POC Selection Process

What is PSP?

The Professional Officer Course Selection Process is how cadets are selected for an Enrollment Allocation, which gives them a trip to Field Training, normally between their Sophomore and Junior year of college.

Timeline

The POC Selection process is run in the spring semester each year for eligible AS200/AS250/AS500 cadets. In years past this was usually run in March, giving cadets January and February of the spring semester to improve their scores and leadership ranking. However in 2022, due to external factors, the deadline was pushed earlier with the board now being run in February, with a final lock-in date for cadet data set at 31 January.

The details for the 2022 PSP can be seen in the ARMS message: Page 1 and 2. A new ARMS message will be coming that redistributes the weight for each competitive factor. That part of the announcement is not currently correct.

Competitive Factors for Order of Merit

The PSP board considers your GPA, Personal Fitness Assessment score, AFOQT scores, and commander’s leadership ranking. There is no in-person board and no interview, it is simply those factors going into a computer, creating an Order of Merit, and stacking cadets from highest to lowest scores.

Cumulative Grade Point Average (cGPA)

Your most recent Cumulative GPA will be used from your primary school of attendance, usually from the fall semester. If your school has a winter semester that ends before the 31 January cut-off date, then that GPA would be used. Your term GPA is not used for PSP. The minimum cGPA to be nominated for PSP is 2.0, but a score of 3.0 or higher is recommended to be competitive.

Personal Fitness Assessment (PFA)

Your most recent fitness assessment will be used for PSP. Your most recent PFA must be a passing score, you cannot be nominated for PSP with a failing PFA. The PFA is scored from 0 to 100, with 75 being the minimum passing score while also passing all component minimums. A recommended score is 90 or higher for competition in PSP. The score must be from the current or previous school term.

Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT)

You must have attempted the AFOQT at least once to be nominated for PSP. You may be nominated with a failing score, but will have to have a passing score before you can contract with AFROTC and continue in the program. For 2022, the AFOQT will make up 15% of your total Order of Merit with 10% being your Quantitative score, and 5% being your Verbal score. This was reduced from 30% after feedback from cadre and cadets.

Commander’s Ranking / Leadership Ranking / Relative Standing Score (RSS)

You will hear this referred to as several different things, listed above, but they all mean the same thing. Your cadre and detachment commander will rank each cadet in the group eligible for PSP from the #1 ‘best’ cadet, down to the last in the class. There is no minimum ranking to be nominated for PSP, but to have a decent shot at selection, you will want to be ranked in the top half of the class, preferably the top third. Some detachments will not tell their cadets where they stand in the ranking, while others will. You can learn more about the Commander's Ranking here.

Other eligibility requirements

These factors are not part of your Order of Merit, but they must be met in order to be nominated for PSP.

DoDMERB

You must have a qualified DoDMERB in order to be nominated for PSP. This means that you have gone through the DoDMERB medical exam process, been seen by a doctor, provided any records asked of you, obtained any waivers required, and been blessed as fully medically qualified by the Department of Defense. This can be a long process, so you must start this as soon as possible, especially if you are coming in as an AS250! Some years there is a supplemental PSP a couple months later that may allow cadets that got their DoDMERB after the deadline to compete for an EA, but this is NOT guaranteed and does not happen every year. Learn more about DoDMERB.

US Citizenship

You must be a US citizen in order to compete for PSP, or be projected to obtain it within twelve months of the board date. For 2022 this would mean you need to obtain US citizenship by approximately February 2023, or you will not be able to continue in the program.

Full-time student

You must be a full-time student in the fall and spring semester in order to compete for PSP. If you were not full-time in the fall semester, this could be waived by the detachment commander if they choose to if you have a special case.

Body Mass Index (BMI) / Body Fat (BF)

For 2022, you must meet BMI/BF standards by 15 January. This means you must be at or under the maximum weight for your height (gender neutral) or under 20% body fat for males and 28% for females.

Rated Enrollment Allocation

In order to apply for a Rated Enrollment Allocation, you must be medically pre-qualified for at least one rated job, and meet the minimum AFOQT score for at least one rated job.

Your Cadet SURF will list at the bottom whether you are qualified for each of the rated jobs.

The minimum AFOQT for pilots and Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) pilots is a 25 in the pilot section.

The minimum score for Combat Systems Officers (CSO) is a 25 in the CSO section.

The minimum score for Air Battle Managers (ABM) is a 25 in the ABM section.

Nursing Enrollment Allocation

In order to qualify for a nursing Enrollment Allocation, you must be a nursing major.

Things to check before going up for PSP

If you’re an AS200/AS250/AS500 cadet that is going up for PSP soon, I highly recommend you check the following information as early as possible. These can all be checked from your Cadet SURF which you can obtain from WINGS.

• GPA – Make sure it is correct in WINGS. This information is hand-entered by your cadre, so it could have a mistake.
• PFA – This is also hand-entered by cadre. I recommend taking a picture of your score sheet at the end of your PFA to make sure it’s not lost or entered incorrectly!
• Major – Make sure your major is correct. Many cadets change majors after the first semester or two and sometimes forget to tell cadre.
• AFOQT scores – You can check your scores yourself here. They are then hand-entered into WINGS, so make sure they are correct.
• Date of Graduation – This is critical, because if your Date of Graduation is wrong, you will be put into a different fiscal year group when competing for an EA. In recent years, AFROTC HQ has said that changing your Date of Graduation after you have an EA, especially if it pushes you into a different fiscal year, will NOT be approved. If you think you might need to extend your date of graduation to 4.5 or 5 years, now is the time to do it!

Historical Selection Data

People like to focus on the selection percentages, but also pay attention to the total number of cadets.

2018

• Select Rate 88.8%
• Avg PFA 94.71.
• Avg CGPA 3.240

For Non-selects... Select Rate 11.2% Avg PFA 91.4 Avg CGPA. 2.840

2019

2020

2021

There are two results here, showing those graduating in FY23, and then FY24, but the board was run in the same year.

2022

The national select rate was 82%.

• 38 Nursing selects
• 286 Rated-Tech EAs
• 454 Tech EAs
• 602 Non-tech EAs

I haven't seen the averages for those selected anywhere.

2023

The national select rate was 75% (1,483/1,975)