What can I do to help make my OCS package competitive? How competitive is it to get your branch of choice in OCS?

2018-12-03T09:05:00-05:00

I recently submitted a package for OCS and am trying to be as informed as possible. Currently, I have six years of active USAF time and three and a half years of Army National Guard time. Is there anything I can do to help my OCS package or my chances of being selected? I will graduate a double major with a B.S.B.A. in Economics and Finance this coming May. I know promotions are different for officers than enlisted, what are the requirements to be promoted from CPT to MAJ? If selected for OCS, is it a realistic goal of achieving MAJ or LTC given the TIS I currently have? Also, how competitive is it to get your branch of choice in OCS? Last question I promise, for any prior enlisted officers did y'all enjoy the transition? Meaning do y'all enjoy being an officer vs. enlisted?

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 3 at 2018 10:10 AM

2018-12-03T10:10:58-05:00

Just be confident in your board interview and you should be fine. Your branch of choice for the guard relies on the oml of your class and the amount of slots your state has for that particular branch. As for if I enjoy being an officer over enlisted I would say you definitely see the difference between being an NCO and an officer. Delegation is key and you don’t want to micromanage your NCOs. Just have faith that they will get the job done and no matter the urge you have stay out of NCO business lol. Good Luck in OCS

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made Dec 3 at 2018 10:23 AM

2018-12-03T10:23:13-05:00

Your education is fine, letters of recommendations from your Chain of Command and the higher the better help a lot.
Since you won't have to worry about Time in Service, TIG requirements are 18 months from 2nd to 1st Lieutenant, 2 years from 1st Lieutenant to Captain, and another 3 to Major. Additionally, you will have to be "Fully Qualified" to promote to Captain, which generally means that you finish Basic Officer Leadership and the Captains Career Course. Do your job and don't screw up and the first two promotion, through Captain, are fairly easy. Major is really the first one that can be very competitive and you will need to make Major (1.) to be able to retire and (2.) to have 10 years as an Officer so you can retire at your highest O rank. Remember that Officers are up or out, although that generally isn't a big issue until you hit Major.
Good Luch

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made Dec 3 at 2018 10:38 AM

2018-12-03T10:38:48-05:00

And yes, I did enjoy being an officer, especially being the Company Commander of a Combat Engineer unit, staff Officer, not as much, although I probably answer more questions here because of my time as S1 than CO or Plt leader.

Response by LTC Orlando Illi made Dec 3 at 2018 12:29 PM

2018-12-03T12:29:28-05:00

The best answer I can give regarding your career as an Officer would be what my Brigade CSM told me as a 2LT just out of OCS "...if you have to tell someone you are an Officer - you're not..."

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 21 at 2018 1:40 PM

2018-12-21T13:40:54-05:00

So I’ll answer the OCS specific questions first. So since you submitted your packet there isn’t really anything you can do to help it along. The boats interview will really depend a lot on who the members of the board are, assuming they still do those. It’s been a few years since I applied. They’ll focus on your education and probably ask you why you want to join the Army as an officer vs the Air Force, have an answer for that ready. As far as branch choice once you’re in OCS it all depends on your standing within the class as they go down the list by GPA, the exception is candidates that have submitted 4187’s for specific branches such as requesting Intel because they were prior service Intel or something similar. The chance of getting the branch you want really depends on what your fellow candidates want, as well as what branches are available for that cycle. West Point and ROTC get first crack at all the branches and a majority of the combat arms go to those programs, but there’s always some left for OCS to choose. As far as going from CPT to MAJ it all depends on your OER’s. Other stuff such as civilian education doesn’t really matter as much. The board will look at you vertically (ie. how you compare to everyone else in your year group) and horizontally (ie. how you compare to your peers who have been rated the same by their senior raters). Finally, yes it is realistic to expect to make Major given your time and if you plan on retiring exactly at 20 years. You’ll spend 4 years making it to CPT and about 6 years as a CPT before your MAJ board. If you think of anything else, feel free to PM me.