Anybody attending this OCS? Also, what should I expect in Phase 1?

Thanks in advance!

Did anyone else’s packet submitted for December board get moved to March because of too many applicants?

Hey everybody, I am curious what it takes to commission as an officer from the civilian side. From my understanding they accept about 65% of people, some boards higher, some boards lower. I am in excellent shape and can do all of the ocs physical requirements with ease as I have geared my training based on ranger school standards. I have a letter of rec from a lt colonel that's still active in the space force, and a former colonel who was a ranger. I could probably get one from my old football coach who was a csm and special forces for 16 years (20 total service time) but I don't know how much weight that would have due to him being enlisted despite being and performing at the highest level for most his career.

Here's my problem, I am getting my degree from WGU which is competency based, so the only gpa you can get is a 3.0, it is a accredited university. I went into the recruiters office today to seek more info as I am about a year and a half out of getting the degree and the ssgt told me if I didn't have a 3.5 they wouldn't even look at me. And then of course recommended I enlist and try to commission from that side through green to gold, but the problem with that is I don't want to enlist and get stuck as enlisted because for some reason I can't get accepted as an officer. I've seen guys who have commissioned right out of college with less then a 3.0, although I am aware its harder that way. I really like wgu and really want to commission, my question is is it possible? I was a little shocked as the marine recruiter immediately connected me with an officer who would help with a packet and wondering why the army guys (6 people in there) didn't even entertain the officer route and shot it down instantly. If I get a great gt score will that offset the slightly lower gpa? Another concern I have is since I can accelerate the degree I will be 20 upon completing it, will the board look at that as too young despite 19 being the minimum age?

Other then that I can pass everything else in terms of meps any background checks or anything with ease. Also, if I were to enlist, are chances good to commission shortly after enlisting?

Any other advice to have a strong packet would be much appreciated.

Hello, I was curious on how/where/if OCS differs being in NG throughout OCS since I will already be branched prior to OCS. Wondering about scores and tests and such as well

Hi everyone, I am confused about the 70 series mos attending both OCS and basic training. Can I get clarity on this please?

If it matters, I would like to go into 70a, 70e, or 70h and I only have a bachelors degree.

Looking for advice on finding a recruiter than can help me navigate OCS. I’m not currently in the military and the recruiter at my local office has not been helpful. I don’t want to enlist lol

09S, shipping for BCT in January and OCS in March.

Putting together the complete packing list and many of the recommended items discussed in this forum. I know I’ll be issued at least one duffle in BCT, but need one or more for all the packing list items. Plan to have my family bring the bags to me after BCT. Any recommendations? Was thinking about the Condor Colossus one. Saw someone say bags need to be able to lock, anyone know if that’s true?

Would be grateful if anyone had a complete list of what you get issued in BCT as well.

Also, I’m all ears for other recommended items!!

Hello, does any have the breakdown of active-duty branch allocations for previous cycles. Just want have an example of what I can expect.

Thanks in advance

I started my packet a few months ago. I believe it would have been a very strong packet. I took the PiCat and received a 121 GT but did exceptionally well on other sections, especially automotive, electrical and shop sections. I have very strong letters of recommendation including a Colonel, a retired Army Ranger, a high ranking government employee, and a few others. I have a 3.0 GPA which could be better. I also have a degree in criminology which I will be completing in May. I am 22 and in great physical condition and honestly think I have a good shot at receiving a perfect score on the ACFT.

I've wanted to enter the Military forever and I have been extremely excited and motivated. I have been working very hard to give OCS a shot.

Here's where the problem begins: My buddies and I were at the bar and it was time to head home. We had all drove there and some of my buddies were in absolutely no shape to drive. (obviously me included) but I figured someone had to take one for the team and get everyone home. I successfully dropped off all of my friends but got arrested in the driveway of my home for a DUI after rolling through a stop sign 30 yards before my house. I was arrested, taken to jail, etc.

Here's where I need advice. I have many friends in the military and each of them said do not tell the recruiter. Here's why: I did my background check 15 days before the arrest. From what I understand these background checks take 14 days. Obviously they're going to find out eventually but they called me stupid for suggesting that I come clean to the recruiter. I've always been an honest person and this feels completely wrong. Their thinking was that they would find out about it after I had already got through OCS and I technically didn't lie because at the time I filled out the sheet asking questions about arrests/medical issues etc. I was telling the truth.

If I told the recruiter, I understand that it is possible to get a waiver for it, but given when it happened it's going to be pretty difficult because it's been under a year. I also understand how terrible it is and that is NOT something a leader should do. This is the first and last time I have and will ever get behind a wheel after drinking and I take full responsibility for my actions and I will not have another drop of alcohol until I can prove to myself that I can make better decisions. This is also the only thing and will remain the only thing on my record.

With that being said, what are my chances of being accepted with that on my record, and are they even going to see it if I don't tell my recruiter and what would the consequences be if I didn't tell my recruiter and they find out down the road. I had a long conversation with a Command Security Officer for the Coast Guard and he told me that he works with people with much worse than a DUI and gets them approved for security clearance.

