Posted on Jun 3, 2018
PO3 Gunner's Mate
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Looking for the best books to read before ARMY OCS. Interested to hear what everyone thinks. (Doesn't have to be OCS related.. Leadership etc..)
Posted in these groups: OCSA261 lg Officer Candidate School (OCS) (Army)AOCS
Edited 7 y ago
Posted 7 y ago
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2LT Teacher/Coach
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2LT
Posted 7 y ago
What will help you out tremendously at OCS is reading FM 3.21.8 Infantry Platoon and Squad Tactics and the OCS SOP which you can find on the US Army MCOE site. Learn those two things and you will be in great shape. You will be light years ahead of other students you are competing with. Also, skim over all of America's conflicts. Notice I said skim. When you get to history Doc Campbell has a very unique way of teaching it so keep an open mind. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I just left the course 2 weeks ago.
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2LT Teacher/Coach
2LT (Join to see)
7 y
Make sure you go to COMMANDOS and grab the OCS Required Knowledge and study it every chance you get!
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LTC Cyber Security Engineer
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LTC
Posted 7 y ago
OCS is not a grad school level course. You should be more concerned about leadership at the tactical level. Concentrate on what LT Tolliver said plus FM 5-0 (Operations Process). Also memorize your required OCS knowledge. You should read the above over and over again and use the rest of your time to workout/run. You will be quizzed and tested on tactics and operations. You will also be tested on land navigation (make sure you know how to use a map and MGRS) and lots of physical stuff (running and road marching). The other books are great but a waste of time in prep for ocs...
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SPC Joseph Wojcik
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Posted 7 y ago
Slaughterhouse-Five.

You didn't specify whether they had to be OCS related.
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PO3 Gunner's Mate
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7 y
Thank you for the call out!
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2LT Teacher/Coach
2LT (Join to see)
7 y
I have a very extensive library of books you might be interested in. But I would suggest you learn FM 3.21.8 and the OCS SOP.
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2LT Teacher/Coach
2LT (Join to see)
7 y
Check out: Hal Moore on Leadership, Colin Powell: It worked for Me, Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield, The Mission, The Men and Me by Peter Blaber, and The Face of Battle by John Keegan. I definitely have more.
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What are the best books to read before attending Army OCS?
1LT Chaplain Candidate
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1LT
Posted 5 y ago
Book-reading doesn't really apply to actual OCS prep, other than the FM as 2LT (Join to see) mentioned. Training your body and your basic soldier skills is more appropriate to the success of the actual course.

But for general preparedness as an officer I recommend: Dereliction of Duty, Black Hearts, The Three Meter Zone, About Face, Tribe, and The American Military Tradition.
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LTC Charles T Dalbec
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Posted >1 y ago
I would recommend you google the topic and then go to the various DA publications and regulations and become familiar with what you read.
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2LT All Source Intelligence
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2LT
Posted 7 y ago
The Ranger handbook is your best friend. Trust me!
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
Also, Reminiscences by Douglas MacArthur, the autobiography of Edward Rickenbacker, and American Caesar and The Arms of Krupp bymWilliam Manchester on MacArthur, as well as the German Krupp dynasty through WW2....
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
I'll wait now, digest all that, I'd be most eager gormyour thoughts, hope was of at least some use, enjoy....
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
http://www.nape.org

This also, of you're engrg, a PE license is a very good credential to have, I assure yoacceptable....u, or in Amy STEM field that might be acceptable, e.g., comp sci (CS), maybe IT....

www.nape.org

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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
http://www.asme.org

And them....

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers

ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) promotes the art, science & practice of multidisciplinary engineering around the globe.
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
http://www.aiaa.org

This is quite good....

www.aiaa.org

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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago

ResearchGate | Share and discover research

Find 100+ million publication pages, 15+ million researchers, and 700k+ projects. ResearchGate is where you discover scientific knowledge and share your work.
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
http://www.vixra.org

Sorry, typo....

viXra.org open e-Print archive

ViXra.org is an e-print archive set up as an alternative to the popular arXiv.org service owned by Cornell University. It has been founded by scientists who find they are unable to submit their articles to arXiv.org because of Cornell University's policy of endorsements and moderation designed to filter out e-prints that they consider inappropriate. ViXra is an open repository for new scientific articles. It does not endorse e-prints accepted...
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
http://www.vixra.prg

And that....

www.vixra.prg

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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
http://www.arxiv.org

Learn to use that...

arXiv.org e-Print archive

Open access to 1,377,332 e-prints in Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Quantitative Biology, Quantitative Finance, Statistics, Electrical Engineering and Systems Science, and Economics
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
http://www.moaa.org

And them....

www.moaa.org

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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
http://www.roa.org

And this....

www.roa.org

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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
http://www.same.org

This too....

www.same.org

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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
http://www.acm.org

Also very necessary.

Association for Computing Machinery

ACM, the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, delivers resources that advance computing as a science and a profession. ACM provides the computing field's premier Digital Library and serves its members and the computing profession with leading-edge publications, conferences, and career resources.
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Capt Daniel Goodman
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Capt
Posted 7 y ago
http://www.ieee.org

Look at their transactions on aerospace and electronic systems....

IEEE - The world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology...

Now is a perfect time to give the gift of IEEE membership, a great graduation gift idea and way to share in the experience of IEEE.
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