NE Huskers
New Member
My DCOIC Experience (class 13020 Nov 25-Dec 7)
I arrived on Saturday afternoon and checked into King Hall. The rooms are small and you share it with one other person. Basically, two twin beds, a desk and a wall locker. The rooms get hot at night, which is good because everyone sleeps on top of their made beds anyway – or they should! There is a communal head (which we do not have to clean).
Be prepared to make your bed with hospital corners, have your shoe laces laced outboard over inboard. They restrict caffeine/soda for the first week. It sucks – I need my caffeine. Some advice – they do not look in your wall locker, as long as it is locked. I brought a week’s worth of 5 hour energy shots to kick start my day.
Sunday afternoon (1500) was the official welcome aboard brief by the class officer and class Chief. The Chief yells somewhat, but nothing like Great Lakes. We did a BCA (height/weight). One guy was sent home. By 1800 we were essentially done and went to the galley for dinner. Lights out at 2130.
Unlike previous posts about DCO; the Chief told us when he was going to wake us up and he didn’t come earlier. The first day, we had a 0430 wake up. Many expected 0400 and set their alarms for 0350 and ended up waiting around. The first day was a lot of administrative items, student regulations, uniform inventory and issue, medical clearance, 3rd class swim test, etc… Throughout the day the Chief yelled, but not as much as expected. No PT at all that day. At this point, it feels like this course is going to take forever. Lights out at 2200.
Day 2. Urinalysis, more classes, drill/marching (yikes – this is rough for a lot of folks, especially non-priors) – definitely gets the Chief fired up. Again, no PT. Each night, class meeting, sing Anchors Aweigh, Marine Corp Hymn and cite The Sailors Creed. Lights out 2200.
Day 3. PT was moved from 0530 to 1000 (across DCO moving forward). Day full of classes, PT was indoors due to weather and was pretty light. Days are moving faster. Lights out 2200.
Day 4. Day full of classes, marching here and there. PT was decent today. We were a pilot for the Navy’s new PT program, NOFFS. Uses tension bands, a lot of stretching, and high intensity cardio. At first, I was a skeptic as I PT pretty aggressively, but once we got the hang of it and were able to incorporate more exercises, it was pretty effective. Much better than your typical military PT program (i.e. pushups, situps, jumping jacks, running). Something new every day with this program.
Day 5 (Friday). More classes, PT session, then Khaki Inspection in the afternoon. Study your gouge packet!!! Know your code of conduct, sailors creed, anchors aweigh, general orders, all military ranks, etc… The standard to pass is incredibility low, which really irritated me, being a prior Navy enlisted member. Don’t be the guy who doesn’t know the basics; i.e. the Sailors Creed. Be proud to wear the uniform and to serve the Navy. For you non-priors, you may not think it is a big deal to know this stuff, but to many of the prior service members who had to go through greater obstacles to earn the uniform, it was insulting when people did not know the basic knowledge of the service you are in. Granted, there are service members out there now that do not know this stuff, but they should! Anyway, please take pride in your uniform, the Khakis are so easy to maintain. Study, study, study!!
After the inspection, we were granted off-base liberty until 2200. We had to wear our Khakis. Most of us went to the White Horse Tavern (oldest tavern in America). Great food. Then we walked around Newport. We could not have alcohol.
Day 6-7: Saturday morning was the khaki re-inspection for those that did not pass (1). Chow, then to the Navy War College museum. Very interesting. At 1030, we were released on ‘full’ liberty until Sunday at 1800. We were permitted to wear civilian clothes and consume alcohol, which most of us did! Some people went up to Boston, others hung around Newport. We all came back, without incident!
Day 8: Monday. The weekend reverted many people back to civilian, so when it came to marching or lining up properly, we looked terrible. Chief got real loud most of the morning. Some advice, when you all return Sunday from liberty, RE-FOCUS your class, go over the military movements and how to form up properly.
Day 9: Tuesday. Comprehensive exam today – computer based, multiple choice. Real easy; although we did have a few folks that did not pass. More classes afterwards. In the evening, reps from your ‘job’ communities were supposed to come talk to us, but only medical corps and supply showed up.
Day 10 & 11. More classes, Service Dress Blues inspection, PT…
Day 12: PRT (not graded). Graduate, out-process, go home! We were done by 1130. Do not schedule a late flight out or you will be stuck in the airport all day.
Overall perception of DCOIC:
I was somewhat disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were too high - I had expected PT everyday and higher standards across the board.
As a prior Navy enlisted member with 10 years active duty, I thought the DCO course was only good for reinforcing/reminding me of the regulations that I should be enforcing/following. Most of the things they make you do is not the true reality of the fleet. No one cares how your shoe laces are tied or that you say ‘OK’ or “yea”. Also, dictating how you are to eat your chow is ridiculous or how to set your canteen on the table – ridiculous games they want to play. Yes, attention to detail is important and I get the uniformity aspect, but comparing how one might place their canteen on the table to how one would handle a life or death situation are two totally different scenarios.
I thought they were too relaxed with the non-prior service folks; they needed more time, more classes and more militarization to know more about the service they are in and how they should operate. For those of you who went through Great Lakes, it will be a breeze and a bit of déjà vu. They do things a little differently at DCO than they do at Great Lakes, but overall it’s the same BS.
Our rooms were inspected once the entire time we were there. Come prepared-- if you can, have your uniforms inspection ready before you arrive. Anything you can do to save yourself a headache while you are there is highly recommended.
