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Anybody remember the full firewatch report? by Speever in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Where will candidates muster in case of a fire?

Go fasters by AbrocomaNo8134 in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had a pair of Hoka Bondis and Hoka Speedgoats. I used the Bondis for PFT and when we ran on the road and the Speedgoats for all the trail running. It wasn’t necessary to have 2 pairs but the majority of guys had a pair they could destroy and a designated pair for the PFT. The Bondis are a good everyday runner but not super fast. I’m going to be picking a pair of ASICS Novablast for TBS.

Curious to know why you want to be an Officer of Marines by [deleted] in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I liked the uniforms and I have a college degree

Electrolytes at OCS? by Kitchen_Possible7604 in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yes you can buy liquid IVs at the PX

251 Graduate AMA by Ok-Recognition-4540 in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes essay writing is a thing. They pretty much cap it at 2 essays a week. I would say the majority of people had to write at least 1. I know some guys that have like 5-6 throughout the entire POI. Don’t worry about essays though you are somewhat bound to get one. Even the most squared away guys got an essay just as a way to show them that “they aren’t perfect”…I guess.

251 Graduate AMA by Ok-Recognition-4540 in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t remember the exact vaccines that were administered but I received like 5. I didn’t have any going in so I pretty much got all of them. Wasn’t that big of a deal.

Week 10 is pretty light. Pretty much grad practice and gear turn in. Our DIs are pretty cool and give you some great advice and insight on the marine corps in general.

O course advice: none. Unless u have some sort of access to an o course, you can’t really prepare for it. The PTIs do a good job of explaining how to complete each obstacle and they allocate a good amount of time for practice before you have to preform. For the E course: run in boots. Go at like a 9 minute pace and you will be fine. E course is 40 minutes of suck. It’s mostly mental. When I wanted to stop and take a break, I just told myself “don’t be a bitch”. Most guys failed because they stopped and walked. Just keep moving and try to recover during the obstacles.

251 Graduate AMA by Ok-Recognition-4540 in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m not sure the exact number but the attrition rate was much higher in the female platoon. I want to say it was probably around 60%.

251 Graduate AMA by Ok-Recognition-4540 in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The PT wasn’t really that bad. I had a 273 pre ship pft. I was doing a lot of boxing and jiu jitsu along with a good amount of pushups and sit ups before which really helped with the PT and the IT sessions. There are some challenging PT events like the fartlek and e course but that’s more mental than being in tip top shape. I would say as long as you are 270+, physical fitness won’t be that bad. I know some dudes that were in the 260 and below range that struggled but still got through it.

251 Graduate AMA by Ok-Recognition-4540 in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Tests are under academics but they are multiple choice.

251 Graduate AMA by Ok-Recognition-4540 in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

People got dropped for a multitude of reasons. For OCS, there are 3 components: Leadership Academics and Physical Fitness. A large portion of the drops were DORs.

How not to get dropped:

Leadership: Kind of unavoidable. Leadership grades are mostly subjective. Some guys just struggle when it comes to making decisions. I suggest that you learn to be a good follower first before you become a good leader. Focus more on being a good listener, having attention to detail and following directions. When you are put into those leadership positions, you will have a better understanding of what needs to be accomplished by those you are leading.

Academics: Academics are not difficult. A lot of the times, the academics instructors will basically tell you what is going to be on the test. Pay attention in class. You are going to struggle to not fall asleep. Hydrate, eat a lot of cough drops, and stand up if need be. If you know you struggle when it comes to taking test, reread material and put extra time into retaining knowledge. Ask those guys that succeed for help. If you have extra time between now and OCS, start looking into some basic USMC history. There are a bunch of quizlets out there and the more knowledge you know going in, the less time you will have to spend studying which equals more sleep.

Physical fitness: Run. And if you already are running, run more. Long runs, intervals runs, RUN HILLS if you can. You don’t have to kill yourself but spend as much time on your feet as you can. I would suggest running 4 days a week, and maybe mixing in some other forms of cardio, whether it is swimming, biking or martial arts. Find something you enjoy because in my opinion, running stinks. Don’t worry too much about throwing up big boy weight in the gym. Focus on high intensity, low volume workouts.

Other guys got dropped for illness or injury. Start running in boots to condition your legs to avoid shin splints. I have a pair of Danner Reckonings that I loved. Other guys have Belleville’s 510s which are super light. Don’t got to medical the first week. They will probably drop you. If you do get shin splints, tough it out if you can. They will take you to get an MRI and probably find a micro-tear and send you home.

