How is OCS (Army Officer Candidate School)?
This is the first of a series of articles that I will be writing about Army OCS (Officer Candidate School), which I have had the privilege of attending and completing (the photo above is of me). Before I get into the details, I would like to note a couple of important things. Mind you, EVERY OCS CLASS IS DIFFERENT DEPENDING ON YOUR CADRE!!! If you are not familiar with the word Cadre, it is another word for your OCS class instructors.
Before we get further into this subject, if you are trying to make a decision on whether or not to join the military feel free to read my experience here.
Every OCS class is structured differently
One thing I can say that will ease your mind is that OCS is not hard, it is designed for you to pass.
Royce King @ thedailynook@gmail.com
To be honest I would avoid asking people about their OCS experience and rely on information that guys like Alvin the Director put out, click here for a link to his vlog, which is unbiased and more direct than others on YouTube. No OCS class is the same, for example:
- 2 years ago the History test was the first event followed by Land Navigation then STX. We did the History Test last and it did not count towards our OML when it used to in previous classes.
- The history test used to have short answer questions with true and false and multiple choice, ours was only multiple choice.
- The class after us graduated a week early due to their follow-on course, BOLC (Basic Officer Leadership Course), needing them to come earlier.
- The class before us spent only one day on OPORDS while we spent a whole week on it.
- To summarize, it is pointless to ask other people about their experience with OCS, what to expect, or how to prepare because every class is different.
One thing I can say that will ease your mind is that OCS is not hard, it is designed for you to pass. There were people in our class that were not necessarily high on the IQ scale, but somehow, they still made it through. There are vloggers on YouTube that make it seem like OCS is soooo hardddd………it is not.
My issue with OCS YouTube Vloggers
Basically, if you can read, pay attention, and listen to your cadre OCS will be a breeze.
Royce King @ thedailynook@gmail.com
I enjoy some of kidthndr2’s(aka Dominique Kimbrough) videos, but he is one of the people that stressed me the hell out about OCS when I watched his videos before going to basic training. Being that he has the most popular OCS videos on YouTube he also stressed a lot of the people I was going to OCS with since he made the course seem terribly difficult. I was in the company that was rumored to be the hardest and most ridiculous since our commander was, for the lack of other words, not very pleasant and liked to make the course as inconvenient as possible. This commander was also there when Kid Thunder was going through OCS, so it is a fact when I say that OCS is not hard. Basically, if you can read, pay attention, and listen to your cadre OCS will be a breeze.
Every single person who I know that went through OCS said it was a breeze and agreed that Kid Thunder’s OCS vlogs unnecessarily stressed them out. I would say avoid his Vlogs and watch Alvin the Director’s vlogs instead like I have mentioned earlier.
Royce King @ thedailynook@gmail.com
In almost every single Kid Thunder OCS vlog, he looks absolutely defeated, exhausted and his behavior indicates that OCS is amazingly difficult & draining him of his life force. This was not only my opinion, but the opinion of a lot of my OCS classmates who watched his videos. His follow up videos a year out of OCS is also extremely depressing with him talking about not staying in the military and seeming to be extremely depressed. I would say take his experience with a grain of salt, especially since he picked an extremely high stress branch, quartermaster, which I was personally warned against choosing by a former college classmate due to his experience with the branch. Every single person who I know that went through OCS said it was a breeze and agreed that Kid Thunder’s OCS vlogs unnecessarily stressed them out. I would say avoid his Vlogs and watch Alvin the Director’s vlogs instead like I have mentioned earlier. He mirrors my points and shares the opinion that this class is designed for you to pass.
Feel free to read my other OCS articles, such as my Land Navigation one, to get a better idea of what you can expect when attending OCS. If you have any additional questions feel free to email me at thedailynook@gmail.com or leave a comment on this article.