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What can a young aspiring aviator do to get ahead?

croakerfish

Well-Known Member
pilot
About the course load thing, the ROTC "naval science" courses don't count towards your GPA at most colleges. On that same train of thought, the OCS academics compressed those courses into a few days of rapid fire review sessions and usually a 50 question multiple choice "exam" test. A few of the staff tried to tell us that those OCS courses were equivalent to semester-long college courses in ROTC units and this was part of the "pressure" of OCS. I think they were telling a half-truth in that our five day long courses were equivalent to a semester-long course, but I wouldn't consider either either version to be baccalaureate-level study.

Don't get me wrong- you can blow off studying and fail these "easy" courses (you could get yourself kicked out) and they do have a certain value in your professional development (it's cliché but leadership basics will apply throughout your entire career), so don't take them too lightly. But they don't have the academic rigor of calculus 101 nor the never-ending hundreds of pages of assigned reading you get in polysci/history classes.

The only thing I remember from any academic class in OCS is how to stay awake by any means pos
I looked up the definition of "amusement" on the internet. It said "See: 'lament.'" But I'll admit, nothing was cooler than hearing TBS stories from studs as an IP. Wait, nope, that's the total opposite of what I wanted to say.

TBS makes for a great way to heckle lost Marine studs on low-levels though.
 

Pags

N/A
pilot
So we've proven @Jim123 doesn't know what he's talking about as it pertains to NROTC. But when he finished OCS, he was TOTALLY on point and way above any ROTC graduates when they showed up to API. Don't believe me? Show up to API. Then wait 2 months when the OCS guys start putting their weight back on. Some how, it all works out and we all deploy together and life continues just fine.

(Just joshing you, Jim).
What lasts longer? OCS Class Shirts or TBS stories?
 

Mos

Well-Known Member
None
The only thing I remember from any academic class in OCS is how to stay awake by any means pos
Indeed. I remember that I learned about the navigation rules of the road (and moboards), I just don't remember any of them.
 

Sam I am

Average looking, not a farmer.
pilot
Contributor
The only thing I remember from OCS academics is some Naval History. My class was taught by a Gunny and it was EPIC! lol...holy $h!t...no problem staying awake in that class. If you were $h!t hot in his class he would remember you, seek you out during MTT's and then play Naval History Trivia for hits. If you were close to failing his MTT, but you rocked his class he would throw you bones. If you were doing great on the MTT and he like you he would pull out the most obscure facts from the class he could think of...it was the only time I saw students allowed to be non-ballistic and ponder their response when dealing with a Class Drill Instructor.

I never got to play trivia. BUT, I did run in place for 30 minutes as if my life depended on it. lol I failed the 4th week MTT, passed the retake, and then got to ride the bubble all the way to 9th week MTT. I was doing really well, but then I got a stupid hit. I left a dental appointment card in the pocket of my jacket. I'll never forget the look of astonishment and glee on the Gunny's face when discovered it and pulled it out.

<in hushed astonished tone> "What do we have here?"
<loud, sharp, exclamation as he quickly pulls it from the pocket> "BAM!"
<mocking, childish voice> "0630, CMDR Salazar, Dental Examination."
<head thrown back, roaring, war cry> "Stuuuuuuuuuupiidddddd hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!!!"

oh.fuck.

I was getting close to failing, he knew it, I knew it. The Candi O scorekeeper knew it. He walked out of the room and I could hear him talking to my Class Drill Instructor. The Candi-O went with him. He came back in, looked at my space mate who had been running in place for about 10 minutes, looked at me and said catch him. I ran in place like Mo-Fo. He started tearing my locker apart, yelling hit, hit, hit, hit, hit as he's grabbing stuff and tossing it over his shoulders. That's it...I failed...I rolled. I kept running. He started adding it up, I tried to watch, he noticed, and screened me out with his back. He grabs the score sheet holds it about an inch from my face, screams out an insanely low score and yells, "HA HA YOU FAIL!!! KEEP RUNNING!" and walks out. He came back 3 times and checked to see if I was still running. I sweated completely through my poly khakis all the way to my waist. Finally the Candi-O comes back in and says, "Stop running, you passed."
 
Last edited:

croakerfish

Well-Known Member
pilot
The only thing I remember from OCS academics is some Naval History. My class was taught by a Gunny and it was EPIC! lol...holy $h!t...no problem staying awake in that class. If you were $h!t hot in his class he would remember you, seek you out during MTT's and then play Naval History Trivia for hits. If you were close to failing his MTT, but you rocked his class he would throw you bones. If you were doing great on the MTT and he like you he would pull out the most obscure facts from the class he could think of...it was the only time I saw students allowed to be non-ballistic and ponder their response when dealing with a Class Drill Instructor.

I never got to play trivia. BUT, I did run in place for 30 minutes as if my life depended on it. lol I failed the 4th week MTT, passed the retake, and then got to ride the bubble all the way to 9th week MTT. I was doing really well, but then I got a stupid hit. I left a dental appointment card in the pocket of my jacket. I'll never forget the look of astonishment and glee on the Gunny's face when discovered it and pulled it out.

<in hushed astonished tone> "What do we have here?"
<loud, sharp, exclamation as he quickly pulls it from the pocket> "BAM!"
<mocking, childish voice> "0630, CMDR Salazar, Dental Examination."
<head thrown back, roaring, war cry> "Stuuuuuuuuuupiidddddd hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!!!"

oh.fuck.

I was getting close to failing, he knew it, I knew it. The Candi O scorekeeper knew it. He walked out of the room and I could hear him talking to my Class Drill Instructor. The Candi-O went with him. He came back in, looked at my space mate who had been running in place for about 10 minutes, looked at me and said catch him. I ran in place like Mo-Fo. He started tearing my locker apart, yelling hit, hit, hit, hit, hit as he's grabbing stuff and tossing it over his shoulders. That's it...I failed...I rolled. I kept running. He started adding it up, I tried to watch, he noticed, and screened me out with his back. He grabs the score sheet holds it about an inch from my face, screams out an insanely low score and yells, "HA HA YOU FAIL!!! KEEP RUNNING!" and walks out. He came back 3 times and checked to see if I was still running. I sweated completely through my poly khakis all the way to my waist. Finally the Candi-O comes back in and says, "Stop running, you passed."

Scoring those evolutions as a Candi-O was hilarious. You’re just standing there, trying not to laugh or get in the way surrounded by absolute ear-splitting chaos and shit getting flung everywhere. That’s the first time it hits you, the realization that this is all so…stupid. That’s the real end of OCS, not the commissioning ceremony.
 
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