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beatupoldjock
August 10th, 2008, 02:26 PM
Greetings. My son joined the California National Guard last month. I have been reading this forum for several weeks now and have found it quite helpful in gaining an understanding of the Guard. I have done quite a few searches on the forum, but I still have a few questions with regard to timing and logistics of my son’s training. Here is some background information regarding my son:

He is 27 yrs old with a bachelor’s degree. He joined as an O9S with the intent of becoming an officer. He has no prior military experience. His ASVAB was a 99 with a GT Score of 134, I believe. He begins RSP training next week-end. His Basic training is scheduled for March 2, 09 at Fort Jackson. He is currently involved in a training program for his employer that will not end until Nov. He was told during the recruitment process that the AOCS program was not likely to be a good option for him due to his lack of prior service. He was advised that he would either go through the traditional state or federal programs for OCS.
Here are my questions:
1) Since he will not return from basic until mid to late May, and there is a requirement to do Phase 0 before OCS, will he likely miss the June Phase 1 OCS training and have to train an additional 12 months in Phase 0 weekends before starting OCS?
2) Would he be a good candidate for Federal OCS training due to the timing? If so, would he go straight from basic to OCS or would he still need to return to California for Phase 0? How likely is it that the State will pay the extra money to send him to Fort Benning?
3) Is there a chance they would move up his BCT training to Jan 09 to avoid these timing issues? How likely is it that it would happen?
4) Apparently his ASVAB and GT scores were fairly high. Will that have any bearing on the timing of his training?

Sorry for the long winded post, but I wanted to try an provide enough information to elicit a well informed answer. Thanks in advance for you help.

SPC Ski
August 10th, 2008, 02:50 PM
Ma'am

First thanks to your son for stepping up to the plate. You should be very proud. Second, I don't have the answers to all of your questions, as they are officer related, but I can answer two of them.

3. He can request to move his start date for Basic up to Jan 09, and in theory, this shouldn't be a problem, as in BCT, summer is the peak time. It all depends on the number of slots that California has for the school. I think that California Captian may be able to help you alittle more with this, and your first two questions.

4. 99 on the AFQT is not fairly good, it's completely AWSOME, WOW that is the top score, again you should be proud. It does open door to him that may not be open to other in the Army, but no, it does not put him at the front of the line. Sorry.

Good luck, and you may want to PM California Captian to bring his attention to your thread.

grandseahawk
August 11th, 2008, 12:22 PM
wow, deja vu!

I posted similar questions a while back.

Here's what I learned about the Phase Zero: You do not need to complete all of it. If he gets out of BCT in the middle of Phase Zero, he will complete as much as he can before State OCS begins in June. I will be in Fort Jackson on March 3, 3009, so, I will be in the same boat. I spoke to several LTs who finished the California program. They informed me they did not do all of Phase Zero either. They did confirm that they did have some catching up to do, but nothing major.

For me it's do or die. I have to start start State OCS in June 2009 or I will not graduate before I turn 42. I spoke to a lot of people with a lot of opinions. And, the one thing I found in common was that Phase Zero was more of a prep class; it's very helpfull but not absolutely required.

CPT Burritt
August 11th, 2008, 12:56 PM
As was said, the Soldiers up here are not required to complete any of Phase 0, so that won't be an issue. It is an opportunity to "get smart" prior to the start of OCS.

As for AOCS: I'm not sure how it is in your state, but my state conducts a board to see if there are any candidates who would fit the AOCS model. Normally we look for prior service candidates, someone who is already familiar with military schooling. Funding is also a significant consideration.

Welcome to the Guard Family.

beatupoldjock
August 11th, 2008, 01:36 PM
Thanks to all for your quick and knowledgeable responses. Yes, his mother and I are very proud of him. I have to admit we had some concerns and trepidations regarding his decision to serve. I guess that is a parent’s natural first response when one volunteers to potentially put himself in harm’s way. But, now that he has made his decision, we want to support him 100%.

I may have overstepped my bounds a bit by posting this question. My son is not too concerned about the timing issues. He told me yesterday that he is ready to do the training where, when and how he is told, to best suit the needs of the Guard. He reminded me that his recruitment experience with the Sergeant, Lt. and Maj., who have worked with him thus far, has been excellent. He trusts that they will assign him to the best training program that will assure his success.

He said he would discuss the timing issue with the recruiting Lt at some point in the future. Whatever timing was determined to be best was fine with him as he is in it for the long run. Thanks again for your responses.