|
What is acceptance like these days for the Army OCS option? I'm about to graduate with a degree in International Relations, around a 3.4 GPA. Good physical shape, pretty sure I can max a PT test. No debt, no health issues, no DUI, no criminal record. And I speak lovely French, if that matters for anything.
|
#
¿
Apr 13, 2013 03:54
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 10:45 |
|
|
Well in May I'm going to go see about getting accepted into the Army OCS enlistment option. If that doesn't work out I guess I'll enlist as an E-4, I'm getting out of Florida one way or another. I'm assuming Afghanistan will be winding down by the time I'm done with training, what kind of units are involved in Africa? Any way to volunteer for such an assignment? If at all possible I'd like to do something overseas. Also, how much weight do letters of recommendation have towards an OCS packet? My dad is a retired O-6 so I know quite a few senior officers willing to write one for me. I'm hoping a 3.4 International Relations BA, max PT score, No debt, no health issues, and some good letters of recommendation might sway them to accept me. Is being an Eagle Scout worth mentioning? I don't really have any extracurricular activities other than going to Foreign Affairs type speakers that come to my school and some volunteer work. Mustang fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Apr 15, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Apr 15, 2013 03:16
|
|
|
GenoCanSing posted:I've been on a big kick lately watching documentaries and reading forums/books about American military training, and I have a quick question. I'm not in the Army as of yet, let alone in SF, but the only reason I'm going to try to give you an answer is because there are 3 Army SF in my family and this story kind of relates to the question you asked. My dad went through SF training in the early 80's before SFAS existed so people were weeded out throughout the Q course. While my dad was a team leader a few years later his team was called up without warning and tasked to do a bunch of random events each day, never knowing what was going to be next. They rucked long distances every day and I if I remember correctly they were out there for 2 or 3 weeks. He found out later that his team was used to test a sort of proto-SFAS and a few other things that were never implemented. And he said it sucked and they were pretty miserable.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 11, 2013 07:14
|
|
|
I'm trying to get my OCS packet done but I STILL haven't taken the ASVAB. My recruiter gave my info to a new guy to put in the system on my first day there and he put my last name as my first and my first name as my last. Meaning when I got to MEPS to take the ASVAB I couldn't take it until my name got fixed. Which requires some sort of forms being filled out. I called them today, 2 weeks later, and it STILL isn't loving fixed. I already have my 3 letters of recommendation, they're good ones too, turned in my security clearance form, and I can't do anything else until I take the ASVAB. How the gently caress does somebody gently caress your name up. My first name is obviously a first name and my last name is obviously a last name. It's not like my names Eric Ryan or some poo poo with two first names. gently caress. I just want to get this poo poo done. And they gently caress up the simplest of things. God drat.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 20, 2013 04:47
|
|
|
Well the irritating part is MEPs won't let me take the ASVAB until my first/last name are in their correct positions. And the ASVAB is the only thing holding me back from progressing through to the next step of my OCS packet. Possibly causing me to miss the August OCS board. And the weird thing is last monday I went in to sign my 'projection' I believe it was called but my recruiter wasn't there like he was supposed to be, it was another guy. And he said my name was fixed and my recruiter would call me to setup an ASVAB test date. He never did and when I talked to him he said my name still wasn't fixed. I just can't believe one illiterate mofo can gently caress something up for nearly a month. That or my recruiter is just blowing smoke up my rear end while he does something else.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 20, 2013 15:54
|
|
|
I just called them up and set up an appointment with the guy who answered. He seems to know a lot about the process though.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 21, 2013 00:10
|
|
|
Well, finally got an ASVAB test date, Tuesday the 30th. Looks like I probably won't make it in time for the early August OCS board.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 23, 2013 20:46
|
|
|
Last tuesday my recruiter called me up and asked if I could take the ASVAB on Monday or Tuesday this week. I said I could on Tuesday. So I show up today and find out I was on the list to take the ASVAB yesterday. At least I get to take it tomorrow instead but god drat. I just cannot comprehend how poo poo like this happens. First they mess up my name and now they schedule me on the wrong day.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 30, 2013 17:25
|
|
|
