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Inspection Hints, Tips, & Stories
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Raptor2216
Registered User
Yep, inspections simply sucked, but if you have what it takes to get through OCS in general, you shouldn't be so worried about inspection. I went the PLC route and I remember failing the sgt. instructors inspection during juniors but I think I passed during snr's. I remember that during snr's plt. sgt's inspection, the inspecting instructor made a big deal about dirty covers and sure enough, everyone who had even the slightest hint of dirt around the sweat band failed. He didn't even care whatelse you had done, perfect or not, he failed and moved on. So, I would higly suggest keeping an inspection cover.
There is also all of the other basic thing you should prepare for. A clean weapon is a must and they will look in spots where you may not think to clean. Just clean any nook and cranny that you can, no matter how insignificant it may appear. Put a strip of name tape on the butt stock after cleaning your weapon(don't forget to take it off before inspection begins). Keep some cotton swabs and CLP in your trouser pocket in case you have some time before and after chow. We even had the inspecting officer remove the handguards to check for dirt and people did get hit for that, including myself. I don't know what it is like for OCC but we had our plt cmndr's inspection on the same day at the endurance course(nice dirty course, esp after the rain). So just keep all these things in mind because it all maters.
I believe 3 hits or less is considered passing, except a rusty weapon or whatever else the staff might feel is important. So, I hope this helps and goodluck.
There is also all of the other basic thing you should prepare for. A clean weapon is a must and they will look in spots where you may not think to clean. Just clean any nook and cranny that you can, no matter how insignificant it may appear. Put a strip of name tape on the butt stock after cleaning your weapon(don't forget to take it off before inspection begins). Keep some cotton swabs and CLP in your trouser pocket in case you have some time before and after chow. We even had the inspecting officer remove the handguards to check for dirt and people did get hit for that, including myself. I don't know what it is like for OCC but we had our plt cmndr's inspection on the same day at the endurance course(nice dirty course, esp after the rain). So just keep all these things in mind because it all maters.
I believe 3 hits or less is considered passing, except a rusty weapon or whatever else the staff might feel is important. So, I hope this helps and goodluck.
samadma said:
Respectfully, Sir, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one. There was a candidate in my platoon back in the summer of '03 who went out on libo and bought gear specifically for the inspections. During inspection, the platoon sergeant noticed how clean and new it looked and failed him on the spot without taking one more look at him. Maybe that was just my platoon, but he informed us that using any gear other than the gear we were issued would be grounds for immediate failure. For all you candidates out there, I think that is just something to keep in mind. We've all made it through inspections with the gear we were issued. We may have stayed up a good portion of the night before to clean it, but we were able to do it and pass. Obviously, you can't get that gear looking brand new -- hey, the Quigley stains are forever -- but if you work hard at it you can get it looking good.
I'm not too sure about all that, but I can tell you that at PLC-Jr.'s I kept an inspection cover, pants, blouse, boots, and belt. I did not use any of these things except for towards the end I used the belt (can't remember why). I would strongly suggest putting aside an inspection outfit and do not use any of it unless absolutely imperative. It worked for me.
UORBulldog
New Member
Tip: make sure to have good breath
here's a story
last year at jrs. during the platoon sergeant inspection after the candidate made his introduction and did inspection arms the inspecting platoon sergeant stares at him and then says "boy you're breath smells like there's a little man in your mouth dancing on your tongue with sh!t on his shoes!" -- he failed
the inspection was right after noon chow so then a couple of candidates later same inspecting platoon sergeant goes, "what did you have for chow, sh!t?" -- he failed, so make sure you brush your teeth, tongue and roof of your mouth if you have problems with that
here's a story
last year at jrs. during the platoon sergeant inspection after the candidate made his introduction and did inspection arms the inspecting platoon sergeant stares at him and then says "boy you're breath smells like there's a little man in your mouth dancing on your tongue with sh!t on his shoes!" -- he failed
the inspection was right after noon chow so then a couple of candidates later same inspecting platoon sergeant goes, "what did you have for chow, sh!t?" -- he failed, so make sure you brush your teeth, tongue and roof of your mouth if you have problems with that
Hey UORBulldog, that story sounds like you had none other than GySgt Downs as your inspecting instructor. That quote was pretty classic and somehow made its way back to Kilo 3's squadbay. He had some pretty good ones, I'll give him that. That was platoon sergeants inspection, I believe, where half our platoon failed because the instructor got so pissed off that any hit, of any kind, warranted a failure. Just to reiterate the point made by several folks earlier, theres a chance you're going to fail an inspection or two, no matter what you do. Just remember to prepare yourself as best you can and the rest will take care of itself.