The plan had always been that if I didn't get accepted to OCS that I would enlist and go green to gold. Would I even be able to enlist with this on my record and would it help with some time between the DUI and the time I reapplied after finishing basic training as an enlisted member? I have heard very mixed opinions from family members/people that are already in and people on reddit and I was hoping to set the record straight here. Many people have told me I will be fine and I have nothing to worry about (which I tend to completely disagree with) while others have told me I am completely screwed and I couldn't even enlist.

One more thing that may be worth mentioning is that I have hired an attorney (ex marine) to help me out and my hearing is in two weeks. Is it worth mentioning to the judge that I am going through the OCS process?

I know that I've made a terrible mistake that will affect my life forever. In the moment I thought I was doing the right thing by getting all of my friends home but obviously I could have killed someone or myself. I will always live with this and I beat myself up about it everyday. I am very ashamed and feel no need to sugar coat anything.

Thank yall for taking the time to read and respond.

OCS By The Week

Hey all, I’m going to do a week by week breakdown of everything you do while at OCS, from signing in all the way down to graduation. I’m not one to take up your time too much, but I will be as detailed as I can be so you have an idea of what you are getting into.

First off, I wanted to say congrats on starting your journey to become an 2LT. Whether you are In-Service, Prior Service, or an O9S like me, I’m rooting for you even though I don’t know you.

Disclaimer: Everyone’s experience will vary based off of Cadre. The in-service candidates hated how unorganized the whole experience was. I really loved it, it was unorganized, but it wasn’t anything I really didn’t experience at basic. The one thing I did experience that I hated there was the real favoritism that cadre has amongst candidates. We had one guy fall out of the 6 mile because he put 90 pounds in his ruck rather than 35 and he got a spot report and continued on. We had another just not do the ruck and continue with us. Then we had one guy who couldn’t climb a rope and got recycled on Bolton, while he failed out by failing 3 additional obstacles, they all included a rope, which is just odd to me.

I was with 2nd Platoon 007-24 Charlie Co. ICE IN MY HOIST!

Week 1 of OCS Prior to week one you are going to have to sign in at some point during the weekend. If you are coming from BCT on GOV, you just go and listen so that’s easy. I did POV and I will make it clear…once you sign in, you are not allowed to leave. If your orders say to arrive the next day, don’t panic if you don’t want to. I didn’t, even though they said I was supposed to sign in the day after graduation from BCT. I wanted to enjoy time with my family so I chose to sign in on Sunday at 0900. I could’ve done it later, no matter what the cadre tells your fellow BCT graduates, you don’t have to be there technically until 11:59P the Sunday before class starts. Don’t wait that long, but definitely wait until Sunday. Nothing happens if you’re late so don’t worry. My Cadre also told me that they changed the OCS SOP to display that on orders going forward, but it’s not in the SOP as of now. Nothing is going to happen if you go Sunday, Saturday, or Friday, the bottom line is just to go.

Okay so now onward to week 1.

We started our experience here by doing an ACFT to “class up” from Gold Phase to Black Phase. The packing list instructs you to buy 2 gold O.C.S. plates…DON’T. Gold Phase is where you just have to pass an ACFT and a long 1:20 workout on day 4 to class up. You’ll wear the gold plates from day 1 until the morning of day 4 when you go to Black Phase with the ascots. After we completed the ACFT we were marched to the DFAC and explained the rules they have which are VERY chill compared to BCT. The only difference is, is that before you eat every day you have to do 30 pushups and 30 air squats or another exercise of the Student 1SG’s choosing. They also explain that you run everywhere inside the OCS Footprint while you are attending OCS, and to be honest, you actually do run everywhere. Be ready to run, some people barely passed the ACFT, which I thought was wild. We did end up losing 1 person because they failed it though. After that we didn’t really do much, but were forced to stay up until 10:00P, so onwards to day 2. Wake up is at 3:30 so be sure to shave the night before to get some sleep. We ran to the TAPC gym which is basically just a college gym without the indoor track. It’s nice, but they make us run there at a super fast 10mph pace and it’s about a 3/4 mile from the footprint. Then after that we went to chow and they showed us our classroom. Pretty basic classes after that, SHARP and things of that nature. Then lunch, then more classes, then dinner and back to the barracks. After that you are released to your rooms after they collect your phones. They will keep them through all of black phase until Week 5, so be prepared and aware for your 2-sign in verification emails and websites etc. Again, you aren’t allowed to sleep until 2200, but what me and my roomies did was let 2 sleep while the other stayed up. It’s a great way to be sure you’re only restless 1-2 days a week lol. Day 3 is an early wake up, same as before for the most part so nothing to write about here. ONE THING TO NOTE THOUGH ON HOW TO SET UP YOUR ROOM. IF YOU DON’T ASK ABOUT HOW SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE, THEY WON’T HOLD IT AGAINST YOU, SO TELL YOUR FELLOW OC’S TO STFU AND NOT ASK ABOUT HOW TO SET UP THE ROOM. Day 4 is when you do basically an easier version of NIC at night, except at 330 in the morning. You go until sunrise to be honest. You don’t really get breaks, but by the time you are finished at 5 the sun is up. It’s just tire flips, rope climbs, and jumping over 4 ft. walls (if my 5’3 135lb ass can do it, so can you!). The hardest part is the 100 yard low crawl you end it with. Low crawling sucks, but again, there’s an end so just keep going. After it’s over they finally phase you up and you dawn your black ascots. They go hard for about a day, then you realize how much they suck. Day 5 is when they issue you your laptop and other miscellaneous things like the history textbooks and what not. Day 6 is very chill and the same for day 7 so there isn’t really much to say other than you sweat a lot and are given a lot of free time, use it to workout, run, or go to church!

