The Ultimate Officer Candidate School Guidebook: What You Need to Know to Succeed at Federal and State OCS

By Ryan N. Pierce

A comprehensive guide to the process of applying and earning your commission.
 
Are you a former soldier, sailor, or airman who left the service without making the most of your potential? Are you a leader in the civilian sector who knows you have more to give back to the country you love? If so, you should consider entering the Army, Army Reserves, or Army National Guard, earn your commission as a Second Lieutenant, and begin or restart an exciting career as a leader in the world's best military. The Ultimate Officer Candidate School Guidebook explains everything you need to know to achieve these goals.
 
Earning the right to become a US Army officer is an honor and a privilege, and the deck is stacked against those over twenty-five because of the rigorous, time-consuming training. However, you can attend OCS to earn a commission as a Second Lieutenant if you:
 

• are between eighteen and forty
• have an undergraduate degree from an accredited college
• have or can attain a minimum GT score of 110
• can pass an Army Physical Fitness Test

 
Getting accepted to OCS is not automatic, and your choice of when and where to enter is limited. Federal OCS, held at Fort Benning, Georgia, and the many state traditional and fast-track programs offer potential officer candidates a choice about how and when to earn their commission. In this book, an OCS graduate and former TAC Officer offers nineteen chapters of information to guide potential candidates down the path of earning a commission in the Army. It covers everything from the application process, to stressers from TAC officers while attending OCS, to deciding what branch to choose upon earning your commission. It even includes pages with pre-made terrain model kits to assist you while attending OCS, for those who are serious about leadership and finishing strong. Are you up to the challenge?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9781611210606

Book preview

© 2011 by Ryan Pierce

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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ISBN-13: 978-1-932714-91-3

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Front Cover: LT Taylor, P.

Photos: CPT Eric Armstrong

All photos and graphics are courtesy of the author

Proudly printed and bound in the United States of America.

This book is dedicated to my beautiful wife Megan. Her strength, patience, and encouragement are what allow me to continue to serve my country and pursue projects like writing this book. I would also like to dedicate this book to every soldier I’ve had the opportunity to serve with. Good or bad, you have all made me the officer I am today and I thank you for that.

Please Note:

The fitness program presented in this book was not designed by a licensed physician. You should consult with a physician before beginning any fitness program or exercises discussed in this book. All forms of exercise pose some inherent risk, even for people in top physical condition. The author, and everyone who contributed to this book, advises readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limitations. The statements (and illustrations) in this book are the opinion of the author.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1. Why do You Want to be an Officer?

Chapter 2. Requirements for Commissioning

Chapter 3. Packet Preparation

Chapter 4. TAC Introduction

Chapter 5. Course work

Chapter 6. Physical Training

Chapter 7. Rating Scheme

Chapter 8. Schedule Breakdown

Chapter 9. Troop Leading Procedures

Chapter 10. Orders

Chapter 11. Success During Squad Training Lanes (STX)

Chapter 12. Officer Branch Information

Chapter 13. What to Take, What to Leave Home

Chapter 14. Top Seven Mistakes You will NOT Make

Chapter 15. Role of TAC NCO

Chapter 16. Company Leadership Positions

Chapter 17. How to …

Chapter 18. Basic Training vs. Officer Candidate School

Chapter 19. Composite Risk Management

Chapter 20. Interviews with OCS Graduates and TAC Staff

Appendix A. References

Appendix B. Useful Field Manuals and Army Regulations

Appendix C. Leadership Evaluation Report

Appendix D. Recommendation for OCS Example

Appendix E. Officer Candidate Biography Example

Appendix F. Reports

Appendix G. Operational Graphics and Terrain Model Kit

Preface

I was 25 years old with a Bachelor’s Degree and a good career making a nice living when I made the decision in late 2002 to enter the United States military. Everything I knew about the Army I had learned from my father while tagging along with him during his Army Reserve drill weekends. When I was 11 I thought soldiers were cool. They got to play with really awesome equipment, or what seemed like really awesome equipment to me at that young age. The events of September 11, 2001 shocked me. I spent the next year wondering if I was doing everything I could to support our nation. Once I concluded I was not, I chose to follow in my father’s footsteps into the Army. Ever since I can remember my dad spoke to me about joining the service. He would say, ‘if you do join, you should go the Officer route." Naturally, when I did enlist, I signed a contract referred to as O9S, or officer enlistment option. This meant I would attend basic training for nine weeks then attend officer candidate school. In my case, as a member of the Washington Army National Guard, upon completion of basic training, I returned to my state and began OCS.

