-
Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?
Go here:
Edit Account Details and Profile
Marine Corps OCS
- Thread starter John West
- Start date
- Status
Overall I would say it was about what I expected. Challenging, but not extremely hard. However, SULE II was probably the hardest thing I've ever done.
Next on the agenda is The Basic School. Six months of basic infantry training starting Sept 24. From some of the video I've seen it looks pretty motivating. The only thing I'm not going to enjoy is being in Quantico in the winter. Being a southern boy I'm sort of partial to warm weather. But then again the Marines at the Chosin would have loved to have some nice 32 degrees weather.
Anyway from there it is on to P-Cola hopefully as soon as possible, so maybe as soon April.
By the way, I got a great tour of your machine just before I left for OCS. It was pretty impressive.
Next on the agenda is The Basic School. Six months of basic infantry training starting Sept 24. From some of the video I've seen it looks pretty motivating. The only thing I'm not going to enjoy is being in Quantico in the winter. Being a southern boy I'm sort of partial to warm weather. But then again the Marines at the Chosin would have loved to have some nice 32 degrees weather.
Anyway from there it is on to P-Cola hopefully as soon as possible, so maybe as soon April.
By the way, I got a great tour of your machine just before I left for OCS. It was pretty impressive.
The "mighty" P3 Orion? I haven't flown since I checked out of VP30 over a month ago, and slowly but surely all the lights, limits, procedures and power sources (especially the power sources) are dribbling out of my head. I broke open NATOPs and my Job Aid for an hour yesterday, trying to stay up on the knowledge, so I don't check in to my new sqdrn in two weeks looking like a complete idiot (probably will anyways... lol), FNGs get no respect.
Marines definitely have a longer road to travel, what with TBS and then the inevitable wait at MATSG Pcola. Hopefully you won't have that long of a pool wait for API. Enjoy the time off till the 24th of Sept., that is a long time, hopefully you will get to enjoy it. Best of luck in training!
Marines definitely have a longer road to travel, what with TBS and then the inevitable wait at MATSG Pcola. Hopefully you won't have that long of a pool wait for API. Enjoy the time off till the 24th of Sept., that is a long time, hopefully you will get to enjoy it. Best of luck in training!
Congrats Jared! I ship on 7 October to OCS. I'm from New England so I'm actually looking forward to a milder winter! Of course, I have countless questions. First has to do with PT. My PFT is 260, and I'm not too concerned about passing, I'm just curious about the training. Most of my runs now are 4-5 miles, concentrating on speed. At OCS do you run long distances or do they stress speed more. A combination of the two, I'd imagine. Just looking for a basic idea....Congrats again! Semper-Fi.
Teddy,
First off congrats on your acceptance. As far as the PT, where are you losing points on your PFT? If it is on the pull ups or crunches keep working on it but don't sweat it. If it is the run, you will need to bring your time down. I went in maxing the UBD portion but my run time was 21 minutes. I would say that that is the maximum time you would want going in. Anything over that and you will probably be hurting. If you can run 19 - 20 you will have no problems and will probably be maxing the run by your final PFT. The training itself will start off light, 3 mile runs and the fartlek course which is also 3 miles and it will be an easy pace. It will accelerate quickly though. By the time you get to the fifth week you will be running mainly in boots and utes and will start on longer distances. Probably the best advice I can give you is get a backpack, put some books in it, put some boots on and go hike through as many hilly trails as you can. And when I say hike I mean walk as fast as you can without running and don't let up. Start with about five miles and move to at least ten before you go. Take a 10 minute break about every 45 minutes. That will help you alot. If you can do all that your biggest problem will be staying awake in class. Remember stand up if you have to, but have the discipline to stay awake.
Good luck and Semper Fi!
First off congrats on your acceptance. As far as the PT, where are you losing points on your PFT? If it is on the pull ups or crunches keep working on it but don't sweat it. If it is the run, you will need to bring your time down. I went in maxing the UBD portion but my run time was 21 minutes. I would say that that is the maximum time you would want going in. Anything over that and you will probably be hurting. If you can run 19 - 20 you will have no problems and will probably be maxing the run by your final PFT. The training itself will start off light, 3 mile runs and the fartlek course which is also 3 miles and it will be an easy pace. It will accelerate quickly though. By the time you get to the fifth week you will be running mainly in boots and utes and will start on longer distances. Probably the best advice I can give you is get a backpack, put some books in it, put some boots on and go hike through as many hilly trails as you can. And when I say hike I mean walk as fast as you can without running and don't let up. Start with about five miles and move to at least ten before you go. Take a 10 minute break about every 45 minutes. That will help you alot. If you can do all that your biggest problem will be staying awake in class. Remember stand up if you have to, but have the discipline to stay awake.
Good luck and Semper Fi!
