sTUPID qUESTIONS aBOUT ocs

[OnTopTime]

If you get any billet higher that Candidate Officer LTJG, you have done something wrong. I honestly did at most 2 hours of total work throughout candio phase. It was like summer camp with more sleep and booze. Also, I never felt bad for thoes who ended up with responsibility while at OCS. Call me a slacker, but whats the point. Everyone ends up an Ensign anyway. Take thoes last 3 weeks to put that weight you lost back on.

Back in the day at AOCS, everyone got a reserve commission, except those whose NSS scores qualified them as Distinguished Naval Graduates, and they were offered a regular commission. I think that it worked something like this: if your final AOCS NSS was in the top 10% of the past 10 graduating classes, you were a DNG and got a regular commission. Other than personal pride and motivation, that was a reason right there to always do your best and try to finish high in your class.

 

[60flyer]

If you get any billet higher that Candidate Officer LTJG, you have done something wrong.

Wow. Now there's the attitude to have... so much for personal standards...

 

[BACONATOR]

Wow. Now there's the attitude to have... so much for personal standards...

I take it you were a C/LT+?

Seriously though... sometimes it's somewhat beyond your control. A lot of OCS is subjective (especially when it comes to ranking the Candio Class structure). On top of that, I sucked at RLP and rolled for it (the grading for RLP is completely subjective as well). So because I failed RLP twice, I'm positive my overall "score" was lower than most, despite relatively good academic grades, and the staff ranked me a C/ENS.

My bars were still gold, are still silver, and I have yet to hear a thing about my being a C/ENS since the day I was assigned as such. Striving to do well in ANY graded evolution and program is one thing.... but saying you lack personal standards and a good attitude because you were a C/ENS/JG is a bit dramatic.

 

[60flyer]

Striving to do well in ANY graded evolution and program is one thing.... but saying you lack personal standards and a good attitude because you were a C/ENS/JG is a bit dramatic.

Exactly. Go read his post again. He said that if you rank anywhere above a LTJG then you did something wrong. More work if you graduate higher...maybe, maybe not. Depends on your job. But I'm certainly not going to give less than 100% because I don't want to do work!

 

[BACONATOR]

Exactly. Go read his post again. He said that if you rank anywhere above a LTJG then you did something wrong. More work if you graduate higher...maybe, maybe not. Depends on your job. But I'm certainly not going to give less than 100% because I don't want to do work!

Sure, but luckily it didn't matter much in my class. We only had ONE class to take care of (the last class to graduate in pensacola... all other classes were already in Newport). So basically my C/ENS responsibility consisted of going to PT, chow, then going to "take care of API stuff" at 633, then escaping to the Nex with my laptop (ah... NEX wifi), eating much-missed pizza and other unhealthy food, scouring the internets and generally making myself scarce at the regiment to avoid tasking/DI wrath.... in fact, most people were doing that... or finding one of the MANY empty rooms, and sleeping on an empty rack behind the opening door to catch up on much needed sleep.

But in the end, it's a zero sum game.... I work in Ops now... so they'll be getting those wasted tax dollars back, I'm sure.

 

[Makk85]

If you get any billet higher that Candidate Officer LTJG, you have done something wrong. I honestly did at most 2 hours of total work throughout candio phase. It was like summer camp with more sleep and booze. Also, I never felt bad for thoes who ended up with responsibility while at OCS. Call me a slacker, but whats the point. Everyone ends up an Ensign anyway. Take thoes last 3 weeks to put that weight you lost back on.

Other than personal pride, being the best in your class only causes more headaches. Leadership is only punished at OCS, with a little pat on the back at the end.

 

[60flyer]

Other than personal pride, being the best in your class only causes more headaches. Leadership is only punished at OCS, with a little pat on the back at the end.

Doing well is going to cause "punishment" your entire career. Who do you think gets tasked with the important stuff...the one who always performs and people trust or the guy who ducks out of work???

What headaches does being the best in your class cause???

