Anyone gone through OCS?

[wksun88]

Recently I've been interested in possibly doing office candidate school after graduation, but I'm wondering if any of you guys have taken that path and if so, could you share your experiences? I should add that I'm thinking of marine reserve officer program..

[haiedras]

What do you specifically want to know? Check sspen003's thread asking about OCS, he's heading there later this year.

Otherwise, if you're looking at Marine OCS, it's a lot of running. A LOT of running, you pretty much start running 3 miles a day from day one, and it just goes up from there. If you can run, deal with minor sleep deprivation, and get hollered at occasionally, pass multiple choice exams, and generally not act completely lost in the woods...you'll be fine.

Please note that OCS is NOT like boot camp. Boot camp, while difficult, does everything possible to get you through. You show up at OCS, get a stress fracture, you're gone and have to come back another time. There's just not enough time for you to heal and pickup with another company. You're being evaluated for your ability to lead, so there's a different metric used which intentionally attrites as much as possible.

[LesGrossman41510]

Nate Fick - One Bullet Away is a must read for anyone considering OCS.

OCS is the big leagues, very very competitive. Good luck if you sign up, i wish i was physically fit to go to OCS.

[Mason McDuffie]

My roomie went through OCS and had alot of interesting stories. Its not for the feint of heart. Good luck brotha.

[chris]

prerequisite for OCS is a frontal labotomy. then you are on your way to be a 2nd LT and outrank everyone that knows more than you do. my advice is that you learn the ranks and get some leadership skills first. some of the best officers i have met were enlisted or NCO's first.

[haiedras]

Maybe back in the days when there was a draft instead of a volunteer military. While there are very good mustangs(prior enlisted officers) out there, there are just as many I ran into at OCS that were a little...too salty for their own good. Bad habits are bad habits.

You'll learn soon enough that if you have a good SNCO, you shut up and listen.

Besides, you don't get that frontal lobotomy until you reach field grade rank.

[sspen003]

Recently I've been interested in possibly doing office candidate school after graduation, but I'm wondering if any of you guys have taken that path and if so, could you share your experiences? I should add that I'm thinking of marine reserve officer program..

There alot of info out there. Many people on this board were extremely helpful in explaining how ocs works.

here is a good website to get you started:

http://www.marineocs.com/portal/index.php

If you want more info just drop me a pm and Ill get you in contact with my OSO. I go down to SD often too so maybe we could do some PT.

[sspen003]

Maybe back in the days when there was a draft instead of a volunteer military. While there are very good mustangs(prior enlisted officers) out there, there are just as many I ran into at OCS that were a little...too salty for their own good. Bad habits are bad habits.

You'll learn soon enough that if you have a good SNCO, you shut up and listen.

Besides, you don't get that frontal lobotomy until you reach field grade rank.

Another big thanks for the help/info haiedras

[wksun88]

Thanks for the response guys, this is just one of the paths that I may be interested in taking in the future but I'm looking at some other career opportunities as well
Definitely checking out that website now..

[Manic Moran]

Sadly my website has dropped offline, I had an OCS blog up on it.

The difference between OCS and Basic is that in Basic, you just shut up and do what you're told. You'll pass.

In OCS, it's a little more complex. You've got to get out and lead. Far more difficult and stressful.

NTM

[bgoodman]

If you have any questions regarding Marine OCS, let me know. I would be glad to assist you as well as put you in contact with others possessing USMC OCS knowledge.

Brendan (India Co - 1st Plt, 2nd Increment 2009)