Well it's not like I'm enlisting with a degree, I'm trying to get the OCS contract and I'm told I'm a good candidate for OCS. I first went to the recruiting office on June 24th and it's over a month later that I finally get to take the ASVAB. I talked to some of my friends that are in the Army and they're telling me that this particular recruiting station has always been lovely and that I should go to the one in the town to the south instead. The station in the town to the south is the one I went to 5 years ago and they had me taking the ASVAB the very next day.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 30, 2013 17:53
|
|
|
Yep, college. I was determined to enlist but the soldiers in my family persuaded me to stay in college since I had a scholarship and Florida College Prepaid covering all my expenses, an opportunity not many people had. I hated the first few years but I'm glad I stuck with it, though sometimes I wish I had enlisted back in 2008. I have a good idea on what life as an officer is like since my dad spent 27 years as one and I grew up on and around military bases for most of my life. I'm just impatient right now because I don't have much to do for the time being and I'm tired of living in the Tampa area.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 30, 2013 18:13
|
|
|
Got a 137 GT score today, same as I got in 2008 when I took the ASVAB. The other 4 people that went to take the ASVAB with me failed. Not sure how that's even possible considering it's all stuff you learn in high school. Hopefully I can still make it in time for the early August OCS board, just need a PT test now.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 31, 2013 23:28
|
|
|
I was meeting with my recruiter today and a guy came in to ask about doing just that and he was told the same thing: 18X is the only way he could go active duty Army.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 19, 2013 19:30
|
|
|
Pretty sure you need to enter active duty before you turn 30 to be eligible for Army OCS. 33 for Army reserve.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2013 02:39
|
|
|
Not sure how quick OCS packets get done at other recruiting stations but I started mine in June and I'm just now getting mine finished. Mostly due to having a lovely recruiter at first that kept forgetting to sign me up for ASVAB/MEPs etc. I'm told I won't be leaving until probably February at the earliest. I live in a decent sized city so there's a lot of people trying to enlist, might be faster if you live in a smaller city/town.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2013 20:10
|
|
|
Well the army still seems to be accepting OCS option recruits. My recruiters are pretty sure most people with a 3.0 GPA or higher and can do good on a pt test will be accepted.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2013 23:19
|
|
|
Anyone know about some quota for active duty OCS applicants being met? My recruiter called me and said that recruiting command notified them that active duty OCS has met it's quota for the time being but I can wait for it to open up again. I can't find anything about it on the internet.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 9, 2014 02:26
|
|
|
Army, sorry guess I should have mentioned that.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 9, 2014 03:30
|
|
|
For anyone that has done the Army OCS enlistment option, how long did you have to wait after your OCS board to find out the date you ship out to basic? My board is scheduled for the beginning of June and wondering how long I'll have to wait to ship out after waiting nearly a year to get to this point. My recruiters are really optimistic about my chances, 3.11 GPA, 296 APFT, 132 GT score, Eagle Scout, lead a hotel cable installation crew, plus 4 really good letters of recommendation.
|
|
#
¿
May 15, 2014 16:06
|
|
|
drat that seems even more complex then getting an Army OCS packet put together. All they cared about for me is whether I had any debt and what my credit score was for a security clearance. I started this process at the end of June 2013 and I'm just now finally going to the OCS board in June 2014. gently caress thats a long time.
|
|
#
¿
May 29, 2014 16:24
|
|
|
That's nothing dude. Day 1 at the Army recruiter they input my name into the system wrong, ie like Smith John instead of John Smith. Took a month and some paperwork to get my name changed to my real name.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 3, 2014 20:48
|
|
|
Zotix posted:I think I'm going to come forward with the use. I haven't smoked in 6-7 years, and it was light while in college. If I'm DQ'd from the clearance, would I still be able to pick another job in the military? It wasn't brought up to me until I went to MEPS and all I did is write that I had smoked weed in a little box, a doctor briefly mentioned it when going over my packet and I never heard anything else about it. I don't think it was mentioned when I had my security clearance interview or whatever but I don't remember, was a while ago.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 19, 2014 17:00
|
|
|
So finally after 13 months I finally have an OCS board scheduled for this Wednesday since the June and July 10th ones I was supposed to go to were cancelled. How long do these usually last? I'm fairly confident, 296 APFT score and a strong packet but still a bit nervous none the less.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 21, 2014 21:03
|
|
|
Just got got back from my OCS board, I was accepted. I sign sign my contract and get sworn in on Monday, will I find out my ship date when I sign my contract or will I have to wait for them to line up a basic and OCS class for me?
