I'm an officer in the RNZN and it's interesting to see how different the two schools are. My JOCT (Junior Officer Common Training) was 21 weeks long and was not actually that crazy on PT (formally anyway). We had field excercises in the bush four times each a week long where we were assessed on our ability to lead a team. The evolutions were so rough, running on very little sleep and being expected to perform as a leader. A decent chunk of people failed these evolutions and were discharged.
I went to OCS in 1995 without any clue. I was at Price Waterhouse, hating corporate work. I was a college rower and ran 2 marathons - then boom: corporate 15 hours per day. I literally walked off the job and went to the officer recruiter. I was that guy: too dumb to quit. I was laughing during indoc and unable to march. I did more PT than anyone. I was a heat shield. Academics and fitness saved me. I ended up in Navy Intel and picked up jump school in the end + extra jumps to get the gold wings. Good times, but don't be me. Get the gouge and know the plan of the day.
Nice and great video. Very straight straight to point. On the PRT for the officers, how is it? Swimming included? I wanna get in but I am not that skillful swimmer.
You only have to swim at OCS twice. Once for the Third Class Swim Qual, and once for the final evolution. Third Class Swim Qualification isn't too bad, even for an inexperienced swimmer. You can find info on the specifics if you look into it. If you are a complete novice or uncomfortable in the water, find a pool you can go to and get more comfortable. If you fail the swim qual, they will send you to the pool on a regular basis and help you learn to swim so you can pass the qual. The swim qual is something you need to have before you leave OCS, but it isn't a major evolution and they work with you.
@danielfigas Is there a way to study for and prepare for the navigation phase before OCS? Are there any study sources/materials I could look up? Thank you.
There are two main parts of the navigation class that trip people up: rules of the road and maneuvering boards. The Coast Guard publishes a Navigation Rules & Regulations Handbook (a PDF can be found on the USCG website) that objectively states the rules of the road, but there are lots of reference sheets on the internet you can use to review the lights and sounds different vessel types use. There are also some guides you can buy that make the rules easier to consume if you have nothing else to do but learn the rules. As for the second thing that people struggle with, here on RU-vid you can find lots of resources showing the steps for maneuvering boards involving CPA, avoidance, and stationing.
I don’t know exactly how other communities work, but I can tell you what happens for SWO. If you are familiar with ship selection the way it is done at the Naval Academy or for ROTC, it essentially works the same way. The difference is that you are only ranked against the other SWOs in your OCS class. Near the end of training, Big Navy personnel sends a list of ships which will be available for each OCS class to choose from. You are ranked according to your performance while at OCS and the #1 SWO gets the first pick from the available choices and so on and so forth until everybody has a ship. Then they start to cut your orders and schedule your schools you attend before checking onboard the ship you chose.
I am shipping next week Worries about physical (running) and RLP. Not sure if u can help but when I think of the worst outcome (separation, not the DOR) makes me sweat.
Is it true the push is bad and that Lasagne is purposefully on menu before JOC Push? Also do I really need to hit GOOD LOW? I’m at about sat low on everything. Thank you.
Do u have to get excellent to pass at OCS? The application require last PRT to be overall excellent, but when I get there, is a good high/medium make the cut?
well my fiend, if you are in overall good physical shape, it doesn't really matter. OCS is physically demanding and only the fittest survive, If you aim for Sat or Good Low, I am not gonna sugarcoat it, it may not end well. PRT is just a part of overall endurance, you run, march, RPT'ed 24/7.
While I definitely didn't enjoy every second, overall I loved OCS and feel like it was a great experience. As far as joining the Navy in general, I would say the book is still out since I have only been out in the fleet for a couple weeks at this point. I absolutely love some things about being in the Navy, but I also wouldn't say my time has been purely positive and it complicates your personal life in a lot of ways. I was lucky enough to get the platform and the duty station I wanted so it could definitely be worse if you wind up stuck somewhere you really don't want to go. If I had to say one way or the other though, thus far I would definitely recommend it if you have done some homework to figure out a little bit about what your life will be like and are still interested in serving.
@@danielfigas9144 thank you for your reply. Where is your duty station May I ask? I am prior enlisted and really didn’t enjoy it, but that’s mainly because I was at the bottom always getting yelled at and answering to E4s and E5s that basically had the IQ of a baked potato 😄 I feel like as an officer that may not be the case so much though.
@@Kingx90 I don't mind at all, I'm over in San Diego. I'm sure as prior enlisted you know not all officers are the greatest or brightest, but there is still that selection process which does somewhat raise the bar. As DIVO you mostly answer to your DH and the XO/CO so it is more rare to have superiors who are clueless, but I think the officers seem to clash over personality and temperament and those kinds of things more often. You have to coordinate with other officers and departments which makes wardroom and CPO mess politics are a whole extra layer of maneuvering on top of simply doing your job and definitely not fun to deal with.
During indoc phase (first 3 weeks) you don't get to call home at all except in emergency situations. After week 3 until week 9, you can sign up for just one 10 minute phone call a week. You don't have to earn them, you are entitled to your phone call. After you get to candio phase, you get your cell phone back.
Do you learn how to disassemble your rifle at OCS? And for the push ups how are they counted. I see alot of videos showing fist spacing between the chest and floor but the preparation packet my recruiter gave me shows an example where there is more than a fist spacing. I leave in February 2022.
@@chrisbomb35 best of luck! What is your chosen job? I’m leaning towards supply corps. How long did it take from when you first met the recruiter til you shipped out?
@@Kingx90 My designation is NFO and I'd say roughly just under a year (11 months) when I first made contact with a recruiter. I was originally going for SWO but loved avaition so much so I sent a package for Air.
