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Thread: Priors who go to OCS
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10-28-09, 08:17 PM #16
Yeah, Golf is for the NROTC and the MECEPs. India was the first phase for the 6 week PLC guys.
True about the walk to the chow hall, we walked dang near 6 miles a day just for chow..
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10-28-09, 09:16 PM #17
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10-28-09, 09:27 PM #18
HAHA that stupid bridge..Did you ever notice how quick it was for the Sgt Instructors to get off that thing, and go around on the train tracks? You think you hate it..they go over it for cycle after cycle..I have a MECEP buddy who was a Sgt Instructor there and he said it was one of his least favorite parts of being a Sgt Instructor..
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10-29-09, 12:06 AM #19
This is a really helpful thread, thanks a lot!
Do you think you could explain a bit more what you mean when you say that you saw a lot of people get kicked out for being poor leaders? What sorts of mistakes get you ticketed for that? (I mean for regular candidates, not just priors.)
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10-29-09, 12:08 AM #20
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10-29-09, 12:15 AM #21
Yeah...the permanent staff serve 2 year billets...I think just like any other drill field billet. But a lot of the staff were serving I guess you would say like a TAD billet there. Ie. MOAs for NROTC units would do a cycle at OCS before going to their NROTC units. Two of my SI's did that.
Haha, I remember thinking to myself in the beginning "why does everyone complain about this bridge...it's not so bad..." Fast forward a few weeks and I wanted to blow the sumb*tch up. But it was better than my one trip across the tracks. On the day before family day I went to medical and they put me on light duty...lol the solo trip across the tracks with 5 DIs was brutal!!!
Teddy...I'll write a response...stand fast!
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10-29-09, 12:16 AM #22
Being done feels wonderful, but I actually kinda miss it. It was a productive time. Capt. P is my OSO and I don't know my comm date yet. It will likely be in May or June.
As for the pugil sticks, it was quite a bout. I still can't believe the big dude from B Co that took on all 3 from A Co and won.
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10-29-09, 12:44 AM #23
Three things quickly come to mind:
First, the goal of OCS is to train, evaluate, and screen potential officers for the Marine Corps, and because of this they don't want the candidate staff to act like drill instructors. It is fine the first couple of weeks, but then they make you turn off the "DI" mode of leadership. The problem is, at least for the Candidate Platoon Sergeant, is that they (the Sergeant Instructors) want things done like a DI, but say they don't. So it is a really fine line your dealing with. Its kind of a lose-lose situation unless your platoon really respects you and you don't have to turn up the "intensity" for lack of a better word.
Second, Peer evals are huge at OCS. Your Sergeant Instructors only see so much of whats going on. The peer evals give them a glimpse into how the different candidates really act. For example, there are some candidates that are "spotlight preformers" who do and say all the right things when the staff is around, but when they are gone are only looking out for #1. Your peers see this and will flame you for it, and only bad things come after that.
Finally, there are just those individuals that have absolutely zero command presence. Generally they get dropped within the first board or so because it is obvious that they have no business at OCS. At recruit training as long as an individual does not quit on himself he will pass and become a basically trained Marine. OCS is different, after graduation you are not a Pvt or a PFC that has time to learn the ropes. You're the boss. Because of that, if you don't have bearing, or are just generally lost in the sauce you're going to get a one way bus ticket back home. My MECEP buddy who just came from OCS as a Sergeant Instructor recently told me of a platoon of his that started with 47 Candidates and graduated 26. You wont see that at recruit training.
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10-29-09, 12:50 AM #24
Thanks for posting this. I'm a few months away from finishing my bachelor's and thinking about going the officer route (still undecided). I've heard that OCS was more physical than mental as boot camp is the opposite, but I never really understood the differences. I remember a female officer (who was a prior) once told me that if a bus was available to take them to Parris Island while at OCS, everyone would've jumped on.
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10-29-09, 01:08 AM #25
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10-29-09, 01:10 AM #26
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10-29-09, 03:02 AM #27
Diblo pretty much hit everything that I was going to say. Although, I should probably mention that Diblo went through the Bulldog course which is for the NROTC/MECEP bubbas. I went through the PLC 10 week course which has a lot more civilians wanting to be Marines.
For the leadership tests (ie. your LRCs and SULEs) I think the big keys are to be loud, establish your command presence, and be confident (obviously all pretty much follows your command presence). Be able to adapt and overcome but pretty much I felt the golden rule was to just appear as confident as possible. Personal Example: I got a 99% in the first LRC and an 84% in LRC II. In my mind, I really did nothing different, but I do know that I tried to "smoothly" run through my frag o in the second LRC II. The evaluator said I didn't sound confident...I was more confident than the first go around!!! Appearance is everything!
Peer Evals. My pet peeves. Don't blue falcon your fellow candidates. I hate to say it, but OCS sort of breeds spotlight performing by nature. Yeah, you always try to do your best at all times, but I think every guy turns it on that much more when the staff is watching...you can see it. I think the best way to stay in favor with your peers is to follow your leadership principles. Be just with your peers and practice tact. Your staff knows when you are calling someone out just because they are there and your peers will think you're a dick for that. Criticize individually in private, criticize generally in public. Personal examples: myself and others in my squad absolutely speared the sh*t out of one candidate (a prior) in his peer eval. He was joking around during our "crucible" SULE II and leaning on trees. It was absoultely terrible. Yes some of us joke around at times (ie. me), but when it came down to it, we all put in 100% at game time. This guy made a joke about it...he absoutely did not deserve to be there (and it wasn't his first time). He got dropped week 9. Then again, peer evals by the later weeks are really not as meaningful as the first go around. It became hard to rate the people that you know should be there. Aside from one or two people, whether you were 1 or 8 was pretty much a toss up.
I'm kind of rambling on as it is 0400 lol, but bottom line is, be confident in your own abilities. We're all different and lead different ways, but you gotta be confident and decisive. When I was a poolee, I could almost guess who was going to get dropped over the various cycles and I was nearly always right. Like Diblo said, lack of command presence and being lost in the sauce are generally two main ways of getting your arse dropped for leadership. If what I am saying doesn't make sense, I suggest taking a look at your 14 leadership traits and reflecting on them. There's a reason they're there and that's what makes a good leader....Justice, Judgement, Decisiveness, Integrity, Dependability, Tact, Initiative, Endurance, Bearing, Unselfishness, Courage, Knowledge, Loyalty, Enthusiasm....when it all comes down to it...it is those traits which you will be screened and evaluated on for leadership at OCS. Lol...I'll edit in morning if this is too rambling. But honestly, it's really hard to explain here. You can't just read something and voila have leadership. When it's all said and done, you will know your potential when you are being trained, screened, and evaluated at OCS.
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10-29-09, 03:15 AM #28
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10-29-09, 03:16 AM #29
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10-29-09, 03:22 AM #30
Well as I said in my earlier post, I feel that OCS is more mental than physical. But I'm not a prior, and I think it's one of those to each his own things. I'm not sure of the breakdown, but I think it's probably even for those getting dropped for physical reasons (including NPQs) and everything else...
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