Week 2 & 3 During these weeks it’s all history and it’s true what they say, it’s like getting water through a fire hose with the amount of info they give you in a short timespan. It’s 8 days usually covering 1 lesson per day and each lesson is about 200+ slides. The classes fell during a holiday so we didn’t have class for 1 day. During week 3, the day before the test we did our 6 mile ruck. If you are short like me, it’s kind of fast paced. Just don’t fall out and you won’t have to do it again. The route is all pavement so Oakley’s are probably ideal in terms of boots, but I had Garmonts and don’t plan on changing them. We didn’t do our next ruck until week 9 so you’ll be solid and you’ll have done plenty of rucking by then so don’t fret too much. YOU DON’T GET BREAKS LIKE IN BASIC THOUGH, TACTICALLY ACQUIRE SOME MRE SNACKS IF YOU CAN THE DAY BEFORE. Now the dreaded history test. The thing that fails everyone. IT IS NOT HARD. Study the study guide, don’t bother with the “assigned readings” let the sweats do those and talk about them and listen and you’ll be fine. Work with your battle buddies or battle boos and you’ll pass. We supposedly had the lowest fail rate in 10 years and only 21 of 160 had to retake it and they all passed the retest so you’ll be fine. Don’t use the study guides on quizlets, send me a message if you have questions. After you finish the test you go back into classes over land nav to try and prep you for it in week 4 and I’ll go into huge detail to try and help y’all as best as I can and share my experience. I’m not looking forward to it, but here we are…(wrote this sentence while I was there lol)

Week 4 I will start by saying that you either really love land nav or you’re a 4 and done like me. I hated every single moment of land nav during the night. The day isn’t bad, but the night is a whole different beast. During the classroom portion in week 3 they teach you how to shoot a back azimuth and stuff like that. It’s definitely going to help you if you are dead reckoning. Don’t dead reckon unless you are really good at it. We had some guys try it and during the day they usually managed to kind of be close to the point, but during the night, you’ll get lost. Just don’t do it O9S. You’re going to walk a lot. You’re going to be annoyed with each other, and you’re going to be trauma bonding. It’s just how it is. I’ll break it down in terms of experience for you now. Day 1. We eat breakfast at the DFAC and then after that get our rucks ready for the busses. It’s about a 35 minute drive to the drop off point and after that you ruck about a half-mile down hill. You’re going to come back up that same hill so rest while you can. After that you are at red-diamond land nav. You’ll be introduced to 2 sides of the map, the “Shield” and the “Pizza”. If you’re lucky all your spots are in the shield, mine weren’t. It’s about 1100 when you are set up and you get MRE’s for lunch. After that you do “Instructor-Led” Land nav. They broke us up into multiple groups, told us to count our steps, and sent us on our way to 3 points. The cadre said they will go to points in order and tell you the order. You can choose to stay with them, but they take forever so I chose to leave with my battle buddy. After you reach point one, you wait for cadre before heading to point 2, then point 3, then head back and eat dinner. It’s usually “Hot A’s” aka “UPU’s” aka “Hot Ass”. It’s honestly not bad and I genuinely enjoyed what they served each day. After that they divided us into 2 groups since there wasn’t enough trackers. I was in group 2 which meant I did everything on day 3. We were sent to bed and you basically relax all day for day 2 outside of a buddy team day land nav that was about 3 hours. They do a class on how to take apart and put together the M4, 249, and 240B. You will be tested on and guarding these weapons at night so practice taking them apart and doing function checks when you can. It’s not hard, it’s just another “I need to practice these to succeed” test. On day 2 Group 1 went out to do the night portion land nav while we in group 2 slept. They left at 9P and had until 1A to return. I’d say about 70% passed of the 80 that went out. Then day 3 comes and we started at 7A until 11A, these points aren’t necessarily hard to find, but it’s definitely hard to get all 7 if you aren’t running depending on your lane. I had my 4 at the 1:30 mark and just decided to walk back and was back within 2.5 hours. To give a little more insider on the time it takes to find these points, my roommate passed the pre-test with 4 points in 3.5 hours, and attempted the “regular test” and he got 6 on his new lane while running the whole time in 3 hours. It truly is lane dependent. We had some people come back in 2 hours with all 7. Others, it took almost all 4 hours. There were also some candidates who complained that their lanes had poles without numbers but cadre didn’t believe them. Honestly, I believe that some of the numbers were gone. When do you think is the last time they went out to check all these points? Now it’s night land nav for me. I started strong! I had 2 points in like 10 minutes…because they were the same points from earlier lol. I reached point 3 at like the 30 minute mark and felt like I was going for 7. Then I went to the railroad tracks to go along them…I walked, and walked, and walked down my lane to get to the tracks but they never came. I started to panic as 30 minutes passed by and I still hadn’t found them. The tracks were supposed to be about 2 clicks away from my original position so I thought it would take approximately 20 minutes to get there. I decided to back track since I was at the end of hour one and didn’t want to waste time finding point 4 and then head back. I start running because I got in my own head and fell in a muddy area and got super wet. Luckily for my safety 3 Candidates that I had no idea were there rushed to me to ask if I was alright. I told them I was and they were all about to go their own way and then I asked the question that you should definitely NOT ask people you trust at OCS, “What’s your lane?” It turned out we were all on the same lane and we looked at each other with the “who’s going to ask it?” Face. I definitely DID NOT end up asking and we DEFINITELY DID NOT trade points. Eventually, I had my 5 and decided to just head back. I got my points submitted. I made it and so can you! All I will say is “YOU WILL NOT PASS OCS ALONE”. They preach that there. I don’t want to bore you with day 4 and 5 because it was basically us doing nothing but recovering and the people that failed the first night and day retesting. You literally sit around and just eat the MRE’s and Hot A’s when told. We went back on the afternoon of day 5 and it was the nicest shower ever. I knew that, that was the longest I would be in a field setting because of the schedule we had. We ate dinner at the DFAC and they let us chill on the weekend. I went for a run on the weekend and that was about it.

