This article is the place to find out about the process of becoming a commissioned officer if your soldier is joining the military for the first time.  Let me say up front that this information has been gathered from our experience through this process and a combination of online resources.  Your soldier’s experience may differ, but I hope that this article can at least give you an idea about what is to come.  We had a hard time finding information about the process, so I hope that this article can help you learn a little bit about the process you are about to enter.

In order to attend OCS (Officer Candidate School) you must be a US citizen between 19 and 29 years old and have a college degree.  Age waivers are considered if you are not within the age range.

My husband started the process by talking to a few different recruiters.  We found that many recruiters have never done an officer packet before and did not know the process for officer enlistment.  If there is a college campus (especially a school with a large military tie or ROTC program) near you, I recommend that you talk to the recruiter there.  If you don’t live near a college, you can always call a campus recruiter somewhere else.  Unfortunately we moved during the process, and my husband had to find a recruiter in our new area.  The local recruiter assigned to him had never done an officer enlistment before, but an older NCO (Non Commissioned Officer) at the station had some experience and helped to oversee the process.

At that point, the recruiter will give your husband a set of information that he will need to return to the station as soon as possible.  This is called your “officer packet.”  This includes copies of all high school and college transcripts and diplomas, 3 letters of recommendation, a current resume, an essay explaining “why I want to be an Army officer”, an 8×10 picture, and the dreaded SF86.  The SF 86 is the federal government’s security clearance form.  All officers must be able to get Secret clearance.  This form will ask for every address he has had for the last 7 years, the name and address of a non-family member who can verify that he lived there, every school he has attended and job he has held in 7 years and the information of his supervisor, a drug and mental health history, information on family members, detailed information on spouses and former spouses, and contact information for 3 people that have known him well throughout his life.  This takes a long time to fill out, so be prepared with your address book and do not wait until the last minute.  (Keep a copy of the SF86 forever – you do not want to have to fill this out again.)

His packet will also contain a medical evaluation, ASVAB (a vocational test) scores, and physical fitness test scores.  The recruiter will handle these.

When you have gathered everything for the packet, he will take it back to his recruiter who will schedule an appointment for him at the nearest MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) center.  (Note – If you live more than a few miles away from a MEPS center they will put him in a hotel the night before.)  He will arrive there around 4 or 5 in the morning and take his medical exams and the ASVAB.  Officers must score a 110 on the ASVAB.  There are plenty of study guides available if you need one.  Many wives go to MEPS with their husbands, but there is no need for you to go that day.  I can assure you, there will be nothing for you to do, and he will not sign his contract or be sworn in that day.

The recruiter will take your husband for a physical fitness test sometime during this process.  He may have a few different tests.  Scoring well on this part is very important for his packet.  He must score at least 60 points in each area.  For a male 22-26 years old, that is 40 pushups and 50 sit-ups in 2 minutes each and a 2-mile run in 16:33.  They might test him a few times during the application process.  My husband met his recruiter at the station about 6:30 am and they conducted the test at a nearby high school track.  If your husband needs help getting into shape, someone from the station will probably help him.

Once all of these components are completed, his officer packet will be sent to the Officer Board Selection Committee.  They usually meet once every month or two and select the people who will be offered an opportunity to attend OCS.  They will review his packet and interview him.  My husband knew he had been approved before he left that day.

The next step is to return to MEPS for a mini-physical and to sign his contract and take his Oath.  This is the day you want to go to MEPS.  You can discuss his contract with him before he signs it, but there is not much to negotiate as an officer.  We were told that since officers are not assigned their MOS (job specialty) until OCS, you can’t negotiate for MOS or choice of duty station.  Also, officers usually do not qualify for the big enlistment bonuses that are advertised so much right now.  You can negotiate his start date, but keep in mind that there are a limited number of days he can start because they only offer OCS a few times a year.  If he has student loans, you can negotiate to have the Army pay those off.  (More information about student loan repayment is at the end of this article.)  He will sign his contract and take his Oath that day.  Take your camera.  They will also tell him his ship date (the day he will leave for basic training).

Your husband will ship out from the MEPS center.  The day before his ship date, my husband had to meet at the recruiting station at about 4:30pm.  They took him to the hotel near MEPS and I drove there to have dinner with him.  I stayed in a hotel nearby so that we could spend as much time together as possible.  He went to MEPS about 4:30 the next morning, and I went up there around 7:30.  He spent the morning doing more processing, took the Oath again, and then left on a bus around noon.  There are other families there, so don’t be worried that you will be the only one.  I know my husband appreciated having a few more hours to spend with me, and I felt sorry for the other soldiers that did not have family there to see them off.  Feel free to take your camera on shipping day too.

