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Officer Candidates School

the new USMC OCS Blog

Become an Officer

If you want to become an officer in the Marine Corps, or maybe another branch, this website will help you think clearly about your options and reason through your motivation:

Becoming An Officer is one of our pages to help direct the thinking and research of young Americans looking to serve their country. If you are considering the military at all, have you contemplated all the questions on BecomingAnOfficer.com yet?

Armstrong Pullup Program

If you’re here just for the Armstrong Pullup Program, this is the site for you:

Armstrong Pullup Program is of course the number one pullup workout anywhere for PFT success.

Preparing for the Combat Fitness Test?

Look up workouts, rules, get the guides on gear and scoring at Marine CFT.com, our newest partner website.

MarineCFT.com is the foremost website guide for preparation for the Combat Fitness Test, which all candidates and Marines take annually

Looking for a good Marine Corps Reading List?

The Commandant’s Professional Reading List is the one-stop shop for current and future Marines who are interested in furthering their knowledge by reading books appropriate by rank, or by subject, such as Leadership, Aviation, and Counter-Insurgency.

The Marine Corps Commandant’s Reading List is a list of required annual reading for all officer and enlisted Marines, whether active duty or reserve. Officer candidates and recruits have required reading of their own as well. Check it out!

300PFT.com is a potentially life-changing website that has recently exploded on the scene. Check out the great things a former Devil Dog is doing over there!

Graduation Ceremony Opening

This concludes my journey from Civilian to Marine Officer. This will be my last post.

For now I will be leaving my blog up, but not forever.

Thanks to everyone who encouraged and followed through OCS particularly, and all 150,000 visitors to this site! Thanks to all the current Marines who became friends from reading my blog; good job on making it through OCC 202 with me, and for most of you, through TBS now as well. See you in the fleet.

Semper Fidelis

My platoon at TBS

[Please see the update of this page, on the new OCS blog]

For all you super-motivated candidates who would actually like to study ahead of time before hitting the beaches at OCS, here is an excellent opportunity to actually get access to some of the curriculum you will be learning and tested on while there.

One of the OSOs put chapters out of the OCS student outlines; the actual curriculum online to help candidates study.  The below are links to the chapters themselves.

Selected chapters of OCS Knowledge

Death By Powerpoint

History 1-3 (pdf)

Op Order (pdf)

Close Order Drill (pdf)

Intro to Leadership (pdf)

Fundamentals of Leadership (pdf)

Land Navigation (pdf)

Weapons (pdf)

I highly recommend reading and studying these in preparing for the academics at Officer Candidate School.  Good luck!

Books Recommended for the Officer Candidate

The intent of the Commandant in issuing this list (MCBUL 1500) is stated as follows: “In an era of constrained resources, our professional reading program is designed to provide Marines with an intellectual framework to study warfare and enhance their thinking and decision making skills. The mind, like the body, grows soft with inactivity. All Marines must understand that mental fitness is as demanding and as important as physical fitness, for both require commitment and perseverance. In a world characterized by rapid change and great uncertainty, our reading program will act as a combat multiplier by providing all Marines with a common frame of reference and historical perspective on warfare, human factors in combat and decisionmaking. In so doing, the program will also strengthen the threads of cohesion that make our Marine Corps unique.”

I didn’t know about this list until at OCS, but for you motivated candidates with time on your hands, here’s a few recommendations for you.

A Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard

Ender’s Game (The Ender saga) by Orson Scott Card

First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by Victor H. Krulak

First to Fight

Warfighting by U.S. Marine Corps

Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander’s Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery by Nick Popaditch and Mike Steere

Rifleman Dodd: A Novel Of The Peninsular Campaign by C. S. Forester

The Armed Forces Officer: 2007 Edition (National Defense University) by U.S. Department of Defense

The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by D. Halberstam

The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat by B. Drury and T. Clavin

The Last Stand of Fox Company

The Lions of Iwo Jima by Maj Gen (ret) F. Haynes and J. Warren

The Soldier’s Load and the Mobility of a Nation by S.L.A. Marshall

Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War by M. Sallah and M. Weiss

Tiger Force

Q: I have a question about the PFT and the CFT. Are the events (like pull-up, 3 mile run and crunches) back to back or is there a rest period in between?

A: Excellent question. I have always gotten enough time to catch my breath, get some water and even do a little quick stretching in between. At OCS, you will have so much time in between events that the worry is muscles cooling too much if it is winter or fall, in my opinion. They take a few minutes to total everyone’s scores and give instructions for the following event. Hey get excited about the CFT-it is awesome and of course tough: gotta push yourself right?

Q: Were you planning on doing a blog about TBS?

A:  I don’t think I’ll do a whole blog on it. Preparation and mental preparation especially is so key to getting to and succeeding at OCS, that’s what I wanted to help other people with. For TBS, you’re prepared if you make it through OCS. And at OCS, they tell you enough of what you’ll be doing at TBS.

