I just graduated from OSUT (basic training + AIT) for Infantry on 7 October at Ft. Benning, GA. Saturday I'm flying out to my duty station somewhere in Germany.
I'm 22 years old and I already have a bachelor's degree. And I've been looking very seriously at applying for Officer Candidate School (OCS). I'm not entirely sure what all is involved with the process or how easy it is to get in, though I found a good summary
here. Is there anyone here that has graduated from OCS or otherwise is familiar with the application process and the school itself? I'd appreciate any input.
I haven't, and I'm not, but even still I strongly suspect that butt-kissing your local congresscritter wouldn't hurt a bit in regards to getting in...you know, internships working campaign sort of thing - I vaguely recall an aquaintance getting into West Point, maybe VMA, one of the prestigious military academies anyway, who folks thought that one of the things that made him stand out from all the other 4.0 gpa Eagle scouts was having a congressman writing letters on his behalf.
I'm really surprised with a bachelors they didn't already try to fast track you into OCS. Maybe wartime is good for officer recruitment and bad for enlisted recruitment? Either way with your age (you're an old man by army new enlistee standards), wisdom, and experience you don't have any excuse not to stand out, whether it be
commanding troops as an officer or
leading troops as a leadership nco. I'm sure you'll do us proud.
My tiny little bit of experience as a low echelon enlisted guy is to keep your head down and your mouth shut about the bullcrap stuff, but figure out which officers and nco's are running things and really give a crap about their people and then break your cajones to show them your stuff - not flashy, efficient - not arrogant, confident. Cross your 't's' and dot your 'i's' for the pencil pushing bastards, but at the end of the day don't be afraid to tell sgt rock that your ass is dragging not because of rifle cleaning or spit shining, but because you put 100% into making sure your buddies ass was covered.
