Posted on Aug 22, 2019
Updated Army OCS Packing List and Protocols around Transport from BCT to OCS?
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CONTEXT --
My son is currently in Week 1 of BCT at Fort Jackson (Columbia, SC). He graduates on Oct. 24 and will need to report for OCS at Fort Benning shortly after.
I do not know what his orders say yet so I'm not sure of the exact date and time he will be expected.
As such, I'm not sure how much time we will have to help him purchase the things he will need for OCS.
QUESTIONS:
1) I found an OCS Packing List online dated 08 FEB 2018. Is that list still considered "current"?
2) I have seen in many places that there is usually 10 days between BCT graduation and the start of OCS, but other sources say he may have to report the next day or the Monday after. What is that typical?
3) If I am able to contact his recruiter, is his recruiter allowed to tell me what his orders say?
4) What is the best and fastest way to acquire the items on the 3-page list of things he will apparently need for OCS?
5) Are we allowed to drive him from BCT Graduation to his car (POV) here in Atlanta, and then let him drive himself the rest of the way down to OCS? Or do we have to accompany him the entire way to OCS? I know that students going to AIT are not allowed to have a POV but that the rules are different for OCS, just not sure of the details?
Thank you!
My son is currently in Week 1 of BCT at Fort Jackson (Columbia, SC). He graduates on Oct. 24 and will need to report for OCS at Fort Benning shortly after.
I do not know what his orders say yet so I'm not sure of the exact date and time he will be expected.
As such, I'm not sure how much time we will have to help him purchase the things he will need for OCS.
QUESTIONS:
1) I found an OCS Packing List online dated 08 FEB 2018. Is that list still considered "current"?
2) I have seen in many places that there is usually 10 days between BCT graduation and the start of OCS, but other sources say he may have to report the next day or the Monday after. What is that typical?
3) If I am able to contact his recruiter, is his recruiter allowed to tell me what his orders say?
4) What is the best and fastest way to acquire the items on the 3-page list of things he will apparently need for OCS?
5) Are we allowed to drive him from BCT Graduation to his car (POV) here in Atlanta, and then let him drive himself the rest of the way down to OCS? Or do we have to accompany him the entire way to OCS? I know that students going to AIT are not allowed to have a POV but that the rules are different for OCS, just not sure of the details?
Thank you!
Officer Candidate School (OCS) (Army)
Recruiter
Basic Combat Training (BCT)
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 9
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Why don't you wait for him to go through the process?? 99.9% of your questions will be answered as part of the process. Sometimes the best thing you can do as a parent is let your child go and learn as they go. I get it, you're trying to be supportive but you're also putting the cart before the horse here. Let the process do it's thing.
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SGT Ben Keen
CW4 Craig Urban - Trust me, I know the feeling. My mom was and still is very proud of me. However, I feel that this particular mother just needs to let the system run. Questions about gear for OCS and everything else, as you know, will be asked. I would hate to see her waste resources to get something that her son will be better briefed on at a later date.
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Patricia McIntosh-Mize
Y'all don't know what it's like in these Army Mom groups. There are stories about candidates getting in trouble for not having this or that that make it sound like there was some memo about all this that he (and we) did not get. You don't know what you don't know. So I ask. It seemed like a reasonable and responsible thing to do.
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SGT Ben Keen
Patricia McIntosh-Mize - Ma'am, I get where you're coming from but again 99.99% of your questions will be answered as time goes on! Right now, you should be focused on supporting him through BCT, not worried about if he can have a POV while at OCS. Every recruit, and their family ha e these same questions but things change all the time. You mentioned you found a packing list from 2018, that means it is outdated. That can result in several things. One, you can find yourself wasting both time and money on stuff he doesn't need. Before I left for basic in 1999, I too had the same thoughts as you. I found a packing list, if ignored my recruiter's advice and went out and purchased new running shoes and stuff only to find myseld buying new shoes when I got to Ft Jackson because that was part of the process. You can also find purchasing things that are no longer required. He WILL get an updated list when it's time wait on that.
His recruiter will NOT have access to his orders. Once a recruite ships, that recruiter's job is finished with him/her. The only access to your son's orders that the recruiter will have is if/when your son shows the recruiter his orders.
Ship dates to any school following basic is based on several factors. Factors that no one really knows until your son is closer to graduation. All of this is explained to recruited during the last few weeks of basic. He'll be able to share that information with you when he knows it.
