You could say I have a one-track mind.

When I was in second grade, my class had a project for DARE. We were supposed to draw where we saw ourselves in the year 2000. I drew myself walking through the gates of the Air Force Academy with an orange Mohawk. Well, the Mohawk never took form but the dream of the Academy did.

When I was in the eighth grade, most of my friends cared about racing their bikes and playing computer games. I cared only about the Air Force. Someone told me that Civil Air Patrol was like the Air Force and would help get me ready for the Academy. I was sold. I wanted to join CAP, but my parents wouldn’t let me, they told me it was for older kids, or that it would cost too much, or that I could “die in a plane crash in one of those dangerous little Cessnas.” After six months of fighting my parents, they finally caved in around March of my eighth grade year.

I had a few things working against me in my efforts to get into the Academy. My grades were acceptable, but not great, I didn’t play any sports, I was over weight by about thirty pounds, I didn’t have 20/20 vision, and I was a huge dork. My friends thought I was a freak for even wanting to be in the military, my teachers said I didn’t work hard enough to make it, my counselor thought it was funny that I wanted in. My own parents said not to bother and that I didn’t have a chance. Every time I heard someone tell me I didn’t have a chance I just wanted it more.

During my first summer in CAP, I met Michelle Artolachipe. She was on leave from the Academy and was visiting the squadron. She was everything I wanted to be. She was willing to talk to me about getting in and surviving. She gave me more than brochures: she gave me hope.

I was very active in Civil Air Patrol. I went to encampment, Pararescue Orientation Course (PJOC), National Blue Beret, staffed encampments, and went to every air show I could. In that time I met great people, people who were willing to work with me, to teach me the skills I needed to get in and survive at the Academy, people who took me seriously when I said “I WILL go to the Air Force Academy.” To name a few, Lt Col Phil Hall, Lt Col Jim Welliver, Maj Katarina Bentler, Capt Robert Bitting, 2Lt Chris Ward, MSgt George R. Miller III (USAF PJ Ret.), the list goes on.

In 8th grade I ran an 11-minute mile. At the end of sophomore year of high school, I decided I was tired of being fat. So I ran. I ran until it didn’t hurt anymore. When I started I could barely run around the block without stopping to walk. In two months I was running 8 miles a night. I lost 30 pounds in three months. I dropped my mile time to about 5:20. As I ran I just kept telling myself “This is what I have to do to get ready for PJOC, this is what I have to do to get into the Academy.”

I started swimming junior year. I worked hard, but I just wasn’t fast enough to make one of 20-varsity slots on a team with 80 swimmers who had been competing most of their lives. My coach was an Annapolis grad. He knew what I was trying to do, and what it would mean if I applied without a Varsity letter. He made me JV Captain.

Things were going pretty well toward the end of junior year. My SAT scores were strong, I was promoting in CAP, I had been selected to go to the Academy’s Summer Scientific Seminar, I was getting ready to go to Blue Beret and be a Flight Commander at encampment. And then the worst possible thing happened. I failed Algebra II. I was never a math person, and I was so busy trying to run my CAP squadron that I neglected my homework. It’s one thing to get a bad grade in a course. It is another thing to fail it. Especially when you’re trying to get into one of the ten hardest schools in the nation to get into. There wasn’t time to make the course up during the summer, and even if I could, the failure would still show on my record.

Going into senior year, I began one last ditch effort to be “Competitive” for admission. The Academy wanted Academics, Athletics, and Leadership, and I was going to give all of that to them. I took seven Advanced Placement Courses, I competed in National History Day, I worked out every day, I got back into Tae Kwon Do as a sport, I got my Mitchell Award, and I was president of a school club. I sent the Admissions office dozens of certificates and awards I had received. I sent them letters of recommendation from every teacher, every coach, every commander in CAP, anything I could think of.

In November of my senior year, I had my congressional nomination interview. The interview was just like every other CAP promotion review board I had taken for the last four years. I had to look professional, motivated, and knowledgeable. The committee was impressed with me. I got my letter from my congressman. He congratulated me and said he was nominating me to be considered by the Air Force Academy, West Point, and the US Merchant Marine Academy (I didn’t ask for an Annapolis nomination).