So it won’t get its own blog, but maybe I’ll put some periodic “TBS” posts on here, just for curiosity’s sake.

Q: Do you recommend CrossFit also to prepare for Marine Corps OCS.

A: Crossfit is a great workout program and might help some get ready for OCS (hey, better than nothing) but in my opinion, it does not prepare you for most OCS workouts except indirectly. I definitely do not recommend it for everybody. I would say to most people, you need to work on your bodyweight exercises for sure, and need lots of running for starters. After OCS, I highly recommend Crossfit for your general fitness.

Q: I was planning to go this summer to OCS. Do you know if the OSO’s really strict on speeding tickets

A: Speeding tickets aren’t a big deal until you get one during OCS on libo! I had two on my record and no one said anything about them (you should report them to your OSO.)

Q: I know I need a better PFT score. What helped you bring up your pull-ups?

A: What helped me with pull-ups was doing the Armstrong program (click for link.)

I also began incorporating weighted pull ups as I could do 20, 21, 22 reliably. Top Ten Pull Up Strength Builders.

Q: What was the gas chamber experience like?

A: Only enlisted do the gas chamber during boot camp. After OCS (OFFICER Candidate School) comes The Basic School for new 2^nd Lieutenants, and it is there that we do the gas chamber. I haven’t quite gotten that far yet!

Q: Looking back on your experience, how much “knowledge” did you memorize before going down to OCS? Knowing what you know now, what would you advise others to learn?

A: I memorized a fair amount, but would recommend more.  I will dedicate a post to this topic–standby.

Any other questions?

Just ask them as a comment and they will be answered!

[Please see the update of this page, which includes real OCS academics for you to study ahead!]

Although much of the time at OCS is spent in classroom time, and academics are 25% of candidates’ final grades, tests are probably one of the easiest challenges to overcome at OCS. Academic failures do send some candidates home, but in my experience leadership and physical fitness send more.

Academics takes a very routine process at OCS, not unlike in the rest of the Marine Corps.  The stages are illustrated here:

Death By Powerpoint

• Classes are given by enlisted and officers who are knowledgeable in the particular subject with cookie-cutter outline powerpoints.  Sometimes dry, these lessons are one of the enjoyable things about OCS for the optimistic candidate.  I at least kept a good attitude about them throughout.

This Blog's Author (Left) Reading While Awaiting Initial Haircut

“Knowledge”

• All candidates are given a book, called your Knowledge, and expected to study at night and at certain scheduled times of study, which are very helpful.  It merely contains outlines of all the same powerpoints given by the instructors.

Informal discussions in the squad bay

• Different staff members, including your sergeant instructors will have more informal lessons involving more questions-answer sessions and discussion in the squad bay after a few weeks.  In my opinion, these were very helpful if somewhat long-winded, and you get treated like near-adults sometimes in these discussions.  When the sergeant instructors tell stories of the fleet or their personal experiences, I remember paying rapt attention.  Good training.

Prac Apps

• Practical application, or Prac Apps, are usually outdoor exercises where you can learn hands-on skills taught first by powerpoint lecture, for example, fireteam and squad tactics, rifle skills, and compass skills taught by more personable instructors than your SIs. For example, the Land Nav staff gives you a few lectures on how to navigate, then the whole company practices using compasses on a smaller outdoor course, then there is a larger course which is the tested grade for Land Nav, for example.
• Prac Apps are invaluable if you learn better by doing than by hearing, which is my personal style.  Pay attention!

Multiple Choice Tests

• All tests are conducted in the classroom, multiple choice style using bubble sheets.

Parents "Enjoy" Some Family Day Powerpoint

Advice

• Review ahead of the test, by reading your Knowledge.  An hour or two the night or two before the test is usually sufficient if you have been making use of scheduled study time.
• Use flash cards and keep them in your pocket for if you’re standing in line anywhere, no one will say it’s wrong to review for a test.  They take academics seriously, and I NEVER saw an SI mess with someone for working on their academics, even in waiting times for other events.
• Once again, make use of scheduled study time!  Many candidates struggled to stay awake during the study sessions we had; my opinion is that studying hard and focusing during the day allows for more sleep at night.
• Study extra for the General Military Subject tests, and for any extra large tests.  There was about a 60% failure rate for the first General Military Subjects test–you don’t want that to be you!

For physical preparation, much advice I got was wrong, or misleading before I got to OCS. The workouts and much of the training has evolved considerably since past CO’s.

If I had to do it again, I would mimic OCS workouts as much as possible in my own program. So, to that end I’ll detail the current workouts at Officer Candidate School. Enjoy!

PPPA: Push/Pull/Press/Abs

PPPA is often an addition to a run or another workout. This was the only workout that pushed me to my full physical limit. Know your weaknesses, right?

