Occ 188 Who's Going!

[makoslim]

We had our pool meeting this weekend, and I heard from people who have finished PLC Juniors, and even from my pool leader who is done with all 12 weeks of PLC that the Corps IS having a drop in numbers of officers. This is due to Reservists shipping out rather than staying here and becoming officers. maybe that will help some of us, but then again hopefully it wont help others (I don't want to be in the platoon witht he guy that dosn't sound off, falls way behind on runs, and drops his rifle constantly).

 

[makoslim]

No... this has nothing to do with your OSO putting in extra effort. The government makes all these arrangements for you. What you saw and misinterpreted was a candidate who had gotten back and opted to not take his free plane tickets, like I did. If you decide to not use the plane tickets on the way back, the government will reimburse you for travel costs. You will fill out a travel claim and get a nominal sum for your troubles, probably about $50. Don't jump to conclusions like that, you are spreading bad gouge and making candidates nervous about having to pay for plane tickets now.

Excellent, thanks for clearing that up. Good thing I won't have to worry about any of that, Im driving... Whos gona be my best friends on Libo?

 

[makoslim]

I spoke with my OSO (Dallas, TX), and he sais the board meeting was Nov 13th. Looks like we should know first thing Monday morning, worst case Tuesday. Anyone else hear anything along these lines?

My OSO said the deadline for chaser PFT scores was today (Wed, 11-10) so I assume it is coming up soon, but I don't think it will be on the 13th. For one, My understanding from 187 is the board only meets durring the week, and second, the 12th is Veterans day so they will probably be with thier families all weekend. Again, I don't know about this, but thats my $.02

 

[kevin]

according to my oso, the board is set for 16-18, hopefully to know by 19th. if not then, early the next week.

 

[horned frog]

Damn, I was hoping to know by Monday the 15th.

Makoslim, are you sure your OSO said you could update PFT's through today?? Mine said Oct 25th was the last chance for me to update mine. I would like to have tried for a 290, but my OSO said a 287 would be good enough. I just hate leaving anything to chance, you know.

 

[Greaper007]

Is it just me or does it seem like there aren't as many people going for a slot in this class. For one I'm one of three trying from my office, and the only one going for aviation. Also it seems like there isn't a lot of response on this thread. Maybe everyone is just lurking, but I'm hoping not.

 

[Crowbar]

Not everybody who applies for a commissioning program is a member of this site or Marineocs.com. So don't let your opinion/hopes get skewed based on what you read or don't read here.

 

[horned frog]

Greaper, there is some truth to what you are saying. There are 4 candidates from my office, 3 ground 1 air. From what I hear, January is the smallest class of the year. My OSO read me an e-mail from the CO at OCS that basically said anyone with a 285+ PFT is a shoe in. Scores between 250 and 285 will depend heavily on the run time, and scores below 250 are not likely to get accepted. My point here is that chances of selection are largely a matter of timing, and the time of year and the needs of the Corps look like they will be in our favor come next week.

 

[Greaper007]

Thanks for the gouge horned, and I agree with you Crowbar. I was just making an observation that it seems like there were more people involved in the 187 thread. Granted, it's not a statistically accurate observation, but I'm too worried about getting in to make a statistically accurate observation. Good luck to everyone and I hope I see all you guys in January.

 

[horned frog]

Greaper, I noticed you posted your 243 PFT earlier in the thread. I did not mean to discourage you by mentioning that e-mail. If you're run time is around 21 minutes, you really should be good to go since your score is right on the cusp. Nobody from my office except me is under 22 minutes, and they (the board) really look at your run time as a predictor of performance. Good luck!

 

[makoslim]

Damn, I was hoping to know by Monday the 15th.

Makoslim, are you sure your OSO said you could update PFT's through today?? Mine said Oct 25th was the last chance for me to update mine. I would like to have tried for a 290, but my OSO said a 287 would be good enough. I just hate leaving anything to chance, you know.

That is the same thing they told me when I submited for October (that the package deadline was the last day to submit a PFT). However after hearing from others on marineocs.com that they were able to submit later, I asked my OSA if I could do that this time. He said that it is a called a chaser PFT (you have to already have one, but you can follow up with a better one later). My OSO decided Wednesday was the last day they could accept a new PFT because they would have to get the scores, and send it to San Diego before the board meets (not confirmed, but pretty sure it's Monday) As for your PFT 287 is a really good score. Sure 290 is better, but I don't think you would need more than a 287 from what I've seen of other applicants.

 

[Greaper007]

Thanks horned, I hope you're right. I did my pullups with the Capt. for my last PFT and realized that my form was probably negatively affecting my score. So I hope to pull out a few more on sat. That should put me right on the edge for the scores. Here's a question for the group. I find that I have my best PFT's when I let my body rest for 2 to 3 days (4 if I really went hard the previous week.) I've tried carbo loading for the day before. I never really did any competitive sports during school so I'm thinking that I might be missing out on some nutritional/training knowledge. Are there any competitive runners on the board that might want to give me some tips for my next PFT? I'm not trying to thread jack so I appologize if this is interpreted that way.

 

[kevin]

dear threadjacker (kidding),
the rest thing helps to rest your muscles before the main event. resting too long isnt good either though. if you do heavy bicep curls the day before your pft, you'll notice your pu go down, obviously. there's a lot nutritional info on this site, but i'll give you my 2 cents, which is to take a couple days off and drink plenty of water and eat healthy. of course pasta or something helps the night before ('cause it tastes so damn good!)- i wouldnt get bent out of shape over that stuff..you're not running a marathon. if you get absolutely yeasted (read drunk) right before the pft, that helps too since you're body can't feel the burn. try jack or captain.

 

[horned frog]

Try doing weighted pullups to increase performance on the PFT. Once a week, I use a dip belt to add a 25 pound plate and do pyramids. I start at 1 and go to near failure and then back down to 1. My last workout was 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. Give yourself plenty of rest between sets. You also might want to start with a 10 pound plate.

For running, speedwork has helped me alot. Read Alberto Salazar's book if you can get it. It suggests doing speedwork twice per week on non-consecutive days. I do 1/2 mile intervals on Tues and 1/4 mile intervals on Fri. My goal is to get my run time to 18, so that's the pace I run the intervals. Hope this helps.

 

[Greaper007]

Thanks a lot guys, PFT went well yesterday. I increased another 15 points so hopefully everyone on this board will get accepted.