Best Company Commanders: West Point, ROTC or OCS?

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</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri" size="3">It’s not where you get your commission but what kind of
character does that commander poses. How his former NCOs interacted and informed
him. There are many variables that make up a good commander. Is not where they
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I have to vote other because the best officers that I have worked for were all prior enlisted.

Interesting question sir.&nbsp; I had 4 Company Commanders while I was a 1SG.&nbsp; They all brought something to the table.&nbsp; I think who they were when they assumed command was a product of their experiences up to that point.&nbsp; I am sure that their commissioning source had some impact on their experiences, but I honestly couldn't say that West Point, ROTC or OCS produced the "best" Company Commanders.

Great Battery / Company / Troop commanders come from Solid First Sergeants and a great team of Non-Commissioned Officers supporting / mentoring the officers in the B/C/T!

<p>As CPT Kletzing said, you cannot definitively pigeonhole Officers by their commissioning source.&nbsp; </p><p><br></p><p>HOWEVER...</p><p><br></p><p>I went through ROTC in college and most of my classmates are still close friends who are now all Field Grade Officers.&nbsp; I would trust almost all of them with my life, and would take a bullet for them without hesitation.&nbsp; </p><p><br></p><p>I also was accepted to and attended OCS in 2010, but was medically relieved.&nbsp; I keep in touch with many of those I came in contact with.&nbsp; Many of those Officers are competent leaders and I would not mind serving under them.&nbsp; However, I also know a few who just "didn't get it" and have either gotten out already or are in the process of getting out.</p><p><br></p><p>I knew only one West Pointer, and cannot say I would even buy him a beer.&nbsp; His attitude and subsequent actions that I found out about were reprehensible.&nbsp; Not someone I would follow willingly, even if he were the only choice.&nbsp; I realize that one example is NOT a fair assessment of a huge population.&nbsp; That one person just left a bad impression on me.</p><p><br></p><p>So in conclusion, I think that ROTC Officers are likely the most well-rounded leaders, and as a result, make the most effective leaders.&nbsp; OCS Officers come in at a close second, as many of them are experienced Soldiers and former NCOs.&nbsp; West Point Officers do indeed receive the best military education, but are somewhat limited in their early professional development, as they are ONLY Cadets for four years.&nbsp; They know only West Point and the Army during those years.&nbsp; Officers from ROTC and OCS have a more broad educational and professional background.&nbsp; But as I responded to CW2 Cruz, it's not the rank you wear on your chest, but what you do with it.&nbsp; </p>

All of the above, you can get good leaders and bad leaders out of any commissioning source, prior enlisted or not. CW4 (Join to see) nails it. Its all about character not the source.

That's a hard question to answer. I've had good officers from all three and bad officers.

I don't think there's any definitive way to answer this; it's subjective and I would expect people to answer this based on their own experiences.  A good commander can come from anywhere, as I'm sure we agree.  Also, this question would depend on how the respondent defines 'best' -- some people like a tough commander, and some people prefer one who is more endearing, etc.

Best CO I ever had was a direct commission guy. He was competent, and 'learned' his role by listening to his Soldier leadership. I don't think it really matters where the commission came from, they all take the same oath. I think as long as they keep the welfare of the 'joes' in mind while completing the mission, they will be good leaders.

We have all read all of the cases of our Officers getting in trouble for things like taking bribes so a certain contractor gets the contract, so it isn't an commission thing, it is a character thing. Just like the Soldiers on the enlisted side, good character always makes better leaders!

All Marine Officers come from OCS, whether they do ROTC or not. The sole exception to this is Naval Academy graduates (other Service Academy transfers have to go to our OCS). My personal opinion is that this exception for Naval Academy grads is a disservice to them.

Further, after completing OCS all Marine Officers (including Naval Academy Grads) attend The Basic School, a 6 month course instilling basic officership in all matters. This standardizes and radically improves the quality of entry-level Marine Officers.

I can honestly say that i have had company commanders from all 3 categories and I do not believe that it matters. It all depends on the individual commander regardless of what path they took to being commissioned. If an individual commander is all about themselves and obtaining the next higher position regardless of how they achieve it they are not going to be loved by the troops. It is hard to earn respect when you do not respect yourself.

Majority in my field were ROTC a few Anapolis. I like both equally. I always liked hearing the stories from the "Academy" that I got from the young Ensigns.

Whether it be ROTC, OCS, or a military academy, past PLs and CDRs who still stand out in my mind years later as superlative were always prior-service NCOs with 4-6 years of experience enlisted.

All three programs have benefits and downfalls. IMO it boils down to character and experience.

The best officers I knew while I was in were either OCS or ROTC.  They made more of an effort to get to know the soldiers they were working with.  The West Point officers I knew didn't seem to make the same effort, as if they were better than us peons.

Back in the day, the mid 70's to be exact, being Infantry and all, it was the common consensus that of the 3, the Direct Battlefield commision was by far the best. West Pointers knew it all and couldn't be taught, ROTC didn't know it all, but at least they (sometimes) could be taught, and OCS had the head knowledge, but not the experience. Fresh out of Basic, so to speak.Battlefield commisions, on the other hand, knew what to do, how to do it, and were capable of doing it. After all, they did survive Viet Nam. That was our choice to who we would follow.

Can't answer that question it's like asking who's a better 1SG, infantry, aviation or artillery NCOs? I've had many commanders throughout my career, I couldn't pinpoint the best of them, they all had positive affects on their soldiers career in their own way

Character, not source of commissioning determines who will be a great commander at any level. Some of the best commanders I served with never set foot in a service academy and some of the most arrogant officers I commanded came from the service academies. Then there were the Mustangs like me who came through enlisted commissioning sources, some good officers and some not so good officers.

ROTC. West pointers are overrated.

I never had an academy grad but I did have OCS, ROTC and prior service officers and they were all pretty good but different. The prior service ones seemed to be better at dealing with people at first but the others learned and turned out fine. No problems with any of them.

You forgot direct commission. But in reality I've seen and had great commanders in all of these and horrible ones in all of these. I will not generalize. Some will argue prior service are best, yet I've seen all too recent that that is not always the case. Trying to pick ones sets yourself up for generalizations and you will either not give someone a chance or give too much credit to some who probably shouldn't even be in.