On the road to the Marines

[PeterAndrewM]

Dear all,

A short background first: my name is Peter Majeed, a college senior who's very much interested in joining the Marines through OCS in June 2005. I am 5' 9", 170 lbs., have lost over 70 pounds in two years, and while I'm still not where I'd like to be physically, I'm training now to achieve the Marine PFT standard (20 pullups, 100 crunches, 18:00 3 miler). Based on the prayers and encouragements of my family and friends and reading and hearing success stories of similar achievements in the Marine Corps, I've little doubt that with discipline, I'll be able to reach the exacting physcial standards of the Corps.

However, I'm well aware that the standards of the Marines go well beyond physical training; the l'esprit de corps, traditions, values, toughness, and ethic of the Marine Corps are, from all I've encountered so far, all things that I can identify with. I look forward to the challenges, disciplines, and service that the Marine Corps has to offer.

More than that, though, the reason I'm posting here is that I'm focusing on preparing for a possible MOS assignment to aviation, but I have little first-hand experience with the process of first entering OCS, going through TBS, then (hopefully) getting assigned to flight school, and have a few questions that I hope you guys can answer:

1) How quickly should I begin the application process to OCS? I've contacted my local recruiter a few times, but have never arranged an interview or taken any of the pre-entry tests so far. Should I speak to him as soon as possible, or wait for next year to begin any correspondence?

2) My vision is less than 20/20 (closer to 20/50 than anything else). Will I have to get PRK surgery before I can think seriously about an aviation MOS? If so, how soon before I enter OCS should the surgery be performed? In addition, are there any ways that new officer candidates can go through the Naval laser surgery study program?

3) I've heard that, once in flight school, the only guaranteed way to get your assignment of choice is to graduate first in your class. What exactly would that entail, and how can potential officer candidates prepare for the school? I've seen things like "minimum of 4/6/6" and "officer scores of 45+" and things like that, but I don't have much idea of what they mean and how I can go about trying to score as high as I can. If there are any websites that explain any of this, I'd be interested in reading up on them.

That's all I can think of for now. I've done a bit of searching already in this forum already, and I'm very much encouraged by the part of the community so far. Thanks in advance for any support.

Peter Majeed

 

[mrtorso11]

Depends on a couple things I can think of off the top of my head. Mostly I can answer a couple of the questions you already asked.
-Marine officers are first and foremost officers of Marines. I can elaborate more but lets just say that your committment is to the Corps and the Marines that make up its backbone.
-Start the process as soon as you can. Best way to contact someone who can help is to look for your area's OSO. If you're still in college then they have a couple options as far as helping with school and different routes to take but most likely it wil require at least 10 weeks of OCS in Quantico, VA if you do either PLC or straight OCS after graduation.
- On the PRK, your perscription has to be within certain parameters before they will even operate. Don't quote me on it but i think its +/- 1.5 D to 5.75 D (Diopters the perscription on your contacts/glasses). You also need around 4-6 months to fully heal before you can get flight approved but it only takes a week at most after the surgery to be back up and running.
- Tests: The ASVAB (don't know what it stands for) that you took in highschool is one of the test scores they look at. Also flight specific they look at the ASTB (Aviation Standard Test Battery...that's where the 4/6/6 come in) look in some of the forums on here about the ASTB for more info.
- PFT: Minimum standards are a 225/300 or 1st class. To be competative you'd like to sit in the 250-280 range for selection. Basically you get 1 pt per crunch (max 100), 5 pts per pullup, and 1 pt per 10 secs
- Flight school: Yes its true that #1 gets their choice. However, the Marine Corps will assign you whereever they need you. For example (just a rumor as far as I know) but if you do to well in Primary you might be forced towards Jets because they have too few Marine pilots who want to fly fast movers. Just a rumor but typifies the type of thing that they might do. Most of all you have quite a bit to get through before that is an issue.
Either way good luck and Semper Fidelis.

 

[Crowbar]

I won't touch the last two questions because I've never had PRK and I'm not in flight training yet. So, on the subject of (1)....

