Spoiler free current OCS gouge including flight physical details

[SE_53]

Almost everything was eye stuff.
People who had perfect vision their whole lives, so they never got their eyes looked at professionally. Thin eyewalls, spots on optic nerves.... stuff that the standard eye test would never reveal or ever matter for regular civis. My advice is to go to an optometrist pre-OCS and have them look, so you know what you're in for.
Other random one was misaligned spines.

Pretty much everything else was given a waiver or a follow-up consult.

I looked at the eye requirements that are on the Navy Med website and put a list together for my eye doc to check. Does this stuff seem about right?

 

[Mouselovr]

I looked at the eye requirements that are on the Navy Med website and put a list together for my eye doc to check. Does this stuff seem about right?

I’m not a flight doc, so I cant give 100% certainty. But superficially, that seems right.
The “surprise” stuff people get hit on is spots on optic nerves, thin eye walls, pockets in eyes etc which aren’t not highlighted in that document, but any eye doc will spot those things and tell you.

 

[danieltran0119]

What crazy about this whole thing is there are people sitting in student pool not knowing they need a waiver; NAMI comes back and denies that waiver... The whole process is a mess...

 

[exNavyOffRec]

What crazy about this whole thing is there are people sitting in student pool not knowing they need a waiver; NAMI comes back and denies that waiver... The whole process is a mess...

As long as it is cost effective that is all that matters, there would be less people waiting if recruiters didn't tell candidates to go to different civilian doctors after MEPS gives an evaluation they don't like.

 

[Mouselovr]

What crazy about this whole thing is there are people sitting in student pool not knowing they need a waiver; NAMI comes back and denies that waiver... The whole process is a mess...

They try to be as proficient in the initial NAMI evaluation, recommend appropriate consults/waivers.
My understanding is because we have to repeat the entire medical down in Pcola, so they double triple check everything now. The process is getting quicker. I saw a guy who never rolled be med cleared in under 2 weeks. This was with the early graduation due to Xmas.

 

[danieltran0119]

I was never rolled and still stuck here at OTCN.

 

[SE_53]

I’m not a flight doc, so I cant give 100% certainty. But superficially, that seems right.
The “surprise” stuff people get hit on is spots on optic nerves, thin eye walls, pockets in eyes etc which aren’t not highlighted in that document, but any eye doc will spot those things and tell you.

Were people with spots on their optic nerves getting DQ'd on the spot or were they waiverable?

Thanks for the gouge man!

 

[Mouselovr]

Were people with spots on their optic nerves getting DQ'd on the spot or were they waiverable?

Thanks for the gouge man!

Unfortunately, the answer is "it depends".
The real question is what the cause of those spots were. A decent chunk of people had spots and then were submitted for waivers then cleared no problem.
Others were not.

 

[Calflyer]

OCS is currently on a standdown. Thought to write some quick notes on the current gouge of OCS, and my experience including the infamous OCS flight physical.
Hope this can give some info I found lacking on the forum/ease some anxieties without spoiling anything major about OCS.

Pre-OCS

Work out. Be in good shape. Study bravo. Read that again.

Please, please, please do not show up out of shape. The number of people that showed up clearly out of shape, not even capable of passing the basic IST is shocking.

Welcome to OCS.

And again, study bravo.

Rolling

I am shocked this is not a more discussed topic of OCS. Rolling classes is extremely common. An average of 40% of an original OCS class will roll to H-company. H-company is a temporary holding company comprised primarily of injury or event rolled candidates. H-company is a very nice place. You have lots of time to study, sleep and hang out. Most people who rolled to H reflect positively on their time, so if you end up in H for whatever circumstances arise, please do not be discouraged.

Event rolling occurs during one of the major “rollable events”. I won’t give too many details on these events as it spoils the fun. Keep in mind, someone dumber and in worse shape than you has made it through these events. Scream your head off. At some points, you are going to be standing on your face while pulling knowledge from the back of your brain, so learn bravo like a second language.