Trust me, I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything. I'm just trying to be honest with you. The military is a process, it's a fight for survival that all of us here have won. RallyPoint is a collective group with hundreds of years of experience. Countless deployments, worried families, millions of questions. Sometimes the best answer to these questions is exactly what I told you; trust the process. The worst thing anyone can do is try to guess what will happen. That sort of thinking can sometimes get you in some hot water. However, if you trust the process, get all the briefings, and listen to those with more experience, you will find yourself doing better. This goes for a recruite's time in BCT, Advance School, going to his/her first duty assignment and yes, even deployments where the stacks of rushing the process can and will cost a service member more then just being yelled at.
So like I said, right now, focus on this phase of his training. Send your send letters of encouragement and support, he will need it. Then as the process continues be there to help once he has the right information.
His recruiter will NOT have access to his orders. Once a recruite ships, that recruiter's job is finished with him/her. The only access to your son's orders that the recruiter will have is if/when your son shows the recruiter his orders.
Ship dates to any school following basic is based on several factors. Factors that no one really knows until your son is closer to graduation. All of this is explained to recruited during the last few weeks of basic. He'll be able to share that information with you when he knows it.
Trust me, I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything. I'm just trying to be honest with you. The military is a process, it's a fight for survival that all of us here have won. RallyPoint is a collective group with hundreds of years of experience. Countless deployments, worried families, millions of questions. Sometimes the best answer to these questions is exactly what I told you; trust the process. The worst thing anyone can do is try to guess what will happen. That sort of thinking can sometimes get you in some hot water. However, if you trust the process, get all the briefings, and listen to those with more experience, you will find yourself doing better. This goes for a recruite's time in BCT, Advance School, going to his/her first duty assignment and yes, even deployments where the stacks of rushing the process can and will cost a service member more then just being yelled at.
So like I said, right now, focus on this phase of his training. Send your send letters of encouragement and support, he will need it. Then as the process continues be there to help once he has the right information.
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Patricia McIntosh-Mize
Okay, thanks. And rest assured -- I literally write to him every single day and let him know I'm cheering him on!
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Just let the Army process run its course. Your son will be provided with all required information he will need when he needs it. Also, if your son is going straight to Officer Candidate School right from Basic Training....now is the best time to allow him to take charge of his life and accomplish (or fail) tasks on his own. He isn't going to learn if others do his tasks for him.
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Patricia McIntosh-Mize
To clarify -- my son has been living on his own and supporting himself since college graduation. I am not a helicopter parent. But this is the first thing he's ever done in his life that he is super excited about, worked hard to prepare for, and feels he was called to do. I'm just trying to support him in achieving what he has already started on his own, and this is all new to me. Please don't make people sorry to ask questions here by assuming things about them when, the truth is, you know little or nothing about them.
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MSG (Join to see)
Patricia McIntosh-Mize as you stated he is in Week 1 of Basic. He is, as of right now, getting the crap scared out of him and stressed out of him. What info you're asking....literally....can't be provided right now. I applaud your eagerness to help your son, but you are doing the stereotypical helicopter parent stuff. Week 1 of Basic is filled with so much basic Army info getting crammed I to his head that I doubt he even knows what day of the week it is. I'm not trying to make you feel bad for asking questions, I'm just answering in an honest fashion.
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Your Son is in the process of becoming an Army Officer. He needs to figure this stuff out himself. There is a process where all this will work itself out. Let him focus on BCT.
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1,3 No, 2 he will receive orders from BCT when he (if) graduates and will have a report date. 4 he should have a weekend pass to buy the required items for the packing list. 5 it is Commanders discretion how he gets there. Most the time they do not allow family members to drive them for liability reasons.
Source : Drill Sergeant at FT Benning
Source : Drill Sergeant at FT Benning
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Patricia- As a naval officer obtaining my commission from the Academy, my experience was a little different, but I'd like to share a few things (as a parent) which I hope will help you put this chapter in your son's life in context, and possibly ease your concerns a bit.
To begin, I'd like to re-state what many her have already told you; let the process run its course. Success in the Military is about chewing one bite at a time...let him get through BCT (a challenge in it's own right), then worry about what happens next. The Army (in my experience, having worked alongside, and with them often) does a decent job of providing young Soldiers the information they need, and my guess is that upon graduation, he'll be handed a very specific set of orders, a packing list, and every instruction necessary to plan his movement to OCS.
Believe me when I say that this is going to be a challenge as well.
