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Can I make it through OCS?

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ENGR3000

New Member
First of all, allow me to provide some self-introduction. I'm an aspiring naval aviator who went to Quantico this summer for the USMC PLC Air program. I attended PLC Junior's and failed academics and leadership, ultimately being disenrolled a few days before I would've finished. Throughout the training I discovered a few things about the Marine Corps that led me to believe it was the wrong branch for me, and after talking to a few of the priors in my platoon, began to stick with me and I started losing motivation to become a Marine officer. I didn't feel any regret when I was disenrolled because I thought I had been in the wrong place. On the other hand, I love the experience that Marine OCS provided for me. I'm a lot more resilient and more confident in myself; getting destroyed all day for the littlest things really toughens you up. I've always had a desire to serve in the military, and when I started looking at branches to fly in (flying was my biggest motivation) I felt the Marines would be the best choice for me given their ideals, morals and values - I was wrong. I'm an engineering student who loves flying, and a bit more the nerdy type, and I'm not quite sure if I'm articulating this the right way but the whole "kill kill kill" mentality just didn't sit well with me. I also am not really the infantry type, and the thought of going to TBS for 6 months even though I would just be a pilot gave me significant doubts. That being said, I have immense respect for those that choose this route as it is not for the faint of heart.

I've looked to other branches, either with the plan of going to Navy OCS or Air Force OTS with a pilot contract and I just wonder - could I make it through? People always say that the only motivator that will get you through OCS is the desire to be an officer in that branch first, but I know of various people who only did it because they wanted to fly, and that's the boat I'm in. I'd love to fly with the military, whether it was fighter jets, transports or helicopters. I don't really want to do anything else. I was one of two runts in my platoon at OCS (I honestly don't think I studied enough military knowledge and procedures). I failed my first billet as candidate company first sergeant, but did well my first day on my second billet, candidate platoon sergeant. The second day was disastrous, as I completely messed up an enlisted to officer formation. I had failed LRC 1, but passed SULE 1. I failed my first two inspections, but got an 87 on the third platoon sergeant's inspection. What I noticed is even though I was doing terribly at first, I got better over time by working with the priors and asking questions, but I just didn't want to be a Marine. This is probably why I failed my commander's evaluation time and time again.

It's important to note that this was only PLC Junior's, not even a combined or senior session. My question is, can someone make it through Navy OCS or Air Force OTS with the only motivator being serving your country as a pilot? My Marine recruiter said to me that Navy OCS is nothing like Marine OCS, and I'm wondering if this is true. How does Air Force OTS compare, if anyone here has been through it?
 

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
Hopefully some serious answers will come along mostly because I am a product of AOCS and that was a different animal....but....I’m with @HAL Pilot on this one. Are you serious?
 

ENGR3000

New Member
Perhaps a better way to word this post would've been: "How different are Navy and Marine OCS from Air Force OTS?".
 

ENGR3000

New Member
Moderators, please remove this thread. Nobody has provided any useful insight. I realize it sounds trivial, and maybe I should have worded it a bit differently.
 

ENGR3000

New Member
Seriously, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that Air Force training is inherently different from Navy training vs. Marines. Each branch has slightly different missions, and therefore slightly different mentalities when it comes to training.
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Seriously, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that Air Force training is inherently different from Navy training vs. Marines. Each branch has slightly different missions, and therefore slightly different mentalities when it comes to training.
Forest for the trees here. Initial training lasts for just a few weeks. If you're not a complete retard, you'll be able to make it through any service's training. Picking what service you want to commit 10+ years of your life to based on the superficial differences between their accessions training is a really odd way to look at it.
 

Dontcallmegump

Well-Known Member
pilot
First of all, allow me to provide some self-introduction. I'm an aspiring naval aviator who went to Quantico this summer for the USMC PLC Air program. I attended PLC Junior's and failed academics and leadership, ultimately being disenrolled a few days before I would've finished. Throughout the training I discovered a few things about the Marine Corps that led me to believe it was the wrong branch for me, and after talking to a few of the priors in my platoon, began to stick with me and I started losing motivation to become a Marine officer. I didn't feel any regret when I was disenrolled because I thought I had been in the wrong place. On the other hand, I love the experience that Marine OCS provided for me. I'm a lot more resilient and more confident in myself; getting destroyed all day for the littlest things really toughens you up. I've always had a desire to serve in the military, and when I started looking at branches to fly in (flying was my biggest motivation) I felt the Marines would be the best choice for me given their ideals, morals and values - I was wrong. I'm an engineering student who loves flying, and a bit more the nerdy type, and I'm not quite sure if I'm articulating this the right way but the whole "kill kill kill" mentality just didn't sit well with me. I also am not really the infantry type, and the thought of going to TBS for 6 months even though I would just be a pilot gave me significant doubts. That being said, I have immense respect for those that choose this route as it is not for the faint of heart.

I've looked to other branches, either with the plan of going to Navy OCS or Air Force OTS with a pilot contract and I just wonder - could I make it through? People always say that the only motivator that will get you through OCS is the desire to be an officer in that branch first, but I know of various people who only did it because they wanted to fly, and that's the boat I'm in. I'd love to fly with the military, whether it was fighter jets, transports or helicopters. I don't really want to do anything else. I was one of two runts in my platoon at OCS (I honestly don't think I studied enough military knowledge and procedures). I failed my first billet as candidate company first sergeant, but did well my first day on my second billet, candidate platoon sergeant. The second day was disastrous, as I completely messed up an enlisted to officer formation. I had failed LRC 1, but passed SULE 1. I failed my first two inspections, but got an 87 on the third platoon sergeant's inspection. What I noticed is even though I was doing terribly at first, I got better over time by working with the priors and asking questions, but I just didn't want to be a Marine. This is probably why I failed my commander's evaluation time and time again.

It's important to note that this was only PLC Junior's, not even a combined or senior session. My question is, can someone make it through Navy OCS or Air Force OTS with the only motivator being serving your country as a pilot? My Marine recruiter said to me that Navy OCS is nothing like Marine OCS, and I'm wondering if this is true. How does Air Force OTS compare, if anyone here has been through it?

Two facts for you to ponder. Navy OCS has Marine DIs as very active participants in your training. I actually asked one of them what the difference was from his perspective as he had just came from Quantico he just chuckled at me and said "less hiking". Yes it's a Navy program but the Marines are there to bring all their marines-ness to bear on you by design.

The second fact is the only way you'll ever know if the navy is for you, and if you can survive OCS is to make the effort.

To me it seems like you had a really challenging experience and possibly the first real failure of your adult life. You can now choose to pick yourself up and try again with courage or sit on AW looking for someone to tell you that's it's all going to be ok and Navy OCS or OTS are not going to push you in the same way or to the same level.

OCS isn't the mountian of a lifetime to summit and say "it's all smooth from here" it's the speed bump in the parking lot that you take your driving test in. That being said, some speed bumps look like mountains until you're past them
 

Mos

Well-Known Member
None
People always say that the only motivator that will get you through OCS is the desire to be an officer in that branch first, but I know of various people who only did it because they wanted to fly, and that's the boat I'm in.
Not sure who says that, but becoming an officer in the branch is one motivation among several and your motivations might change. I started OCS motivated to make a bigger difference than I was making at the time, could care less whether it was in the Navy or with the Peace Corps; by the time I was a week into it, my motivation was largely one of not wanting to tell my family that I wasn't up to it, which was enough for me to get over some of the tougher minutes (which seemed like hours at the time). Everyone's different.
 
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