Men

Buy a good razor. You’ll be shaving every single day if not twice a day if you have fast-growing hair. If you have skin issues that make it impossible/ painful to shave every day, try to get yourself to medical as soon as possible to get a paperwork exception. In the first couple of weeks, everyone has a bald head and a shaved face, so it takes the staff a bit to figure out who you are individual. Take advantage of that momentary anonymousness.

Ladies

OCS is a subjective program. However, a man in mediocre shape stands out a lot less than a female in mediocre shape. You do not have to keep pace with the Spec Ops men who can crank out 200 pushups, but be able to do as many burpees, pushups, v-ups as you can then get up and run without gassing yourself. The DIs know female maxes are different, so they care far more about resilience than keeping pace with a prospective Navy SEAL. You will not be targeted because you are female at OCS, but you will be targeted for falling behind.

NAMI/ Medical Physicals

Early in the first week, the whole class will go to medical. They’ll ask if anything has changed in your medical history, give you a flu shot, blood, urinalysis, chest x-ray and call it a day. Later that week, they’ll check your dental record. For non aviators, this should be the end of your visits to medical.

As for you aviators, depending on the number of NFOs/SNAs in your class, they’ll send you in groups over the course of a couple of days. NAMI will take all day. You’ll start off with a meeting with the Flight Doc and quickly talk about your medical history. After that, you’ll be sitting around studying Bravo as they check your eyes in every possible way. They’ll check hearing, your measurements, EKG along with another couple of odd things. Most people will need a consult of some kind which is a follow-up appointment that will be scheduled later at OCS. A minority will be told, “your stuff should be okay.” No one will leave the flight physical with 100% certainty as everything needs to be processed in Pensacola in the next couple of months.

Ask questions throughout the day. They will tell you on the spot if you DQ at any point. They will immediately tell you if a waiver is possible or not and your odds. The same rule applies for consults. They will tell you why they are sending you for a consult, if they think they need to waiver you or not, or if they are sending you just “to have someone else tell me there is nothing wrong with you.”. Unless you roll, all aviators are currently going to student pool regardless of waivers or not. This is highly subject to change in the future.

The flight doc is extremely friendly and will try to waiver you for everything he/she can. Please tell the flight docs everything. They are on your side. We were told that by the end of the flight school, more than half of aviators are on a waiver of some kind.

Anecdotally, in my group of 15, 1 DQed on the spot, 10 needed consults, 2 DQed with waivers and 2 were told “your stuff should be okay.” Every group will be different.

It is impossible to figure out the % of aviators that DQ at OCS. People choose to DOR without saying anything, some people roll to different classes before you can learn their names. For what it’s worth, in my class, I believe we had 5 aviators DQ with no waivers offered.

Yeah, what is Bravo? I went through AOCS and we had "The Gouge" but never heard of Bravo.

 

[Calflyer]

Almost everything was eye stuff.
People who had perfect vision their whole lives, so they never got their eyes looked at professionally. Thin eyewalls, spots on optic nerves.... stuff that the standard eye test would never reveal or ever matter for regular civis. My advice is to go to an optometrist pre-OCS and have them look, so you know what you're in for.
Other random one was misaligned spines.

Pretty much everything else was given a waiver or a follow-up consult.

When I went through (1987 - I know a long time ago) I think they found spots on my eyes. Had me put my head in a dome type instrument and I think they were checking for signs of macular degeneration. Everything worked out OK, fortunately.

 

[Mouselovr]

Yeah, what is Bravo? I went through AOCS and we had "The Gouge" but never heard of Bravo.

We currently use a big manual called the OCR. Bravo is a section of it that encompasses military basics like ranks and the general orders.

 

[donkeh]

Rolling

I am shocked this is not a more discussed topic of OCS. Rolling classes is extremely common. An average of 40% of an original OCS class will roll to H-company. H-company is a temporary holding company comprised primarily of injury or event rolled candidates. H-company is a very nice place. You have lots of time to study, sleep and hang out. Most people who rolled to H reflect positively on their time, so if you end up in H for whatever circumstances arise, please do not be discouraged.

Event rolling occurs during one of the major “rollable events”. I won’t give too many details on these events as it spoils the fun. Keep in mind, someone dumber and in worse shape than you has made it through these events. Scream your head off. At some points, you are going to be standing on your face while pulling knowledge from the back of your brain, so learn bravo like a second language.