Your soldier will attend Basic Combat Training (BCT) for 9 weeks and then OCS.  The schedule varies for everyone, but my husband spent 1 week in Reception, 9 weeks in BCT and then had 1 day to get to OCS.  Some officer candidates leave BCT before graduation and head straight to OCS, so don’t book your plane ticket until you know what he will be doing.

OCS is held at Fort Benning, Georgia and is 14 weeks long.  He will be told his MOS during OCS, and from there you will know where he will attend officer basic (MOS training).

Good luck with the process.  I wish you and your soldier the very best!

Here are two helpful websites:

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/armytrng/a/ocs.htm

www.armyocs.com

Student Loan Repayment:

The Army pays one-third of the loan every year for three years and will only pay principal, not interest.  You can request that his loans be put on forbearance for 3 years and you will not be required to make monthly payments during that time.  Request the forbearance due to military service paperwork.  Interest will still accrue monthly, so be sure to find out how much will accrue and make sure you pay that off every month.  Some companies only send out statements once a quarter, so be sure to save every month for those payments.  The Army will not pay your loans if they are not in good standing, and they won’t pay for the interest that accrues during those 3 years.

by Olivia M.

My husband entered OCS in May of 2008 and graduated in August,
technically it was a 12-week course. He was at Fort Benning, GA, which
is the Federally run OCS. He had a lot more privileges than in BCT. He
had his cell phone and laptop computer to use. And he had his vehicle
too. He had most evenings off as well as most weekends. He said that
this all depends on which company the soldier is assigned to. He was
originally in Alpha Company, and then he graduated in Charlie Company
(he was allowed leave for the birth of our daughter). At times these
privileges were taken away because of someone not following orders or
having something out of place.

I talked with him just about every evening and a lot during the
weekends.  There was a time when he had to go “in the field” and we
didn’t talk for a whole week, actually just Monday to Friday. Other
than this time, we had a lot of communication. This training was much
easier on me than was BCT, because at least we got to talk frequently
and we would even use the webcam to see each other when possible. I
usually emailed him every morning. I mailed him a letter maybe once a
week or every other week. But since we talked so much and he could
leave post, I really didn’t need to send him anything in the mail.

He had to live in barracks, but some wives did relocate to the area to
be able to spend the weekends and evenings with their soldier. Since
he was in this training during the summer, my son and I went to visit
him for a week. We picked him up every evening and spent a few hours
with him then dropped him back off at the barracks. He was able to
spend the whole weekend with us at the hotel. Also, there is a great
campground with furnished cabins at Benning that we stayed at for a
few days, which was much cheaper than a hotel and had a great pool. It
does fill up quickly so make reservations far in advance if you know
you will be going there.

The training itself was much more demanding than BCT. The first 6
weeks is called the basic phase with the remaining 6 weeks as the
senior phase. More privileges are given in the senior phase. They had
an hour and a half of PT every day, except when they were “in the
field.” The rest of the day was pretty much spent in the classroom
with many tests and peer evaluations. The tests and evaluations are
very important as the top scorers get top priority in picking their
branch. The branch is picked right before entering senior phase.

Before his graduation, there is a formal. This was off post at a
really nice banquet center. There was childcare provided by the
company. Women wore formal dresses, anything from a pretty little
party dress to a ball gown. There was appetizers and drinks then a
full course meal. Awards were given and a speaker was present. His
actual graduation was more like a college gradation compared to the
graduation of BCT. It was inside an auditorium and more formal than
the BCT graduation that we experienced, which was also at Fort
Benning, GA. He was able to stay with us at the hotel the couple of
days before his graduation and through the couple of days of meetings
and ceremonies. There was a meeting one of the days that is valuable
for a spouse to attend; it went over the benefits that are available
to families. Then it is off to BOLC II and BOLC III.

My husband was sworn in last month and left for Officer Candidate School. I saw on another website that there will be an Officer’s ball the night before his graduation. Can anyone confirm this through personal experience? Could you give me any information on how graduation week goes? My husband has not received any information on that topic yet and I would like to plan ahead. Thank you.

********

There is a formal though it is not necessarily the night before graduation. My husband and I will be attending OCS graduation this Thursday for his cousin’s fiancee. Their formal is being held on Tuesday during the graduation week. I will be posting an article soon on the Married to the Army website detailing the graduation ceremony so be sure to check back for it.