What is the process to go from MEPS to Basic to OCS?

Patricia McIntosh-Mize — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 22:57:33 -0500

My son is eager to go to Army OCS. He has a bachelor's degree from an accredited college, aced the ASVAB, has assembled his application packet, and is scheduled to report to MEPS soon.

His recruiter has been a bit vague about the exact order of business in terms of what happens once he gets to MEPS.

I know he will have some medical, drug, physical, and psych testing, answer some questions about his health history, etc.

At some point, he will go before an OCS board to be interviewed about his application packet.

If all goes well, it sounds like he then signs on, expresses his occasional preferences, then goes off to basic and, after basic, to OCS... or something close to that.

Is that the correct order of how things will occur?

At what point does he find out if he will (or will not) be going to OCS?

His thought is that, if he can't get in to Army OCS, he might the prefer to go enlisted in another branch.

Will he have a chance to decide that?

How is all of this handled? It sounds like once you get to MEPS, everything happens rather quickly.

Thank you!

Response by Patricia McIntosh-Mize made Jan 25 at 2019 10:59 PM

Patricia McIntosh-Mize — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 22:59:09 -0500

* occupational, not "occasional"
Stupid autocorrect...

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Jan 25 at 2019 11:03 PM

LTC Jason Mackay — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 23:03:06 -0500

SFC Private RallyPoint Member you familiar with the steps?

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Jan 25 at 2019 11:30 PM

LTC Jason Mackay — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 23:30:15 -0500

Patricia McIntosh-Mize his recruiter will be working his entry and application step by step so he doesn't have issues in the process. Your son hasn't made a checklist of the things he has to get done?

Yes, he will attend Basic training, then report to Officer Candidate School. Then he will attend Basic Officer Leader Course BOLC, pronounced bow lick. The BOLC is branch specific. From what I understand, the candidates will state preferences for branch towards the end of OCS. The branching process is based on accessions needs of the Army. The selection process is rooted in class ranking among other factors.

If he doesn't enter into a contract with the Army, he is free to enlist in any branch he qualifies for.

Response by GySgt David Weihausen made Jan 27 at 2019 10:05 AM

GySgt David Weihausen — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 10:05:39 -0500

My experience is from Marine Corps Recruiting. Marines have officers that are specifically detailed to recruit officer candidates. He doesn't have to go thru bootcamp and then hope to get selected for officer training. The OSO (Officer Selection Officer) can get him selected (or declined) prior to his leaving for any type of training. To me this sounds like the recruiter is just trying to hit a number to meet his goal and not looking out for your son's best interest.