What are the differences (other than length) between OCS, State OCS, Accelerated OCS, and ROTC?

CPL Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 21:34:02 -0400

So, I am currently a CPL in the NYARNG looking to commission into an officer once i finish my 90 credit requirement, which i know makes me eligible for waiver for federal ocs, and state ocs. I am mostly concerned with how the classes are constructed, difficulty, and things such as that. I want to do federal OCS but until i finish my degree, i am stuck with either a waiver for federal OCS or state.

Response by LTC Trent Klug made Aug 23 at 2018 10:58 PM

LTC Trent Klug — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 22:58:15 -0400

Having been a State OCS commander, there is no difference in the curriculum.

Response by MAJ Javier Rivera made Aug 23 at 2018 10:59 PM

MAJ Javier Rivera — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 22:59:56 -0400

ROTC is conducted while in college, is part of your curriculum. Talk with a ROTC representative for additional information. State vs. Federal OCS... Federal is an active duty school.! Like basic training but in steroids and all of the Officer stuff. State OCS has the same POI but splited they the year. I believe you start with a 2 weeks training followed by monthly assemblies, and a final 2 weeks.

Response by PFC Tuan Trang made Aug 24 at 2018 7:57 AM

PFC Tuan Trang — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 07:57:58 -0400

ROTC or direct commission is more suitable, ocs and accelerated version of ocs is a bit challenging.

Response by 1LT Mark Schroyer made Aug 24 at 2018 3:39 PM

1LT Mark Schroyer — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 15:39:36 -0400

State OCS has an accelerated program which last 8 weeks. National Guard Accelerated OCS is offered twice yearly at Ft McClellan, Alabama. Winter program starts in January and Summer program starts in June.

Response by MAJ Daniel Buchholz made Aug 24 at 2018 9:48 PM

MAJ Daniel Buchholz — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 21:48:42 -0400

Traditional is generally considered the hardest. So much time between drills, the mental switch required before and after each drill, and just the sheer amount of time that life can interfere. Had a friend who did both traditional and accelerated (long story) Nd he said that knocking it out all at once was way easier. No distractions.
That said, if you are staying m-day Guard, the traditional is best way to get used to that battle rhythm. It gets you used to all the additional demands that you are going to have as a drilling Officer.

Response by CPT(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 24 at 2018 11:07 PM

CPT(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 23:07:03 -0400

I found that ROTC was a good balance of frequency and overall length of time. I was much more prepared than I would have been with a short concentrated dose (traditional OCS) or multi-week gaps (NG OCS). The body of knowledge for an officer is largely different from being enlisted, in my experience, so I wouldn't underestimate how much you can learn through any of these routes.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 27 at 2018 12:37 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 12:37:55 -0400

Your specific situation will dictate most of those answers. As LTC K. stated, the curriculum is the same for traditional state and accelerated OCS programs. ROTC adds military science classes that include more research based papers.

A lot of this might depend on how you want to complete the remainder of your college courses and how well you multitask. If you have the resources to complete college at a university and you don't need to work full time on top of that, I would suggest the ROTC route. You could participate in the Simultaneous Membership Program and drill as a CDT until you graduate. Again, I suggest this route if you have the means. If you do not have the means to pay for school and support your family, you may need to keep a full time job. If that's the case, you may need to go OCS. I would suggest completing all your college courses prior to applying for OCS in this case. From experience, full time job, traditional OCS, family requirements, and full time school was not a great idea. I had to drop my classes for Phase 1 and 3. Then again when I went to BOLC. I didn't finish my degree until about 9 months after BOLC.

I completed Phase 1 and 11 months of the 12 month Phase 2 of traditional state OCS. Then I completed Phases 2 and 3 accelerated. Results may very. So I essentially completed everything traditional and everything accelerated. From my experience, you learn more from traditional if you are a traditional guardsman. You will complete more assignments between drills. We had a monthly newsletter that required us to take turns writing articles on military leaders, books on the SEC DEF reading list, and interviews with local leaders. The month between drills was also used to plan events for the next drill and study for tests. Some drills have major events such as FTX and ruck marches. Candidate leadership plans these events and you need time to conduct leaders recons. Traditional programs also have a history of having much better staff rides. Plus, completing a case study between drills allowed me to learn more about the subject. At accelerated, I ended up writing it by hand on fire guard based on a couple printouts we were given.

If you're looking for what's easiest, I would have to say accelerated due to that being your full time job for that 8 weeks. The washout rate is much lower for accelerated as well. If you have completed BLC, you should have the basic skills to be successful in accelerated. However, it's not a given that your state will send you accelerated.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have gone to a university with my GI Bill, attend ROTC, applied to scholarships, and be done with it. I had about 40 college credits when I decided I wanted to commission. I went to school in evenings and online, started OCS at exactly 90 credits, completed most of traditional then accelerated OCS, completed BOLC, then finished my degree online over a span of 4.5 years. It would have taken the same amount of time to go to a university with an ROTC program and save me and my family a lot of stress.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 19 at 2020 3:18 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 15:18:15 -0400

The main difference is time. Federal OCS is a regular army school that lasts 14 weeks and can include weekend passes if your class earns them. They march everywhere wearing the white OCS ascots and they have to stand at parade rest during "breaks" from classes. It's very basic training like, except you're required to think instead of just reacting to stimulus.

Traditional State OCS is about 15 months long (depending on the state, TX has a phase zero beginning in March). It usually begins with a 2 week Phase I AT in June at one of the state training facilities and ends with another 2 week AT for Phase III the following year in August. Phase II is weekend drills that you will dread and is the most common period that people drop out. If you're relatively young and fit this isn't a bad way to go but you need to have patience and endurance.

Accelerated State OCS is 8 weeks long. Phase I and Phase III are the same but Phase II is a four-week hell session that shoves you through the curriculum at warp speed. You'll wear a K-pot and LBE all the time and every where you go will be at double-time. They PT the hell out of you during "breaks" and there is no let-up at all during those 8 weeks except when you're traveling from one phase to the next. Count on less than 4 hours (if you're lucky) sleep every night, regardless of phase.

It is almost impossible to drop you from the program unless you fail a mandatory event or unless you quit and they will make you WANT to quit. Either route, it's a hazing with little training value. In fact, much of what they will "teach" you is wrong. Doctrinally and culturally, the real Army is vastly different than what they portray to OCS candidates. I was enlisted for 18 years prior and was given a very hard time by cadre and students alike because I knew better. Some of the OCS enlistment kids get really stupid and blindly follow the OCS nonsense as if it's real.

Bottom line: it's a suck-fest that will teach you how much quit you have and how much you're willing to throw your peers under the bus. It is worth it, eventually. Being an officer is far better than being enlisted and you'll probably live longer too. A huge percentage of retired enlisted people die within 5 years of retirement. Most officers make it at least 15-25 years.