Congrats to RC and anyone else who graduated with him. Does anyone know if Trev82 made it through?
What happened Conway? You didn't graduate?
So, you guys from 196, can we get some updated gouge on everything at OCS these days? PT, Leadership, Academics, graded events? I'm really anxious to hear if you felt prepared by the gouge on the site or if things have changed.
No, I got the boot on week 9. But I hope I can still help those who are trying to go so they don't make the same mistakes I did.
PT - PT becomes more intense up through week 6. We didn't PT very often, but when we did, some of it down right sucked. I don't know how everyone else's staff ran them, but mine run us pretty fast on some of the fartleks. I'm going to say a 6:30-7 min pace between stations in the later weeks. The first 3 mile run you do on week 2 is a test. They push you to see what you will do: make it or break it. In the first 5 weeks, it's all conditioning. When the week 5 PFT comes around, that's when you will be in the best shape. After that, you are introduced to the endurance course and combat readiness test. This is where you start getting stronger, but it wears on your body and by the time week 7 and 8 roll around, your body is breaking down and your legs just pretty much hurt or ache all the time. Humps: They are mostly in the dark, the shorter humps are harder because of terrain and the longer ones, 9 and 12, are easier because they are mostly on the roads and your body is much stronger by now. The best preparation you can do here is by doing fartleks before you go. Hill runs are plus as well. Get your body used to 30+ minutes of intense exercise and you should be good to go. The rest will come with time. I wouldn't suggest worrying about preparing for humps because they work your body into everything. You wouldn't want to break down your legs humping on your own before you get there. Instead, do leg workouts in the gym. It will save your feet. That's another thing: be sure to take care of your feet and legs. When you go to sleep at night, put your legs up for at least 20 mins. Ice if you need to, get some motrin from the corpsman to relieve any swelling. You will find you that you will experience aches and pains with your legs that you've never felt before. Be attentive to your body's well being.
Academics - are not difficult. Just learn to manage your time affectively and do it quickly. If you can get ahold of the history and learn it before hand, that will do you wonders. It's not that it's hard, because well, it's history, it's just so much material to read in a short amount of time that if you know it before you get there, it'll just be review for you. That goes for any of the academics. Also, if you can get a good grasp on the 5 Paragraph Order before going, that will save you lots of time as and you can help other people with it. Fireteam movements would be another good thing to familiarize yourself with as well.
Leadership - LRC1 I felt was the most difficult because it was our first graded leadership event. Once that was over, you are able to get a better handle on what to expect. I wouldn't worry about these too much. They give you plenty of opportunity to develop your skills here. As far as billets go, make sure you pay attention to what those who go before you do wrong. You will be very successful if you learn from others mistakes. If you are one of the first to have a billet, they will be more lax because they understand you aren't sure what to do, just roll with the punches and do the best job you can and keep your bearing. If you have a billet later in the cycle, they will expect you to know what you are doing, so make sure you are attentive earlier on.
Intangibles - I found these are as important, if not more important than the preceding subjects. If you remember nothing else, heed this: You are the lifeline for the person to your left and right. No matter how tired you get. No matter how much your body hurts. Remember that these guys/gals around you are going to be your family for the next 10 weeks and if you graduate, the rest of your career/life. Treat each other like you have been best friends since kindergarten because whether you believe it or not, what goes around, comes around. Everyone is doing the same things you are. Everyone else is freezing cold too. Everyone else is just as exhausted. Everyone else is sick of playing stupid games. Everyone else wants those gold bars as bad as you do. Don't get caught up in the monotony of "wondering when this is going to be over" because when you're crawling through the night individual movement course, you're not the only one thinking "how much this sucks!" There's one thing that the SI's can't do, and that's stop the clock.
I hope this helps. Good luck future Officers of Marines.