Week 5 It starts off like every week. A company run, however, I noticed after the first 3/4 of a mile we were actually really hauling ass and I thought that most wouldn’t keep up with the speed we were running at. I looked behind me and about half the class fell out and I was technically the last one still in formation. I didn’t like that if I’m being honest, but overheard the cadre say that they had to cut our 3 mile run in half because of some mishap in the accountability. For reference we ran a mile and a half in 9 minutes. We then started “kind of” covering OPORD’s. The reason I say kind of is because we had a cadre member present it to us, and tbh either English wasn’t that Sgt.’s first language or he didn’t know how to read. Honestly it was sad seeing him read and present to us in front of higher ranked cadre. He went through 56 slides just saying “okay next slide” without explaining really much. They give you a basic overview then go over the agenda for the weekend. They are going to give you the mission you’ll have to create an OPORD on Saturday and you have until Monday to turn it in. Be as thorough as possible and you’ll be fine. You can use them as notes while you do your presentation in front of the cadre, just don’t sound like a robot. We did the branching fair on Tuesday and it’s okay. Since I’m in the Reserves I was already slotted, but the rep for the 88’s didn’t show so I didn’t talk to anyone for 3 hours but my battle buddies. You basically just study for the Phase Up inspection and try and break down weapons to the best of your abilities as quick as you can. Smooth is fast and fast is smooth. PRO TIP: Buy bed stays and save yourself a headache of doing your bed every morning! They won’t check your lockers/closet so long as they are locked. Be sure to have everything locked or you and your roommates are going to have to open everything up. During this week, they attempted to revoke our rights to our phones, but the reason was because someone was caught with their phone. Bottom line, if you keep your phone don’t get caught. DON’T BE A BLUE FALCON EITHER! If you see a candidate getting a coffee at church, don’t write their name down to turn in. We had people go up to the snitches and notify them real quick that the staircase is a little slippery. We had our 4 mile run this week. By this point you should’ve at least trained once a week by running a 5k to kind of get in the right cardio condition. Personal Tip: I bought Adidas Prime X 2.0’s and believe me they work. I know I could have done it without them as I was doing a 15 minute 2 mile in regular, but I finished my 4 mile in 30 minutes with ease in those because they are so soft and relaxing. My 2 mile in them is 14:18. When I pushed myself later on during the cycle I ran a 28:50 4 mile.