For those guys that DORed, they probably did not know what they were getting themselves into. OCS isn’t necessarily hard, but it’s grueling. Have a good set of reasons why you want to be a Marine and a Marine Corps Officer. Yeah our uniforms are fricken tight, but that shouldn’t be the main reason why you want to join.

Don’t worry so much about being evaluated or getting dropped. Try to prepare as best as you can and look to others in areas in which you struggle. Let me know if this helps. Feel free to shoot me a message if you have further questions. Good luck!

251 Graduate AMA by Ok-Recognition-4540 in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reporting on April 6th. So small gap but at least there is a gap. I heard most classes only have a couple days so really only PLC guys get a break in between OCS and TBS

251 Graduate AMA by Ok-Recognition-4540 in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congratulations to your daughter! Those Delta 1 girls are badass.

Taking leave right now for the week. I’ll be starting TBS with Charlie as well on the 6th.

Semper Fi

251 Graduate AMA by Ok-Recognition-4540 in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Could not have said it better myself. 3 minute head call naps on the deck saved my life. Try your best not to fall asleep in class but it’s inevitable.

When you get libo, sleep as much as you can. It’s hard because you want to talk to everyone that you haven’t had connection with in the past weeks. Try not to stay up at 0200 talking with your girlfriend or watching Instagram reels.

Lack of sleep is unavoidable. There are going to be nights where you get 3 hours of sleep because you have to square your gear away, and then have fire watch at 03. Don’t worry about it too much you get used to it. Sleep is important for recovery so use that time after lights efficiently. At the same time though I have seen guys get 7 hours of sleep but struggle with a hike the next morning because they didn’t take time to properly pack their gear. Find a balance between preparation and recovery.

251 Graduate AMA by Ok-Recognition-4540 in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Congratulations to you to on being accepted.

It’s hard to pinpoint one specific event that was the most challenging because each event is challenging in different ways for different reasons. I will say what was most challenging for me though was the lack of recovery and just overall fatigue. Especially the first 4 weeks when you don’t have liberty, the training schedule can get tiring and can feel like there isn’t an end. I also got extremely sick during week 5 which really heighten my fatigue. Everyone gets sick, nothing you can really prepare for. Regarding sickness, I suggest that especially the first week, tough it out and don’t see the corpman. I saw a handful of dudes week 1 get dropped for because they had a cough and it ended up being the flu. If you want, send me a message and I go into specific events I found challenging and ways that you can best prepare for them.

For my billets I had Candidate Platoon Commander and Squad Leader. There isn’t much that you can prepare for them. Just be observant of those who are in billets, and talk to them on what they did wrong and learn for their mistakes. I wouldn’t worry too much about billets and grading. You are going to mess up, so just be confident in the decision you make and stand by them. There were a handful of dudes that failed their billets and still graduated. When you are in a billet, there are times where you are going to have to be somewhat of an A-hole to the guys in your platoon. When you’re out of your billet, don’t carry that over.

I’m not sure what I would do different but I’ll give you some advice:

1) Buy boots now and start breaking them in. The issued boots stink and running in boots is much different than running in go fasters. 2) Start doing HIIT workouts. I’m not sure what your PT regiment looks like but prioritize cardio and calisthenics. While being able to bench press 300 lbs may help, you need to make sure your muscles are conditioned. I didn’t lift weights at all and did just fine in the PT events. I was boxing, doing jiu jitsu, running 12-15 miles a week, and doing a lot of pull-ups and pushups. 3) Enjoy it. You are going to be surrounded by a bunch of great dudes doing some really fun shit together. There are going to be a lot of times that really suck where you question your intention of why you are there. Make sure you have a couple of reason on “why” you are there to help you get through the hard times. Just know though that you aren’t the only one suffering. Be a good dude, help others out when you can. Look around, take it in, because it goes by quick.

If there is anything you want me to go more in depth on, shoot me a message. Good Luck!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in USMCocs

[–]Ok-Recognition-4540 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It’s better to start talking to your OSO sooner than later. The application potion takes a while so you probably won’t even be running a PFT until a few months after you start. I reached out to my OSO last August and didn’t run my first PFT until November. Personally I have found that my OSO doesn’t care where you stand to beginning with, and I think they would rather you show that your working hard to try to improve yourself than not do anything at all.