r/USMCocs

Just got my EGA yesterday. OCC 252, ask me anything you want to know.

So I was initially going to do OCS for navy this fall but a marine recruiter reached out to me about OCS this September so I decided to give it a shot. I got my package in and rushed the pft with the intent of retaking it as I hadn’t prepared for it at all. I scored a 230 which is passing but based on my research isn’t great and they weigh this part quite heavily in their decision-making. The recruiter I’m working with submitted my application instead of recommending that I should retake it even though I could have delayed by a month to improve my pft so at the time I figured it was good enough.

Academic side:
Georgia tech engineering grad with 3.5 gpa
ASTB 9 9 8 (applying for a flight contract)
Decent work experience running my own business

Do my odds look good to be selected or will the pft score weigh me down? My strength and endurance are really strong but I just need to cut down my body weight and my pft would shoot right up. Can bench 335 lbs and ran a 21:39 3 mile but the pull-ups are where I left a lot of points behind, but I could easily get it up by the time ocs starts since I’ve been cutting weight.

Grad requirements
1st class pft with the minimums
Don’t be fat
E-course(Depends on the CO so just pass it Ig)
6.2 mile hike(Maybe? No one failed so it wasn’t really testable)

Leadership:
Probably the hardest one no joke because it can be really subjective outside of sules/lrcs depending on your instructors.
My advice lock in for your leadership events and be a good dude and you should be good

Academics:
These are all at best 8th grade level test, however you have to read the actual chapters because the classes don’t give you all the answers. Use your time to study a little bit and you will be good

Physically fitness:
Outside of the actual pt events the pt themselves are not graded. However if you keep falling out you will be put on physical fitness probation.
The first half before your final pft is very cardio heavy every pt is a run.
So if you come in running a 23:40 or something I promise you, you will be fast asf by the final pft.
Speaking of pft the trail is like really 2.75-2.9 or something so if you cutting it close on an actual 3 mile don’t worry about it too much.
After your final pft you switch mainly to cft and E course prep so a lot if boot and ute runs and stuff.

YOUR PFT SCORE DOES NOT MEAN NOTHING. So many studs gave up and a lot of 18 minutes failed the E course and stuff. Its all about your mental fortitude.

If you want me to go into detail about anything besides the forge lmk I will be glad to answer all questions

I am an American Citizen that has practiced in good standing for the last 4 years in New York State. My primary law degree is from Canada, though, where I am also a citizen, grew up and spent the first two years of my career.

The USMC JAG Website specifies explicitly that one of the requirements of joining is to have attained a J.D from an ABA Accredited school.

So in my case - is my education basically a non-waivable issue, despite the fact that I have been practicing American Law for the last 4 years?

Hey everyone this is my first time posting on something like this, that being said I’m nervous about the OCC 253 board because they meet this week and I’m supposed to find out next week that I got in and I’m gonna be completely honest my score going to them is really low especially for a competitive range, I got like a 231-232 but had an increase in like 15 points from the prior off that I did, would that look good to the board if my OSO mentions that in my package and I have fairly strong references from my professors and including law enforcement as well, I’m trying to stay positive but I know I also have to be a realist and the only reason why I’m still semi positive is because I’ve heard that people weren’t selected when they had a pft score of like 270 or higher

My pft going to the board:
17 pull ups
3:13 plank
23:40 3-mile

Husband is scheduled to complete The Forge today, probably early this morning ish and is hopefully napping now.
In the past, have any of you gotten liberty after, or would we still be waiting for tomorrow? I assumed tomorrow but a lot of people in our OCC fb group are saying today? Just want to hear past experiences before someone’s memaw gets my hopes up.

So everything is submitted for OCC 253 board since the deadline was last week. But why does my OSO keep saying stuff about briefs making a difference? What is a brief? How could it affect a process that as I see it is out of my hands already, like there’s nothing I can do now but wait and see if I get selected. I thought no new information was received after the application deadline

I'm 23, will be 24 in January. I have my bachelors and I'm currently working on my masters with a tentative grad date in May 20207.

I know I have the drive to do this and I've taken action to get within ht/wt reqs. Started at 270 and I'm down to 240 as of this morning. Still have a long way to go, but I've kept my head down and worked.

