As submitted by Dave
When did you attend? July 19th-Sept 7th.
Where were you stationed? Ft. Rucker
How long was this school? 6 weeks if you have not attended PLDC, 4 if you have.
What was training like? Normal schedule? Did you train on weekends? Late at night? Classroom or field based?
Training is 6 days a week, with Sunday being used for church and not much else.
Wake-up is at 05:15, and PT is at 05:25. PT is not very hard as long as you show up in shape.
After PT is classroom training most days until 17:30. There are about 5 tests throughout the course. If you fail, you can take a retest, but two failures get you recycled.
We had about 30 failures between all the tests. You’ll have more than enough time to study. There is a 1-week FLX where you stay in the field and will not have any showers or hot meals.
Did you get to see family/friends during school?
There is no visitation except for the 1 on-post pass during week 3(which my class lost 4 hours of cause our barracks were dirty) and an 8-hour off-post pass (which we lost completely).
How often were you able to communicate with family/friends? By phone? Email?
There is no phone or internet during the first phase. (weeks 1-3 for the 6 weeks and 1-2 for the 4-week class) When the class gets these rights, they will only be from 1930-2000 every night.
Describe the graduation ceremony.
The night before graduation is a reception. We got a babysitter because children are not allowed.
However, your spouse might as well skip the whole thing. It lasts about an hour and is boring.
After the reception, you are free to stay off-post but will have to report at 05:30 the next day.
Graduation is open to everyone and is held in the museum. The whole ceremony lasted about an hour. Anyone can pin your rank on. I had my kids do it, or you could have an instructor do it.
Any other tips or information?
My room was never actually inspected. It had to be neat, but the inspections only focused on the common areas.
There is not a lot of time for personal hygiene, so I suggest shaving at night. They never inspected us for anything like that.
If you can’t pass a PT test, don’t come. You will be held over for a long time. Some guys failed the initial PT test and still had not started the course when we graduated.
Hey, thanks for this article. I do have a question though. Was this course similar to basic, or was it harder? The tests, you were saying that you can only have 2 failures, is that 2 per test or is it 2 period?
Thanks
Also can you have family with you? Meaning staying off base?
My husband is now in the school and I haven’t heard from him and have been concerned about that. I knew going into it I wouldn’t hear from him but I thought a week not 2 and I didn’t know that the time restriction would be so short. According to the calendar I don’t have much longer and than I should hear from him. This has put me a little at ease and informed me, thanks for the article!
You’re welcome!
This article was very informative, but it’s also outdated. Most of this information is accurate, but not all. Now, you may only call after the 3rd week and only on Sundays and Wednesdays. E-mail came after the car wash which family members may attend but they do not get to talk to any of their family members. You really just go to support the team. There is a pass on Sunday before graduation but it is only an on post pass. Your soldier will not be allowed in the car AT ALL! If he is seen in a car he will be kicked out. Graduation is ALWAYS on a Wednesday. The night before graduation is the reception and after the reception soldiers are granted an off post pass as long as they report back by 0500 the next day. Your family may live on or off base or stay wherever you were stationed before. I noticed that all of us flight school people were down here while all the walking warrants had kept their families at the previous duty station. Hope any of this can help someone! Good Luck!
Thanks for the updates!
Does anyone know how they have handled Christmas break if it falls in the middle of WOCS in the past?
Hello,
I am attending this course this upcoming NOV. I was curius as to the different information given. Seeing as how i have completed WLC. ..my course will only be 4 weeks… how many PT test do they give you? I was told three throughout the whole course..
HI, I LEAVE IN OCTOBER FOR THE 6 WEEK COURSE….IS THERE A BREAK IN THE COURSE FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVENT HAD WLC OR IS IT 6 WEEKS STRAIGHT THRU?
ALSO…CAN I BRING AN ELECTRIC RAZOR ?
THANKS
Is this info still current? My son starts WOCS this Wed. 4/23/2014 and his Mother and I plan to drive the 800 + miles to attend. His course is the 5 week one, and he is scheduled to graduate May 29. Do we need to add an extra day to our stay to attend a reception? Is the graduation itself the next day held early in the day, or latter? Your answer will greatly help in my planning for this most important event.
Thank you.
Ray Sisco
A sinfully proud Dad.
According to this document, graduation is at 10am. http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/WOCC/Repository/2013_WOCS_FAQ.pdf
Is it a social faux pas for military spouses and family members to not attend?
The graduation? I personally wouldn’t want my soldier to graduate and have no one there to celebrate his accomplishment. Personal preference.
Hi there, do you know anything about instructors failing people on purpose? My spouse is in the school house but was supposedly failed on purpose to even out the class. Thanks