Marine OCS Preparation

[Bernie Kosar]

I am really just looking for feedback from Marine OCS graduates, but have some more specific questions that, if you feel inclined, I would like to have answered.

I’ve gone through this forum and utilized other resources, but I would like to start another Marine OCS thread. Specifically, what is a typical day at OCS like. I know that this might be broken down into different stages (the first 3 weeks will be different than the second three weeks?). In addition, what is the best thing that I can do to physically train myself? My training has revolved around scoring high on the Marine PFT. However, what can I do outside of this to prepare myself for what I will encounter (longer runs… such as 5 and 10 miles? Will being able to do a lot of pull ups prepare me for the obstacle courses that I will encounter? What events will I encounter and how would you recommend training for them?) Finally, I know that I will be tested over information while I am at OCS. What are some good resources to utilize so that I can learn pertinent information before I show up at OCS?

I appreciate any feedback. I will do more research on these topics, but I would also like to benefit from the experience of those that have gone through Marine OCS.

 

[FLYMARINES]

Your basic day will go like this:

Wake-up, PT, chow, class, chow, class, some other form of training (drill, MCMAP, weapon safety, etc.), chow, class, lights out.

Longer runs will help your endurance, 8 miles max should about do it, and don't overtrain and break yourself.

Are you doing six weeks or ten?

 

[Bernie Kosar]

I'll be doing 10 (if I'm accepted).

 

[FLYMARINES]

You will have a whole list of different graded events that you will do:

Leadership Reaction Course, O-Course, SULE I, SULE II, Endurance Course, Combat Readiness Course, Confidence Course, Tarzan Course, Land Nav, Night Land Nav, several academic tests, and I believe the ten-weekers do three PFT's. I am probably missing something, but that is all I can remember. Your OSO should send you an OCS prep book that explains all of these events in detail, at least mine did.

 

[cWood30]

Allright Bernie, here we go. I can only speak from the 6 week Jr's perspective. The typical day is as stated before. Don't worry too much about the day to day schedule, it will turn into a routine, and either way OCS sucks so there's not much we can tell you that will calm your pre-OCS feelings. I was pretty curious as to what it was like day to day, but you can only really know once you get there. The first 3 weeks were definitely alot of classes and some scantron tests. There's alot of PT in there and some practice/intro events. These events are things like the O-Course, Fire team in the Offensive, 4 and 6 mile humps, etc. There's always drill and weapons maintenance, throughout your time at OCS.

The next 2 weeks for us was mostly the "evaluation" part of OCS where we had a lot of graded events as afore mentioned, longer humps, SULE I, Combat course Stamina course(I'm not sure if 10 weeker's start w/ Stamina, then go Endurance, or just do Endurance) and so on. Basically the last 2 weeks are alot of gettin dirty, working in the field, being really tired, and so on. Obviously the setup is going to be different for you 10-weekers, but that's how it was for us Jr's.

As far as your mental prep goes. Know the 11 General Orders, Leadership Traits, OSMEAC, Hymn, Chain of Command (at OCS, and up top w/ the Commandant, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, the assistants to those positions, Secretaries of various dept's like the Navy, and DOD) If you want, you can learn some info on Marine Corp History, the M16A2 Service Rifle, but the test questions are pretty specific to the text they give to you, so there's not too much stock in studying up on your own w/o the text.

Physically preparing. Focus on strength and endurance. Speed is great for the PFT run, and helps on the squad/individual runs, but as long as your in the 6:30-7:30 pace for a run over 3 miles, you'll do find on those events. Endurance is used day in day out. That means build up your legs, put some weight on your body(30-40 lbs) and get out there and hike/jog. Push yourself a bit, but DO NOT overtrain if you're shipping out soon. Just know what your limits are and test those borders and keep improving. Strength will come in handy on the O-course because your arms will be somewhat tired when you get to the rope, but if you know how to pace your muscles and do the obstacles correctly, it won't be a big problem if you're only pulling 16-18 on the PFT. But again I'll stress endurance. Cardiovascular, leg muscles, upper body, ABS!, just all over endurance will be the biggest advantage to OCS. It will help on almost every event from the constant marching/drilling to SULE II. Especially SULE II, but chances are at that point, they'll have broken your body down and developed it into what they want that all your prep will help but not be a HUGE advantage like it will be in the first couple weeks. What I'm trying to say is that towards the end of OCS, things start leveling out and candidates will drift closer to equality in almost every aspect. You'll see what I mean when you get there, but essentially everybody develops into their standards of an OCS graduate.