|
|
#
¿
Jul 23, 2014 21:34
|
|
|
ArbitraryTA posted:Well I've had to fill out a remarkably long amount of things including all prior employment/residences/personal references/law violations etc etc before I even got to the MEPS and that was all done in the recruiting office inputted directly by the recruiter. That sounds like it, are you scheduled for a security clearance interview? He's the guy that signs off on it at MEPS. Whoever it is will go over everything you put down, or at least that's how it worked for me.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 24, 2014 05:00
|
|
|
There's more to it then just your major, for the Army anyway which would be your best bet at getting an OCS contract. I just finished the OCS enlistment process the other day, they do a "whole man" approach when you go in front of the board. They'll look at your GPA, work experience, leadership experience, extracurricular activities, hobbies, and ask you a bunch of questions related to leadership and what you have to offer the service(Army in my case). My degree is related to yours, International Relations but arguably more relevant to the military but you shouldn't have any problem spinning it into plus. For instance I'm sure anyone with a Political Science degree keeps up with current events. If you can score highly on the PT test (270+), have a decent GPA, good letters of recommendation and do some studying on leadership, particularly as it relates to the military, then you stand a fairly good shot at landing an Army OCS contract. You will most likely be the only person pursuing an OCS contract in your recruiting battalions area. Before you sign any contract with the Navy you should go talk to the Army recruiter about an OCS contract. Your major isn't all that important.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 25, 2014 20:39
|
|
|
So I'm sitting here in my hotel room looking over the folder my recruiters gave me to take to MEPS tomorrow to sign my contract. I noticed that the sheet that recommends me for OCS has the wrong GPA and credit hours, though it does say I earned my degree. It also doesn't have the date of my OCS board in the blank space for it. Will this cause me problems tomorrow or is everything uploaded and I should be fine?
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2014 02:51
|
|
|
Signed my 09S OCS contract today. At 130. Left a 4 because we had to wait for a single loving person. Don't understand why they don't just let people drive themselves to MEPS.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2014 20:54
|
|
|
Thanks guys! I definitely don't plan on being an rear end in a top hat once I get my commission. I know that I have a lot to learn and I'd be a fool not to listen and learn from the enlisted and NCOs that will have actually been on deployments and been in the army for years by the time I get my commission. My ship date is January 13th and I'm really looking forward to next year.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2014 22:31
|
|
|
True enough, I'll keep that in mind.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2014 22:43
|
|
|
My top 5 were infantry, engineer, military intelligence, armor and aviation.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2014 22:54
|
|
|
Having just gone through the entire OCS packet process myself your first barrier is you're going to need to convince a recruiter to spend the time putting together your packet (because its a mountain of paper work) with a sub 3.0 GPA which is sort of an unofficial minimum required GPA right now. They're only going to want to spend the time on your packet if they think you have a good shot at getting accepted at the board. Which means you're going to need a great PT score and some really, really good letters of recommendation. Even if you had a great GPA you would still need a high PT score. With the draw down they have fewer OCS slots to give out so they can be picky about who they accept.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 11, 2014 00:43
|
|
|
What is the average amount you run per week in the army? My recruiters have been telling me about having to run all the time at OCS. Also what's the pace like? I max the 2 mile but there's no way in hell I can keep that pace for like 5 miles. As it is I feel like I'm going to vomit after that pace for 2 miles, though I never have.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2014 06:05
|
|
|
You should be looking at the college option OCS contract instead. You have a degree and you meet the "required" 3.0 or higher GPA. You'll still go to basic but you go to OCS afterward and you'll come out of it as an officer and making nearly twice as much money than if you had enlisted. I just went through the process myself. There's a ton of paperwork and as far as I can tell there isn't any training recruiters go through in regards to putting an OCS packet together. You will have to constantly be in contact with your recruiter to make sure your packet moves along and you get everything done that you need to. Once it's all done you will go to your OCS board where a group of officers will determine if you get to go to OCS. The main parts of the board will cover your Army Physical Fitness Test score, your letters of recommendation, and maybe your transcripts depending on the officers on your board. They may just look at it to see if you have a 3.0 and a degree and then not look at it again. The rest of the board is a bunch of personal questions about leadership, values, etc. Just read up on military leadership and army values to prepare yourself for that part. For your letters of recommendation you should try to get some from people in or were in the military, preferably senior officers if you know any. Otherwise get them from civilians in a leadership/management position but seriously try to get some