Jared,
Thanks for the quick response. I max out crunches and do 16-17 PU's. My run is 21:30, so it sounds like I need to bring that down a bit. I've been hiking a bit to break in my boots, but not with a pack. I'm also a little older, 27, so I want to make sure I'm in good enough shape to make it through.
I had another quick question about weekend liberties. I saw on the website that you get short liberties after week 3. My expectation is that I'll want to spend those hours sleeping, healing, or studying. How long are these and are they really "liberties?" My wife is going to be moving down with me early 2002 for TBS, and I was considering using this time to find an apartment. Is that a realistic expectation? Thanks again.
Thanks for the quick response. I max out crunches and do 16-17 PU's. My run is 21:30, so it sounds like I need to bring that down a bit. I've been hiking a bit to break in my boots, but not with a pack. I'm also a little older, 27, so I want to make sure I'm in good enough shape to make it through.
I had another quick question about weekend liberties. I saw on the website that you get short liberties after week 3. My expectation is that I'll want to spend those hours sleeping, healing, or studying. How long are these and are they really "liberties?" My wife is going to be moving down with me early 2002 for TBS, and I was considering using this time to find an apartment. Is that a realistic expectation? Thanks again.
So, this is where all the dogs are...
teddy-Hey 2nd lt.Douglass is doggone right, and thats some motivating trash. He's not playing when he says march as fast as you can without running. a pft of 260 is a damn respectable place to start. but remeber that they will get you damn dog tired and worn out, then PT you hard and start throwing mental problems at you. Stamina is EVERYTHING in the Marine Corps- take it from an elinsted 0311.When you all first get there, your gonna not be able to cover and aline worth a damn. If your in the back of the formation, you are either standing still or sprinting, and you get madder than hell. "You cannot be disolpined in great things, and not disoplined in small ones" I can't remember who said that but its the damn truth. Lean forward and swing that left arm. Youll be amazed how far you can go on bearly any food or sleep. Although I hear at OCS the feed you good.
Hey-2ndlt.Douglass, What is SULE II?
Samper Fi
PFC "O-Man"
0311 USMC
teddy-Hey 2nd lt.Douglass is doggone right, and thats some motivating trash. He's not playing when he says march as fast as you can without running. a pft of 260 is a damn respectable place to start. but remeber that they will get you damn dog tired and worn out, then PT you hard and start throwing mental problems at you. Stamina is EVERYTHING in the Marine Corps- take it from an elinsted 0311.When you all first get there, your gonna not be able to cover and aline worth a damn. If your in the back of the formation, you are either standing still or sprinting, and you get madder than hell. "You cannot be disolpined in great things, and not disoplined in small ones" I can't remember who said that but its the damn truth. Lean forward and swing that left arm. Youll be amazed how far you can go on bearly any food or sleep. Although I hear at OCS the feed you good.
Hey-2ndlt.Douglass, What is SULE II?
Samper Fi
PFC "O-Man"
0311 USMC
Teddy,
To answer your question about "Liberty", you may just want to relax and heal and sleep. If my memory serves, 23 hours was the total time we were cut loose. Personally, I'd have my wife pick me up and stay at a Bed and Breakfast for the night. Trust me, the last thing you'll be thinking about on your first libo will be apartment shopping.
Semper Fi! Frumby
Attack Pilot
Major USMC
To answer your question about "Liberty", you may just want to relax and heal and sleep. If my memory serves, 23 hours was the total time we were cut loose. Personally, I'd have my wife pick me up and stay at a Bed and Breakfast for the night. Trust me, the last thing you'll be thinking about on your first libo will be apartment shopping.
Semper Fi! Frumby
Attack Pilot
Major USMC
First off, I would just like to extend a well deserved congratulations to Lt. Douglass. As Major Frumby previously posted, it is good to see a few leathernecks on the board following the Marine Corps path to their wings.
Lt. Douglass, I won't be heading off to TBS until next summer so please keep us posted on your progress and impressions while there. It will definetly be appreciated. As for the other questions, I'll humbly submit a few of my thoughts for those about to attend OCS.
DC, as far as a typical day at OCS goes, well, there really isn't a typical one but I will try to generalize as much as possible. There will always be PT six days a week of some form or another. After the first couple of weeks you will spend at least a night or two in the field every week. When in the field your PT usually consists of the hump out there interspersed with "admin moves." These are basically small sprint humps to different areas. In between your PT during a day you will be receiving classes, exercising your leadership billets, doing practical applications, and many other various motivational activities like Pugil Sticks and night land nav.
Some random comments: You will always be tired, sore, and hungry. The level of these will depend on your conditioning, but OCS PT is designed to be taxing no matter what shape you are in. Just remember that this is part of the process of seeing your command presence under duress. Give your body what it needs, not what it wants. You will learn the difference.
