US Navy OCS

every time you pushed a little bit further you gain a little bit more of that extra strength inside you really have to dig deep and find you know inside the motivation like I want to be a naval officer this is something I have to do to get thanked you don't remember that you here to be a naval officer you're here to serve your country and you have to remember the bigger picture because if you don't have the passion for for the whole reason you're going through this you're not going to make it if you're just curious about this program you're not going to make it you really have to have the passion you have to love your country and you have to come for the right reasons [Music] while being a navy officer is one of the most rewarding careers in or out of the military it is not simply a job or nine-to-five occupation being a navy officer is a lifestyle for those willing to make the commitment you will find an officer candidate school or OCS includes 12 weeks of the most intense and rigorous of the Navy's officer training programs it all begins at Naval Station Newport Rhode Island on the day we arrived at OCS I remember being completely scared out of my mind I do remember that when we arrived you come into that first building and you're doing all this paperwork and I later found out that it's a strategy but right when you come in they're actually kind of nice too they treat you like a human being and you're like oh this isn't gonna be too bad coming at all and when we got there they took height and weight it was very relaxed very mellow that's okay this is not too bad it's not too bad from what from what I've been hearing so I said okay I could do this little did I know that was the quiet before the storm well it was just mayhem and you're told to do always construction here here tire shoes tuck your pants to your socks tuck your shirt in and you're trying to go out to the once and they give you that used man as you proceed up to the PVC room you are instructed to get three slaps on the door and give a verbal greetings you enter the room of course everyone messes this up and as soon as you messed that simple instruction up there is more man and it really settles after the check-in process is over and after your family is left and you're sitting in the PA and you realize wow I have 12 weeks of this it it can be a bit daunting training at OCS encompasses three phases the indoctrination phase the academics phase then the Applied leadership phase the 1st through 4th week of training comprised the indoctrination phase students are referred to as indoctrination candidates during this initial phase of training the main focus of training during weeks one through four are militarization military drill and emmanuel alarms and the one aspect that never changes throughout the 12 weeks physical training the indoctrination phase of training is the most critical phase students who choose to drop out of training typically do so during this phase by far the biggest reason the candidate officers give for dropping out of the program is that they lack the commitment with a desire or the motivation to become a naval officer you should have this resolved in your own mind before you arrive OCS is demanding it's intense it's stressful it's meant to be stressful one of the reasons is to test the commitment of each and every student the first week of OCS is particularly challenging it is designed to be challenging it is meant to cause every candidate to question why they are here to ensure that they have the necessary level of during the first few days new arrivals are instructed and mentored by candidate officer's candidate officers are in their ninth through twelfth week of training the candidate officers are in the leadership phase of training and one of their jobs is to prepare the new students for the training they are about to receive they welcome check-in and move the new students through the day of arrival activities and then we take them down to get their haircuts and their sea bags full of items that they will need throughout the course of this program and it's it's pretty shocking for some of the females because a lot of them have long hair I had 13 inches more than what I have now and so you have to get it cut to your right to your chin and you're not mentally prepared for it's quite a shock but for a female barber shops no good females go to salons when they then they take you to a barber shop and ask you to pay $12 for a haircut I'm like I'm used to paying 40 what's this about so you handling your $12 and they chop all your hair off the new students have not yet met their OCS staff class team that will be responsible for their training but this is about to change and soon my Hashmi and I woke up probably an hour earlier then he came in just try to be as best prepared as possible we didn't really know the time because we didn't have watches or alarm clocks at that time so we just kind of just ballparked it while students are without any means of telling time there is no problem with anyone being late for training evolutions the Navy has a time proven method that provides personalized wake-up calls for everyone on the first three weeks it includes the day that you meet your drill instructor which is called wake up Wednesday wake up Wednesday he busts into your repiy way which is your hallway and he starts banging on the doors telling everyone to get out online you get out he puts you on your face makes me do push-ups he's yelling at you and that's basically hi I'm your drill instructor nice to meet you training is conducted by a team consisting of a class officer normally a Navy lieutenant who has completed one tour of duty in the operational forces a recruit division chief petty officer known as an RDC and a Marine Corps drill instructor or di they are the best the Navy and Marine Corps have to offer they are highly motivated and dedicated to developing officer candidates into the best Navy officers possible the classroom instructors play a major part in a success and coming to Officer Candidate School they they are with you from day one into to the day you graduate they keep your discipline to keep you on time they keep you very focused and locked on the reason why you are here class drill instructor has always said I will not give up on you even when you give up on yourself and so that is really the motto here not only is the class training team highly motivated but they are experts at motivating students as well the media physical training is given to you by the drill instructor or party scene when you make simpler and we make mistakes so basically they last usually last for about ten minutes but over you know a period of the day you can give be given several rbt's and altogether if you're given a few our people up our feet a lot through the day it can be you can be pretty sore also in the first three weeks you have outpost which is one of them the biggest evolutions that they do you pack your seabag with up to 50 pounds of care and they make you carry it in front of you and you're not allowed to lock your hands you like bear hug it it's really painful and it's really hard but I will say that at the end of outpost you really do feel a huge relief and you do feel a lot of pride myself for finishing that it's a really difficult evolution as training continues students begin to concentrate on room locker and personnel or RLP inspection this evolution occurs on the fourth week of training and is the culmination of the indoctrination phase of training our LP entails the RT C's and D is inspecting students as they've never been inspected before attention to detail is a phrase students here on a daily basis at our LP the phrase attention to detail is clearly understood that fourth week our LP inspection room locker and personnel was really a challenge for me coming into the Navy I prepared myself physically I prepared myself mentally but I didn't prepare myself for that kind of inspection with where you got to prepare all those items to a high level of detail you got to have your belt buckle just so have your rack made just so have your shirts folded just so the room locker and personal inspection well piece the first and major evolution where candidates actually begin to fail and roll out of your class I myself failed the first evolution of our LP the inspection itself the whole morning because when you're not being inspected and everyone else's you're at parade dressed and you're hearing what's going on so pretty much the most incensed two hours of my life and that's what they looking for naval officer is someone who can pick a performant on that pressure in the fleet when they're sailors are depending on to perform when they have the controls of a multi-million dollar worship or a multi-million dollar airplane they have to be able to perform and maintain their bearing and composure during those times I mean I knew what was coming but reading about on the internet and you know