Once you decide the Marine Corps is for you, talk to an OSO (Officer Selection Officer) immediately. An enlisted recruiter might be willing to help you out some, depending on the individual you talk to, but their primary job is to recruit for the enlisted ranks. Make sure you tell him/her up front that you want to become an officer.
Getting into any of the armed forces, especially as an officer, is a long process. You will have to apply for a certain OCS class, and may or may not get selected on your first try (or second, or third...). So once you realize this is what you want to do, it is best to get started right away. Also, understand that there are minimums you must meet to apply, which anybody can tell you the minimums for a given program. However, just meeting the mins won't necessarily get you in. It varies from board to board. Some boards might see a pile of highly qualified applicants which makes it harder to get accepted, others might see a pile of applicants who barely meet the minimum requirements. Either way you look at it, they either 1) only have so many slots to fill, or 2) have to fill so many slots.

So, in summary, get started early. It takes a while. Also, a side note, the PFT you described would you get a perfect score. First class (225/300) is the minimum, though it's best to be closer to 300 than 225. Good luck.

 

[samadma]

To answer you questions:

1) How quickly should I begin the application process to OCS?

Begin as soon as you can. The paper work drill is the biggest part of it besides the physical, etc....

2) My vision is less than 20/20 (closer to 20/50 than anything else). Will I have to get PRK surgery before I can think seriously about an aviation MOS?

Don't get any surgery before talking to an OSO!!! You don't need 20/20 to be a pilot or NFO. Also, after you have surgery you have to wait to have a certain amount of eye examinations before you will be considered medically qualified to be in the military regardless of flighting. Talk to the OSO first!!!

3) I've heard that, once in flight school, the only guaranteed way to get your assignment of choice is to graduate first in your class.

The higher you are in class the better your chances of flying what you want. The ASTB is a test you have to take in order to go aviation. Again talk to the OSO he/she can explain it all in better detail or go to http://www.marineofficer.com

 

[ThermalMoonbeam]

You don't need 20/20 to be a pilot or NFO.

Thats news to me.

:icon_boun Follow this with your eyes.... Hmmm... Okay you can fly?

 

[PeterAndrewM]

Thanks for all the help, guys. I spoke to my OSO, a helicopter pilot, for the first time this Tuesday, and he tells me the limit for SNOs is 20/40 vision. Otherwise, I think I'm on the right path for now - continuing to keep up the PTing, arranging more meetings with my OSO, and taking care of the last semester of school. I'm now aiming for next October's OCC class, with a possibility of aiming for the June class, so God willing, I might see some of you then! Until then,

Semper fidelis,
Peter

 

[samadma]

Yes you don't need 20/20 vision to be a pilot/NFO. They need to be correctable with glass/contacts to 20/20 to be a pilot. Anything less to be an NFO other than color blindness. DON"T GET LASIC SURGERY!!! ONLY GET PRK if you plan on getting any corrective eye surgery. LASIC is a disqualifier for aviation.

 

[mrtorso11]

LASEK is also a viable option. Notice that's LASEK not LASIK. LASIK they cut on the eye. LASEK they use an alcohol solution to lossen the outer cells on the surface of your eye. Then they push 'em aside and cut away with a laser. Not painful at all.

 

[FlyHalf]

...5 pts per pullup, and 1 pt per 10 secs

Just to clarify...5 pts per pullup (maxes out at 100 pts) and 18:00 mins and less is 100 pts. Anything over 18:00 min.s is 100 minus 1 pt for every 10 seconds over 18:00

On anoter note....My OSO wouldn't give my application to the board untill I had a minimum 10 pullups, 80 crunches, and 24:00 min. run. He said the board would not accept any application with scores lower then that, any scores worse then that would get you NPQ'ed at OCS anyway. Any one ealse heared of that? True or not, it motivated me and the PFT on my application was 17 pullups, 100 crunches, & 20:08 run. Which was good enough to get me into PLC-Combined this summer.