This was good, but the fight wasn’t over. A nomination is a prerequisite, but you have to be accepted by the individual Academies. US Merchant Marine Academy was the first to send me a letter, they wanted me, and they wanted to recruit me for swimming of all things. West Point said that I was competitive, but that I was on the waiting list. The Air Force Academy said nothing.

I waited. I visited the Merchant Marine Academy and West Point. I decided that West Point was neat, but not where I wanted to go to school. I was impressed that Merchant Marine Academy stood by me when West Point and USAFA didn’t seem very interested, but I didn’t want to have to explain to everyone what the Merchant Marine is for the rest of my life, and it was Department of Transportation, not Department of Defense.

In about March, I got the letter from the Air Force Academy. It was the “small letter.” It went something like: “Dear James, we regret to inform you that you will not be selected for admission this year…” I wasn’t admitted to the Prep School. I wasn’t an alternate. I was a reject.

It was kind of surreal. Everything I had wanted for as long as I could remember was gone. I sent a message to my mentors thanking them for believing in me and apologizing for not coming through for them. I got ready to start freshman year of college at UC Santa Barbara. I worked on my tan. None of it felt “real” though. There was no way I was going to UCSB. I never took the USAFA decal off of my car. I couldn’t. I kept sending letters to USAFA and even West Point.

I had wasted the last four years of high school. My friends went out and had fun, while I worked for this goal. By about mid-April, I came to terms with it. I said to myself “God has a plan.” I never considered myself very religious, but something told me just to relax and know that this was meant to be for some reason.

In late May I was sitting in first period history class when a runner from the office brought a note to my teacher. It said I needed to call my house immediately. I thought, “Oh great, someone died.” I called my house and my mom was crying. I thought, “Oh great, someone really did die.” She said that the Academy called and that I got in. I honestly thought it was some sort of cruel joke and I told her that it wasn’t funny. She said I needed to call the Admissions office and accept the appointment. I turned around and said, kind of bewildered, “I got in.” A friend said, “Got in to what?” I started screaming that I got into the Academy. The entire class stood and cheered for me. I ran to the office and grabbed a phone. I called the admissions office and asked the lady on the other end if it was for real, and she said yes, she asked if I was willing to accept it, and I said, “Wait…. Let me think about this… um, YES” and I told her I loved her, and that was it. I got in.

One of the most gratifying nights of my life was senior awards night. I was always an outcast among my friends in Honors and AP, they couldn’t understand why I wasn’t trying to get into Brown or Stanford or Berkeley, they thought I was dumb because I spent time working out and doing Civil Air Patrol instead of homework. That night they all got up and received their scholarships from different groups, they were inducted into National Honors Society, I clapped for them, even though I new many of them had cheated to get where they were. My award was one of the last ones of the night. My Academy Liaison Officer got up and said,

“I am here to award this appointment to the United States Air Force Academy to James Naugle. This is a $257,000 scholarship and an admission to one of the ten most selective schools in the nation. During his time, he will receive flight training, he will parachute, he will be given full room and board, and he will graduate with a Bachelor’s of Science degree from one of the greatest engineering schools in the world. He will then most likely become a fighter pilot, and he will be paid to do it.”

I watched my AP friends look at each other, I could see them adding in their heads and they turned to me and said, “all of our scholarships combined don’t come near yours.” I said “yup.”

I had the month of June to prepare for BEAST (Basic Cadet Training). I worked out two hours a day. I even did push-ups in class. During lunch I did sit-ups in the middle of the quad. I ran everywhere.

It was time to leave for Colorado, my family, my squadron, and my friends all had going away parties for me. I said goodbye to my girlfriend, and I got on the plane.

I have now been at the Academy for 2 years. I am halfway through. Every single day I use a lesson I learned in CAP, whether it’s how to iron a uniform in a hurry or how to speak in public, or knowing when to shut-up. Every time I go back to California, I visit my squadron, or I speak at a CA Wing activity. I try to do for the next generation what Lieutenant Artolachipe did for me. It was probably for the best that I didn’t get in immediately, it kept me from being too arrogant, and every day here is a gift. I am living my dream and I can tell you with absolute certainty that I do not take it for granted.