I HATED Inspections. not preparing for them, although that sucked too, but just standing at Parade Rest/POA for hours on end. I remember last summer 1st inc. during the Company Commander's inspection Kilo Company was out there for somewhere around 4 hours. IT SUCKED, it was a yellow flag day too. I ran into some friends from India Company, and they had their Comp. Cmd. Inspection inside the squad bay!!. During that same inspection, the Inspecting Officer went up to Candidate X and said to him, "say 'Danger Will Robinson Danger'", and then Candidate Y and the inspecting Officer got into an argument about thier school's basketball program, apparently Candidate Y and the Inspecting officer go/went to Rival Schools.
wildflyin69
Grad of OCS 187 Charlie Co. 3rd Plt.
yeah..the mouth hygiene was important...I remember hearing "Halitosis!!" being screamed from the back of the squad bay and the poor candididate being forced to DRINK a swig of mouth wash. Also inspection arms, do that thing confidantly, don't make it look like the rifle owns you...also don't hit the inspection officer with the rifle..bad bad juju.
A couple of more tips from someone who has completed PLC Juniors and Seniors....
First off, practice inspection arms ALL THE TIME ON YOUR OWN from the moment it gets taught to you. Ask the priors in your platoon to watch you and coach you. The two most important things in an inspection are, in order, 1) your rifle and 2) your bearing. Hygiene/uniform/knowledge are DISTANT runners-up. If you have extra time before an inspection and can't decide whether to spend it on your rifle or your uniform, spend it on the rifle. The Colonel might turn a blind eye to an I.P. here or there, and he won't be taking off your cover to check for sweat stains. He will, however, go absolutely RIPSH!T if he sees even a speck of rust on that M16A2 weapon system.
As far as bearing goes, everything that you say should be said in a tone of absolute certitude. If you get one of those impossible knowledge questions--and I guarantee that you will get at least one at OCS, at some point-- don't hem and haw, respond immediately, "Sir, this candidate does not know but will find out." Another bearing hint, don't fall into the inspection arms trap. That's when the inspector will ask you a question either while you're at port arms waiting for him to grab the weapon out of your hands, or while he's about to hand the weapon back to you. In an inspection you ONLY TALK AT ORDER ARMS. During my Company CO's inspection this summer he asked one candidate, "Why do you want to be a Marine Officer?" as he was performing inspection arms. Poor guy stood there at port arms for about 30 seconds before the Major grabbed the rifle out of his hands. He did the right thing, which is NEVER TALK AT PORT ARMS even if you have an impatient looking Company CO staring at you awaiting an answer.
Also, for all you returning PLC Seniors, here's a little trick. You are expected to return to OCS with all of your issue utilities and boots. However, they will be making PX calls for missing gear, which, if you lost any from the previous summer, you will have to purchase at your own expense. USE THIS OPPORTUNITY to buy an extra inspection cover, and also a blouse and trousers if you want to drop the extra change. I highly recommend having an inspection cover simply because your everyday cover will be nasty no matter how many times you wash it. It's pretty convenient to have a pristine cover, perfectly marked and shaped, sitting in your wall locker that you can grab right before you head out to the parade deck.
Finally, like other candidates have said, don't sweat it too much. Seriously. In the grand scheme of things at OCS, inspections are pretty insignificant.
First off, practice inspection arms ALL THE TIME ON YOUR OWN from the moment it gets taught to you. Ask the priors in your platoon to watch you and coach you. The two most important things in an inspection are, in order, 1) your rifle and 2) your bearing. Hygiene/uniform/knowledge are DISTANT runners-up. If you have extra time before an inspection and can't decide whether to spend it on your rifle or your uniform, spend it on the rifle. The Colonel might turn a blind eye to an I.P. here or there, and he won't be taking off your cover to check for sweat stains. He will, however, go absolutely RIPSH!T if he sees even a speck of rust on that M16A2 weapon system.
As far as bearing goes, everything that you say should be said in a tone of absolute certitude. If you get one of those impossible knowledge questions--and I guarantee that you will get at least one at OCS, at some point-- don't hem and haw, respond immediately, "Sir, this candidate does not know but will find out." Another bearing hint, don't fall into the inspection arms trap. That's when the inspector will ask you a question either while you're at port arms waiting for him to grab the weapon out of your hands, or while he's about to hand the weapon back to you. In an inspection you ONLY TALK AT ORDER ARMS. During my Company CO's inspection this summer he asked one candidate, "Why do you want to be a Marine Officer?" as he was performing inspection arms. Poor guy stood there at port arms for about 30 seconds before the Major grabbed the rifle out of his hands. He did the right thing, which is NEVER TALK AT PORT ARMS even if you have an impatient looking Company CO staring at you awaiting an answer.
