How do you fail OCS?

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smith95

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Aug 13, 2018
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Hi guys,

As my title asks, how or why might someone fail ocs? Specifically Marine OCS? How badly do you have to do in order for this to happen? If I struggle with PT, do I get sent home? If I fall out of a ruck? If it happens more than once? If I fail a quiz? Basically, how badly do I have to mess up in order to be dropped? The guidelines aren’t clearly stated anywhere, so I wanted to get some clarity.

Thanks!
 
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You can fail ocs in many ways .
1. You could fail the academic tests.
2. You could fail the obstacle course, if you fail to get up the rope in plc after a certain amount of times then you get dropped.
3. You could drop on request because it probably isn’t for you.
4. If your evaluations are bad from your peers or your instructors that could get you dropped.
5. If you struggle with pt, lets say you fail a pt tests twice, you can get sent home. In plc, during long runs, if you fell out of a long run to often that reflected badly on peer Evals.

There are many other ways you could fail but don’t worry about failing. Worry about getting the maxes.
 
@smith95: A strange question. Not sure of your motivation for posting it but in addition to Anguswarrior112's comments I would add integrity violations. For a point of reference, here are the results of my son's OCS summer training in 2014 as outlined by the Commanding Officer on graduation weekend:
USMCGrunt said:
22% failed to complete the course. According to the CO’s brief: “147 NROTC candidates arrived at OCS, 138 began training with Company L of that 108 (78.26%) are scheduled to graduate this cycle; compared to 131 of 170 (77.1%) that graduated from Company G in 2d Inc Summer 2013.” The reasons provided were: DOR (2), Not Physically Qualified (3), Performance issues (21) and Integrity issues (4) = 30 drops.
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And then there was the guy who hauled off and took a swing at the Sgt Instructor. He was gone within the hour.

There are always some folks who fail. Some years/classes it's a large number. Just do your best to be physically prepared (probably a 285+ PFT) and stay awake during classes so you can grasp the material. They will teach you everything you need to know. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other so to speak.
 
Ok, thanks. I ask because it seems that so many people drop and I just wasn’t sure why...I was curious what the standards of failure are - if candidates just weren’t motivated or in good enough shape, or if really good and motivated candidates can get dropped for seemingly small issues.
 
Candidates are dropped because they have "earned it" by not being prepared mentally, physically, or morally. The staff is not going to pass someone through if they feel that individual will not be a good Marine Officer. What is a "seemingly small issue" to you may be a significant issue to the professional staff who are charged with running this course.
 
Agree, this is a weird question. There’s an expression in sports that goes something like, “That team is playing to not lose, instead of playing to win.” There’s also the concept of self-fulfilling prophesy. Better to focus your energy on winning, rather than on not losing.
 
While on the topic I thought I'd share this quote I love from a Sgt Instructor...
“The best back home may be just good enough to barely make it here. When you come here you have to manage your expectations both for success and for failure. You will fail. You will succeed. How you handle success and how you handle failure is a demonstration of character as to whether or not you have what it takes to be a Marine Officer.” -- OCS Sergeant Instructor
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So... they expect you to have some failures. One thing they want to see is will you pick yourself up and continue the mission.
 
Smith,
My advice to you (and I hope this helps): Do your very best in all aspects and do not focus on the areas in which you could potentially "fail" because you'll focus on that instead of succeeding and excelling. Another word of advice: You will fall short, BUT Never, Never quit! Even if you think you're "border-line" or not doing well in certain aspects, make them KICK YOU OUT, but don't willingly leave or ever give up. As long as you are motivated and keep your head down and keep pressing forward, YOU WILL succeed!
 
smith95 said:
Hi guys,

As my title asks, how or why might someone fail ocs? Specifically Marine OCS? How badly do you have to do in order for this to happen? If I struggle with PT, do I get sent home? If I fall out of a ruck? If it happens more than once? If I fail a quiz? Basically, how badly do I have to mess up in order to be dropped? The guidelines aren’t clearly stated anywhere, so I wanted to get some clarity.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Do it all! Exceed at everything!

Even if you don't succeed (I won't say the word "fail"), you'll know you've given it your all. No later doubts.

Semper Fi
 
Would also throw out there to be extremely careful about integrity violations. DoD has gotten beat up pretty bad due to bad ethical decisions by officers over the past 10-15 years. I've seen a sharp swing towards zero tolerance for integrity failures, especially in officer training. Similar to the massive increase in sexual assault prevention training, DoD seems to be actively working to prevent this trending in a further negative direction. Most of the time, they will just send you home - no recourse, no real appeal or second chance.
 
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