Your son is going to be trained to make decisions, very important ones, while under a great deal of stress. Confronting uncertainty, ambiguity, and confusion are all part and parcel of that skill set, and no matter how well he prepares, or how well you support him...I promise that he will encounter all of the above during his training. He will get in "trouble" during training...everyone does; for infractions as mundane as not putting on a piece of uniform "correctly", not following a command swiftly enough, leaving a lock undone (amirite, guys?) or for whatever arbitrary and contrived reasons the trainers can find to inject stress, fear, and chaos into the training environment. I once literally "lost" my right to enter my own bunk...and had to report to my Detailer to request permission each time (with the expected result of being "cycled" for some time before said permission was granted). Real trouble is easily avoidable enough; all he need do is obey the orders he's given, perform to the best of his ability, and while he won't have much free time, avoiding making decisions that run contrary to the Army values and regulations.
I would strenuously recommend against attempts to "figure the system out"; particularly through what we in the Navy call "gouge"; i.e., rumor, online information, etc. In the first place, things change often, and in the second, you don't want to unintentionally rob your son of the opportunity to learn how to navigate the ins and outs of his chosen career on his own. He will begin building a network, as early as BCT, and on into OCS, and later training (because there will likely be much, much more) that will follow him the next twenty years or more. People he will be training with today, may one day be soldiers in a unit he's commanding, or peers serving in the same capacity. He will begin building his reputation now...and believe me when I say that he is the best person to do so.
As a father, I know this is challenging for you, and want to thank you for asking these questions. It is important, you have the right, and I hope some of what I've said helps. The most important thing I can tell you is this...trust your son. What he needs now, more than anything, is self-confidence, self-reliance, and self-assurance. If God-forbid, some years from now, he is forced to make decisions under real circumstances, he may be the only resource he has...and the Army is going to find, hone, and perfect that ability within him.
God bless.
To begin, I'd like to re-state what many her have already told you; let the process run its course. Success in the Military is about chewing one bite at a time...let him get through BCT (a challenge in it's own right), then worry about what happens next. The Army (in my experience, having worked alongside, and with them often) does a decent job of providing young Soldiers the information they need, and my guess is that upon graduation, he'll be handed a very specific set of orders, a packing list, and every instruction necessary to plan his movement to OCS.
Believe me when I say that this is going to be a challenge as well.
Your son is going to be trained to make decisions, very important ones, while under a great deal of stress. Confronting uncertainty, ambiguity, and confusion are all part and parcel of that skill set, and no matter how well he prepares, or how well you support him...I promise that he will encounter all of the above during his training. He will get in "trouble" during training...everyone does; for infractions as mundane as not putting on a piece of uniform "correctly", not following a command swiftly enough, leaving a lock undone (amirite, guys?) or for whatever arbitrary and contrived reasons the trainers can find to inject stress, fear, and chaos into the training environment. I once literally "lost" my right to enter my own bunk...and had to report to my Detailer to request permission each time (with the expected result of being "cycled" for some time before said permission was granted). Real trouble is easily avoidable enough; all he need do is obey the orders he's given, perform to the best of his ability, and while he won't have much free time, avoiding making decisions that run contrary to the Army values and regulations.
I would strenuously recommend against attempts to "figure the system out"; particularly through what we in the Navy call "gouge"; i.e., rumor, online information, etc. In the first place, things change often, and in the second, you don't want to unintentionally rob your son of the opportunity to learn how to navigate the ins and outs of his chosen career on his own. He will begin building a network, as early as BCT, and on into OCS, and later training (because there will likely be much, much more) that will follow him the next twenty years or more. People he will be training with today, may one day be soldiers in a unit he's commanding, or peers serving in the same capacity. He will begin building his reputation now...and believe me when I say that he is the best person to do so.
As a father, I know this is challenging for you, and want to thank you for asking these questions. It is important, you have the right, and I hope some of what I've said helps. The most important thing I can tell you is this...trust your son. What he needs now, more than anything, is self-confidence, self-reliance, and self-assurance. If God-forbid, some years from now, he is forced to make decisions under real circumstances, he may be the only resource he has...and the Army is going to find, hone, and perfect that ability within him.
God bless.
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Patricia McIntosh-Mize
Joshua, THANK YOU. I so appreciate your kind words, your thoughtful response, and your wealth of experience. I also appreciate your compassion for me and my earnest attempt to successfully navigate the territory in which I find myself deployed as a result of my son's career choice.
He'd be the first to tell you that, while I am a fierce mama bear, I am also not remotely a helicopter parent.
I'm more of a wind-em-up-and-let-em-fly kind of parent. Based on what the other Army moms were saying, it sounded like my involvement would not only be helpful but it might be necessary to his success. I'm just trying to do the right thing and hold up my end.
He'd be the first to tell you that, while I am a fierce mama bear, I am also not remotely a helicopter parent.
