Pictured Above: Tori Overton Hurd flying in as Glinda the Good in Cheboygan Area High School’s 2011 production of the “Wizard of Oz.” – courtesy of Randy Scott.
By Kathy King Johnson
Cheboygan Area High School musical director Midge Shaw said, “Little did we know when we flew Tori Overton on stage as Glinda the Good Witch in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ that she would end up flying for the U.S. Navy.”
Five U.S. military academies train commissioned officers for the U.S. Armed Forces:
- U.S. Military Academy
- U.S. Naval Academy
- U.S. Coast Guard Academy
- U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
- U.S. Air Force Academy.
Pre-candidates applying to the Military Academy at West Point, the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs and the Naval Academy at Annapolis are pre-screened. They must fill out an online file and pass pre-candidate qualifications before they are even allowed to apply. These three schools are ranked among the most selective colleges in America by the U.S. News and World Report.
If pre-candidates pass the first screening, they must then be nominated by a U.S. senator, a U.S. representative or the president. In 2010, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow nominated 36 candidates across Michigan, to the five academies. Only then can pre-candidates turn in their applications. The U.S. Naval Academy accepts only 9 percent of those applicants. Cheboygan’s Tori (Overton) Hurd was accepted into the Naval Academy.