Week 6 During week 6 we presented an OPORD. This was the only class I had to retake. It was mainly because I busted time. Don’t worry too much as you’re going to pass as long as you read off the paper. They don’t care if you sound like a robot, unlike how they preach not too. Cover all your bases by covering the 17-page OPORD and you’ll be fine. I don’t know if it’s true but I heard in the PNN (Private News Network) that Bravo Company had a 5 page OPORD. One thing you start to realize here by week 6 is that 95% of what you hear on the PNN is absolutely false and to figure stuff out for yourself. You are in a room with 1 cadre member and have 30 minutes to present your OPORD. I understand what people mean when they say that it is very cadre dependent as to what grade you get. I went over and instantly was told I failed, my buddy who had the same OPORD as me was with a different cadre member and he scored 100 and he busted time too! There isn’t really anything else but WTBD (Weapons Training) which you will wait in lines for a long time just for a 3-7 minute test, you do that 7 times then you’re done. I promise, if you never messed with a 240B or 249, you will have plenty of time to practice. It took me about 3 times of toying with it to figure it out. You’ll also learn how to put a radio together, but that is the easiest test besides the M4. I almost forgot, you also do your Battle Analysis during this week. It’s not hard and they make the first paragraph for you already. I wouldn’t study it much, but I would read the document, come up with the test “ahead of time” because you can use your computer the night before, save it to the clipboard and it’s ready to turn in from the moment the test begins. I’m not going to say I did this, because I didn’t. They won’t tell you your grade, but I can tell you this is the most amount of failures. We had 30% of our class fail it, and one failed it a second time and was recycled to Delta supposedly. After that the weekend approached and they gave us a 3 day on-base pass.

Week 7 & 8 AHHHHH STX, THE DREADED STX WEEKS. Honestly, I HATE the outdoors, but it wasn’t that bad outside of the sleeping at night. Depending on your week of going, you are either sleeping one week all day and working the next or vice versa. There are 7 lanes in total, and all seven aren’t hard except Yuma. They are all named after cities in Arizona I think. I had Flagstaff, and luckily for me it was where we slept most nights, so I knew the lane pretty well before starting it. It’s only about a max of 250m to the objective, I had to wait all the way until week 2 of STX before I could go, so I literally did nothing the first week but sleep. When it was time for my squad to go, we had to complete all 13 lanes (so we ran through some lanes twice) in 3 days and let me tell you it’s brutal. We did 1 the first day and then 7 the next and 5 on the last. You are going to be tired, possibly bloodied, and mildly dehydrated, but you will get through it. BIGGEST PIECE OF ADVICE IS TO BUY A POLAROID AT THE PX, TAKE IT WITH YOU AND TAKE SOME PICTURES WHILE YOU’RE WAITING. I am so glad I had mine with me. The cadre doesn’t want to be there just like you don’t though, so the sooner you all are done, the sooner you go home. We got home 3 days early and they gave us another on-base pass that we used to reset, recover, and prep for our 9 mile ruck the next week. (I’ll go into a lot of details on my horrible experience later). During your on-base pass, go to the movies, gym, and main PX, but be aware. IDK how but no matter what, if I went to the main PX, I was easily spending a $100. On one particular trip they had a brand new gaming laptop at a $1500 discount over retail. I bought it and I am so happy with my purchase, but this is giving you an example of what to expect when you go. Their discounts are never usually that good, and they literally sold out day one, but I wanted a gaming laptop so dammit I spent $1000 and got one for “work purposes”…Okay, I had Xbox Game Pass and wasn’t going to let that opportunity go to waste. For what it’s worth, I sold the other laptop I had and ended up only spending like $300 on the laptop. We decompressed, went out, and had a good time. Remember, life moves pretty fast, enjoy yourself when you can.

Week 9 This is a week where I had the most fun, but also was the most ugly. I’ll start with the 9 mile ruck. I started strong and went the first 4.5 miles with absolute ease. The pace was good, and I was able to keep up without a problem, then we turned around. I noticed at this time that I wasn’t sweating at all but felt hot (sign 1). I saw an ice immersion, dunked my hands and felt okay again and kept treading along. We then reached a hill at the 6 mile mark (cardiac hill) and I don’t know what it was about that hill, but it completely destroyed me. I was no longer able to keep up with anyone and was almost all the way at the back. I noticed a lot of short people in the back with me as well. My roommate saw I was struggling and decided to stay with me offering water every quarter mile which I would politely decline because I was huffing and puffing. I noticed at the 7.5 mile mark that I couldn’t stand up straight (sign 2). I didn’t care though, I was going to keep pushing until I finished. We get to like the 8.9 mile mark and I noticed I was walking sideways and couldn’t walk straight and I looked at my skin and I was pale (sign 3). I realized I was right there and could literally see the finish line so I pushed all the way through until I couldn’t push anymore. I was having a heat stroke, but I didn’t want to stop. A cadre member yelled at me to stop and I did and didn’t realize what was going on. I passed the finish line and was being dragged by my friends to the stretching point. I passed the rucking finish line right when I was about to become a heat cat! The cadre put 2 ice sheets over my head and said it would be cold. I was so exhausted and breathing so heavily that I didn’t even notice the ice sheets, I just felt wet on my head and it felt good. They put my hands in an ice tank and told me not to fall or I’d pass out and I listened. My PLT’s head cadre member told me I had to take a test and if I failed I’d be recycled. It was a 3 question test, “What’s your name?” “Where are you?” And “How old are you”. I answered them correctly and they allowed me to stay and was allowed to fall back into formation. Looking back at it, it was technically the hardest test of OCS, but at the time I thought it was the easiest. The cadre told me that I was on the brink of falling, but that I passed and just had to go to my room to recuperate for an hour. My roommate was forced to watch me shower to ensure I didn’t fall, but we just had the restroom door open and I said my name every 30 seconds while I was in there. After that, we gladly rested for a bit, then caught up with the rest of the company. I was walking with a limp, but it was more cause of a blister than anything. My feet were surprisingly fine outside of that. I was super scared for the 12 mile coming up the next week, but a little company run the following Monday canceled any fear I had. We turned in our weapons on Wednesday and our NVG’s the same day and got ready for our branching ceremony on Thursday. Thursday arrives and we spent 6 dumb hours practicing the ceremony every minute of that, outside of lunch. I’d say 98% of people got their Top 9 choices, 2 people got below that and 85% I believe got one of their top 5 picks. After the ceremony we got to finally dawn our regular clothes to get ready for the branching social at the IBAR (Infantry Bar). It was a fun experience, however we ran out of food quick and I chose to get a drink over food first and only had the option of chips or air on the food menu. We felt pretty good and it got a little rowdy, but nothing too crazy. The next day is a phase up test and you should pass it as long as you use the study guide they give you. They will then give you a pass on the weekend and you’ll be able to relax and get ready for the final week of hard work. On to Week 10!