I'm more of a wind-em-up-and-let-em-fly kind of parent. Based on what the other Army moms were saying, it sounded like my involvement would not only be helpful but it might be necessary to his success. I'm just trying to do the right thing and hold up my end.
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MAJ Byron Oyler
Patricia McIntosh-Mize - There will be plenty of opportunities for you to still play Mom and what you are feeling today is little different than the first day of school, then HS, bringing his first girl home, and you got this. Google has some great videos of some of the training however I caution you as Mom to be careful how much you try to learn what he is going through as it is rough for a parent. I would honestly say the best thing to help him is learn things like what the DFAC is, what time is 1700, PT, OCP, what a drill sergeant is, and when those phone calls come, you won't have to spend half of them asking what things are and be able to have a more meaningful conversation with your son. This is a family journey and welcome to one of the best families in the world.
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LCDR Joshua Gillespie
Patricia McIntosh-Mize -Happy to help. A few last thoughts: Your son, if he succeeds, will be a "leader in training". No one's going to hand him a platoon and expect him to be 100% "fully baked"; that's why there are highly experienced, very professional senior enlisted personnel who will mentor and guide him through those first formative years as a junior officer. That being said, he will soon be a solider, and (again, if he succeeds) will then be an officer...with all of the responsibilities, obligations, and expectations that involves. In short, he'll be an adult entrusted to act as one. The day I returned home from getting my commission, I was a different person than the one who left four years earlier...and I was a MUCH different person when I returned home from my first deployment. I was fortunate in that my father had been an Army NCO, and knew a lot more about what I was headed for than many. It's difficult for we as parents, but inevitably, and in my opinion...for very positive reasons...you will "lose" some of him to the Army. The people he includes in his life from now, until he leaves the Service will also "lose" some of him to it. That's why being a military spouse, child, or parent is no easy undertaking, and so highly regarded...it's a sacrifice.
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Patricia McIntosh-Mize
My son's father was a career Coastie and an NCO. Sadly he passed away just weeks before our son reported to BCT. My boy is the stalwart type so he seems to be handling it surprisingly well. A friend of ours who is a retired Lieutenant Colonel told us that his approach, after finishing OCS and becoming a 2LT, was to ask the highest ranking NCO present what they thought would be best to do in any given situation... and then he said he would do that. And apparently it generally worked out well. LOL Humility and willingness to learn from those with more experience is something I think my son brings to the table. At least, I hope he does.
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I agree with my fellow NCOs. Your son will be squared away. His leadership will set him up for success and ensure he has everything he needs or will have time and resources to get whatever he needs. As far as the info....he will get that info and he will get the opportunity to get that info to you as well. Trust the process. Don't try to get him prepped ahead of time as you may end up wasting both time and money. I hope this helps.
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Patricia McIntosh-Mize
"Trust the process" they said. "The Army knows what it's doing" they said.
This just in from a fellow Army Mom whose son just finished Basic at Benning -- this is why I'm trying to do what little I can to make sure he has his ducks in a row:
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Our son's graduation Friday has had a negative twist. They forgot to provide him an airline ticket home. We had to drive him back to the barracks after graduation as he isn't supposed to be there and had no ride. This morning I was told they may not send him home for days. We are all extremely upset. He had plans with friends leaving for college and we and he just want to be home. This is ridiculous. They don't have him listed there and he isn't here. They literally just forgot him and admitted as much. But they're not fixing it! Everyone else is gone. We would buy tickets ourselves but assume they won't be reimbursed since we missed the July deadline to make arrangements ourselves. Last minute flights cost upwards of $700.
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Another Army Mom replied:
Mistakes like this happen all the time in the Army. My husband graduated 3 weeks ago and he still doesn’t have a duty station assigned so he’s stuck there in the barracks. The advice people keep giving me is to get used to it...it’s way more common than it should be.
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I do NOT want to be dealing with any of ^THAT^ kind of last-minute insanity. So call me crazy but I'm just trying to minimize the amount of cat-herding he'll have to do to get from Point A to Point B.
This just in from a fellow Army Mom whose son just finished Basic at Benning -- this is why I'm trying to do what little I can to make sure he has his ducks in a row:
=======================
Our son's graduation Friday has had a negative twist. They forgot to provide him an airline ticket home. We had to drive him back to the barracks after graduation as he isn't supposed to be there and had no ride. This morning I was told they may not send him home for days. We are all extremely upset. He had plans with friends leaving for college and we and he just want to be home. This is ridiculous. They don't have him listed there and he isn't here. They literally just forgot him and admitted as much. But they're not fixing it! Everyone else is gone. We would buy tickets ourselves but assume they won't be reimbursed since we missed the July deadline to make arrangements ourselves. Last minute flights cost upwards of $700.