I attended basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky for nine weeks beginning in March 2003. My drill sergeants assigned me as Platoon Guide day one of going down range. I don’t know if they did this by accident but I worked hard and never relinquished my position. I graduated in June 2003 as Distinguished Honor Graduate. The success I achieved individually gave me confidence moving into officer candidate school, but it did not prepare me for what was in store.

I was told by people who never attended OCS that it was a gentleman’s course. Within my first two days at the Alabama Military Academy at Fort McClellan I knew it was anything but a gentleman’s course. Three phases and nine weeks later, I graduated and was sent back to my state for commissioning in the Washington Army National Guard. Since earning my commission I’ve been assigned as a platoon leader and an executive officer. For the last three years I’ve served as a TAC officer for B/CO for 1/205th Training Regiment in Redmond, Washington. I’ve experienced OCS from two perspectives: a successful candidate and as a successful TAC officer.

This guide is relatively short and easy to read. If you are an ambitious enlisted soldier on active duty or in the reserves looking for an opportunity to become a lieutenant, this book is for you. My target audience included veterans who left the military and used the GI Bill to earn an undergraduate degree and are now considering getting back in, maybe even considering earning a commission. This book includes the information any candidate must need to be successful during OCS.

Again, I cannot stress this enough, if you are considering earning your commission for selfish reasons, please do not read this book and please do not attend OCS because the Army needs altruistic leaders who display all of the Army Values in and out of uniform.

Ryan Pierce

Introduction

In 1939, Gen. George Marshall recognized the importance and necessity of new company grade officers, especially if the U.S. was thrust into the conflict raging in Europe and Asia. In the summer of 1940 his idea of a rigorous officer training facility was put into motion at Fort Benning, Georgia. Infantry, Field Artillery, and Coastal Artillery Officer Candidate Schools were the only three branches trained during the first class; other branches would follow. The first class began with 204 candidates; 171 graduated as second lieutenants on September 27, 1941, under the watchful eye of the school’s first commandant, Brig. Gen. Asa L. Singleton. General Singleton was the architect of the modern Officer Candidate School.

More than 100,000 candidates were enrolled in 448 OCS classes between July 1941 and May 1947. The attrition rate was high; about 1 in 3 did not complete the training and earn a commission. OCS classes stopped after WWII except for the Ground General School in Fort Riley, Kansas, where the final class graduated only 52 second lieutenants in November 1947. OCS went away until the need for company grade leaders came about during the winter of 1951.

Shortages of company grade officers during the Korean War reopened OCS in February of 1951, when the 17-week course increased to 22 weeks. In August of 1953, OCS was reduced from eight programs to three: Infantry, Artillery, and Engineer.

Before we became deeply involved in the Vietnam War, OCS was reduced from three branches to two: Infantry and Field Artillery. At the height of the Vietnam War, OCS grew to five programs and produced 7,000 officers per year from the five battalions at Fort Benning. This era gave birth to the term 90-day wonder, meant to describe the new second lieutenant with very little experience to balance his great responsibility. As the Vietnam War wound down, OCS was again reduced to two programs: Infantry and Female OCS. Female officer candidates were trained at Fort McClellan, Alabama, while Infantry candidates remained at Fort Benning. Infantry OCS was reduced to one battalion and remains this size today.

Branch Immaterial Officer Candidate School began in April of 1973 in order to replace the branch-specific courses and the length of the course was reduced to 14 weeks. Female officer candidates remained at Fort McClellan until December 1976, when their program merged with the branch immaterial OCS program at Fort Benning.

Currently, active component (Federal) OCS is 12 weeks