Any Officers prior Enlisted here??

[Devildogg99]

I am trying to start up a conversation about officers prior enlisted here. I am attending OCS come Oct 2nd Class 202. I was hoping to get some feedback and maybe make some friends in the process. My enlisted side has come to a close as I hit my 10 year mark well in about 15 mins on the 27th of July. A lot of my enlisted side eerily has come to a close on the physical aspect. By physical I meant when I got stationed back at Camp Pendleton, and I revisited the depot in San Diego. It was 9 years since I last walked on the depot. A lot of memories flooded back.

I can not wait to attend OCS. I am in good shape, and been running alot more here. Kind of sucks lately with the rain, and all this humidity. Heat today was too much and I had to run in bursts, and this was at 5pm.

A friend of mine suggested to start running in boots of which I have been off and on but mentioned to run with a 30lb pack for about 4 miles.

Its getting late and I am off to bed. Anyone is welcome to comment!


Semper Fi

[skipper72]

I was a mustang, commissioned in 1957. But I haven't a clue as to what use my experience could be to those in your situation.

[jetdoc]

Glad to see you back Capt.

[Hotdog75XX]

I am trying to start up a conversation about officers prior enlisted here. I am attending OCS come Oct 2nd Class 202. I was hoping to get some feedback and maybe make some friends in the process. My enlisted side has come to a close as I hit my 10 year mark well in about 15 mins on the 27th of July. A lot of my enlisted side eerily has come to a close on the physical aspect. By physical I meant when I got stationed back at Camp Pendleton, and I revisited the depot in San Diego. It was 9 years since I last walked on the depot. A lot of memories flooded back.

I can not wait to attend OCS. I am in good shape, and been running alot more here. Kind of sucks lately with the rain, and all this humidity. Heat today was too much and I had to run in bursts, and this was at 5pm.

A friend of mine suggested to start running in boots of which I have been off and on but mentioned to run with a 30lb pack for about 4 miles.

Its getting late and I am off to bed. Anyone is welcome to comment!


Semper Fi

Not prior enlisted, but can answer to an extent some of your questions.

From my platoon at OCS the priors were hit and miss. Either good to go or ****bags. Most of the ****bags are the ones who go in there thinking they are better than anyone because they are prior. Alot of priors get the boot for this...as they are the odd man out and it reflects in peer evals and overall attitude. The ones that are good to go usually finish in the top 30% of their OCS company. 5 of the top guys in my platoon alone were prior. Having said that, priors have the highest attrition rate at OCS than any other source right now. One being age and the physical beatdown on the body aspect, and the other is the mentality of going back into a "boot camp like" environment. Who would want to do 10 more weeks of that? So it depends on the prior.

As for training, running with a 30 lbs pack might not be the best way to condition. You can develop shin splints and it will degrade the body. I would suggest running 4 or 5 miles every other day and doing a timed 3 mile every week. A 21 minute mile at OCS is "average" during the intial PFT. So gauge your training based on where your at with that taken into account. Good luck.

[Pete0331]

I am not an officer, but read One Bullet Away by Lt. Nathaniel Fick.
It goes through his OCS/TBS experience and his first few duty stations.

Ruck running is a good way to hurt yourself.
Shin splints, ankle sprains, and knee/lower back problems are what you are at is risk for if you do it.
You aleady need to be at an above avrage fitness level before you start.

[Devildogg99]

I am only 28 in fact just turned 28 3 days ago. I am in pretty good shape as it is with running usually between 21 and 22 mins, and that depends on the day. I def am not going in with the mentality of "I am the **** hear me roar". I plan on taking it like every one else during the transformation. Outside of that I am bringing my experience which on the inside will be helpful there and assisting others when and if needed. Like I said I don't plan on acting like I am better then anyone there. Just planning on doing what I have to, learn and lead.

[Wyoming]

I am only 28 in fact just turned 28 3 days ago. I am in pretty good shape as it is with running usually between 21 and 22 mins, and that depends on the day. I def am not going in with the mentality of "I am the **** hear me roar". I plan on taking it like every one else during the transformation. Outside of that I am bringing my experience which on the inside will be helpful there and assisting others when and if needed. Like I said I don't plan on acting like I am better then anyone there. Just planning on doing what I have to, learn and lead.

I hope you stick around here.

An Lt will be back from a float soon, and as soon as he gets his head down and out of the clouds, he can answer your questions.

[Devildogg99]

I hope you stick around here.

An Lt will be back from a float soon, and as soon as he gets his head down and out of the clouds, he can answer your questions.

I will be around here for quite some time. But, I do go to OCS Oct 2nd. Will he be back by then?

[Hotdog75XX]

I def am not going in with the mentality of "I am the **** hear me roar". I plan on taking it like every one else during the transformation. Outside of that I am bringing my experience which on the inside will be helpful there and assisting others when and if needed. Like I said I don't plan on acting like I am better then anyone there. Just planning on doing what I have to, learn and lead.

That's a great attitude to have. The priors in the platoon especially in the first 3 weeks set the tone. Same thing at TBS. Good luck.

[Petz]

Not prior enlisted, but can answer to an extent some of your questions.

From my platoon at OCS the priors were hit and miss. Either good to go or ****bags. Most of the ****bags are the ones who go in there thinking they are better than anyone because they are prior. Alot of priors get the boot for this...as they are the odd man out and it reflects in peer evals and overall attitude. The ones that are good to go usually finish in the top 30% of their OCS company. 5 of the top guys in my platoon alone were prior. Having said that, priors have the highest attrition rate at OCS than any other source right now. One being age and the physical beatdown on the body aspect, and the other is the mentality of going back into a "boot camp like" environment. Who would want to do 10 more weeks of that? So it depends on the prior.

