Applying to Army OCS - Part 1
To apply to the Army’s Officer Candidate School, an applicant must put together an OCS packet and present it to a group of officers during a battalion board interview. The requirements for the OCS packet and information about the battalion board interview can be found in USAREC Regulation 601-9.
I had about a month to put together my packet, which added a little stress to the process. The board meets once a month and I was trying to make it to the last battalion review before I moved from Chicago. Here are the details of my OCS packet:
Personal Letter
A letter, handwritten and typed, is required explaining why I want to be an officer in the United States Army. I wrote a short, one page letter in an essay format. My recruiter gave me an example letter to follow, it pretty much just had to include duty, honor and country. It was a pretty simple essay.
Letters of Recommendation
3-6 letters of recommendation are required. I received 3 letters of recommendation from my supervisors at Norvax.
PT Score
I was not aware I would have to do this. APFT is the army physical fitness test. It is a three-event physical performance test. It includes push-ups, sit-ups and a 2 mile run. In order to get into OCS, I will have to pass a full APFT with a 60% in all three categories. For my age and my height, the required number of push-ups in 2 minutes is 40, the required number of sit-ups in 2 minutes is 50 and the 2 mile run must be completed in 16:36. Luckily I had started working out a month before. I thought the first APFT I would have to do is before Basic training, which is a 1-1-1 test, 13 push-ups in 1 minute, 17 sit-ups in 1 minute and a 1 mile run in 8:30.
Resume
I included my updated resume.
Initial Active Duty Assignment
This is a form with my top 10 choices of where I want to be stationed. My top choices are:
- Germany
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- Hawaii
- Washington D.C.
- California
- Washington
- Alaska
- Colorado
DA 61
This is the application for OCS. It includes my branch preferences. Officers do not get to pick the job they’ll be doing. An applicant picks his or hers top 10 choices, but the Army will pick their branch based on the Army’s needs. My top 4 choices are:
- Military Intelligence
- Signal Corps
- Aviation
- Military Police
Security Clearance
This was a lengthy questionnaire asking where I have lived in the past 7 years, where I have worked in the past 7 years and who I have known in the past 7 years. Officers have to be able to get security clearance.
Other Documents
High School transcripts
College diploma and transcripts
Social Security card
Birth certificate
In my next post, I’ll go over the last steps of applying to the Army’s Officer Candidate School, including taking the ASVAB test, the medical exam and the battalion board interview.
June 30th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
[...] week I wrote about putting together my OCS packet, read Applying to Army OCS - Part 1. The last part of the application process was the ASVAB test, the medical exam and the [...]
July 15th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
[...] mentioned the APFT briefly in Applying to Army OCS - Part 1. It consists of three main areas, two mintues of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups and a [...]
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:17 am
Thanks for posting this, it was really informative. I noticed that your third choice for MOS was “aviation”. Did you or do you want to become an aviator? Which MOS were you eventually trained for? I would love to get an e-mail address from you to ask specific questions. I just started filling out the paperwork yesterday for Army OCS and I don’t want to get screwed. I realize the most important part of the journey is now. Also, do yo have a copy of the essay you sent? I would like to peruse it. Thanks.
August 24th, 2008 at 2:24 am
Hope your training is going well! Never quit!