U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) have both announced support for students from Iowa who are seeking acceptance into military academies and one is from Washington County. 

Odin Hankins of Ainsworth is one of the senators’ nominees for entrance into the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Grassley stated he’s proud to nominate the students to the prestigious military academies and that is an honor to nominate them.

The Senators nominate high school seniors for placement in the U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy each year. The service academies then select from the nominees.

The highly competitive admission process has certain requirements. Each elected representative in the U.S. Congress can nominate students for placement and each member may have no more than five nominees enrolled in a service academy at any given time. The Merchant Marine Academy appointments are allocated in proportion to each state’s representation in Congress, with Iowa having four currently.

Applicants submit a high school transcript, a letter of recommendation from a teacher, two additional letters of recommendation from Iowans, an essay, ACT or SAT scores, and a completed high school evaluation form from a school guidance counselor.