Also, for all you returning PLC Seniors, here's a little trick. You are expected to return to OCS with all of your issue utilities and boots. However, they will be making PX calls for missing gear, which, if you lost any from the previous summer, you will have to purchase at your own expense. USE THIS OPPORTUNITY to buy an extra inspection cover, and also a blouse and trousers if you want to drop the extra change. I highly recommend having an inspection cover simply because your everyday cover will be nasty no matter how many times you wash it. It's pretty convenient to have a pristine cover, perfectly marked and shaped, sitting in your wall locker that you can grab right before you head out to the parade deck.
Finally, like other candidates have said, don't sweat it too much. Seriously. In the grand scheme of things at OCS, inspections are pretty insignificant.
INspections are really not that important overall. They aren't going to drop you if you have a little dirt on your weapon. I know people who failed so many inspections and still graduated just fine.
By all means try to avoid failing, but the most important part is answering confidently. If you don't know, but you sound off like own the place, they will accept your "This candidate has been instructed but does not know" just fine.
If you act like a puss, standby.
I also agree that slightly off color comments work well.
"Why do you want to be a Marine, candidate?"
"Because I want to kill without going to jail."
They might harass you a little about your answer, but that means less time fot the inspection.
By all means try to avoid failing, but the most important part is answering confidently. If you don't know, but you sound off like own the place, they will accept your "This candidate has been instructed but does not know" just fine.
If you act like a puss, standby.
I also agree that slightly off color comments work well.
"Why do you want to be a Marine, candidate?"
"Because I want to kill without going to jail."
They might harass you a little about your answer, but that means less time fot the inspection.
I remember during the platoon sergeant's inspection, we had one guy in the platoon who got reamed for not knowing his rifle serial number. The inspecting instructor was shocked that he didn't know it, and ended up taking away the guy's M16A2 as "he had no idea whether it was his or not". A few minutes later, a guy several racks down just drops down and starts pushing, as if he had dropped his rifle. The odd thing was that nobody heard a dropped rifle.....
Turns out that the guy didn't know his rifle serial number either and was reading and memorizing it as he did push-ups. Just one of the many strange things would happen during inspections over first increment.
Turns out that the guy didn't know his rifle serial number either and was reading and memorizing it as he did push-ups. Just one of the many strange things would happen during inspections over first increment.
funny story for everyone. Final inspection at OCS Bulldog II '03 Col. Rochel (sp?). There was still some candidates on the edge of being kicked out or not so they were cand. staff. One choice female was Cand Co Cmdr and somehow (only God realy knows how) she got her rifle backwards saluting the CO to begin our inspection. The CO looks, once twice thrice and looks around to see if anyone else sees this. Returns the salute and goes on with the inspection. I've never seen a Sr. officer that confused. Damn it was funny though.
Everyone hit most of the good stuff. Helps to invest in mouthwash and smell good juice for the platoon/squad before inspections. Also right that if you give them a reason to fail you you will be drummed out.
Semper Fi
Everyone hit most of the good stuff. Helps to invest in mouthwash and smell good juice for the platoon/squad before inspections. Also right that if you give them a reason to fail you you will be drummed out.
Semper Fi
UA-I-WANNA-GO
Registered User
inspection sucks
The only piece of advice as far as clean rifles go is this: dirt, and carbon love oil.
They will stick to it, and if your weapon is lubed for firing use during your inspection YOU WILL FAIL. The best thing to do is just make sure no rust is on your rifle. give it a big clp coating, wire brush everything, then before inspection get all that CLP off. Keep it as dry as possible, but not so dry that you can't pull the charging handle back. If your inspection arms looks like **** you already have a strike against you, nd they WILL inspect you more.
P.S. don't smile even if they say some of the funny junk they often do. And for the love of god, don't make faces at the guy standing across the highway from you and make him smile during his inspection, it will hur you more than him...trust me.
The only piece of advice as far as clean rifles go is this: dirt, and carbon love oil.
They will stick to it, and if your weapon is lubed for firing use during your inspection YOU WILL FAIL. The best thing to do is just make sure no rust is on your rifle. give it a big clp coating, wire brush everything, then before inspection get all that CLP off. Keep it as dry as possible, but not so dry that you can't pull the charging handle back. If your inspection arms looks like **** you already have a strike against you, nd they WILL inspect you more.
P.S. don't smile even if they say some of the funny junk they often do. And for the love of god, don't make faces at the guy standing across the highway from you and make him smile during his inspection, it will hur you more than him...trust me.
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