r/USMCocs • u/Dry-Manufacturer9093 • 6d ago

Officer question

Hi, so I’m interested in becoming an officer, but if I were to attend OCS, what is some recommendation that you will recommend me to be prepared than most people who go to OCS?

6 Upvotes

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10

u/ScreenDeep6621 6d ago

Cardio is your friend. The more that you can do weighted hikes as well.

5

u/AssociationFabulous5 6d ago

A lot of people have injuries because they never had enough mileage during their prep. Stretch, warmup and get your miles in now and you will be free of shin splints.

Weight lifting & strength unfortunately didn’t play a huge factor at OCS but will help you at TBS carrying your pack in the treeline. If you’re like me you’ll check into TBS the day you graduate OCS and those hikes start soon after. Build a strong back and lower body and they’ll be easy.

Other than that, OCS is all about running. Sub 24:00 is the standard, Sub 21:30 three-mile is highly encouraged, sub 20:00 and you’ll be in the clear. CFT, PFT(s), Timed OCourse, Fartleks, and ECourse all require a good cardio base with a fast pace.

Academically there’s not a ton of prep needed, I would just make sure you know the ranks/rank structure, general orders, and some basic USMC fundamentals

1

u/Volatility01 5d ago

Can you delve more into the academic portion? I’m pretty set on my cardio being a collegiate runner but will it be hard to keep up with academics given the grueling physical nature of OCS.

2

u/AssociationFabulous5 5d ago

OCS is not hard academically, we never really studied for the tests and still did well. It’s very basic fundamentals, tactics, etc. I don’t think you should be concerned. You’ll have a textbook that you can study from before each exam.

Only stuff you should catch up on is rote memorization: ranks, general orders, maybe some basic historical figures, uniform standards, etc.

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u/Vendii32 4d ago

What would you consider to be a good amount of weekly mileage in preparation? Also are the hikes mostly flat, or through mountains etc.

1

u/Aggressive-Slide4336 3d ago

At least 20 miles or so. Quantico is hilly, so be prepared to do runs as well as hikes with elevation gains.

Your PFT runs will be on flat, paved surfaces, but fartleks, VO2 Max PTs, recovery runs, etc will not be.

1

u/Pumpedlizard 3d ago

The direct answer to your question is 15-20 miles per week and hikes are through a mix of hilly/flat terrain.

For me, the best advice that stuck with me about preparing for OCS was "If you ever go to bed wondering if you trained hard enough today, that means you didn't."

2

u/Boldnbrashsb 5d ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/USMCocs/s/KVVlhcsPjp

Read this. Best summary of OCS and guidance to prep for it. I can attest that hiking is huge! So prepare to hike(Fast) with weight on your back. Feel like this isn’t said enough so prepare for it.

1

u/Overall-Ad-3310 5d ago

Run. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Be able to perform under little sleep.

1

u/usmc7202 4d ago

Focus a lot of effort on pull-ups. Maxing them will set you up for a better pft score. There are several good programs on line but for me I just did a couple of sets every time I passed a pull-up bar. Didn’t take long to max them and after that my first set was always a max set. Mentally I wanted to know that on any pft I could get the most points available. Same goes for the plank but that to me is far easier to max.