Military

To join the enlisted ranks, in general you must:

• Be a U.S. citizen or Green Card holder.

• Be in good health.

• Be 17 to 40 years old (different branches have different age requirements)

• Have a high school diploma

• Pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test.

The ASVAB is offered each fall and spring at Billings Senior High School. Taking the ASVAB does not mean that you will be joining the military, but is an opportunity for students to identify potential career paths.

Military Academies

11th grade year: Applying for Summer Opportunities

AIR FORCE ACADEMY (Applications open 01 December – 15 January)

Summer Seminar at the United States Air Force Academy gives students the opportunity to experience life on campus firsthand. Specially designed for high school juniors heading into their senior year, Summer Seminar allows participants to live like a U.S. Air Force Academy cadet for four days. During Summer Seminar, you will be assigned to an “element” or group, with an upper-class cadet as your Element Leader. Your Element Leader will be with you almost 24 hours a day as your mentor and guide. Along with your element, you will live in cadet dormitories and eat at the cadet dining facility, explore academic facilities and research labs, and participate in a variety of workshops, including some to assist with your application.

Students are selected to participate in Summer Seminar based on a “whole-person concept” that includes demonstrated leadership experience or potential in extracurricular and community activities, athletics and academics. Historically, more than 3,200 people apply and roughly 640 are selected.

Selections for Summer Seminar are based on the qualifications of each applicant and not on a first-come, first-served basis. Under no circumstances will late applications be accepted.

If you have questions about the program, please email Summer.Seminar@afacademy.af.edu.

Link: https://www.academyadmissions.com/prepare/high-school/summer-seminar/

WEST POINT (Applications for SLE Summer 2025 open 15 February)

Led by current West Point cadets, Summer Leaders Experience (SLE) is a weeklong immersion into the academic, military, and social life of a West Point cadet.  At SLE, you will explore West Point from all angles, including our high-tech educational facilities, team-building athletic activities, and realistic military training.   

SLE gives you a taste of the character, determination, commitment to excellence, and leadership skills required to become a cadet at West Point.

An SLE application doubles as the first step of a West Point application. However, please note that completing an SLE application is not an obligation to complete a West Point application or attend West Point.

Link: https://www.westpoint.edu/admissions/summer-program

NAVAL ACADEMY (Applications for NASS open on 06 January)

The United States Naval Academy Summer Seminar is the first step in navigating your future to becoming one of our nation's next generation of leaders.  

If you are currently in your junior year of high school and considering the Naval Academy as your college of choice, we strongly recommend you consider applying to Summer Seminar. Summer Seminar will introduce you to life at the Academy, where you will experience first-class academic, athletic, and professional training at the #1 public college in the Country (released 2022 U.S. News & World Report College Ranking Report). Your Summer Seminar application will also serve as a preliminary application to the Academy that you will complete before or during your senior year.

During the six-day session, you will become a part of the Academy. You will live in Bancroft Hall (the dormitory all midshipmen live in), participate in academic and leadership workshops, and experience a variety of other activities on the campus. You will have an opportunity to see firsthand what the Academy has to offer through its exceptional academic, athletic, extracurricular activities and leadership training programs.

The program fee is $550 per session.

Link: https://www.usna.edu/Admissions/Programs/NASS.php#fndtn-panel1-Steps-For

COAST GUARD ACADEMY (Applications for AIM open on 01 February)

The Academy Introduction Mission (AIM) is a one-week summer program where you’ll immerse yourself in Academy life. AIM is exclusively for students entering their senior year of high school and is regarded as the most realistic of the service academy summer orientation programs.

AIM will test and inspire you. It will push you to your limits. You’ll rise early. You’ll study. You’ll compete. For six nonstop days, you’ll test your mind, body, and spirit in every way as you learn the meaning of college exceeded.

Intense and rewarding, AIM will help you to discover whether the Academy experience is truly what you want from college and whether you have what it takes to succeed. Link: https://uscga.edu/admissions/aim/ 

12th Grade Year: Applying for Academies

To apply and be considered for a U.S. Service Academy Class of 2029’s Nomination, you must be:

- Between the ages of 17 and 23

- U.S. Citizen

- Unmarried, not pregnant, and without legal obligation to support children or other dependents

- Reside within the legal boundaries of Montana

- NOTE: If you are attending a service academy preparatory school, a university out of state and graduated from a Montana high school, or have recently relocated out of the U.S. due to your parents’ service in the military and maintain Montana as your permanent residence, you may still apply with the Montana delegation.

And do these two things:

1)      Contact the academy directly to open a pre-candidate file. You must have an open candidate file prior to the interview in December to receive a nomination.

a.      United States Air Force Academy

b.     United States Naval Academy

c.      United States Military Academy

d.     United States Merchant Marines Academy

2)      Apply for a nomination from the Senator to an academy. Completed applications for a nomination must be received in Senator Daines' office no later than 5 p.m. MST on November 1st with all necessary documentation. This is a firm deadline.  In person interviews will be held in Helena on Dec. 9-11th.

Please go to the Senator Daines Service Academy Website for complete details and and to apply for the Congressional Nomination Process (Link below):

https://www.daines.senate.gov/services/student-resources/academy-nominations/