Week 10-12 It starts out with easy classroom work, nothing too hard, but you have to score an 80 on the leadership exam. I promise you’ll pass, it’s a super easy test and you get the picture of your diploma to kind of motivate you through the rest of the week. I literally hung my “copy of a diploma” on my locker to motivate me for the ruck! I remember in the back of my mind I was worried, but knew that’s all that stood between me and going home! On Monday we did a company run and it was super easy. Around this time you all pretty much know you’re done and hustle through it all. We have some people who would struggle but still made it. Day of the Ruck: okay so now it’s about 2:30A, we wake up and get ready to start. We stretch, are given 2 hoist packets, and then get ready in a ruck formation. We start and it’s totally fine. I am thinking “12 miles til I see my family” and notice about mile 2.5 my feet start to blister. I’m like…fuhhhhhh. I’m going to hustle through it and like my sticker patch says “It is what it is”. I keep going, it’s not a normal ruck it feels like because I’m passing people, people are passing me, I’m passing people, people are passing me. it felt weird and off-timed. We get to the turn around point and I start getting passed up…a lot. I was fine, but my feet were starting to hurt a little. I think people knew the turn around point and literally just waited for us to come back to fall back in because I went from like top 10 people in the ruck to like almost dead last. I knew I was slow, but I never felt this slow. We get to about mile 10 and I felt the blister pop and OMG DID IT FREAKING HURT. I was almost to a point where I was wincing in pain. I somehow knew I had to finish it now or I would get recycled. It’s not a matter of who is better, it was more of a matter of who wants it more. I knew nothing was going to stop me from going home so I made it…barely but I made it. I stretched with my platoon and felt a sense of relief so big that I teared up a little bit at the end. Then we went to go shower…I had to walk up the stairs on my tip-toes so I knew something was wrong but didn’t care, I just wanted to recover a little bit. I took off my boots and felt a big deal of pain when I tried to take off my socks. The pain was so much to bare, I bit down on my pillow as I peeled it off, I flipped my socks inside out as it really hurt and saw a bandaid. I thought to myself, “Weird? I don’t remember putting bandaids on this morning” as I always on the prior rucks…it was my skin, I peeled off my literal skin on my feet with the ruck. I don’t know if it was more shock or what, but I was somehow able to shower real quick and put on my PT’s. I called my PLT Ldr and told him how I couldn’t really walk and he called a cadre member and the cadre member just said “GNARLY DOG” and called up a vehicle to take me to the hospital. I literally had to be carried downstairs but was able to walk on my tip-toes on flat surfaces so I went with my roommate to the hospital and they gave me some bandages and crutches. I was on crutches for about a week before I was able to walk/run again. I got absolutely annihilated on that ruck, but if I could do it, so can you!

We went on our 4-mile, then went on a ride-along at a civil war prison camp site. It was fun, but just another thing to get through. The day before graduation we had to practice for about 5 hours then were released to our families for an off-base pass. It was super chill and nice to know, I’m headed home!

After that it was pretty easy. I didn’t come in last in my class, I beat about 40 people, but I can also say I never really tried too hard either. If you’re active, go balls to the wall on the physical aspect, if you’re reserve, just get it done. If you’re NG, don’t worry you’ll get what you want. If you got this far, I’m sure you’ll be fine on your journey to becoming an O! If you have any questions feel free to message me, if you have any worries let me know, just know that there is an end to it all, and you’ll be fine. I’m going to post my BCT Experience soon, but I’m sure this is one you’re more worried about

Hi,

I am planning on attending online university, likely U of Phoenix, AMU or WGU and am interested in knowing how that affects OCS selection. From what I have read, WGU having a placeholder GPA of 3.0 (because it is pass/fail) indicates that an online university employing a GPA scale would be better suited for OCS competiveness. Can anyone speak further on this?

