Finally back from AOCS!!!

[Marine2Guard]

Just got back from AOCS in Alabama, commissioned yesterday. If anyone has any questions I'll answer with the painful truth. :D Hope everyone has been doing well since my last visit.

[OCSAllTheWay]

Congrats! I should be on track to attend this winter. Anything extra special or anything that's changed since the last class thread?

[smiggs]

Do you get evenings and Sundays off or is it just 8 weeks of full on training?

What would you say is the hardest part for most people: the physical demands or the tasks that they expect you to accomplish?

What is the average age of someone who is attending AOCS?

I am planning on going to OCS sometime next year if I get my packet squared away and am kinda leaning towards AOCS so I'm interested in how it went for you.

Thanks!

[cyall]

Do you get evenings and Sundays off or is it just 8 weeks of full on training?

What would you say is the hardest part for most people: the physical demands or the tasks that they expect you to accomplish?

What is the average age of someone who is attending AOCS?

I am planning on going to OCS sometime next year if I get my packet squared away and am kinda leaning towards AOCS so I'm interested in how it went for you.

Thanks!

No days off...ever. At AOCS you are taking what Benning teaches and doing it in about half the time. Your day starts at 0400 and ends at 2300. Unless you have an assignment you need to finish then days tend to run together.

The hardest part is getting about four hours of sleep for weeks and having to think and lead at the same time.

Avg age probably early thirties.

Best advice I can give is get the OC Guide and know chaps 3 and 9 cold before you leave. Also, be in shape. We had to score a 250 to avoid remedial PT, and trust me you don't want anything extra to do at AOCS.

[Marine2Guard]

Smiggs,
Everything Cyall siad is 100% accurate, he and I graduated together.

I am planning on putting together a list of items that made my life a little easier and will post them soon, Cyall if you have anything to add please do so.

[taseal]

Please do that Marine2Guard!

I'm close to getting my citizenship, and as soon as I get the citizenship, I'll be aplying to OCS!!

What kind of stuff do you do? physical demands? alot of PT?

alot of classroom stuff? What kind of stuff do they teach?

so it's like Benning for 9 weeks straight with less sleep, and more classroom stuff? lol

[Diesel]

Here's a question: what company/platoon/squad were you in?

I kept wondering if some Internet stranger would find me down there. I guess the nametapes hiding under LBV's made that difficult.

Phase I may have been more fun. Cleaning my SAW for 11 straight hours didn't make it better.

Congrats, LT. Our ceremony is this weekend.

[ocs4me]

congrats on making it through. I'll be going to the January class in Alabama. Looking forward to hearing more of what you have to say about your time there.

[Marine2Guard]

Here's a question: what company/platoon/squad were you in?

I kept wondering if some Internet stranger would find me down there. I guess the nametapes hiding under LBV's made that difficult.

Phase I may have been more fun. Cleaning my SAW for 11 straight hours didn't make it better.

Congrats, LT. Our ceremony is this weekend.

I was looking for you but like you said the LBV's and rucks made it difficult to know who was who.

During phase III I was with Charlie company 4th platoon 2nd squad.

Sorry about the SAW, my buddy told me how bad it was.

Congrats to you in advance LT Fuller

[cyall]

Here's a question: what company/platoon/squad were you in?

I kept wondering if some Internet stranger would find me down there. I guess the nametapes hiding under LBV's made that difficult.

Phase I may have been more fun. Cleaning my SAW for 11 straight hours didn't make it better.

Congrats, LT. Our ceremony is this weekend.

I was B Co 1 Plt 1 Sqd I think that AL mafia guy was between our lockers. Have fun at your ceremony. The SAW cleaning was rough. Tell Halliday hello for me.

[Marine2Guard]

Please do that Marine2Guard!

I'm close to getting my citizenship, and as soon as I get the citizenship, I'll be aplying to OCS!!

What kind of stuff do you do? physical demands? alot of PT?

alot of classroom stuff? What kind of stuff do they teach?

so it's like Benning for 9 weeks straight with less sleep, and more classroom stuff? lol

AOCS is broken into 3 phases;

First phase is mostly physical (lots of smoke sessions), you will also need to know all of the information in chapters 3 and 9 of the OC guide. This phase is 2 weeks long.