Now, that should be plenty for you to chew on, but feel free to ask more questions if any of this doesn't make sense or you just want some more information. Again, I've only completed Jr's, so I'm not the end-all by any means and some of what I've said is disputable so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Zilch]

I've not gone through any OCS, but I have run the O-Course. I will say that if you don't know how to climb a rope yet, find one and learn. It'll help loads.

/1.5 cents

 

[FLYMARINES]

If you can't climb the rope well, they will put you on remedial ropes until you can. There were only a couple guys in my company that couldn't climb the rope after remedial ropes, only one in my platoon. If you can't climb the rope you will get sent home but if you can max the pullups, you can climb the rope no problem.

 

[Carno]

If you can't climb the rope you will get sent home but if you can max the pullups, you can climb the rope no problem.

Well, not always true. One guy in my platoon could do like 25 pullups but couldn't climb the rope to save his life. One time he got about three feet from the top using only his hands, got tired, and slid all the way back down the rope. He had bandages on his hands for a long time.

He had to attend every remedial rope session there was and still could just barely do it by the time we graduated.

 

[FLYMARINES]

Well, not always true. One guy in my platoon could do like 25 pullups but couldn't climb the rope to save his life. One time he got about three feet from the top using only his hands, got tired, and slid all the way back down the rope. He had bandages on his hands for a long time.

He had to attend every remedial rope session there was and still could just barely do it by the time we graduated.

Wow, that is strange. I figured if you had the muscle to max out the pullups you should be fine on the rope. All the guys in my platoon who had trouble with the rope were all guys who could only do in the 10-12 range when it came to pullups.

 

[jamnww]

Well, not always true. One guy in my platoon could do like 25 pullups but couldn't climb the rope to save his life. One time he got about three feet from the top using only his hands, got tired, and slid all the way back down the rope. He had bandages on his hands for a long time.

He had to attend every remedial rope session there was and still could just barely do it by the time we graduated.

If you can't climb the rope by the end of OCS they will send you home...you can't get through OCS without completing all of the events and the O Course is something that shouldn't be the biggest challenge. If it is then TBS will be miserable for you, especially the double O.

 

[mmx1]

Wow, that is strange. I figured if you had the muscle to max out the pullups you should be fine on the rope. All the guys in my platoon who had trouble with the rope were all guys who could only do in the 10-12 range when it came to pullups.

They probably got complacent and thought they didn't need to learn a good lock. And when learning the ropes, they probably got away with it as their arms were fresh. After running the O-course, however, is a whole nother story.

You probably don't even need to be able to do a single pullup to climb the rope so long as you have a good lock.

 

[corpsocgmu]

Wow, that is strange. I figured if you had the muscle to max out the pullups you should be fine on the rope. All the guys in my platoon who had trouble with the rope were all guys who could only do in the 10-12 range when it came to pullups.

Whoa, whoa. You're focusing on the wrong thing here: climbing the rope has nothing to do with muscle and everything to do with technique. You can be the biggest pull-up stud on earth, but chances are if you try to muscle up the rope at the end of the o-coourse, you aren't going to make it. A man with twig arms, on the other hand, can make it up the rope if he uses the proper technique that he has been taught. In fact, almost every obstacle on that course is better attacked with proper technique than brute force.

When you get to OCS, you will be surprised sometimes with who has no problem climbing the rope and who struggles with it mightily.

 

[jamnww]

Whoa, whoa. You're focusing on the wrong thing here: climbing the rope has nothing to do with muscle and everything to do with technique. You can be the biggest pull-up stud on earth, but chances are if you try to muscle up the rope at the end of the o-coourse, you aren't going to make it. A man with twig arms, on the other hand, can make it up the rope if he uses the proper technique that he has been taught. In fact, almost every obstacle on that course is better attacked with proper technique than brute force.

When you get to OCS, you will be surprised sometimes with who has no problem climbing the rope and who struggles with it mightily.

Concur, and also think about the double O at TBS, running the O course back to back. You won't do well if you rely solely on brute strength.

 

[cWood30]

Just curious, to get slightly off topic here. When do you do the double-O at TBS? More generally, just wondering how PT and such is at TBS. I was under the impression that almost all of your PT is done on an individual level, aside from things like humps,MCMAP and such.

 

[jamnww]

Just curious, to get slightly off topic here. When do you do the double-O at TBS? More generally, just wondering how PT and such is at TBS. I was under the impression that almost all of your PT is done on an individual level, aside from things like humps,MCMAP and such.

PT is really up to your Platoon Cmdr, it can either be individual or a platoon function. All of the graded events and what not will be group obviously and will determine if you end up on remedial.