline of motion and their bravery they displayed by flying so close together,” she said.

All of the 15 students Bentz nominated were recommended to him by his Service Academy Nomination Board, one composed of retired and active duty military officers. The board made its recommendations to Bentz based in part on the students’ academic performance, extracurricular involvement and character.

Palmer said she was anxious while being interviewed by members of Bentz’s Service Academy Board.

“I was a nervous wreck because I have such great respect for them and I so admire their dedication,” she said.

Serving on Bentz’s Service Academy Nomination Board include Retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Paula Brown; Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Jeff Smith; Retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Rich Halsted; Retired Oregon Army National Guard Lt. Col. Kirk Mickelsen; and Retired U.S. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer 4 Darren Root.

The nomination board also based its recommendations on the basis of essays the students submitted about themselves. Palmer wrote in her essay about the Finnish concept of “sisu” and how she has used it to overcome difficult situations.

“Sisu is often explained as the ability to face adversity to succeed, to never say die with courage, with resoluteness,” Palmer wrote in her essay.

She wrote that she learned about sisu from her step-grandfather David Bolka, who Palmer said rose from a small iron ore town in northern Minnesota to become a Naval captain and the first director of the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Palmer is a member of the La Grande High School’s National Honor Society chapter, a member of the swim team and captain of the tennis team. She serves as vice president of its Future Business Leaders of America chapter and is her school’s senior class representative.

She also works as a lifeguard at Veterans’ Memorial Pool and is a member of the ROTC program at Eastern Oregon University. She participates in physical training workouts and takes military science classes at Eastern as a member of ROTC.

Palmer is the daughter of Tara Palmer, a family nurse practitioner at Grande Ronde Hospital’s Regional Medical Clinic. She is a veteran who served in the U.S. Coast Guard for eight years.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: snwghst,

Damned impressive!

(If she gets into USNA, let me know and I'll buy you a beer or two while you're out here dropping her off for plebe summer.)

-Rob

Which branch remain the least "woke"? Go there.

Sounds like she has excellent parents. Congratulations!

It also sounds like she worked her tail off!

Wow! SUPER impressed! Pass on my hearty congrats to her and same to Mom and Dad!

Remarkable. Hope she makes it all the way to a slot in the Blue Angels.

Excellent!

Congrats to her and all her hard work.

Awesome! Congratulations!

My daughter graduated Annapolis (USNA) in 2011.
I've been through the nomination process with her, with my son (who received an appointment but decided against it), and my nephew who just this year graduated from Westpoint (USMA).

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out.

That is beyond amazing! My heartfelt congratulations to her and your family!

That is amazing to be nominated for four academies. It sounds that she has a good base no doubt attributed to the support and guidance from her family. Kudos to her and to you for doing such a great job in giving her the tools to succeed.

Amazing work.

Congratulations to her. Annapolis is a tough place, and Naval aviation is a long road.

Impressive.

I'll say that the US Merchant Marine Academy, though maybe not as well known or "prestigious" as the other four federal Academies, does offer a few advantages and more options. Particularly she will ultimately have the choice of which branch of the military she wants to be commissioned in. Most go Navy like myself, but I had many classmates who also went Army, Marines, Air Force, and yes even Coast Guard.

Furthermore, another thing to consider if she wants to go Navy Flight, Annapolis only allows for so many spots. USMMA is the same, but since it is much smaller, there is less competition and her chances are much greater at getting picked.

One other thing. Though you are a commissioned officer and will be required to fulfill a minimum of eight years maintaining your commission and Merchant Marine license, you will not be full time active duty, you will be a reservist required to do a minimum 2 weeks active duty for 8 years. Unless of course you choose the military as your career path. That's the great thing. You have that option, unlike the other federal Academies.

I graduated in 2002 and will always be grateful for my time and experiences while at USMMA.

That's incredible! Congratulations to her...you must be so proud!

I agree with Balze here, but that's because I'm also a merchant mariner. As he said, her options are wide open, plus she'll have a merchant marine license which translates to some pretty darn good pay should she change her mind about careers.

Whatever her choice, I'm sure she'll excel!

Outstanding! I hope you'll keep us updated on her.

Wow
If you are going to brag about a kid, she sounds like the on to brag on.
I'm assuming she was refering to your dad in the article?

Keep us updated, i'm looking forward to hearing about her journey.

Very impressive, congrats to that young lady. If I read the article correctly it says her Mom is a CG veteran. I wonder if she is also applying to the Coast Guard Academy as well. Prob not (since she wants to be a Blue Angel) but it would be cool to say she had an appointment there as well. Different application for the CG Academy from all the others, no congressional appointments there.

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:
Wow
If you are going to brag about a kid, she sounds like the on to brag on.
I'm assuming she was refering to your dad in the article?

Keep us updated, i'm looking forward to hearing about her journey.

I will most certainly keep all updated

Yes, that’s my father she refers to who passed a few years ago