USMA2020
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Thanks, but I would like to understand now. I am trying to get all of this so that I cal understand it, at least to some degree, since it is all so complicated.
New Army OML model released
- Thread starter AscoreD
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I agree with Aglahad on this one. From your screen name I assume you are in 9th grade, you have a long way to go before you will even be applying for a Scholarship or entering ROTC, and another 3 years after that to begin to be concerned with the OML. In 7 years the OML breakdown could very well look completely different then it does now, things change often in the the Military. Trying to understand today's OML won't help you 7 years from now.
The best thing for you to do right now is concentrate on High School, get good grades and participate in leadership and athletics.
USMA2020
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I just want a better grasp on what the OML is.
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You are very correct with this statement and 99% of the time it is true when talking about the PNW. Before LDAC, they briefed us on mosquito precaution and general animal safety. I kind of just laughed and thought it was the standard Army brief given for outdoors training and did not bring a mosquito net (they are no longer provided even though the CIF packing list might say they are). I mean after all I have pretty much lived here my entire life, shouldn't I have a grasp on the wildlife?
Wrong.
On our patrolling days we were taken to a location dubbed the "Vietnam Marshes" (Which I believe is ID'd on local maps still by 507 and Yelm/Roy) and apparently used for training in the 60s/70s in for deploying units to Vietnam. As we moved in through our travelling overwatch formation I started hearing buzzing by my ear which I thought was odd because I had not dealt with mosquito in any great severity within WA state. By nightfall I was being eaten alive.
For any reading, if LDAC does stay at Lewis (and I am sure this applies to Knox) bring one of those mesh nets or hats because you will use them.
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As Jcleppe said, memorizing the ins and out of the process is really unnecessary at your stage in the game. For all we know there might not be any OML 7 years down the road.
A brief synopsis of the OML would be a national ranking of cadets from 1-6XXX which factors in grades, extra currics, military schooling, evaluations, LDAC performance and PT to formulate the rankings. Within those rankings if you are high on the list you have a guaranteed or at the very least a better chance at getting your job in the Army.
To me this seems slightly obnoxious.
I dislike that they're giving more weight to the PMS stuff and less to LDAC. Favoritism plays heavily into PMS OML, and I feel that cadets should prove their worth to someone who doesn't know them, as opposed to schools where people will get chosen for their personalities or other non-leadership related traits.
The PT thing seems fine, but I also dislike that the Land Nav is weighted a lot less. It separated cadets who could perform basic crucial soldiering skills from those who couldn't. That was a useful metric.
I dislike that they're giving more weight to the PMS stuff and less to LDAC. Favoritism plays heavily into PMS OML, and I feel that cadets should prove their worth to someone who doesn't know them, as opposed to schools where people will get chosen for their personalities or other non-leadership related traits.
The PT thing seems fine, but I also dislike that the Land Nav is weighted a lot less. It separated cadets who could perform basic crucial soldiering skills from those who couldn't. That was a useful metric.
EDelahanty
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You may want to reconsider your use of the word "obnoxious." The change appears to be a slight change in the relative weighting of the PMS evaluation and LDAC performance. it is not huge and is certainly not intended to be very annoying, offensive or odious. I do agree that the removal of land navigation is puzzling.
Even with the change the PMS component of the OML score is much lower than the equivalent AFROTC score.
LDAC has it's share of subjective grading, the TAC's are not the same for every platoon, and rotate. While one squad may have an easy grader, the next may have an extremely hard grader.
The cadre have the luxury of seeing the cadet over 3 years, even while there are often changes in cadre members.
Not sure what you mean by cadets being chosen by personality related traits, what are they being chosen for. The OMS scoring by the Battalion is for the most part "Check the boxes" with added comments.
bfrat93
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You know, we talked about that during Army 102 class last week. GPS is not always reliable. Map reading will always be a part of training. Put it this way: if our forces are deployed in some distant location and the enemy has the capability to knock out our satalites, what happens if no one can read maps and we loose our ability to use GPS? I would say that qualifies as a FUBAR situation.
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One might, but then access to training facilities vary by battalion... so I would expect varying results. University of South Carolina, for example, has ready access to Ft. Jackson, including the Land Nav course. I know NROTC and I assume AROTC train there regularly on lab days. I doubt Harvard/MIT, or some other major metropolitan unit, has that option.
Kinnem is right, every school does there Land Nav Practice under different conditions.
My son's school does there Land Nav in the mountains, very difficult, cadets often have a hard time finding the minimum number of points. These same cadets seem to do well at Ft. Lewis because the course is flat.
My son just completed Winter Mountain Warfare School, as it turned out the practice they do at school paid off, while many failed the Land Nav at MWS, they use a combination of Compass and Altimeter, he was able to find 5 out of 5.
Even though Land Nav at LDAC will not, for now, count toward the OMS, you can be confident that the scores at the battalion level will weigh heavy in the battalion OML. Depending on what the cadet branches, Infantry for example, there will be a great deal of focus on Land Nav during IBOLC and Ranger School. I really don't see these new LT's being lost in the woods.
Here is something on Land Nav for 2013
looks like cadets will be tracked via GPS?
and some sort of vehicle land nav, is that new?
Land Nav 2013 Link
looks like cadets will be tracked via GPS?
and some sort of vehicle land nav, is that new?
Land Nav 2013 Link
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Marine stuff is a little different, but at TBS Lieutenants aren't allowed to have GPS until after final land nav (~3+ months in) and need to use map and compass to find their way around during both land nav events and field exercises (this can quickly turn into the stuff of nightmares during, say, platoon night attacks).
As you alluded to, using a GPS sucks you into just looking at that and your map rather than actually gaining any situational awareness or terrain association. It's funny watching people walking in these crazy convoluted paths to follow their GPS track when it'd be easier for them to just look up and say "Oh okay, I can just follow that draw over there."
GPS has a lot of valuable functions and you'd better believe I geardo'd out as soon as possible and picked up a Garmin Foretrex, but there's still a lot of value in forcing cadets/LTs to go out there and get good and lost.
USMA2020
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OK, thanks. That is kind of what I wanted to know. Just enough that I don't get confused when I hear about it.
I noticed with this slide show that there is no mention of a written land navigation test. Does anyone have any insight to this as to if we will be taking one or not?