• 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

sTUPID qUESTIONS aBOUT ocs

m26

Well-Known Member
Contributor
Synix, I was under the impression that you had to pay for uniforms and could only get a loan, if necessary. You actually got an allowance for uniforms?
 

Afterburner209

Good muster guys.
Synix, I was under the impression that you had to pay for uniforms and could only get a loan, if necessary. You actually got an allowance for uniforms?


http://www.military.com/benefits/military-pay/clothing-allowances

To save you some reading here you go : Officers of the Armed Forces of the United States are entitled to an initial uniform allowance. Except as provided in the note, below, the initial uniform allowance is payable only once to an officer:

NOTE: Upon transfer to another Reserve Component that requires a different uniform, a Reserve officer may receive another initial uniform allowance. Regular officers may not receive this allowance when transferring to another Military Service.
 

Krafty1

Head in the clouds
You get a small uniform allowance while at OCS but not nearly enough to cover all of your uniforms. I still ended up spending about $1800 on uniforms after you factor in the uniform allowance. Definitely get the star card for the 10% discount. The uniform allowance doesn't directly pay your uniforms, it actually gets put in with one of your early paychecks so you will still be looking at about $2400-2600 uniform bill at the end of OCS so saving the extra 10% adds up quick.
 

HAL Pilot

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
this might be a really stupid question (hence the name of the thread), but what is a 'lineal number'?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong...but I believe it's only used for promotion boards. It gives you seniority within your rank. So the guy who was commissioned in June has a lower number than the guy who commissioned in July. Then when there are promotion boards, they give the lineal numbers of the people who are eligible. And for OCS, the guy who graduates first gets the first number for the class followed by the #2 graduate.

Also used for SORTS reports (you don't wanna know what those are!!).
As a JO, that's about all your lineal number really does for you. As you get more senior, it comes into play more. For example, SOPA - there could be a couple of CDRs with the same date of rank commanding a couple of DDGs. The guy with the lower lineal number is SOPA. I saw lineal numbers used a lot more during my CVN tour than at any other time. In fact, we had to keep the lineal list on the bridge and consult it as OOD in certain situations.

An example as a LT - liberty boats. You and another squadron officer who made LT at the same time are the senior guys in the liberty boat. Who's in charge? The guy with the lower lineal number. Might be important it there is a problem. "What do you me I was in charge? I thought he was!"
 

Jynx

*Placeholder*
Contributor
Unlimited text messaging and a proper "candio phone" are a must. Jynx sounds like you were an adjutant, If you were I feel your pain.
Yes, When you get to candio phase, you're going to want a good text messaging plan, and possibly a data plan. Better communication makes your class' job easier. Plus, if you have any rank at all, you as a candio will rely heavily on text, and more the higher you rank. As for data, I liked being able to check the news when I wasn't near a computer.

Synix, I was under the impression that you had to pay for uniforms and could only get a loan, if necessary. You actually got an allowance for uniforms?
m26, I also got that uniform allowance. Just for the record, your total bill will be ~2700. Your pay will fluctuate during OCS, but you should make enough to cover the minimum initial uniform expenditure of ~2000. I give those numbers because you have to pay down to $700 when you leave, and pay the rest off within a year if you don't wanna incur interest on that $700
 

60flyer

Now a C-12 pilot
pilot
Contributor
As a JO, that's about all your lineal number really does for you. As you get more senior, it comes into play more. For example, SOPA - there could be a couple of CDRs with the same date of rank commanding a couple of DDGs. The guy with the lower lineal number is SOPA. I saw lineal numbers used a lot more during my CVN tour than at any other time. In fact, we had to keep the lineal list on the bridge and consult it as OOD in certain situations.

An example as a LT - liberty boats. You and another squadron officer who made LT at the same time are the senior guys in the liberty boat. Who's in charge? The guy with the lower lineal number. Might be important it there is a problem. "What do you me I was in charge? I thought he was!"

Nice! But the only SOPA I know of is the group on facebook....
 

The Renegade

LT, SC, USN
Synix, I was under the impression that you had to pay for uniforms and could only get a loan, if necessary. You actually got an allowance for uniforms?

