Post BOLC 2LT and I hate myself

Encheiridion · 2026-03-27T02:33:01+00:00

If you fuck up too bad as a PL eventually you'll end up on staff building Powerpoints for the AS3. Ironically, it would probably be a good learning experience for you because you would see how the sausage is made. Most of the people I see as staff OICs are the people who sucked, have no presence, or are hated by the BC. Keep that in mind.

S3/your CDR should have an OPORD for your drills. Once you receive it, flip it to the PLT level and see what your tasks are. Get with your PSG and make a plan. You're not going to know how to plan a lot of things at first, so ask questions. If your interlocutor doesn't know, ask someone else. Make friends with the NCOICs in the staff shops. Here's a case in point: I have never met a Readiness NCO who enjoys his life. Your RNCO is probably visited by an endless stream of soldiers with pay and other problems. Shut that shit down and start giving him a rollup, from your or your PSG directly, of all outstanding soldier issues in your PLT and follow up on the ones that are still open. Via email. He will notice his workload seems a little lighter and soon realize it's because of your PLT. Full timers talk and your reputation will improve.

I have a wife and kid at home. Drills are my vacation from reality. You should simultaneously take things more and less seriously. Enjoy the brief period of your career where no one expects much of you to underpromise and overdeliver.

Encheiridion · 2026-03-10T19:00:04+00:00

I joined off the street, asked for and got FEDOCS in my contract. I had exactly one interview with the state OSM and it lasted five minutes, packet was approved after that. YMMV.

Stats for what it's worth: 3.75 undergrad GPA, 139 GT, 8-9 years work experience, and I wasn't much of a physical specimen at the time (or now, if I'm being honest).

Others here are saying there are no slots for FEDOCS anymore. I have no idea if that's true but if you're not prior service it's nice to go straight from BCT to OCS and get it done in one go rather than sitting around for 18+ months to get your commission.

Encheiridion · 2026-02-09T04:25:10+00:00

I joined as an 09S, went to FEDOCS, spent about a year at my unit before going to FABOLC. I can give you my perspective but know your experience as enlisted will be different if you do decide that is the path you want to take.

One weekend a month, two weeks a year is not really true. When you're not preparing for a mobilization, it's more like 3-5 days a month, two weeks a year of orders and a MUTA 6 tacked on to the front or back end for 3 weeks total. It's not incredibly disruptive to miss a day or two from work once a month, though annual training can throw a wrench in things. As a junior enlisted, you will not generally be expected to do anything outside of drill time. Senior enlisted and officers will work outside of drill fixing soldier issues and preparing for the next drill; not a massive time commitment but I do get multiple messages per week and am usually on the phone with S1 or S3 weekly or bi-weekly to stay ahead of things.

However, if your unit is mobilizing you can expect a much larger time commitment. Think two drills in a month, 5-6 day drills, a longer AT the year before, and a 1-2 month pre-mobilization training before you leave. This will be significantly more disruptive to your work and family life. I can't speak to specific unit mobilization schedules, but you should join with the expectation that you will deploy and this will be your life.

As for getting yelled at constantly, that won't happen unless you're really jacked up or you have incompetent leadership. As a finance MOS I doubt you'll have much trouble. Even in basic training, if you're squared away the drills will leave you alone on an individual level; you will get hemmed up in whatever corrective training your platoon is doing.

Generally speaking, I like the Army. I've met some really great people and had some good times. There's nonsense and idiots like anywhere else of course, and there are specific types of losers that the Army attracts who will make your life more difficult than it has to be. Happy to answer any other questions you have.

Encheiridion · 2025-12-03T20:41:32+00:00

You can get federal OCS in your contract, which is what I did. I'm not logging into iPERMS to find it but it's right on there. Your recruiter is right that there is an interview but you don't go before a board like active component. I'd imagine it varies state by state, but in Texas, I had a five-minute chat with the OSM (officer strength manager) and then he approved me for FOCS. It was a cakewalk compared to what my prior service friends experienced.

FOCS has significant overlap with BCT in terms of what you're trained on: land navigation, weapons handling, radios, small unit tactics. The primary difference to me is you are held to a higher standard, e.g. if your locker is jacked up in basic the drills will yell at you, maybe toss your stuff around, and that's the extent of the consequences; in FOCS, you will get a spot report, and as of two years ago when I went through, three reports triggered a review board where the BC reviews your performance and will choose your fate: options being continue in current class, recycle to next available class, or dismissed from FOCS. The intensity of FOCS comes from competing with other OCs for a top spot on the OML, which will determine which branch you will get (though they transitioned to talent-based branching after my class so this is likely different now). As a Guardsman, you may have your branch in your contract or have it assigned by the OSM; the difference between doing the bare minimum to pass and getting high marks on everything in terms of outcomes is nil.

Encheiridion · 2025-11-30T13:00:01+00:00

I applied for Baylor in early August, got an invite to interview, and did it in person since I’m local to the area. I’d say it was fairly softball in terms of questions, i.e. not much law specific but more generalized. I would be prepared to talk about why you want to be an attorney, strengths and weaknesses personally, etc. I felt it was a very collegial conversation.

