Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS)
Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS)
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I'm a 42R (musician) and I have been considering going to OCS or WOCS I meet all the academic requirements (degree, GT score, etc.) I just don't know what to expect, will it be like BCT again? I'm trying to weigh pros and cons of both, or if I just want to stay enlisted for now.
Posted in these groups: 
Officer Candidate School (OCS) (Army)
Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS)
Officer Candidate School (OCS) (Army) Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS)
Posted 5 y ago
Responses: 6
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Just like Chief Brooks said, for the OCS side you have to have the reasons why you want to be an officer straight. I would highly recommend you pursue a commission, WO or O, after you have spent a few years in the NCO corps. My experience in positions such as team leader, squad leader, and platoon sergeant have been invaluable in my officer career. But, to answer your original question, OCS is not BCT, it’s a different and sometimes frustrating experience. The frustrations mainly arise from your peers. Every one to two weeks, your student leadership changes. The college ops have no time in the Army and when they mess up, will impose policy out of gut reaction. Example, people are late to PT formation so they make a new policy that there will be a formation 30 minutes earlier. Then the student platoon Sergeants form up 30 minutes before that, etc. There were times at OCS I showed up to a 0600 PT formation at 0400. Also they would play little mental games like tell you that there will be a free weekend for all, but then you would get to Friday and the cadre would decide the barracks are dirty so it’s barracks cleaning and leaf raking detail all weekend. So different from BCT but there are other things that can get under your skin.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
And I would add that Drill Sergeants are really there to square you away and get you through training unless you are an obvious dirt bag. TAC Officers (the equivalent of Drill Sergeants for OCS) are there to make your life hell to see if you can take the pressure.
I have the utmost respect for my Drill Sergeants, I just considered the TAC's something unpleasant I had to deal with to get what I wanted.
I have the utmost respect for my Drill Sergeants, I just considered the TAC's something unpleasant I had to deal with to get what I wanted.
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MAJ (Join to see)
CPT Lawrence Cable my officer TAC was a guy who got passed up for Major so he was just bitter and waiting for his time. My NCO TAC just happened to have the same MOS as me so he would annoy me a lot saying things like “are you sure you want to do this? You can go back and be a platoon sergeant and not go through this pain.” He was especially irritating when about a month in I made the pre-list for SFC. Right up until the day I signed the memo to be removed from the promotion list he was always in my business about it.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
MAJ (Join to see) - Aside from the fact that their job was to make your life miserable, I think I walked in expecting them to be that Super Soldier that the Army attempts to make at Drill Sergeant School. They weren't, especially for those of us coming out of Combat Arms units. We were in better shape, generally more tactically proficient, and most of us had a better concept of leadership roles.
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What are your motivations to be an officer (regular and Warrant)? What specifically are your fears? And yes, WOCS is like Basic Training, on steroids...with an added guilt trip because you’re not a trainee and you should know better.
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SGT(P) (Join to see)
I have seen some of the leaders here, good and bad, and I want to be better than them. I want to motivate troops to work harder, not the beating will continue till morale improves. I also want to give my family the best life I can.
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CW2 Christopher Esparza
If your goal is to teach train and motivate troops then your in the warrant camp. If you want to write a white paper on how to then officer is for you. I’m sure my vote is weighted but if you want to continue to play with the toys thru your entire career warrant is the one for you. Talk to your commander and ask him to tell you about the good bad and ugly about being a warrant. SGT(P) (Join to see)
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CW3 Chris Davis
SGT(P) (Join to see) - It all depends on what you want at the end of the day/ career if you enjoy working with and mentoring Soldiers then come on over to the WO side, there are many benefits and enjoyable moments, however if at the end of the day you want to ultimately be disconnected from the Soldier and I do not mean this in a negative way to all you RLO's that are about to take offense but they do not get to enjoy the opportunities that a WO does on mentoring and training the Soldier at the lowest levels, Also I can't speak on how WOC's is now but when I went through in 2002 it was Basic on Steroids, but I knew what I was getting myself into and kept the W1 rank in my wallet to remind myself what the end result would be.
With all that said my WOC's had a Navy Seal instructor, a Green Beret (HALO) qualified, and a couple Drill Sergeants the first two wanted to fly for the Special Operations Group and the other two were Technicians.
Now have you looked at the Army COOL website to see what additional certifications/qualifications you can get in order to become the best 420C you can? https://www.cool.army.mil/officer/wo_420c.htm Just some thoughts, Good luck and God Speed in your ventures and decisions.
With all that said my WOC's had a Navy Seal instructor, a Green Beret (HALO) qualified, and a couple Drill Sergeants the first two wanted to fly for the Special Operations Group and the other two were Technicians.
Now have you looked at the Army COOL website to see what additional certifications/qualifications you can get in order to become the best 420C you can? https://www.cool.army.mil/officer/wo_420c.htm Just some thoughts, Good luck and God Speed in your ventures and decisions.
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It’s been a long time since I graduated from OCS (JUN73), SGT(P) (Join to see), and even longer since I graduated from BCT (JAN70). However, BCT was a cakewalk compared to OCS. At the risk of angering many drill sergeants, OCS tactical (training) officers made BCT drill sergeants look like the baby sitters my parents used for me when I was a child.
Times may have changed the circumstances, but that was my experience.
Times may have changed the circumstances, but that was my experience.
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