You'll get $1,350 initially (females get $1,650); you should see that by your 4th week or so. Then, about 2wks after you are commissioned you get an additional $400 to off-set the cost for your NWUs. Don't know why you don't get that $400 til after but that's the way it is for now until they update the initial clothing allowance to reflect the added cost of NWUs. We were one of the first class to wear NWUs at OCS, so hopefully they updated the allowance by now and you should get $1,750 initially because that will help with that $2,500 bill they hit you with in week 10 or 11.
 

HAL Pilot

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
Nice! But the only SOPA I know of is the group on facebook....
Senior Officer Present Afloat. It's a big deal with the shoes. Junior ship CO has to request permission to carry on with assigned duties when ships cross in the night, etc.

Once on TR, we were doing independent training ops and GW came steaming up. GW CO was senior and told us to join on him in formation because he decided it was picture day. Our CO had no choice because as soon as GW came over the horizon he was SOPA. It really screwed up our training schedule. We were stuck doing GW's bidding until our Admiral flew out, assumed SOPA and told GW to go away.
 
My stupid OCS questions for the day:

1. Should I bother putting my name on anything (Toiletries, towels, etc.) before I arrive, or will I be shown the proper way when I get there?

2. Do battalion runs start out at 1.5M the first few weeks and then over to 2.7M for the remainder? Heard this somewhere not sure if true.
 

60flyer

Now a C-12 pilot
pilot
Contributor
Senior Officer Present Afloat. It's a big deal with the shoes. Junior ship CO has to request permission to carry on with assigned duties when ships cross in the night, etc.

Once on TR, we were doing independent training ops and GW came steaming up. GW CO was senior and told us to join on him in formation because he decided it was picture day. Our CO had no choice because as soon as GW came over the horizon he was SOPA. It really screwed up our training schedule. We were stuck doing GW's bidding until our Admiral flew out, assumed SOPA and told GW to go away.

I hope to never find this out in real life :)
 

Boomhower

Shoot, man, it's that dang ol' internet
None
My stupid OCS questions for the day:

1. Should I bother putting my name on anything (Toiletries, towels, etc.) before I arrive, or will I be shown the proper way when I get there?

2. Do battalion runs start out at 1.5M the first few weeks and then over to 2.7M for the remainder? Heard this somewhere not sure if true.

Do not put your name on anything. You'll get the gear and the know how when you show up to do that. In fact, keep it in the packaging, if you can. Just to keep it clean.

I'll let more recent grads tell you about the running. But, in the dark ages, we started off with pretty short runs. Most people that ran a little prior to OCS actually got out of running shape the first few weeks because they cater to the lowest common denominator.
 

CashvillePlt

OVER THE LINE!
My stupid OCS questions for the day:

1. Should I bother putting my name on anything (Toiletries, towels, etc.) before I arrive, or will I be shown the proper way when I get there?

2. Do battalion runs start out at 1.5M the first few weeks and then over to 2.7M for the remainder? Heard this somewhere not sure if true.
That should be correct, however, we had crappy cold ass weather 3/4 of the time we were there so we ran inside a lot. I have no idea how far we ran inside but it was probably in the area of 2 miles. Typically you start doing the carrier runs in the 3rd or 4th week, but like everything else at OCS, it's up to your drill instructor.

Oh yea, don't label anything beforehand because it's still tough to get it right even when they tell you exactly how it needs to be done. Ugh, flashbacks.:icon_rage
 

SynixMan

HKG Based Artificial Excrement Pilot
pilot
Contributor
1. Should I bother putting my name on anything (Toiletries, towels, etc.) before I arrive, or will I be shown the proper way when I get there?

No, leave it in the packaging. And when you do get issued things, don't use them. Keep them pristine for RLP. Wear only one set of NWUs for the duration if you can. There are specific ways to mark and you won't know them until you get there.

2. Do battalion runs start out at 1.5M the first few weeks and then over to 2.7M for the remainder? Heard this somewhere not sure if true.

Weather permitting, yes. If it's shitty outside, you'll run the hallways/gym/ladderwells, or your DI might come up with fun games to play.
 
No, leave it in the packaging. And when you do get issued things, don't use them. Keep them pristine for RLP. Wear only one set of NWUs for the duration if you can. There are specific ways to mark and you won't know them until you get there.

So, I don't have the packaging for all my socks, briefs, etc. Would gallon freezer bags suffice?

Thanks for the info.
 
Top