I arrived on Saturday afternoon and checked into King Hall. The rooms are small and you share it with one other person. Basically, two twin beds, a desk and a wall locker. The rooms get hot at night, which is good because everyone sleeps on top of their made beds anyway – or they should! There is a communal head (which we do not have to clean).
Be prepared to make your bed with hospital corners, have your shoe laces laced outboard over inboard. They restrict caffeine/soda for the first week. It sucks – I need my caffeine. Some advice – they do not look in your wall locker, as long as it is locked. I brought a week’s worth of 5 hour energy shots to kick start my day.
Sunday afternoon (1500) was the official welcome aboard brief by the class officer and class Chief. The Chief yells somewhat, but nothing like Great Lakes. We did a BCA (height/weight). One guy was sent home. By 1800 we were essentially done and went to the galley for dinner. Lights out at 2130.
Unlike previous posts about DCO; the Chief told us when he was going to wake us up and he didn’t come earlier. The first day, we had a 0430 wake up. Many expected 0400 and set their alarms for 0350 and ended up waiting around. The first day was a lot of administrative items, student regulations, uniform inventory and issue, medical clearance, 3rd class swim test, etc… Throughout the day the Chief yelled, but not as much as expected. No PT at all that day. At this point, it feels like this course is going to take forever. Lights out at 2200.
Day 2. Urinalysis, more classes, drill/marching (yikes – this is rough for a lot of folks, especially non-priors) – definitely gets the Chief fired up. Again, no PT. Each night, class meeting, sing Anchors Aweigh, Marine Corp Hymn and cite The Sailors Creed. Lights out 2200.
Day 3. PT was moved from 0530 to 1000 (across DCO moving forward). Day full of classes, PT was indoors due to weather and was pretty light. Days are moving faster. Lights out 2200.
Day 4. Day full of classes, marching here and there. PT was decent today. We were a pilot for the Navy’s new PT program, NOFFS. Uses tension bands, a lot of stretching, and high intensity cardio. At first, I was a skeptic as I PT pretty aggressively, but once we got the hang of it and were able to incorporate more exercises, it was pretty effective. Much better than your typical military PT program (i.e. pushups, situps, jumping jacks, running). Something new every day with this program.
Day 5 (Friday). More classes, PT session, then Khaki Inspection in the afternoon. Study your gouge packet!!! Know your code of conduct, sailors creed, anchors aweigh, general orders, all military ranks, etc… The standard to pass is incredibility low, which really irritated me, being a prior Navy enlisted member. Don’t be the guy who doesn’t know the basics; i.e. the Sailors Creed. Be proud to wear the uniform and to serve the Navy. For you non-priors, you may not think it is a big deal to know this stuff, but to many of the prior service members who had to go through greater obstacles to earn the uniform, it was insulting when people did not know the basic knowledge of the service you are in. Granted, there are service members out there now that do not know this stuff, but they should! Anyway, please take pride in your uniform, the Khakis are so easy to maintain. Study, study, study!!
After the inspection, we were granted off-base liberty until 2200. We had to wear our Khakis. Most of us went to the White Horse Tavern (oldest tavern in America). Great food. Then we walked around Newport. We could not have alcohol.
Day 6-7: Saturday morning was the khaki re-inspection for those that did not pass (1). Chow, then to the Navy War College museum. Very interesting. At 1030, we were released on ‘full’ liberty until Sunday at 1800. We were permitted to wear civilian clothes and consume alcohol, which most of us did! Some people went up to Boston, others hung around Newport. We all came back, without incident!
Day 8: Monday. The weekend reverted many people back to civilian, so when it came to marching or lining up properly, we looked terrible. Chief got real loud most of the morning. Some advice, when you all return Sunday from liberty, RE-FOCUS your class, go over the military movements and how to form up properly.
Day 9: Tuesday. Comprehensive exam today – computer based, multiple choice. Real easy; although we did have a few folks that did not pass. More classes afterwards. In the evening, reps from your ‘job’ communities were supposed to come talk to us, but only medical corps and supply showed up.
Day 10 & 11. More classes, Service Dress Blues inspection, PT…
Day 12: PRT (not graded). Graduate, out-process, go home! We were done by 1130. Do not schedule a late flight out or you will be stuck in the airport all day.
Overall perception of DCOIC:
I was somewhat disappointed. Perhaps my expectations were too high - I had expected PT everyday and higher standards across the board.
As a prior Navy enlisted member with 10 years active duty, I thought the DCO course was only good for reinforcing/reminding me of the regulations that I should be enforcing/following. Most of the things they make you do is not the true reality of the fleet. No one cares how your shoe laces are tied or that you say ‘OK’ or “yea”. Also, dictating how you are to eat your chow is ridiculous or how to set your canteen on the table – ridiculous games they want to play. Yes, attention to detail is important and I get the uniformity aspect, but comparing how one might place their canteen on the table to how one would handle a life or death situation are two totally different scenarios.
I thought they were too relaxed with the non-prior service folks; they needed more time, more classes and more militarization to know more about the service they are in and how they should operate. For those of you who went through Great Lakes, it will be a breeze and a bit of déjà vu. They do things a little differently at DCO than they do at Great Lakes, but overall it’s the same BS.
Our rooms were inspected once the entire time we were there. Come prepared-- if you can, have your uniforms inspection ready before you arrive. Anything you can do to save yourself a headache while you are there is highly recommended.