I'm worried about the physical portion of this (which I assume is not uncommon). I suck at running and can't do pull ups without my resistance bands. Keeping the faith that I'm going to work through it and that with more weight loss, I will be able to both. I can't help but feel like I'm always behind.

I don't even know what I'm trying to ask here. I guess I'm looking for an example of someone that was in similar position. Anything helps, thanks guys.

Devil Dogs I have 4 outstanding USMC books for sale, $35.00 all in great condition, free shipping to buyers in the contiguous United States. Message me for info.

1. “One Million Steps: A Marine Platoon at War” hardcover. Battalion 3/5 suffered the highest number of casualties in the war in Afghanistan. This is the story of one platoon in that distinguished battalion. Amazon $18.
2. “Making The Corps”, hardcover. The bestselling, compelling insider’s account of the Marine Corps from the lives of the men of Platoon 3086—their training at Parris Island, their fierce camaraderie, and the unique code of honor that defines them. Amazon $14.
3. “The Lions of Iwo Jima”, the Story of Combat Team 28 and the Bloodiest Battle in Marine Corps History. The Lions of Iwo Jima offers fresh interpretations of the fight for Suribachi, the iconic flag raising photo, and the nature of the campaign as a whole, and helps to answer the essential questions: Who were these men? What accounts for their extraordinary performance in battle? Amazon $12.
4. “Bitter Brew” hardcover. The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America's Kings of Beer. Why is this a Marine book? Because we drink the stuff like crazy. My favorites: Hurricane 8.1% ABV) and King Cobra 6% ABV. Amazon $20.

Excellent reading when you’re in your rack.

https://preview.redd.it/eopup53bmteh1.jpg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=94747be44a9265d481ecd3f3c95071b0b81024c6

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Hello all I’m trying to decide if I should take the asvab or the picat for ocs. Which one do you think is better for me? I don’t have a high enough SAT score it’s 800 and I don’t think it’s enough. Any advice would help

I was a 251 med drop so I had the opportunity to do the CFT however by the time I ran it, I was already injured. Currently waiting for my med waiver to process so I can return for 254. I was wondering if you guys had any workouts to help with the CFT. Movement to contact is fairly straight forward but I struggled a bit with the ammo can lifts and in trying to drop my time down during the maneuver under fire. I scored a 195 with a torn hip flexor so I know if I was healthy I could’ve at least passed but just barely. Any advice or workout plans you guys use would be greatly appreciated! Good luck to those going to 253 btw, stay healthy and give ‘em hell!🤙🏼

I was recently medically dropped from 252 due to bone stress injuries. As I understand this is one of the most common reasons for medical drops at OCS, so I’m looking for advice from those that have sustained these injuries and later went on to complete OCS.

My main concern is how long it will take to get back to OCS. I was doing PLC-Combined this summer because I am set to graduate college in December. As a result I was sorta banking my future on commissioning in December, so now I have to rethink a lot of things. Was that an issue a lot of you faced? Any advice in general for recovery or just getting back into it would be appreciated, thanks ladies and gents.

I am going to TBS in the fall, and my brother is getting married December 18th in Mexico. Is there any way I would be able to swing this while at TBS? I appreciate any insight. Thank you.

I have never been much of a runner and so I am suddenly thrusting all of this upon myself and am paying the price.

I wasn’t really sure what a “shin splint” was supposed to feel like but every-time I start to run I feel pain in the front of my leg going up from my ankles. I spoke to my OSO Wed and am not going to PT this week, I am basically just doing some strength training and rowing for cardio.

My runs went from couldn’t even finish a 3 mile pft to 29 minutes 2 weeks ago in a little over a month and was dealing with that pain when running. I am hoping to get deep selected for January but am training regardless as I am a law contract and was told I should make Sept my goal anyway incase they request me for Sept. I really think that if I wasn’t hurting my run would be better. Pullups are around 15 atm and I am doing the full time on plank.

Does anyone have any advice for this, any idea how long I should go before trying to run again, etc etc. Any running advice really.

Just checked into Pensacola so primarily looking for any tips in regard to NIFE and also swim because I’ve heard rumors swim is not what it used to be.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Anyone know when occ 253 selection results are in?

