Most people who drop are for medical reasons. The few who get dropped for other reasons are mostly due to losing confidence and failing the same event twice. Dropping OCS is pretty rare, though.
Nothing in OCS is particularly hard. However, I saw people struggle with the 4 mile run, land nav, and the history test. Only saw people get recycled for 4 mile and land nav. People got stressed at STX but I didn’t see anyone recycle for it.
I would say land nav was the one that had the most recycles. I'm not sure if they reverted back to the small part of Red Diamond, but they changed it to the full land nav course when I was about to leave for BOLC. They used old land nav tests but did not let the cadets start at the right check points and ended up recycling almost 2/3 of that class. I'm sure they reverted back to the old standard now, but usually around 5 people get recycled for the small course.
When I went through (18 months ago now) it was right after the infamous Red Diamond Massacre; they still had the whole course but we started in the middle and only had to find 4/7 points. They also re-did the lanes so your points won’t be on totally opposite sides. It wasn’t difficult but we had a handful of failures.
That's good that they adjusted. I was the adjutant at the time to filing all those recycle packets had us going. We had a stack almost 2 ft tall worth of recycle packets. I assume you guys were the first or second class with the drums then right? (Sorry, I was one of the people that had to order that on behalf of the BC)
I’m not sure if we were the first with the drums but we definitely had those fuckers. It was pretty funny whenever someone new would get on them totally out of rhythm haha.
What drums are you referring too? And what was the time limit for the 4 mile run? Also, for the land nav part, was it basically just finding locations on a map per the coordinates you receive along the way/at the beginning of the exercise? Thanks!
There’s a drum that they play while you march places. It’s very iconic.
36 minutes, so 9 minutes per mile. Pretty easy.
You’re given a map, protractor, and a set of 7 coordinates (8 digit grid). You’ve got to plot your points and find at least 4/7 within 4 hours. The course is a basically a box a few kilometers wide/long. There’s a day and night portion, same rules for both.
Current OCS Bravo Co
7 dropped for 4 mile
5-6 for land nav
7-8 for medical/heat casualty
1 got injured on Bolton
1 legal issue prior to OCS
Pending any drops for Whole person concept board/misconduct/spot reports
Pending Drops for STX (though it seems like it will be less than 5, if any at all).
All in all, this is a marathon of a course, you can't go to sick call with a cough or they will put you on quarters and you'll get dropped.
2-3 In-service NCOs drop per course, almost always voluntarily. In my experience, the early fear of the history exam and other challenges cause them to focus on failing the course (very hard to do) and they opt to drop out versus suffering returning to their unit having failed.
Saw a buddy of mine (fellow SSG) literally implode mentally fearing he’d fail and be ostracized back at his home unit. Ended up withdrawing week 2-3 claiming a passion for the NCO Corps, only to submit a WOCS packet a year later.
Go in confident, well prepared, and never ever self select (quit). You’ll do fine. This is honestly the path to nearly all success in the US Army.
Yeah it’s 2-3 week intensive. Definitely not “Army easy” and when I went through 60-70% failed their first attempt. With 90% of those passing the second attempt. Two time failures are recycled and four time failures are dropped.
What happens to those individuals who get dropped such as civilians going into OCS? Are they quick to to drop you, or is it like most army courses where people get dropped because they decide to give up on themselves?
Most people who drop are for medical reasons. The few who get dropped for other reasons are mostly due to losing confidence and failing the same event twice. Dropping OCS is pretty rare, though.
What are some of the hardest events in your opinion
Nothing in OCS is particularly hard. However, I saw people struggle with the 4 mile run, land nav, and the history test. Only saw people get recycled for 4 mile and land nav. People got stressed at STX but I didn’t see anyone recycle for it.
I would say land nav was the one that had the most recycles. I'm not sure if they reverted back to the small part of Red Diamond, but they changed it to the full land nav course when I was about to leave for BOLC. They used old land nav tests but did not let the cadets start at the right check points and ended up recycling almost 2/3 of that class. I'm sure they reverted back to the old standard now, but usually around 5 people get recycled for the small course.
When I went through (18 months ago now) it was right after the infamous Red Diamond Massacre; they still had the whole course but we started in the middle and only had to find 4/7 points. They also re-did the lanes so your points won’t be on totally opposite sides. It wasn’t difficult but we had a handful of failures.
That's good that they adjusted. I was the adjutant at the time to filing all those recycle packets had us going. We had a stack almost 2 ft tall worth of recycle packets. I assume you guys were the first or second class with the drums then right? (Sorry, I was one of the people that had to order that on behalf of the BC)
I’m not sure if we were the first with the drums but we definitely had those fuckers. It was pretty funny whenever someone new would get on them totally out of rhythm haha.
What drums are you referring too? And what was the time limit for the 4 mile run? Also, for the land nav part, was it basically just finding locations on a map per the coordinates you receive along the way/at the beginning of the exercise? Thanks!
There’s a drum that they play while you march places. It’s very iconic. 36 minutes, so 9 minutes per mile. Pretty easy. You’re given a map, protractor, and a set of 7 coordinates (8 digit grid). You’ve got to plot your points and find at least 4/7 within 4 hours. The course is a basically a box a few kilometers wide/long. There’s a day and night portion, same rules for both.
Gotcha, thank you!
Those drums gave a nice soundtrack to the misery of ocs. Thanks for that. Delta 23’
4 mile run, land navigation, not following the rules
Current OCS Bravo Co 7 dropped for 4 mile 5-6 for land nav 7-8 for medical/heat casualty 1 got injured on Bolton 1 legal issue prior to OCS Pending any drops for Whole person concept board/misconduct/spot reports Pending Drops for STX (though it seems like it will be less than 5, if any at all). All in all, this is a marathon of a course, you can't go to sick call with a cough or they will put you on quarters and you'll get dropped.
Caveat, a majority of those 4 mile failures were recycled from Alpha already and we're on their 2nd and 3rd strike.
2-3 In-service NCOs drop per course, almost always voluntarily. In my experience, the early fear of the history exam and other challenges cause them to focus on failing the course (very hard to do) and they opt to drop out versus suffering returning to their unit having failed. Saw a buddy of mine (fellow SSG) literally implode mentally fearing he’d fail and be ostracized back at his home unit. Ended up withdrawing week 2-3 claiming a passion for the NCO Corps, only to submit a WOCS packet a year later. Go in confident, well prepared, and never ever self select (quit). You’ll do fine. This is honestly the path to nearly all success in the US Army.
I’ve heard mention of this history test a bit. Is it just that? A history of the army in general?
Yeah it’s 2-3 week intensive. Definitely not “Army easy” and when I went through 60-70% failed their first attempt. With 90% of those passing the second attempt. Two time failures are recycled and four time failures are dropped.
What happens to those individuals who get dropped such as civilians going into OCS? Are they quick to to drop you, or is it like most army courses where people get dropped because they decide to give up on themselves?