bcats4life
Registered User
I read somewhere on the OCS web page that for PLC 2 increment sessions that there is a graduation ceremony at the end of both sessions, not just the 2nd. Just wondering if this was true? Thanks
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PLC Graduation
- Thread starter bcats4life
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That answer confused me a little. PLC is divided into two summer camps of 6 weeks (PLC jr, PLC sr). All have their own graduation ceremony, where family, friends, etc. would come. Its was kind of like graduating HS, and then coming back for college with another graduation.
Less than half of the people came back for SR, so they changed it up a little, and made PLC jr into summer camp, not in my sense of sarcasm, but where they would literally go on helicopter rides and take trips to the white house, extra liberty, etc…the payback was that it pissed the Sgt Instructors off, and they were (or are) supposed to turn up the volume for SRs. They used the same theory as a back loaded mutual fund in hopes of increasing the retention; you pay the same sales charge over time, just at different times. At least, this is what the Sgt Instructors were bitching about a few years back. Just curious if this is true or not, Farkle, Taxman, feel free to chime in…
Less than half of the people came back for SR, so they changed it up a little, and made PLC jr into summer camp, not in my sense of sarcasm, but where they would literally go on helicopter rides and take trips to the white house, extra liberty, etc…the payback was that it pissed the Sgt Instructors off, and they were (or are) supposed to turn up the volume for SRs. They used the same theory as a back loaded mutual fund in hopes of increasing the retention; you pay the same sales charge over time, just at different times. At least, this is what the Sgt Instructors were bitching about a few years back. Just curious if this is true or not, Farkle, Taxman, feel free to chime in…
Taxman2A
War were declared.
I agree bigworm. I can't speak on the Junior/ Senior difference personally because I went through the PLC combined course. In my opinion though, I think that the way of doing things where Juniors is sort of an introduction period, and seniors is where the cream gets separated from the chaf is great for the civilian candidates. However, I have personally witnessed it screw up a prior enlisted candidate (los saw it happen too).
A Marine I knew went to Parris Island one summer, and came back motivated as hell for OCS. He trained hard, and went to PLC Juniors convinced of two things
1) OCS is a complete joke
2) Officers are poorly trained
He didn't train very much after PLC juniors, and the next summer when he returned for seniors he was fat, nasty, and on a plane home before his company even secured for liberty. Did this Marine get what he deserved? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean that he didn't have what it took to be an Officer, he just fell off course because Juniors was so deceptively "easy".
I don't think there is a flaw in the system, and I don't think what happened to this Marine is a tragedy. I am simply posting this information to all priors who may be in danger of falling into the above Marine's trap. After Parris Island- no, PLC Juniors probably will not be very challenging, but you had better be ready to perform at Seniors.
A Marine I knew went to Parris Island one summer, and came back motivated as hell for OCS. He trained hard, and went to PLC Juniors convinced of two things
1) OCS is a complete joke
2) Officers are poorly trained
He didn't train very much after PLC juniors, and the next summer when he returned for seniors he was fat, nasty, and on a plane home before his company even secured for liberty. Did this Marine get what he deserved? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean that he didn't have what it took to be an Officer, he just fell off course because Juniors was so deceptively "easy".
I don't think there is a flaw in the system, and I don't think what happened to this Marine is a tragedy. I am simply posting this information to all priors who may be in danger of falling into the above Marine's trap. After Parris Island- no, PLC Juniors probably will not be very challenging, but you had better be ready to perform at Seniors.
jcrens8392
Registered User
There will be a graduation ceremony in juniors, however, it will be the seniors graduating and the juniors watching. They will hand out awards to those who earned them to the juniors however. A candidate will not actually participate in graduation until seniors.
By the way...whatup Karlo and Lalak.
John O. Crenshaw
By the way...whatup Karlo and Lalak.
John O. Crenshaw
jcrens8392
Registered User
To say something about what taxman said about OCS Jr.'s vs. boot camp. I've talked to many enlisted Marines about bootcamp and I've heard that bootcamp isn't near as physically taxing as Jr.'s. You have got to be in shape before you go to OCS, I cannot stress that enough. Even at Jr.'s.
John O. Crenshaw
John O. Crenshaw
klostman
the happy dance!
Yeah, we were supposed to have a graduation this year for Jr's, but I swear it rained 4 weeks out of the six weeks we were there. Sure enough, rained on graduation. Something like 10 hours of rehersal down the drain, lol. Frogfly, you remember that? Anyways, most awards do go to the Sr's and ROTC guys, but they do give a few out for Jr's.