Throwaway account to just drop this in without it flooding my main. I am a 34 year old male who is a few months shy of 35, so that is something to consider. I've dreamed of being a special operations force operator such as a SEAL, PJ, or Army Ranger since I was a child and after reading about Jason Everman, Johnny Kim, and Nicholas Irving as well as reading The Guerilla Factory and The Chosen Soldier I decided to push myself to join Special Forces via Rangers as many of the former members I reached out to when I was younger agreed that the experience of being a Ranger would better mature me than coming in as an 18x. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up it was always some variation of an operator, never the stereotypical answers of professional athlete, rockstar, or astronaut. I always wanted to be a DA operator, which is why I enlisted instead of going for my commission despite having a college degree; I didn't want to plan the mission, I wanted to execute it. I enlisted in the army back when I was younger with an Option 40, but I contracted double pneumonia while in the pipeline and got dropped. Finished my contract as a regular 11 series and separated after fulfilling my contract. I tried during my time in service multiple times to put in for another shot, but command always kicked back my packets because they said they needed me for training (which meant kicking rocks on the company footprint or sweeping the motor pool because Sergeant Major was coming by to do an inspection). I got out and went back to school and got a master's degree in engineering with the intention of pivoting and hanging up my SOF dreams, but I never could quite let them go. I figured I was too old and now I'm no where near my physical capabilities back when I was in, but it's still the only thing I've ever wanted to do. Now I've aged out of a good number of the pipelines, even with an age waiver I thought it was a waste of time, but I heard how David Goggins got another shot at being a PJ back in March after getting out of the Navy and working as a wildland firefighter. I'm by no means on his level, but I felt something reawaken in me and felt like trying again but I'm worried I'm too far gone. I have been out for so long, and I'm so out of shape. I'm not full-on couch potato, but the infantry definitely did a number on my knees and I haven't run a 13 minute 2 mile in quite a while. I've also put on some weight and need to slim down to maximize my pull-up score. I've looked into NGSF and thought about SFRE and trying out for either the 19th or 20th groups, but always felt like as someone who wasn't in an AD ODA I'd be intruding and not a real SF soldier. Most of those guys were in one of the active groups and transitioned to NG to maintain themselves and keep doing the job while moving onto a new career. Haven't found many people who went in to NGSF with no prior special operations experience in one of the active components to get their first hand accounts. I always thought I'd use the spec ops experience to move onto Special Activities, a long shot on top of a long shot I know but go big or go home, or move into HRT with the FBI. I've even toyed with the idea of just throwing caution to the wind and buying a plane ticket to Nice and trying out for the FFL. My main question is this: is it actually too late for me? I spent all of this time trying to achieve this dream I failed at when I was younger and have tried many things since to try to pivot to "make lemonade" but I didn't enjoy any of them. Even now, I got an engineering job offer that may or may not pan out, but if it does will probably enable me to be financially and professionally set for life, but I know if I take it that I will most likely be closing the spec ops door permanently. It just feels like I'd be settling and that no matter what my entire life would be one consolation prize. A silver medal of an existence because I chose to do the safe/smart thing instead of what I actually wanted to do even if I fail and have no kind of safety net. If anyone in the SOF community, past or present, could just give it to me straight, maybe I could finally acknowledge that this wasn't in the cards for me. I still have this drive to chase after this, but I'm torn. On one hand: I firmly believe in going after what you want and chasing your dreams even if everyone says it can't be done. On the other hand: I also don't want to be the uncle from Napoleon Dynamite who is stuck living in the past and misses out on life. Like the high school football star who won state, but peaked in high school and never did anything with his life after and now just hangs out at the local watering hole bending the ear of some poor, unfortunate soul night after night. Or worse yet, chase after this dream and achieve it only to be too old to do anything with it, like the old man The Janitor meets in Scrubs who burned away his entire youth to earn his law degree (J.D.) and missed out on everything else, except punching a whale apparently. Any input would be greatly appreciated, I just need some outside perspective because I'm just going in circles in my head.

Going to TBS next summer and starting to think about some MOS’. I came across a video about being an Amphibious Assault Officer.

Could anyone give me some info as to what they do, career progression, slots available at TBS, what leading Marines looks like within the MOS looks like, etc.

Just checked airnow.gov and it shows the air quality as hazardous (due to smoke from Canadian fires). Curious if there’s any prevention or caution in place or if they’re operating as normal.