There will always be more details to accomplish than it seems time to get them done. You must prioritize! If you hold a cammand billet, take care of those particular duties first. Make sure you keep a solid and reliable flow of communication amongst your candidate staff. If you have a good staff it will of course be easier. If you don't, then make sure you look at the situation as an extra challenge and opportunity to show your skills. Don't be a finger pointer! With acedemics, learn as much as you can before you go. Just like the extra PT, it will pay off in spades when you are there. Prioritize your studying as well. When you are up out of the rack at night doing those duties the Sergeant Instructors want "magically" done by reville', study for the next days test before doing uniform knick knacks. Or better yet, get some other candidates and quiz each other while you do your uniform maintenance. Better to weather an ass chewing for unsightly boots than to fail a graded event.
Other specifics: NEVER EVER COMPROMISE YOUR INTEGRITY! Over anything! The reasons for this are countless. "Nothing dictates a mans actions during war more than his character." I can't remember who said that but there are many great books available that are invaluable when it comes to understanding the Marine Corps business of leadership. It is what separates us from the other services and militaries of the entire world. Practical application is the best means of devolping your skills, but a foundation of knowledge will hasten the transformation. Check the Commandants reading list for good titles. Some of my favorites on their were: Battle Leadership, The Marine Corps Officer's guide, God's Children, and Black Hawk Down. Some are reference and some are fiction, but they all have tidbits of leadership, especially at the small unit level.
I hope this has helped. If you have any other specific questions feel free to ask.
P.S. SULE stands for Small Unit Leadership Evaluation. At the last level you will be given a combat order in the field of which you must scribble down five paragraphs of information in about sixty seconds (you will learn to abbreviate). You will take this information and plan a squad assault based on the information given. You lead the patrol out through the various nav points while changing the formation as new intel becomes available. Once you see the objective, put the squad in a skirmish line and assault. Open up unmercifully at least 10-15 yards past the objective, then consolidate and debrief. It takes practice, but for a Ground Pounder like you O-Man, I'm sure you would eat it up!
Semper Fidelis
Lt. Douglass, I won't be heading off to TBS until next summer so please keep us posted on your progress and impressions while there. It will definetly be appreciated. As for the other questions, I'll humbly submit a few of my thoughts for those about to attend OCS.
DC, as far as a typical day at OCS goes, well, there really isn't a typical one but I will try to generalize as much as possible. There will always be PT six days a week of some form or another. After the first couple of weeks you will spend at least a night or two in the field every week. When in the field your PT usually consists of the hump out there interspersed with "admin moves." These are basically small sprint humps to different areas. In between your PT during a day you will be receiving classes, exercising your leadership billets, doing practical applications, and many other various motivational activities like Pugil Sticks and night land nav.
Some random comments: You will always be tired, sore, and hungry. The level of these will depend on your conditioning, but OCS PT is designed to be taxing no matter what shape you are in. Just remember that this is part of the process of seeing your command presence under duress. Give your body what it needs, not what it wants. You will learn the difference.
There will always be more details to accomplish than it seems time to get them done. You must prioritize! If you hold a cammand billet, take care of those particular duties first. Make sure you keep a solid and reliable flow of communication amongst your candidate staff. If you have a good staff it will of course be easier. If you don't, then make sure you look at the situation as an extra challenge and opportunity to show your skills. Don't be a finger pointer! With acedemics, learn as much as you can before you go. Just like the extra PT, it will pay off in spades when you are there. Prioritize your studying as well. When you are up out of the rack at night doing those duties the Sergeant Instructors want "magically" done by reville', study for the next days test before doing uniform knick knacks. Or better yet, get some other candidates and quiz each other while you do your uniform maintenance. Better to weather an ass chewing for unsightly boots than to fail a graded event.
Other specifics: NEVER EVER COMPROMISE YOUR INTEGRITY! Over anything! The reasons for this are countless. "Nothing dictates a mans actions during war more than his character." I can't remember who said that but there are many great books available that are invaluable when it comes to understanding the Marine Corps business of leadership. It is what separates us from the other services and militaries of the entire world. Practical application is the best means of devolping your skills, but a foundation of knowledge will hasten the transformation. Check the Commandants reading list for good titles. Some of my favorites on their were: Battle Leadership, The Marine Corps Officer's guide, God's Children, and Black Hawk Down. Some are reference and some are fiction, but they all have tidbits of leadership, especially at the small unit level.
I hope this has helped. If you have any other specific questions feel free to ask.
P.S. SULE stands for Small Unit Leadership Evaluation. At the last level you will be given a combat order in the field of which you must scribble down five paragraphs of information in about sixty seconds (you will learn to abbreviate). You will take this information and plan a squad assault based on the information given. You lead the patrol out through the various nav points while changing the formation as new intel becomes available. Once you see the objective, put the squad in a skirmish line and assault. Open up unmercifully at least 10-15 yards past the objective, then consolidate and debrief. It takes practice, but for a Ground Pounder like you O-Man, I'm sure you would eat it up!
Semper Fidelis
- Status