My second question is whether branch preference is dependent on undergrad University/GPA or solely OCS performance. My currenty preferences are infantry, MI and psyops (not sure if this is its own MOS or falls under a larger branch)

Thank you, any further knowledge or tips from officers who attended Online Universities are welcome!

Basically the title. We had some 20 people get dismissed and even more get recycled from my company. Does this mean we have more branches to choose from at the end?

So I am in the process of gathering all documentation about prior (7y ago) drug offenses that were dismissed by the court and have been expunged and rehab visits for waivers. I have an AS and BS degree (3.7 GPA for both separately), have been clean for 6.5 years, have a child and own a home / pay all my bills on time (lol). I’m probably older than most who are applying (30F)

I’m wondering what I can do (aside from my character reference letters) to increase my chances of selection. I haven’t taken the asvab yet but I’m consistently scoring around 80-85 on practice tests. Do I need to start volunteering? Any tips or recommendations?

ETA: I have no history of any mental illness, physical illnesses or surgeries. My prefrontal cortex is well developed now

So as the title says I’m getting back in(I was prior service 11c). I rentered early this year and everything is good to go, and I even have a ship date. I guess my question is will I get reissued my ocp stuff kind of like the same way I got issued at basic years ago? Or will I have to pay for them because I remember how expensive those things were🙃🙃🤣. Appreciate it!

I am a 20-year-old college student getting married in May. I am enlisting the army after I get married, And ultimately want to become an officer once I finish my degree (online). I've looked into OCS and was wondering how tricky it would be to get in. I also know about the 09S Contract but don't believe I qualify because I only have 79 hours at the time of enlistment. So my question: Do I enlist and get a couple years of experience and then submit a packet to go to OCS? If not, what do you guys think?

Hi everyone,

I am a E4 and will spend the next 12 month in a deployment. I will be in the Guard for 3.5 years by the time I finish it. (I signed up for a 6+2 with 20K bonus) I really enjoy the guard but I know that I have always wanted to go active and I consider OCS over ROTC because it's faster. (I have done 3 semesters ROTC in a Senior Military College years ago, but decided to drop out since I was a foreigner and couldn't even join the military at the time) On top of that, I am married with a kid, I want to make more money to provide for my family. my current ACFT scores around 550 (I am trying to max it out by using this year for my training). I am also graduating with my college degree in politics next month with a 3.78 GPA from a public school. As for my current deployment, the plan is trying my best being a good soldier and be a good example and hope that my leadership notice my efforts.

Now, I have seen posts talking about NG to AD OCS, and I know that we need DD368, Letters of Recommendation, and the interview with the board. Here are my questions:

1. I know that Accelerated OCS is a thing, but can people do it for Active Duty Commission as NG enlisted?
2. I am curious what is my chance of getting my DD368 approved, what are the good tips in persuading them to sign it?
3. Also, what would be a good approach to get those Letters of Recommendation? Would it be like asking my chain of command, 1 SG, XO, and Commanders directly?
4. I am coming back by November next year, when should I start to ask for DD368?

Overall, what other tips would you give for those who want to switch into AD through OCS in the next few years?

Thank you all very much.

So, I’ve been going through the OCS process for awhile. Got an all my waivers, except the moral waiver. I’m an older recruit, 34, but still in great shape and have two college degrees.

I have law violations from my teenage years that were minor because they either resulted in no prosecution or were dropped stemming from a bad family environment. My recruiter told me, I went through the moral process but didn’t get the waiver.

No one called me to talk about the violations, though? No one asked about them, what they were or why I went through them.

Is this normal? Need to know, thank you.

I did my battalion board and got my results. I wanted to know how much weight it holds or if it is simply a door to the next board if approved?

Anyone else submitted an in-service packet for the FY24 in-service board and was not on the selected list but received an email stating they were selected but there just wasn’t enough slots and they will be automatic boarded for the June FY25 board? Is your accessions NCO telling you that you will need to submit updated forms or will the forms such as the DA61 be accepted even over the one year mark because of the automatic board?

Anyone that had a board interview recently know if the DA FROM 6285 is still a guideline they use for the questions? Thanks!

So I went to my OCS Board yesterday and did really well. I was told that my packet will be sent to HRC next year in July and the results will be posted on MILPER in October. My question is why does this take almost a year to get your results back. Is there any update in between now and next October? Someone please enlighten me

A lot of the recent OCS graduates who branched MI were assigned to a basic training unit as PLs. Are your first orders set in stone or are there options/exceptions to policy that you can pursue?

Hi, I understand that every OCS class includes a history test, but the questions can vary depending on the specific focus or concentration of history.