reading blogs and watching YouTube videos doesn't actually prepare you for when you get inside you actually have those people screaming in your face it is important that candidates learn here what stress feels like how their minds and bodies react to it and how they can cope and overcome it the purpose of the inspection is to teach candidates the importance of paying attention to details and following instructions if they think the instructions for the rlt are detailed in meticulous wait until they see the procedures they have to follow to launch Tomahawk missiles and operate other complex weapons system out on the fleet from what I've learned from this is this isn't a game really all the stuff you do here is important some of those stuff you may think it is a game but it will be utilized in the fleet and propose a few do here to succeed oh yes the second phase of training occurs from weeks five through nine this is the academics phase instead of indoctrination candidates students are now referred to as officer candidates and then after our LP which is the first room inspection you know you start classes you start academics the stressors change then it gets harder mentally and you have to manage your time they give you I wouldn't call it free time because it's mandatory study hours and believe me you do need every hour that you can study but the stressors definitely do change it's it's it's a transition point on the program because before that we've gone through military indoctrination a lot of physical training a lot of drilling a lot of discipline and at that point we're starting to have a little bit more responsibility we have to get to class on our own as the name implies the emphasis in this phase is on academic curricula although training and military drill continues students spend most of the day in the classroom the curriculum includes courses on Naval Operations and seamanship sea power and naval history navigation engineering weapons and leadership while the second phase may not seem quite as hectic as the indoctrination phase officer candidates are still held accountable in the sixth week we do owe our LP which is the officer room Walker personal inspection and the focus on that is knowledge and there's a little bit of the inspection involved it's just some simple instructions and if you know how to wear the khaki uniform but that's mainly knowledge based it's very different because you're not shouting it's an officer and they're not putting you on your face and making you do push-ups so it's a different focus but you softened prepare for it the newest addition to OCS training known as high ropes also occurs during the Officer Candidate phase of training after undergoing numerous safety procedures and briefs by instructors officer candidates are put through many stressful obstacles in the high ropes course the main objective is to instill confidence and the secondary objective of the course is for them to learn communication skills and even though some of the students might not realize that out here communication is a key part but having the confidence to get over some of your fears even though you had that fear that's the that's the one of them that's one of the main purposes of this course is to you had that fear to get over that fear to take control of your emotions no you got that your safety and you got to train in and go through the course so that's that's the main objective another important aspect of the second phase as with all phases is physical training as the second phase emphasis on classroom curricula packs most of the hours of every day RT C's and D is scheduled special physical training sessions during pre-dawn hours one of the challenges of RT C's and D is is that many students arrive to OCS in less than stellar physical condition or at the least suffer a misconception of what to expect from a PT stamp and one of the main keys to success in OCS is that all students should condition themselves physically before reporting we place great emphasis on physical training at OCS physical training consists of running calisthenics and strength conditioning all students need to be within the Navy's body fat standards before arrival that's 22 percent body fat for males and 33 percent body fat for females students also should spend time conditioning themselves physically before reporting all students take a physical fitness assessment during each phase of the training and they must meet minimum standards before they continue the training and before they can graduate if you're out of shape we have marine corps drill instructors and disappointing us and getting us in shape so if you're out of shape do not plan on coming OCS and that's the bottom line they're here to push you and to make you stronger the OCS website wws es Navy mill contains an entire page devoted to information on physical training including video of proper form and repetitions required for each exercise the third and final phase of training is the Applied leadership phase students are now referred to as candidate officers during these final three weeks of training the candidate officers now run the regiment of officer candidates to be honest I don't think that those those minor details and questioning everything that they were asking to do I don't think that all started to make sense and really come into like a big-picture sort of view until the very end like a Kant candidate officer phase when you're actually in charge of the regiment when you're in charge of these in Docs coming in and you're starting to realize that when you tell them to brace the bulkhead and stand at attention and do things a certain way and remember things a certain way and say things a certain way you start to realize how it plays into their training and then into the fleet when they leave so that's when I realized it when I when I was the one who had to instruct the younger classes that's when I was like wait that I need to tell them this they need to remember this because it's going to be important in addition third phase offers the candidate officers an opportunity to partake in further training experiences including the wet trainer and firefighting for firefighting training was actually a very neat evolution you started off we went into the classroom we learned about the different safety precautions the different kinds of fires that can happen on a ship and just guys familiar about the different kinds of equipment that the damage control wears or what we would be wearing and we did we did a couple of different scenarios the first scenario was about run away hoses and then we went and we learned how to work as a team carrying the hose to fight a fire the USS Buttercup it was a wet trainer evolution what we had to get on a ship and assimilate the ship being hit by a torpedo and it was flooding the instructors are very helpful for personnel who never been on us anything like this before and they were very outstanding in all the efforts as graduation approaches candidate officers begin to focus on some personal goals as well a gathering for friends and family on the evening prior to graduation known as high mom's allows candidate officers a chance to reunite with family members and friends in a relaxed setting also on the day prior to graduation the candidate officers conduct a pass and review for the families as well the culmination to the 12 weeks of rigorous training finally arrives in the form of the class graduation as the proud families look on the Navy's newest ensign czar sworn in and the previous 12 weeks seem to have passed quickly however the new officers have one final duty to perform before they are ready for the fleet they move on to the waterfront to receive their traditional first salutes from the RDCs and drill instructors the United States Navy is the most highly capable most technologically advanced Navy in the history of the world its officers must be highly committed ethical leaders of character you know as naval officers the responsibility you're given is tremendous and we all talk about equipment and you know billions of dollars of electronics and ships and planes and everything else but truly the most important thing are the men and women that are gonna serve under you that you're gonna be responsible for now you take these young 18 19 year olds to war and you're responsible for for them on a daily basis you're sending them out into harm's way as the officer you're making the tough decisions but as officers they have to understand you know you ask a parent how much their children are worth they'll say you can't put a price tag on it now times that by 40 or 50 of your division officer of the large division and that's your responsibility that's a responsibility you have as a naval officer and that's what we're testing here at OCS to see if you can handle that before we put you out in the fleet and you're responsible for all those lives equipment can be replaced young men and women can [Music]