First, pushup/pull-up supersets. For example, 10 pulls, 25 pushes, 8 pulls, 20 pushes, 6 and 15.  The numbers increase each time you do it. By week 8 or 9, I believe it’s something like pull-ups: 16/14/12 and pushups 45/40/35. Ouch.

Marine Corps Push ups!

Ammo can press/crunch supersets come next. I think the ammo cans are 20 or 30 pounds each (full of sand.) This is a great preparation for the CFT and PFT. These are timed events, so you end up doing about 2 min/1.5/1 minute for ammo can presses, alternating with crunches of about the same time.

Fartleks

Fartleks are 3-5 mile runs, interspersed with workouts every half mile or so. Fartleks are very similar to the Run Course/Mec Weight (or something like that) where you just don’t run as far, and do more workouts. An awesome cardio workout.

Example exercises: Pushups, pull-ups, crunches, sit-ups, frog sit-ups (wide knees like you’re doing a groin stretch), diamond pushups, body squats, bend and thrusts, burpees, dips, mountain climbers, sprints

Runs

There is less running at OCS than there used to be.  You’ll have 3-5 mile squad and individual runs.  Other than running, great preparation would be to memorize cadences. Every group run will be with cadences, and you will definitely look like a stronger leader if you’re leading cadence-calling.

The runs start faster than a minimum PFT score, and are almost all over trails and hills. So your 23-24 minute 3 mile running pace won’t cut it.

The runs start out in running shoes, aka go-fasters, and eventually you’ll do a 5 mile run on hills with boots and utes. I highly recommend breaking in boots ahead of time!

U.S. Marine Corps candidates from Delta Company carry out the Physical Fitness Test (PFT) at the Officer Candiate School (OCS) aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., Nov. 30, 2009.

Functional Fitness

Functional fitness workouts are circuit workouts performed with a buddy. For maybe 2-4 minutes per station, you and your buddy take turns doing workouts. They could include the following:

• Ammo can carries (Sprinting, carrying two sand-filled ammo cans by your side)
• Buddy drags (alternating dragging buddy where you walk backwards and bear hug your buddy’s upper body; his heels drag.)
• Fireman’s carry
• 
• Even the Army can do the Fireman’s Carry
• Lunges
• Plank, with your elbows down and holding your body in a rigid pushup position. Starting center, then going to the right, then left, finally center again.
• Rope pull-ups, which are performed leaning backwards and pulling your body up repeatedly:
• 
• Ammo can press, which is pushing a can over your head like a military press. Of course it’s filled with sand!

CFT: Combat Fitness Test

First event: Half mile sprint in boots and utes

Second event: Ammo can pressing in 2 minutes

Third: Movement course: sprinting, ammo can carries, buddy drag, fireman’s carry, grenade throw, sprint, crawls

Watch the CFT’s third event here:

PFT: Physical Fitness Test

You all should know what a PFT is.

1. Pull-ups (max 20)
2. Crunches (max 100 in 2 minutes)
3. Three mile timed individual run, in go-fasters aka running shoes (max points for 18 minutes)

Nutrition

I’m not a nutrionist but I’ll pass along a little nutritional wisdom.

Get your protein now!  The muscular guys lost a lot of size at OCS. Get your protein on liberty!

It won’t hurt to show up with a little extra padding.  Since pretty much everyone shrunk a bit, you’ll have a little wiggle room.

Stretching & Injury Prevention

• Lower body conditioning is a must, to avoid shin splints and similar injuries.
• Ankle strength & flexibility should not be overlooked.  Balance exercises, stretching, and heavy lifting will help your ankle.  I’m not an athletic trainer so I can’t prescribe a well-educated program but do some research on your own.
• Be sure your workout emphasizes knee strength through heavy lifts, full range of motion, and free weights or body weights to work the stabilizers.  Preventing knee twists and sprains is a key goal here.
• Rest days are a must, don’t overtrain yourself!

Thanks so much to all of you for your support. I will continue to update the site for a while; after completing OCS I have much more helpful information to share.

Little wife pinning on the butterbars!

Uncle Jack, my first salute: WWII & Korea vet

Finally my OCS journey is successful!

OCS Graduation: Delta Co. 2nd Platoon

OCS Graduation: 15 gun salute

OCS Grads: Graduate Somma (L) & I

Good bye to Officer Candidate School!

Getting fitted for my uniform

It sent chills up my spine to pull on the trousers with the blood stripe.

Wow.

Three more weeks until my goal of years is accomplished!

Tradition holds that in the Battle of Chapultepec in September of 1847, Marine officers and NCOs sustained an unusually high casualty rate during the battle.^[2] In 1849, uniform regulations dictated that the stripes were changed to a solid red. Ten years later, a scarlet cord was inserted into the outer seams for noncommissioned officers and musicians, while a scarlet welt was added for officers. Finally, in 1904, the simple scarlet stripe seen today was adopted, with the varying widths prescribed for different ranks.