What happens if I fail OCS?

[devillords]

I am currently under a 09S enlistment and I was wondering what it means on my contract. "If I fail to complete the OCS program, I will be ordered to advance individual training or discharged without board action or appeal." Do I get an option of choosing weather to leave the army or not, if I fail to complete OCS?

[Polo08816]

I am currently under a 09S enlistment and I was wondering what it means on my contract. "If I fail to complete the OCS program, I will be ordered to advance individual training or discharged without board action or appeal." Do I get an option of choosing weather to leave the army or not, if I fail to complete OCS?

Depends on your state.

[o13starsnstripes]

I am currently under a 09S enlistment and I was wondering what it means on my contract. "If I fail to complete the OCS program, I will be ordered to advance individual training or discharged without board action or appeal." Do I get an option of choosing weather to leave the army or not, if I fail to complete OCS?

Look just trust me on the following: Getting kicked out of the Army is NEVER a good thing! You need to think long term and I mean VERY long term here. This is something that can seriously help advanced you and your family in life.

[Mongoose772]

I wish I knew more about your particular situation, but the tone of your two posts highly suggests that you have not adopted the mindframe that will make you successful at either OCS or as a commissioned officer. I admire you for your honesty, but I can not stress enough that the development of an Army leader leaves no room for mental reservations. (Which is part of what you will affirm during your Oath of Office). Why not reconsider OCS for now and simply attend an enlisted AIT that is suitable to you? The committment isn't nearly so weighty, and you can take time to acclimate to the Army and National Guard, and contemplate your future potential as a leader. OCS has a high attrition rate of 30-35%, perhaps more in some classes...If you do not feel both mentally and physically prepared failure is nearly a foregone conclusion. Take the ethical high ground and spare both yourself and the Guard the disservice of failure. The future will remain open to you without prejeduce, and your career will not be tainted from the start.

[devillords]

I have to say that it seems as soon as I came back from basic, my family and friends suddenly lost support about my decision to join the Army to begin with. Along with the difficulty balancing college, work, personal life and drill.

I came back from basic physically and mentally strong but these last few weeks being questioned by everyone, has me in a disarray state.

[o13starsnstripes]

I wish I knew more about your particular situation, but the tone of your two posts highly suggests that you have not adopted the mindframe that will make you successful at either OCS or as a commissioned officer. I admire you for your honesty, but I can not stress enough that the development of an Army leader leaves no room for mental reservations. (Which is part of what you will affirm during your Oath of Office). Why not reconsider OCS for now and simply attend an enlisted AIT that is suitable to you? The committment isn't nearly so weighty, and you can take time to acclimate to the Army and National Guard, and contemplate your future potential as a leader. OCS has a high attrition rate of 30-35%, perhaps more in some classes...If you do not feel both mentally and physically prepared failure is nearly a foregone conclusion. Take the ethical high ground and spare both yourself and the Guard the disservice of failure. The future will remain open to you without prejeduce, and your career will not be tainted from the start.

+ 1 Billion

[iambrian90]

I have to say that it seems as soon as I came back from basic, my family and friends suddenly lost support about my decision to join the Army to begin with. Along with the difficulty balancing college, work, personal life and drill.

I came back from basic physically and mentally strong but these last few weeks being questioned by everyone, has me in a disarray state.

you are in college, so i assume you are talking about your parents when you say family.. I was in the same boat, I basically told my parents hey, i am an adult, I can make my own decisions, and this is one of them. From that point on they were ok with me being in the army, and my dad actually gets all kinds of enjoyment out of learning about what I do (he is a history teacher). My mom still isnt thrilled about it, but I told her to get over it and gave her a birthday present.. It takes time, but quitting the military is going to have lifetime effects on your life, such as every job you apply for that asks if you have ever been other than honorably discharged. you will have to say yes, and then kiss that pretty college degree goodbye and have fun flipping burgers. Moral of the story, Get your head in it, ignore your family for a bit if you have to, finish your finals, and get on with life.

[NY ARNG Woodard]

If one fails OCS, I imagine you can still choose which AIT school you want to go to, right? I'm curious because I'm also enlisting for 09S, and since the attrition rate is so high, I think it's natural for anyone to think "What happens if I fail out?" So, if I did fail out but opted to go to AIT instead of discharge, does that reflect negatively on me throughout my Army career?

[Mongoose772]

SPC Woodard, I'm afraid that is not accurate advice to our OP regarding an inferred "Other than Honerable" discharge. While seperation would incur a less than perect reenlistment (RE) code, there is no reason that he would obtain a OTH, General or Dishonerable discharge. So the burger flipping comment is a non-sequitor. To answer your question, when you enlisted as an 09S you also picked both a secondary and tertiary enlisted MOS. Sometimes this is essentially arbitrarily assigned to you by the Recruiter, but either way you have alternate choices already in your enlistment packet. In the event you don't progress through all phases of OCS, or have another unforseen roadblock that thwarts your federal recognition you can continue on to an AIT. As long as you were not discharged from OCS with predjeduce (typically reserved for honor code violations and other significant ethical infractions) you may be able to return to the last phase you were in prior to voluntary or involuntary course disenrolement. Does it reflect negatively? That is a matter of subjective opinion. OCS is a challenging course, and not everyone is ready for it. Some people will never be ready for it. Deep introspection, mental and physical preparedness, and motivation certainly go a long way to prepare youo to succeed. If not, you may be inclined to try again in the future. Either way, failure will not hinder your future success unless you let it.

[Polo08816]

SPC Woodard, I'm afraid that is not accurate advice to our OP regarding an inferred "Other than Honerable" discharge. While seperation would incur a less than perect reenlistment (RE) code, there is no reason that he would obtain a OTH, General or Dishonerable discharge. So the burger flipping comment is a non-sequitor. To answer your question, when you enlisted as an 09S you also picked both a secondary and tertiary enlisted MOS. Sometimes this is essentially arbitrarily assigned to you by the Recruiter, but either way you have alternate choices already in your enlistment packet. In the event you don't progress through all phases of OCS, or have another unforseen roadblock that thwarts your federal recognition you can continue on to an AIT. As long as you were not discharged from OCS with predjeduce (typically reserved for honor code violations and other significant ethical infractions) you may be able to return to the last phase you were in prior to voluntary or involuntary course disenrolement. Does it reflect negatively? That is a matter of subjective opinion. OCS is a challenging course, and not everyone is ready for it. Some people will never be ready for it. Deep introspection, mental and physical preparedness, and motivation certainly go a long way to prepare youo to succeed. If not, you may be inclined to try again in the future. Either way, failure will not hinder your future success unless you let it.

Supposedly...


... I can tell you that we sure as heck don't send our best officers in the BN to become TACs at OCS. While you should send your best officers to teach others how to become officers, this simply isn't the case. The BN sends people there so they don't get others killed when we actually deploy.

[Chief Kemosabe]

If one fails OCS, I imagine you can still choose which AIT school you want to go to, right? I'm curious because I'm also enlisting for 09S, and since the attrition rate is so high, I think it's natural for anyone to think "What happens if I fail out?" So, if I did fail out but opted to go to AIT instead of discharge, does that reflect negatively on me throughout my Army career?

No, it would not. If you fail out; it will permanently reside in your ATRRS transcript but never disclosed from there. Many leaders have failed OCS, Ranger School and other schools that reflects positively for their career goals. If I would have had the mindset of letting a failure set me back; I would be out of the military today or left the service as an E-1. And I am still going strong. I will retire as an active duty soldier/officer and that was never my intention.

You will do fine.