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Another Army Mom replied:
Mistakes like this happen all the time in the Army. My husband graduated 3 weeks ago and he still doesn’t have a duty station assigned so he’s stuck there in the barracks. The advice people keep giving me is to get used to it...it’s way more common than it should be.
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I do NOT want to be dealing with any of ^THAT^ kind of last-minute insanity. So call me crazy but I'm just trying to minimize the amount of cat-herding he'll have to do to get from Point A to Point B.
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1LT (Join to see)
Patricia,
I think you might be worrying a bit more than you need to. Your son hasn't even gotten halfway through Basic Training yet. Hell....he could suffer an injury/fracture/etc and/or get recycled in Basic and his going to OCS could be delayed. I don't wish that on him but I have personally seen it happen before...and more than once.
1) OCS Packing Lists vary by schoolhouse and by component. The only official document will be the one he'll get when it's time.
2) There's simply no way of knowing that in advance.
3) His orders haven't even been cut yet....so no.
4) See the answer for #1.
5) The travel arrangements aren't available yet because the orders haven't been cut yet.
You took that from another Mom...OK. Out of tens of thousands of soldiers that graduate Basic across the country per year....honestly that stuff doesn't happen nearly as much as you'd think. I've been in since 2011 and I've never heard of it happening.
And on the rare case that it did....his NCOs and leadership would ensure that your son is squared away. It is literally their job. They'd get royally chewed out by their leadership if they didn't.
It's OK, Mom. Your son is an adult. He and the ones in charge of him will get it done.
I think you might be worrying a bit more than you need to. Your son hasn't even gotten halfway through Basic Training yet. Hell....he could suffer an injury/fracture/etc and/or get recycled in Basic and his going to OCS could be delayed. I don't wish that on him but I have personally seen it happen before...and more than once.
1) OCS Packing Lists vary by schoolhouse and by component. The only official document will be the one he'll get when it's time.
2) There's simply no way of knowing that in advance.
3) His orders haven't even been cut yet....so no.
4) See the answer for #1.
5) The travel arrangements aren't available yet because the orders haven't been cut yet.
You took that from another Mom...OK. Out of tens of thousands of soldiers that graduate Basic across the country per year....honestly that stuff doesn't happen nearly as much as you'd think. I've been in since 2011 and I've never heard of it happening.
And on the rare case that it did....his NCOs and leadership would ensure that your son is squared away. It is literally their job. They'd get royally chewed out by their leadership if they didn't.
It's OK, Mom. Your son is an adult. He and the ones in charge of him will get it done.
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OK, I am an OCS Officer, although I came in from a unit rather than straight from Basic. I will confirm what the numerous and experienced NCO's here have said, don't sweat it. The Army has done this stuff a long time and they will lead him through the entry process and insure that he both has every thing he needs and has opportunity to acquire it. We were not allowed private vehicles when I was there, which has been several decades back, so transportation should be arranged for him from Jackson to Ft. Benning. Go watch him Graduate for BCT, give him a hug and then trust the Army to take care of getting him started at OCS. The finishing part will be up to him.
I will say that I detested OCS. I had to adopt the attitude that this was just a trial I had to endure to get where I wanted to go.
I will say that I detested OCS. I had to adopt the attitude that this was just a trial I had to endure to get where I wanted to go.
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Patricia McIntosh-Mize
"Lady"? Followed by name-calling? Really? Try "ma'am." It's much more respectful.
I have to wonder at the kind of manners being taught to our NCOs these days in terms of how to address the general public.
My son's father, God rest his soul, was a career Coastie, QM1, and I can't any more imagine him responding to a femal civilian asking a question with, "Lady..."
Politeness, whither thou?
I have to wonder at the kind of manners being taught to our NCOs these days in terms of how to address the general public.
My son's father, God rest his soul, was a career Coastie, QM1, and I can't any more imagine him responding to a femal civilian asking a question with, "Lady..."
Politeness, whither thou?
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Patricia McIntosh-Mize Relax!
If your son cannot figure it out with the support available, he will fail!
That failure will reflect unfavorably on the Army and his upbringing.
If your son cannot figure it out with the support available, he will fail!
That failure will reflect unfavorably on the Army and his upbringing.
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Patricia McIntosh-Mize
I ask a polite, genuine, and respectful question and am told to "relax." Charming.
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