I thought I would comment briefly on the Jr's course and its degree of difficulty. Yes, you do take a helo ride, go to the washington d.c., etc... Things are a little more relaxed, especially the last two weeks. However, For the most part we get yelled and screamed at just as much as the Sr's do. No, were not challenged as much as Sr's are mentally and physically, but I would say overall, Jr's is a challenging course. Then again, this is coming from a non-prior military experienced person. We had a handful of priors in my platoon and they did make the comment that boot camp seemed tougher than PLC jr's. But PT was much harder at OCS than boot camp. All of the Sr's I spoke with said Jr's and Sr's are similar except for PT is a harder, and the instructors are less forgiving. Frogfly or anyone else, would you say thats accurate? Jr's isn't that bad, just don't take it too lightly. Treat it seriously like you would Sr's. Just my .02 cents. Semper Fi!
I thought I would comment briefly on the Jr's course and its degree of difficulty. Yes, you do take a helo ride, go to the washington d.c., etc... Things are a little more relaxed, especially the last two weeks. However, For the most part we get yelled and screamed at just as much as the Sr's do. No, were not challenged as much as Sr's are mentally and physically, but I would say overall, Jr's is a challenging course. Then again, this is coming from a non-prior military experienced person. We had a handful of priors in my platoon and they did make the comment that boot camp seemed tougher than PLC jr's. But PT was much harder at OCS than boot camp. All of the Sr's I spoke with said Jr's and Sr's are similar except for PT is a harder, and the instructors are less forgiving. Frogfly or anyone else, would you say thats accurate? Jr's isn't that bad, just don't take it too lightly. Treat it seriously like you would Sr's. Just my .02 cents. Semper Fi!
FrogFly
Knibb High Football Rules!
In response to the graduation ceremony/parade. PLC JR and SR graduate together now. PLC Jr's no longer have to sit by and watch the parade, they actually participate and primarily get yelled at by the drill master during parade practice. That was a new change that took place beginning in 2002. What can I say about the differences in the PLC Jr and Sr courses? Last year I got on the bus to the airport after Jr's graduation and overheard a Sr's graduate say that Jr's is the exactly the same as Sr's. I suppose you can say this is actually true except for some very important details.
1) The PT is more demanding. This is true all around, but I found it to be far more evident during the humps. Even the 5 mile hump sucked, and that was unanimous amongst the candidates in Echo company. However, night humps will always be easy (at least physically).
2) The staff does turn it up. For instance, last year during Jr's I wondered why they weren't killing us for a lot of stuff we were screwing up on as a platoon. This year I was wondering when the hell they were going to stop killing us. You play A LOT more games during Sr's than you ever did during Jr's. Candidates DOR'd from the program due to the games alone, and that's the truth. Oh yeah, and your Plt Cmdrs act kind of like SI's.
3) You can get kicked out during Sr's. While Jr's presents it's own set of challenges, (and I do believe Jr's is challenging) you will graduate as long as you don't quit or violate OCS guidelines. If you noticed, Klostman, there were probably people in your platoon that are not cut out to lead anything, and yet they made it through the program. In Sr's we still had people going home FOUR DAYS prior to graduation. They sent home a van load. Thank God they weed them out, although it is not a perfect process. Sr's is not designed to get you through like Jr's is. You have to perform daily or else you're going home.
I was one of those who came home and reported back to my OSO telling him how much of a joke Jr's was. I don't mean that it is a total joke, so for those of you that plan to go to Jr's next year, I wouldn't take this totally to heart. It was mainly a mental joke, I suppose. Very few games were played, things went "unnoticed", and candidates slipped through the gaping cracks. In contrast, Sr's sucked pretty much all hours of the day. NOTHING you did in Jr's is counted toward Sr's now. That means you will take all tests (academic, and of course physical) over again, starting with SULE I. They now cram the entire 10 week OCC course into the six week PLC Sr's. It freakin' sucks, and there are no breaks. Just know that for those of you, like myself, who thought the 2 six week deal sounded appealing, you'll be getting yours the second time around, but hell, that's what we're there for, right? Echo company is the most demanding company in the batallion, and that's coming from the top. Golf Co. (NROTC) mirrors Echo, for the most part, but they get to wear go-fasters after humps and choice of boots for pt and field events. If you're going back, you have your work cut out for you. Enough of that stuff for now...
Yes, it rained forever this summer. It made all of the field events a little more interesting and practically drown you in the IMC, and made it pretty damn chilly at the night IMC. Candidates were sliding all the way down Belleau Wood during the humps. People would make it nearly to the top and start their muddy trip back to the bottom. Man, that must have sucked. We did all that parade practice for nothing, and got to watch graduation day turn into a three ring circus gone awry. Holy Geez, this reply is way too long!
S/F
Frogfly
P.S.- I thougt I'd include a picture of myself. That's me in front. I'm famous!
http://www.ocs.usmc.mil/Summer03/e_drill/DSCF0046.JPG
1) The PT is more demanding. This is true all around, but I found it to be far more evident during the humps. Even the 5 mile hump sucked, and that was unanimous amongst the candidates in Echo company. However, night humps will always be easy (at least physically).