The point of this article is not to tell you about me, it is to show you that you can overcome obstacles and that you can get anything you are willing to work hard enough for. I did nothing special. I just wanted it more than the people I was competing against.

Let’s talk about YOU and what YOU can do to get into an Academy. The single most important aspect of getting in is knowing the Academy looks at just three things: Academics, Athletics, and Leadership. You have to be strong in all of those areas, and you have to do things that actually show up on the application.

The admissions computers like to see numbers, they like to see scores and GPAs, they want to see how many varsity letters you earned, how many promotions you got in CAP, etc. This means that you need high SAT scores and a 3.5+ GPA. The way you get high SAT scores is taking the test early and often. The way you get a high GPA is by making school a priority. Civil Air Patrol is an awesome experience, but it is only two boxes on the Academy application (were you in it, and how far did you get in it). They don’t ask about the activities you did, or whether your squadron was hardcore. The admissions office doesn't care if your parents wouldn't let you play sports. The admissions office doesn't care if you had an extra-curricular activity on the weekend of the SATs.

There is no magic to getting into a US Service Academy like West Point, Annapolis, Air Force Academy, Merchant Marine Academy, and Coast Guard Academy. You don't need parents who know a senator to get you in.

You are expected to know how to manage your time and how to prioritize your activities. School comes first, then sports, then CAP or JROTC or Boy Scouts. They want to see that you are involved and that you are a leader. The biggest mistake I have seen CAP cadets make is putting CAP above school and sports, I have made that mistake myself. A letter in JROTC at your high school is NOT a varsity athletic letter. JROTC is not a sport. Band is not a sport. Can you get in without getting a varsity letter? Yes. I did, but I was JV Captain and I was heavily involved in Martial Arts (a sport recognized by the Academy). Even then, I barely squeaked by.

This is not to say that CAP isn't important. CAP was critical in my development and will definitely help get you ready for an Academy, but you need to manage your time.

It is NEVER too early to start getting ready, and the earlier you start the better off you will be when it comes time to get your appointment.

Start taking SATs and ACTs as soon as possible and take them as many times as you can. It is best to start taking SATs your sophomore year. PSATs do not count in your admissions record and they are not an accurate representation of what your SAT score will be. Do not be discouraged by a low score, just take it and practice for it until it is competitive. Take the hardest classes (especially math and science) you can and do well in them. The Academy is an engineering school. They want to see that you will survive Chemistry, Electrical Engineering, Thermodynamics, and Astronautical Engineering.

Play varsity sports. Physical fitness and teamwork are huge at the Academy. The way you demonstrate that you are ready for it is by playing sports. Be a captain of your team if possible. The Academy looks for natural leaders, people who take charge in every aspect, even sports. Work out and be in the best physical condition you can be. During your senior year of high school, you will be expected to pass the Candidate Fitness Test with pull-ups, sit-ups, push-ups, and a run.

Stay active in CAP/JROTC and promote. Include a resume of every activity you have been to in CAP with your application. Send them a letter of recommendation from your Squadron, Group, or Wing Commander. Get active in student council, church, volunteer organizations, be class president, be president of a school club or clubs. Do anything that will help distinguish you from the other 16,000 people competing with you. The Academy is looking for people who are involved and will go out and get things done.

Am I the perfect example to follow? No. I made mistakes. Learn from my mistakes. Do I know everything about getting into an Academy? No. The only people who are “experts” are the admissions people. Call them. Your future is in your hands and yours alone. Set a goal and reach it, whether it’s getting into the cockpit of an F-16 or getting into space or getting a good job and making a difference in the world. My goal is to protect people; the Academy is one step in reaching that goal. If the path to YOUR goal leads through the Academy, dedicate yourself to getting there and don’t give up. Remember that there is always hope. If you’re willing to work for it, there is always a way. Never doubt the path you’ve chosen.

Finally, you need to want it. Desire will take you far. It will push you when you feel you can’t take any more. There is always hope. If you’re willing to work for it, there is always a way. Never doubt the path you’ve chosen.

And, yes, it is worth it!