military ones before you do so. You need 3 letters or 5 maximum. Keep up with current/international affairs because you may be asked some questions related to whats going on in the world. Your APFT score will play a huge role in whether you get selected or not, try to get it as close to 300 as you can. There's some good advice in the military painstorm PT thread and there's also a ton of resources on the internet on how to improve your PT score. Since you have a degree and the necessary GPA there is really no reason why you shouldn't put in the extra effort to put an OCS packet together. The worst that can happen is they say no and you may or may not decide to enlist afterward. At 27 you're nearly 10 years older than most other enlistees and you will meet them as you go to MEPS and the difference in maturity is huge. At best they select you for OCS and you'll have a higher quality of life as an officer and make a lot more money.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2014 00:40
|
|
|
Volkerball posted:IIRC, the 1SG at the time was named Allen, and he couldn't say three. He'd say tree. After signing my contract I had to do some online future soldier training thing. One part was about the phonetic alphabet and numbers. Only ones I can remember for numbers is that in the army its Fower instead of four and tree instead of three. Asked my dad who had been in the army for 27 years about it and he said he had never heard anybody ever speak that way There was actually a lot of weird dumb stuff in the future soldier training. tons of typos and examples/explanations that seem like they're meant for 4th graders. Like one of the tests had a question like "You see a empty pack of cigarettes on the ground, you pick it up and throw it away. Which Army Value does this exemplify?" There were 5 answers to choose from and 3 of them were actually one of the Army Values but they could all sorta kinda fit the bill. The answer was Duty.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 4, 2014 05:36
|
|
|
Hekk posted:There is lots of stupid poo poo about the military but the phonetic alphabet and numbers aren't one of them. Most folks are most familiar with talking on VHF radios. If you don't have a good line of sight to whomever you are talking to the transmissions are very static covered. Trying to call in a grid for close air support or ZAP/KILL numbers for CASEVAC with that static is difficult. The phonetic numbers help those on the other end understand what you are trying to convey even if they can only hear like 50% of it. Yeah I understand the reasoning behind them though I had never heard of Fower or Tree being used before, just Niner, and Fife. I meant more that a lot of the rest of the Future Soldier training stuff was sort of dumb, it seemed very lazily put together. Wish I could remember some of the other questions for the tests. Surprised me that there was a portion on Land Nav though. Victor Vermis posted:This. I've actually always used Zero rather Oh and now that I think about it that's probably something I picked up from my dad. Mustang fucked around with this message at 07:53 on Nov 4, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Nov 4, 2014 07:51
|
|
|
When I applied to Army OCS I was the only one at my board and my recruiting battalion covers some 5+ million people, probably more, not too sure what all the areas it covers are. As long as you have a 3.0 or higher, good PT score and good letters of recommendation you should be able to at least go to the board.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 5, 2015 18:57
|
|
|
Took me from July 2013 to July 2014 to finally get to the OCS board and sign my contract a few days later and I'm just now shipping out next tuesday. Got pushed back for months because they didn't want to run a board for only one person and then finally last July they had an OCS board for me and an WOCS board for someone else back to back on the same day.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 7, 2015 01:16
|
|
|
My recruiter didn't give me a shirt, backpack or anything. Just a packing list for shipping out and some APFTs. I did accidentally walk out with his army recruiting pen once though
|
|
#
¿
Jan 7, 2015 23:34
|
|
|
Having been raised in a military family, I don't think hardly anyone outside the military knows much of anything about any units, let alone SOF units. The kids of Rangers definitely get some kind of Ranger brainwashing though. In the 90's when my dad was stationed at Fort Benning he was one of less than 10 SF soldiers on the entire post. We lived on a street that was almost entirely Rangers and their kids just could not stop poo poo talking SF in comparison to Rangers. It's the second time my dads job has had an impact on me making friends as a kid, the first time was on Fort Leavenworth when my dad was one of 2 SF soldiers on the entire post. It never made any sense to me, especially since my dads job is something I never brought up, mostly because I had no idea what my dad did anyway since he never talked about it so they had to be hearing this poo poo from their parents. The 90's were weird in that SF was still seen as sort of the black sheep of the army and it was pretty noticeable on posts that didn't ordinarily have many SF soldiers stationed there, especially at Fort Benning. Strangely didn't have that problem at Fort Sherman where Jungle School was and all the instructors were almost entirely either SF or Rangers and everyone got along great with each other.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 12, 2015 10:32
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 10:45 |
|
|
I was the laziest wrestler in high school, I just wrestled at whatever I happened to weigh at, which fortunately was pretty consistent each year.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2015 09:00
|
|