2) The staff does turn it up. For instance, last year during Jr's I wondered why they weren't killing us for a lot of stuff we were screwing up on as a platoon. This year I was wondering when the hell they were going to stop killing us. You play A LOT more games during Sr's than you ever did during Jr's. Candidates DOR'd from the program due to the games alone, and that's the truth. Oh yeah, and your Plt Cmdrs act kind of like SI's.
3) You can get kicked out during Sr's. While Jr's presents it's own set of challenges, (and I do believe Jr's is challenging) you will graduate as long as you don't quit or violate OCS guidelines. If you noticed, Klostman, there were probably people in your platoon that are not cut out to lead anything, and yet they made it through the program. In Sr's we still had people going home FOUR DAYS prior to graduation. They sent home a van load. Thank God they weed them out, although it is not a perfect process. Sr's is not designed to get you through like Jr's is. You have to perform daily or else you're going home.
I was one of those who came home and reported back to my OSO telling him how much of a joke Jr's was. I don't mean that it is a total joke, so for those of you that plan to go to Jr's next year, I wouldn't take this totally to heart. It was mainly a mental joke, I suppose. Very few games were played, things went "unnoticed", and candidates slipped through the gaping cracks. In contrast, Sr's sucked pretty much all hours of the day. NOTHING you did in Jr's is counted toward Sr's now. That means you will take all tests (academic, and of course physical) over again, starting with SULE I. They now cram the entire 10 week OCC course into the six week PLC Sr's. It freakin' sucks, and there are no breaks. Just know that for those of you, like myself, who thought the 2 six week deal sounded appealing, you'll be getting yours the second time around, but hell, that's what we're there for, right? Echo company is the most demanding company in the batallion, and that's coming from the top. Golf Co. (NROTC) mirrors Echo, for the most part, but they get to wear go-fasters after humps and choice of boots for pt and field events. If you're going back, you have your work cut out for you. Enough of that stuff for now...
Yes, it rained forever this summer. It made all of the field events a little more interesting and practically drown you in the IMC, and made it pretty damn chilly at the night IMC. Candidates were sliding all the way down Belleau Wood during the humps. People would make it nearly to the top and start their muddy trip back to the bottom. Man, that must have sucked. We did all that parade practice for nothing, and got to watch graduation day turn into a three ring circus gone awry. Holy Geez, this reply is way too long!
S/F
Frogfly
P.S.- I thougt I'd include a picture of myself. That's me in front. I'm famous!
http://www.ocs.usmc.mil/Summer03/e_drill/DSCF0046.JPG
FrogFly
Knibb High Football Rules!
I was in E-4. We were down on the 1st deck, all alone. Our squad bay was on the side where the Jr's PT field was. You must have been next to E-3, they were on the opposite side of our squad bay on the second deck. Thanks for the congrats, and good luck to you at Sr's. You sound pretty locked on, so I'm sure you'll do just fine. Let me know when I can help you out. Later.
Klostman – how’s good ol’ Capt Spurlock treating you? Is he still around?
Its funny, how looking back, everyone wants to talk about how they got the worst thrashing. The process was reversed when I went through all of a few years back. The verbal/mental hazing at JRs was high, and physical was low. Then we came back for SRs, and the physical side was pumped up, and I wouldn’t say that they lightened up, but they made it evident that they had respect since we got on the plane to come back for game 2, which made a difference. It sounds like the OCS staff kept their word to make you all earn those helicopter rides, extra liberty, etc…
Keep the motivation, it is all worth it. I worked with American Express while waiting around for a set of orders to go to active duty. Corporate America Sucks! Even at The Big Suck, I had a lot more fun than 70-hour weeks in the office.
Its funny, how looking back, everyone wants to talk about how they got the worst thrashing. The process was reversed when I went through all of a few years back. The verbal/mental hazing at JRs was high, and physical was low. Then we came back for SRs, and the physical side was pumped up, and I wouldn’t say that they lightened up, but they made it evident that they had respect since we got on the plane to come back for game 2, which made a difference. It sounds like the OCS staff kept their word to make you all earn those helicopter rides, extra liberty, etc…
Keep the motivation, it is all worth it. I worked with American Express while waiting around for a set of orders to go to active duty. Corporate America Sucks! Even at The Big Suck, I had a lot more fun than 70-hour weeks in the office.
Not a crack pipe, just a bottle of piss and vinegar. I think my bottle has been thrown and broken against a wall. API – hazing by academics is enough to humble anyone...7 failures on the test today, even by some of the (holly molly look at me with an Academy engineering degree) types. It is interesting to watch those whom have never failed anything before in their life – fail. The “boozing” is officially taking a “training time out” – where does the Navy come up with such terms? I don’t think I’ve ever studied this much...the fear of attrition has my happy-ass in the books.
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