Frost Call, PLC Screwaround

[CWOglesby]

When I started the enlistment process back in October/November of '08, I was entering with the intent to train as a 92-day reservist one summer, go back to school, and follow up with OCS in the following summer. However, just before I signed my contract at MEPS in January (we'll assume fifteen minutes before), the OSO informed me that there had been a policy change from upstairs.

The policy change is as follows. I went from:

Complete Sophomore year: May 2009
Boot Camp: Summer 2009
Complete Junior year: May 2010
Officer Candidate School: Summer 2010
Complete Senior year: May 2011
Commission as 2nd Lt., so on and so forth.

To...

Complete Sophomore year: May 2009
Boot Camp: Summer 2009
Complete Junior year: May 2010
MCT/MOS training: Summer 2010
Complete Senior year: May 2011
Apply for Officer Candidate Course after graduation, so on and so forth.

The claim is that MCT/MOS training are now required, for all 92-day reservists attempting the PLC program, and I would accept it for truth, BUT I know one Marine who ships to OCS this summer, exclusive of any MCT/MOS training for his enlisted status.

Therefore, the questions are (1) Where can I find some official documentation on this? All I've seen is an unofficial e-mail, which I can't believe I misplaced; (2) Has anyone even heard of this? (3) Is there some loophole my Marine associate has stumbled across? Apart from wanting to enter TBS immediately after college, I may or may not have desperately needed that tuition assistance during my Senior year.

[rvillac2]

A reserve enlistment contract and the various commissioning programs are completely separate. There is no contract that encompasses what you described as your initial plan. You are a poolee for an enlistment. If you get 92-day, then you are boot 1st summer, return for school, then MCT/MOS the next summer. While you are at school, you will drill with your reserve unit.

You can apply for PLC at any time. You do not have to go to boot camp to get in. You can apply after boot camp like your buddy did. If you are accepted to PLC, then your reserve contract is suspended.

You can also do what the OSO recommends. Personally, very few of us on this board will advise you to go reserve right now. You can become an officer faster if you apply for PLC and concentrate on graduating college. Reserve obligations may delay your graduation.

And if you're one of those people who think Reserve/PLC will make you a better officer, research the many threads discussing this.

[rvillac2]

Just beating a dead horse....in the case of your friend, the one who went to Boot and now going to PLC.

Do you think he'd make a better officer than any other guy qualified for our OCS? He may be a Marine, but he barely started serving and hasn't even earned an MOS yet. He probably couldn't find the chowhall without an NCO marching him there.

[CWOglesby]

The questions are regardless of what makes a better officer. I am aware that boot is not a requirement. I am aware of the risks, odds, chances, and so on. I am not seeking advice or information about being in the Reserves.

The circumstances are that the OSO has indicated that MOS/MCT are now required before a reservist may attend OCS, while I personally know a Marine who is doing the exact opposite of what is "required" without a hitch.

[Wyoming]

I would suggest you find out from a good long talk with the OSO.

Besides, you are getting a bit short on your temper here, and there have been only 3 replies.

Calm down, and go have a long talk with the OSO. Lay out with him, everything you have said here.

[KawiGunny]

Contact another OSO and see what that one has to say. Seems pretty simple to me and I ain't even college edjumencated.

[CWOglesby]

That's the kicker; I've done that.

The local OSO swears up and down that this is the new way things are done, and is sending every 92-day PLC'er through the new process. The other Marine talked to his OSO to find out if he's being lied to (about going to OCS this summer), and that OSO swears up and down that the "new way" doesn't exist.

Don't mistake the context and diction of my posts for a temper or anxiety; I'm just trying to be straightforward and precise on a forum full of military personnel.

[CWOglesby]

Contact another OSO and see what that one has to say. Seems pretty simple to me and I ain't even college edjumencated.

That's the best advice I've heard this month, I think I know exactly who to talk to.

[KawiGunny]

That's the kicker; I've done that.

The local OSO swears up and down that this is the new way things are done, and is sending every 92-day PLC'er through the new process. The other Marine talked to his OSO to find out if he's being lied to (about going to OCS this summer), and that OSO swears up and down that the "new way" doesn't exist.

Don't mistake the context and diction of my posts for a temper or anxiety; I'm just trying to be straightforward and precise on a forum full of military personnel.


Maybe you should be dealing with the other OSO then. The OSO you are dealing with might have met his quota and needs to fill others. Don't know.

[rvillac2]

The overall problem is that these kids want to go to summer camp. They want to take a 92day spot from another college student with no intention of fulfilling their reserve obligation.

We are investing in your training, but you have no intention of taking the job you're being trained for. I don't blame the OSO for encouraging a poollee to actually live up to their obligations and serve their contracts.

Application to PLC has nothing to do with your reserve contract. Nobody can stop you from applying and getting accepted. If you get accepted, you may be excused from your summer reserve obligation in order for you to go to OCS. However, the Reserve may say no and force you to go MOS school if you haven't already gone (serving your contract). Whatever the policy is now, it may change a year from now and still apply to you. If that's the case, you're screwed. You signed a contract, we own you.

This is why we are recommending that you do not go Reserve if you fully intend to become an officer. Just go straight to PLC. Even PLC is not a contractual obligation after completion. If you don't like it, you can always join as enlisted after graduating. Several have done that, too.