I have to disagree here.

I did not have anywhere near 40% of my original class roll into H-company. As one of the many that didn't end up there, wearing an orange belt, constantly sharked by RDC's, eating separately, marching separately, and being constantly monitored didn't seem "very nice". You are physically and socially segregated from the rest of the OCS classes for most of your day and walking around wearing an orange belt isn't the best look to have during your time at OCS. Not to mention that H is strategically placed on the first floor close to many RDC's offices and can be good hunting ground for an RDC looking to push someone for anything.

I do agree that it helps people get into shape, study up on their bravo, and usually they appreciate their time down there. But still, you should not be in H company. Avoid it at all costs, its 3 extra weeks of your life you have to spend being a pseudo indoc and not advancing in the program. But yes, don't be discouraged if you go into H and don't DOR unless you know you don't want anything to do in the Navy.

 

[villo0692]

I have to disagree here.

I did not have anywhere near 40% of my original class roll into H-company. As one of the many that didn't end up there, wearing an orange belt, constantly sharked by RDC's, eating separately, marching separately, and being constantly monitored didn't seem "very nice". You are physically and socially segregated from the rest of the OCS classes for most of your day and walking around wearing an orange belt isn't the best look to have during your time at OCS. Not to mention that H is strategically placed on the first floor close to many RDC's offices and can be good hunting ground for an RDC looking to push someone for anything.

I do agree that it helps people get into shape, study up on their bravo, and usually they appreciate their time down there. But still, you should not be in H company. Avoid it at all costs, its 3 extra weeks of your life you have to spend being a pseudo indoc and not advancing in the program. But yes, don't be discouraged if you go into H and don't DOR unless you know you don't want anything to do in the Navy.

hold up! we were in the same class (05? according to your info here) and we definitely had a shit ton of people roll to H. I agree tho, that place looked miserable and staff used to shark almost religiously. try not to roll ppl, and if you do, study, work out and gtfo H company ASAP

 

[Mouselovr]

I have to disagree here.

I did not have anywhere near 40% of my original class roll into H-company. As one of the many that didn't end up there, wearing an orange belt, constantly sharked by RDC's, eating separately, marching separately, and being constantly monitored didn't seem "very nice". You are physically and socially segregated from the rest of the OCS classes for most of your day and walking around wearing an orange belt isn't the best look to have during your time at OCS. Not to mention that H is strategically placed on the first floor close to many RDC's offices and can be good hunting ground for an RDC looking to push someone for anything.

I do agree that it helps people get into shape, study up on their bravo, and usually they appreciate their time down there. But still, you should not be in H company. Avoid it at all costs, its 3 extra weeks of your life you have to spend being a pseudo indoc and not advancing in the program. But yes, don't be discouraged if you go into H and don't DOR unless you know you don't want anything to do in the Navy.

When I originally wrote this post, it was just after indoc and I guesstimated 40%. It was greater than 40%. At the end of SOC phase, our PERSO told us we had more roll ups/downs then original people from my class. Most classes are not as lop-sided as this, but every class that I saw go through OCS had a huge chunk roll.

3 weeks of your life. Yes.
Even worse around Xmas when people sat in H for 5 weeks.

 

[donkeh]

hold up! we were in the same class (05? according to your info here) and we definitely had a shit ton of people roll to H. I agree tho, that place looked miserable and staff used to shark almost religiously. try not to roll ppl, and if you do, study, work out and gtfo H company ASAP

I was not 05, I went through OCS in early 2021. Got there when Covid was still going strong and ROM was a thing for everyone. Maybe it was my class or the circumstances but in all of indoc we had around 15-20 people roll from a 100+ person class. Every single subnuc that was in my class except for 1 was a roll in. I was a candio for 15-21 which had a crap ton of subnucs fresh out of college and from what I heard H company became massive after their IST/Fast cruise.

Another reason why we might have had less is that our first 2 weeks there were locked away in a room 22 hours a day and only being let out to go PT outside, so that may have been a reason why fewer people rolled as well.