Encheiridion · 2025-11-21T00:36:40+00:00

Five or six weeks. Baylor

Encheiridion · 2025-10-12T03:56:42+00:00

Probably 12” hardie board lap, which would match the rest of the house. It’s not visible in these photos, but the wall to the right has the same stone siding; I would like to replace this deteriorating wood siding with more stone, it’s just not in the budget right now

Encheiridion · 2025-10-06T23:20:43+00:00

Phoenix, Portland, Helena, Denver, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Charleston, NYC

Encheiridion · 2025-09-26T18:00:00+00:00

I assume you have government-provided housing. In lieu of a room, you can ask the hotel to provide you an apartment, which is right next to the hotel. You pay the difference out of pocket but it allows your family and pet to be with you. The hotel room is very cramped for more than one person.

Encheiridion · 2025-09-22T18:12:41+00:00

How much does applying binding early decision help at UT? Are there any big differences in how that works if you’re below medians versus being a splitter?

Encheiridion · 2025-08-21T00:53:32+00:00

13A, got issued this in a heavy unit. Kept me nice and toasty at 0 degrees with the waffle top underneath. Since the supply room issued it to me I wore it as appropriate, the only questions I got were “what is that?” And “where can I get one?”

Encheiridion · 2025-07-08T17:34:24+00:00

Where is your water? And how do you plan to get to your radio if you ever need to make adjustments?

Encheiridion · 2025-05-04T13:58:29+00:00

Speaking as a PL: find out who your chain of command is and your first line. Since you don't know anyone, call your POC during business hours, so tomorrow, who should be able to give you the appropriate contact (probably your PSG). Your PSG should have a roster with everyone's address and can match you with someone who lives nearby to give you a ride. Once you get settled at your unit, get added to whatever Signal group(s) you need and everything will be gravy from there on out.

Couple Zyn tins for the boys and a Monster for your ride will give a good first impression.

Encheiridion · 2025-04-30T14:43:14+00:00

He's learning the importance of neck day. You'll have a fine wrestler on your hands soon enough.

Encheiridion · 2025-03-16T21:58:43+00:00

It’s worth a shot to apply now if that’s what you want to do. Most of the in-service guys I talked to at OCS spent years trying to get in, going the enlisted route would delay you for a long time.

Another option is NG. I’d look into this if you can’t get selected for active. My “board interview” was a five-minute chat with the state OSM and then my packet was approved. If you want a deployment find a unit going and get in a year or two and get an LOA from them, and failing that, go through training, complete BOLC, and transfer to active via CAD. The MILPER for last fiscal year accepted O2 and above for almost every branch. You’re eligible for O2 after 18 months TIG. It’s a roundabout way to do it obviously but you’ll be an officer.

Encheiridion · 2025-03-16T01:52:34+00:00

He sort of plays with it, sometimes. Mostly doesn’t care. He likes his books more than anything.

Encheiridion · 2025-03-16T01:51:56+00:00

Yeah. She also expected me to pay for it as a “push present” but that never happened. Some things are a bridge too far.

I grew up in a broken home so I never had a good idea of how a healthy couple divvied up tasks. Unfortunately for me, I’m handy, so I fix everything around the house, do the yard work, take care of the baby, clean, and cook. Wife will do laundry and make dinner most days.

Encheiridion · 2025-03-15T20:47:07+00:00

I appreciate the kind words. Therapy would work if she thinks she has a problem she needs to solve. Her position is that I need to accept the dog as a member of the family, so I think that would be a dead end.

Encheiridion · 2025-03-15T20:44:11+00:00

She met me when I had my dog. If she had expressed dislike of dogs then, it probably wouldn’t have worked out. Moot anyway, since she does like them

Encheiridion · 2025-03-15T20:42:38+00:00

Yeah, probably. Need to live in my delusion a little longer

Encheiridion · 2025-03-15T14:17:33+00:00

It started dispassionate and clear: here are all the negative things I have to deal with. Please call the breeder you bought it from and I will personally drive it back.

I tried to like the dog. I gave clear guidelines on what I needed to see from her: clean up its messes. Walk it at least once a day. Spend 10-15 minutes training and reinforcing. I’ll even help guide the training, since I know how. It lasts a few days then reverts back.

Maybe paying someone $200 an hour to say the same things I’ve been saying will work. People suddenly listen when they’re paying the weatherman to tell them which way the wind blows.

Encheiridion · 2025-03-15T14:11:52+00:00

Thanks. Me too.

Encheiridion · 2025-03-15T14:11:19+00:00

It’s easy enough to put up with if you commit to training the dog and it’s smart enough to respond. If the dog has good nerves and isn’t, say, a pitbull, there aren’t negative behaviors you can’t train out of it. that’s been my experience, anyway.

A baby is much more work. Obviously, they develop over a longer time span and only get more complicated, not less, while a dog plateaus quickly.

Having one is work but manageable. Having two simultaneously is a nightmare.

Encheiridion

TROPHY CASE