Second phase is mostly classroom time (with smoke sessions thrown in whenever needed). Topics covered include, Military Justice, Military History, Military Inteligence, Call for Fire, Leadership, and a couple of others that I can't recall.

Third phase is mostly field operations, which can be very physically demanding.

[Diesel]

I was B Co 1 Plt 1 Sqd I think that AL mafia guy was between our lockers. Have fun at your ceremony. The SAW cleaning was rough. Tell Halliday hello for me.

You gotta be kidding me! Is that my hoochmate? Have any nightmares about MAJ Seacow sneaking up on you with his bright red Beacon o' Death?

How's the wife and kid?

Figure the odds.

And yeah, I'll pass on your hello to Shrek. He entertained me the whole way home.

Oh - and PM me your address in whatever backwater Mississippi mudhole you come from. I still owe you a pair of socks.

[cyall]

You gotta be kidding me! Is that my hoochmate? Have any nightmares about MAJ Seacow sneaking up on you with his bright red Beacon o' Death?

How's the wife and kid?

Figure the odds.

And yeah, I'll pass on your hello to Shrek. He entertained me the whole way home.

Oh - and PM me your address in whatever backwater Mississippi mudhole you come from. I still owe you a pair of socks.

It's me. THe Seacow has not bothered my thoughts. I do want to know what type of light that was. It was about two lumens short of being a laser beam.

The family is great. My daughter allows me to hold her for up to 30 seconds now. I'm just glad she has stopped bursting into tears every time I speak to her. PM sent.

[Marine2Guard]

You gotta be kidding me! Is that my hoochmate? Have any nightmares about MAJ Seacow sneaking up on you with his bright red Beacon o' Death?

And yeah, I'll pass on your hello to Shrek. He entertained me the whole way home.


Let me guess Maj Seacow's last name just might be Nelson?

Oh you had to ride back with Halliday, I am sorry. He was in my phase II platoon and we had to sing the spongebob song every night to out TACS because of him, tell him Vicars says he's still my sunshine. He'll understand. :cool:

[Rebel_Guard]

Welcome back and congrats to all of y'all. I'll have a bunch of questions in about 4 months when I get back from Basic.

[OCSAllTheWay]

Hate to break up the party but I have questions! :D

Other than the obvious (sand table kit, OPORD cards, etc), what are good things to bring to OCS to get a leg up on everything?

Also, how hard is the land nav course? (i.e. underbrush and bogs everywhere compared to a few pine trees and no hills) Kinda rusty on the land nav, although I have until January!

Finally, is there something you wish you would have known going into OCS that would have been useful?

[Marine2Guard]

Hate to break up the party but I have questions! :D

Other than the obvious (sand table kit, OPORD cards, etc), what are good things to bring to OCS to get a leg up on everything?

Also, how hard is the land nav course? (i.e. underbrush and bogs everywhere compared to a few pine trees and no hills) Kinda rusty on the land nav, although I have until January!

Finally, is there something you wish you would have known going into OCS that would have been useful?

I just finished my OC's guide of items to bring to OCS so hopefully that should answer question #1.

The land nav course was pretty bad when we were there but the heat probably made it seem worse then it was (120 degrees with the heat index). Some of the courses you'll run before your test are really overgrown and almost impossible to walk a straight line, so practice boxing out around obstacles.

Know every single word of chapters 3 and 9 of the OC guide before you get there.

[OCSAllTheWay]

I just finished my OC's guide of items to bring to OCS so hopefully that should answer question #1.

The land nav course was pretty bad when we were there but the heat probably made it seem worse then it was (120 degrees with the heat index). Some of the courses you'll run before your test are really overgrown and almost impossible to walk a straight line, so practice boxing out around obstacles.

Know every single word of chapters 3 and 9 of the OC guide before you get there.

So all the procedures (AND BUTTER!) and all the required knowledge? Cool. I've already started studying the OC Guide plus a different FM every month as well.

[ca-arng wife]

What activities were planned around graduation?

[Marine2Guard]

What activities were planned around graduation?

Every state had different plans for their graduation.