Is there anything else I can study? I’m currently reviewing important battles from every American war, starting with the Seven Years’ War and continuing to the present:

Seven Years' War (French and Indian War, 1754–1763)

1. Battle of Fort Necessity (1754)
2. Battle of the Monongahela (1755)
3. Battle of Quebec (1759)

American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) 4. Battle of Lexington and Concord (1775) 5. Battle of Bunker Hill (1775) 6. Battle of Saratoga (1777) 7. Battle of Yorktown (1781)

War of 1812 (1812–1815) 8. Battle of Lake Erie (1813) 9. Battle of Bladensburg (1814) 10. Battle of Fort McHenry (1814) 11. Battle of New Orleans (1815)

Mexican-American War (1846–1848) 12. Battle of Palo Alto (1846) 13. Battle of Monterrey (1846) 14. Siege of Veracruz (1847) 15. Battle of Chapultepec (1847)

American Civil War (1861–1865) 16. First Battle of Bull Run (1861) 17. Battle of Antietam (1862) 18. Battle of Gettysburg (1863) 19. Siege of Vicksburg (1863) 20. Atlanta Campaign (1864)

Spanish-American War (1898) 21. Battle of Manila Bay (1898) 22. Battle of San Juan Hill (1898)

World War I (1917–1918) 23. Battle of Cantigny (1918) 24. Battle of Château-Thierry (1918) 25. Meuse-Argonne Offensive (1918)

World War II (1941–1945) 26. Attack on Pearl Harbor (1941) 27. Battle of Midway (1942) 28. Guadalcanal Campaign (1942–1943) 29. D-Day/Normandy Landings (1944) 30. Battle of the Bulge (1944–1945) 31. Battle of Iwo Jima (1945) 32. Battle of Okinawa (1945)

Korean War (1950–1953) 33. Battle of Pusan Perimeter (1950) 34. Battle of Inchon (1950) 35. Battle of Chosin Reservoir (1950)

Vietnam War (1965–1973) 36. Battle of Ia Drang (1965) 37. Tet Offensive (1968) 38. Battle of Hue (1968)

Persian Gulf War (1990–1991) 39. Battle of Khafji (1991) 40. Battle of 73 Easting (1991)

War on Terror (2001–Present) Afghanistan (2001–2021) 41. Battle of Tora Bora (2001) 42. Operation Anaconda (2002)

Iraq War (2003–2011) 43. Battle of Baghdad (2003) 44. First Battle of Fallujah (2004) 45. Second Battle of Fallujah (2004)

I’m a new solider, joined early Feb, 2024. Just got to my new unit in Korea and have done extremely well to get my name out and onto the radar of both company and battalion command.

Last award ceremony, major announced me as an OCS candidate and command has been encouraging me to go OCS/G2G.

I’m nervous at this idea because my recruiter said I would be uncompetitive given my GPA and am worried that it will hold me back again despite recent performance.

597 ACFT 3.15 GPA Biology degree
138 GT

However, I do want to go down this route. What time line am I looking at, what are things i should keep an eye out for during the application process, and what are my chances of actually being accepted as a new E4?

Preparing to take the ASVAB in a few weeks. My recruiter told me to do march2success to study but I’m wondering if that should be sufficient or if there are better resources out there. Thanks!

I’m working on my OCS application and currently have 4/6 of the recommendation letter slots filled. I have two retired marines (one a chaplain), a congressman, and a professor. What would y’all recommend I look for in my last 2 slots?

I had my board interview in the beginning of October. I was told I did very well. Now I have been waiting to hear back from my recruiter to see if I got selected or not. Anybody else still waiting? How long do you guys think it would take? And the problem is, I have already got selected for Navy Officer Program (Supply corp). Navy’s Officer recruiter needs me to decline or accept for Navy Officer program. I must do it by this week. I had a low gpa coming in. I know you guys not going to be able to know what the best choice for me but what would you guys do in this situation?

Thanks for the advice ahead of time.

Hello, I am curently in OCS as a officer candidate coming directly from basic training as a civilian/ new soldier. I have done extensive research on how to correctly put my packet together and I am coming up with different information on two items that I need help on.

1. The Commandant's Letter of Understanding: I assumed this was not applicable to me since I don't have a current commander, other then the one who will be approving my packet. Is this correct? Or do I need to visit my OCS commander's office (who would be the one approving/ looking through packets) and have him submit a letter of understanding? This sounds stange since he is the person receiving the packets. However I want to cover all of my bases, and do this correctly.

2. Form DA4187: I am not requesting branching to aviation, cyber, or EOD. Why wouldn't I have to fill out this form? The checklist provided to me does not have this form listed as a requirement.

Thank you in advance. This forum has really helped me a lot. I appreciate everyone's input.

Hey everybody. Blessed to have made it to this point 9 months after my 3rd ACL surgery and 2 waivers later. But, god willing, I passed my physical and was approved by the OCS board. I was curious if/when I am accepted the week of 09DEC2024 when folks think I could get shipped to BCT based on their experience? Not that it really matters, I am just genuinely curious. I’ve been eager to do this for months.

P.S. any advice for my upcoming journey is appreciated. I want to know what it takes to be the #1 candidate in OCS because I don’t want to be the last person to pick my MoS, TIA!