As for training, running with a 30 lbs pack might not be the best way to condition. You can develop shin splints and it will degrade the body. I would suggest running 4 or 5 miles every other day and doing a timed 3 mile every week. A 21 minute mile at OCS is "average" during the intial PFT. So gauge your training based on where your at with that taken into account. Good luck.

LT, I hear you on the Sh!tbags point... and this is why I'm gonna post this.

as an officer you are expected to use more respectful terminology of those Marines... whether or not you think they are up to snuff they met the same qualifications as you did.

you mentioned the peer evals... if they are out-spoken or feel you guys suck, well I'm sure that reflected on them, this is a character flaw not enough to call them sh!tbags.

so taking everyones character flaws out of the picture, and using your terminology of them, would it be prudent of me to use it on you? sir, are you a sh!tbag? I hardly think so... you made it through OCS... someone feels you can lead Marines. But someone before YOU sir, felt those priors could lead them as well.

I would like for you to think about those Marines who got booted and how you would treat them if they fell under your command in the future as your 1st Sgt or Sgt Maj... would they still be Sh!tbags sir?

Semper Fi and keep the motivation coming!

EDIT: as I know it, OCS is a selection process... not boot camp. Those Marines are still Marines but someone feels they aren't up to the challenge of leading Marines as commissioned officers.

[Hotdog75XX]

as an officer you are expected to use more respectful terminology of those Marines... whether or not you think they are up to snuff they met the same qualifications as you did.

you mentioned the peer evals... if they are out-spoken or feel you guys suck, well I'm sure that reflected on them, this is a character flaw not enough to call them sh!tbags.

so taking everyones character flaws out of the picture, and using your terminology of them, would it be prudent of me to use it on you? sir, are you a sh!tbag? I hardly think so... you made it through OCS... someone feels you can lead Marines. But someone before YOU sir, felt those priors could lead them as well.

I would like for you to think about those Marines who got booted and how you would treat them if they fell under your command in the future as your 1st Sgt or Sgt Maj... would they still be Sh!tbags sir?

I hear you on the harsh terminology. I understand where your coming from, however at OCS there are no Marines being evaluated. Only candidates...a candidate maybe a prior enlisted Marine but they pretty much drop the title and everything that comes with it the minute they accept their orders and ship out. It is part of the deal and the hardest part to accept when they step aboard at Brown Field. Especially when a prior SSgt (now a candidate) at OCS has to listen to a Lcpl. talking down to him because he wasn't in a "perfect fireteam wedge". It happens. The priors who don't react to this are the ones who make it...the ones who don't end up showing their ass. This isn't to say the copious amounts of civilians that come through and don't make it aren't either.

There are not multiple shades of ****birds... only one type. One bird may have larger more experienced wings or body than the other bird...but they are still ****birds. Catch my drift? If one of those "birds" were under my command at one point they would no longer be candidates...they would be Marines and I would treat them as such.

I know this sounds a little weird but that's how it works. How would an instructor or staff be able to evaluate candidates if there was a known bias to others that were already Marines?

[Petz]

I'm not asking for a bias, I'm stating the fact that you stated... you're all candidates when you are there... just 'cause they show their ass doesn't make them any less of a Man/Woman... they just end up not being qualified to be a leader in the Officer Corps.

some SNCOs have trouble un-learning things... you'll see that latter on and with that you might understand why those priors failed.

it's the same way at the rifle range for those who have hunted before... they tend to unk at a higher rate than those who never did it before.

Sir, you just need experience to understand this... you'll get it.

using Sh!tbird is reserved for those non-conformists who are a complete bag of ass... and look crappy in uniform, suck at everything they do... but showing your ass does NOT make you a sh!tbird... lest you show your ass later down the road and are forced to call yourself one.

we all make mistakes, it's the hard chargers who learn from them (generally an ass chewing) and move-on to become a better person because of it.

[skipper72]

Used to be that the United States Marine Corps MADE "us people" the way the Corps wanted us to be. There were no "ruminations" on who might be "sh**birds" and who might not be. No fretting as to what the right attitudes should or should not be. The "system" worked! For enlisted and officers alike. Tony Zinni has written that the system lost its way a few decades ago but is gradually working its way back to what it should be. I most surely remain hopeful that he is right.

Parenthetically, I have been told on here that the problem with us "dinosaurs" is that, as the years go by, we become better than what we were. Legends in our own minds, as it were. And that we merely are envious of those who are on active duty in the Corps, today. I doubt that this program's word auto-censor would accept my reply to that comment and I would likely be banned, again.

I now go on record here as saying that I am respectful, admiring, and supportive of all the fine Marines in the present USMC.

[skipper72]

Used to be that the United States Marine Corps MADE "us people" the way the Corps wanted us to be. There were no "ruminations" on who might be "sh**birds" and who might not be.

We DID use the term "sh**birds" (apparently aka "sh**bags" in the present era). But the term was used only on and against recruits and not AFTER they became Marines. To do otherwise would be an insult to the system which formed Marines. Subsequently, the term was only applied to members of the OTHER branches of the Armed Forces (or else in polite personal forms of address with one's buddies).

As for "peer evaluations !" Sigh. Nevermind....

[Isrowei]

This thread seems to have taken an interesting course...