Channel: Alkayus

Views: 1,712,865

Rating: 4.8407035 out of 5

Keywords: US, Navy, OCS, Officer Candidate School, Newport, Rhoad Island, Military, Commision

Id: k6LBuyxy6Ns

Length: 19min 21sec (1161 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 15 2012

Reddit Comments

[u/hdimmick]

Haircuts no longer required for females.

[u/DootBeer]

New NETC is currently changing a lot of things about how OCS operates. I graduated a month ago and things a quite a bit different than the video. There is no more general quarters, uniforms have been updated, new regimental PT schedule weekday mornings, they’re in the process of implementing simulators to replace Nav and Nos, demerit rule overhaul, RLP rule change (they can pull you for not pushing hard enough among other things), capstone event overhaul, among many other changes. Some minor some major, but my understanding is that they want to change things up a lot in the next few months.

[u/FoCo87]

Man that brings back memories. I went through in 2010 and recognized a bunch of those DI's and Chiefs. That first day is a shock for sure.

[u/BrickTamlandInBed]

Base structure has stayed the same. The gouge you find online is pretty accurate to get you through.

[u/gaterunner]

Also features comments from newly commissioned ensigns on their experience throughout OCS.

[u/MeanWeen]

That video's old enough that one of the OCs is an instructor there now. Like has been said, there are a lot of changes from that video and more coming down the pipe, but the basics are still the same.

I watched this video a million times to get myself psyched up, but nothing could prepare me for how much it actually sucked. Good times. Just stand by for that...

[u/NavyMurph]

Not much changes over the years in the curriculum. Folks will offer different advice about how to survive the experience but the reality is that a little conditioning and a real commitment to the experience is the best recipe for success at OCS. The best telling of the OCS experience remains A Sea Story: http://bizrazzi.com/A_Sea_Story_Navy_OCS.php. It will give you a good understanding of what you're walking into but the reality of meeting your DI is unique into and of itself. The key is to keep an open mind on the reasons behind the training (no one is seeking to weed you out unnecessarily) and why the indoctrination is so important as an officer in fleet. Completing the training is just the first step in the journey. Don't be intimidate. The choice is one of the best decisions a young man or woman can make. Good luck.

[u/max_fluxcapacitor]

I am getting in the process of applying for OCS and have never had any military experience or training. Will OCS help me understand more, or should i take more time to focus more on military knowledge. Also, if anymore of you can give your experiences that would be awesome and well appreciated.