Marine OCS- "It's supposed to be Hard"

[bruno]

"Many would-be Marines find that Officer Candidates School requires a leap out of the mainstream and into a subculture like no other"...
"Becoming a Marine -- especially for candidates such as Colby, with no prior military experience -- requires a leap out of the mainstream into a rough, demanding subculture. It is no surprise, then, that the official reason many candidates don't cut it at Quantico is summed up in three words: "Failure to adapt."

Pretty good article about Marine OCS on the link below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/30/AR2009113003273.html?hpid=artslot

 

[Capt MJ]

Ditto, excellent series of articles. Just read the latest in the series tonight.

 

[SubSquid]

Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. Code shared by submariners and Marines and the last words out of my mouth as my candidate went through TSA in Philly on his way to start Juniors last May.

At his graduation on 2 July, he was beaming with pride. Over his right pocket of his desert Marpats was his embroidered name tape and over his left blouse pocket was U. S. Marines. It marked the first time in six weeks that they were permitted to consider themselves anything other than Candidate... the lowest form of existence, three steps lower than whale poop. Yeah, it is hard.

PLC (Platoon Leader Course) is an alternative for those that are not chosen for a SA and choose to go to a civilian institution. If the desire is service in the military, ROTC and OCS(OTC) assention programs pin on the same butter bars when the degree program is complete and the oath is taken. They will follow the same path as SA grads and will have the same opportunity to succeed as officers. I urge all candidates to seriously put together plan two and plan three in the event that triple qualified with nomination ends up with the Thin White Envelope.

Oh, and Candidate DH is all amped up for PLC Seniors!

 

[sealion]

Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. Code shared by submariners and Marines and the last words out of my mouth as my candidate went through TSA in Philly on his way to start Juniors last May.

At his graduation on 2 July, he was beaming with pride. Over his right pocket of his desert Marpats was his embroidered name tape and over his left blouse pocket was U. S. Marines. It marked the first time in six weeks that they were permitted to consider themselves anything other than Candidate... the lowest form of existence, three steps lower than whale poop. Yeah, it is hard.

PLC (Platoon Leader Course) is an alternative for those that are not chosen for a SA and choose to go to a civilian institution. If the desire is service in the military, ROTC and OCS(OTC) assention programs pin on the same butter bars when the degree program is complete and the oath is taken. They will follow the same path as SA grads and will have the same opportunity to succeed as officers. I urge all candidates to seriously put together plan two and plan three in the event that triple qualified with nomination ends up with the Thin White Envelope.

Oh, and Candidate DH is all amped up for PLC Seniors!

Your son should be proud. Thank him for me

 

[Just_A_Mom]

Great Article - I wonder if Colby read Nate Fick's book, "One Bullet Away". The beginning describes his journey from Dartmouth to OCS - the parallels are striking.

SubSquid - glad to hear the update on your son, I am so pleased to hear he is doing well. Give him many thanks!