 

[Krafty1]

There should definitely be motivation to finish towards the top if you're a SWO and want a say in your duty station, although the SWO's in our class worked it out without having to defer to class rank but why leave that to chance. There is so much pressure to not fail and to put out in everything you do that I find it hard to believe that some people say they didn't try hard at OCS. Class ranking like most everything else, is very subjective, I was told something like 45% is your inspection/academics/PFA scores and the rest is the decision of your class team. Even if that % isn't exact, the point is that your class rank is basically up to your class team.

 

[SynixMan]

Krafty is right. The OLQ portion of the ranking is the biggest part, so ultimately your class team decides where you go. That being said, tanking tests/inspections so you don't have to have a leadership billet and duck out of work is a bitch move. I'm stupid for passing all my inspections on the first go, and getting high test scores? Yeah, not so much.

I think the point was to keep a low profile while there. Volunteering for things is a bad idea. And when they ask "Who's good with excel?", DO NOT RAISE YOUR HAND! That's good advice.

 

[Makk85]

Doing well is going to cause "punishment" your entire career. Who do you think gets tasked with the important stuff...the one who always performs and people trust or the guy who ducks out of work???

What headaches does being the best in your class cause???

I'm not implying that one should duck out of work and avoid responsibility once they hit the fleet, and for the most part it doesn't hurt to stand out in a positive light while at OCS. What I'm trying to get across is while at OCS you do want to "play the game". I was put into a leadership role during candio phase and while I enjoyed it for the most part, leadership was the one that got to go in front of the DI's if something went wrong, even if it had nothing to do with us. There are plenty of headaches that the guys in the middle of the pack didn't have to deal with, and come graduation we both left Newport as ensigns.

 

[Makk85]

Krafty is right. The OLQ portion of the ranking is the biggest part, so ultimately your class team decides where you go. That being said, tanking tests/inspections so you don't have to have a leadership billet and duck out of work is a bitch move. I'm stupid for passing all my inspections on the first go, and getting high test scores? Yeah, not so much.

I think the point was to keep a low profile while there. Volunteering for things is a bad idea. And when they ask "Who's good with excel?", DO NOT RAISE YOUR HAND! That's good advice.

^^^ True dat

What, writing the schedule everyday of candio phase wasn't your idea of fun? : )

 

[60flyer]

What I'm trying to get across is while at OCS you do want to "play the game".

Ahhhhh.....but that's not what you said

I enjoyed it for the most part, leadership was the one that got to go in front of the DI's if something went wrong, even if it had nothing to do with us. There are plenty of headaches that the guys in the middle of the pack didn't have to deal with, and come graduation we both left Newport as ensigns.

Yep, sucks. But someone's gotta do it..... Might as well be YOU And in the candio phase there isn't much you should have to stand in front of your DI and answer for - your beyond that phase. And other headaches - there really shouldn't be many.

 

[alpineskier]

Let me try to explain what I was saying becuase I think it came off in the wrong way. For lack of a better term, I was saying that you must "play the game" at OCS. I don't have a crap attitude and I did put 100 percent effort into events. That being said, I never jumped up and down offering to be that person to be at the DI's mercy every second of the day. I never tanked/took a tactical failure of an evolution or anything like that. I actually did pretty well on all of them. Call it lack of personal motivation, but I tried my best not to be noticed by the class team. I swear my DI barely knew my name when I graduated. As far as not trying and putting forth my best effort, thats untrue. I did pretty well on academics (I mean, it is OCS academics) and recieved a pt award. So, for those of you about to attend OCS, definetly do your best. Just know where and when to shine. Sorry for the confusion and all that. I dont want to come off as a P.O.S.

 

[BACONATOR]

I'm not implying that one should duck out of work and avoid responsibility once they hit the fleet, and for the most part it doesn't hurt to stand out in a positive light while at OCS. What I'm trying to get across is while at OCS you do want to "play the game". I was put into a leadership role during candio phase and while I enjoyed it for the most part, leadership was the one that got to go in front of the DI's if something went wrong, even if it had nothing to do with us. There are plenty of headaches that the guys in the middle of the pack didn't have to deal with, and come graduation we both left Newport as ensigns.

That's what happens when you're placed in a position of leadership. If you're a div-o, and you're not showing your face around your division or talking to your chief, and your DH asks you wtf is up with AD3 Soandso, and you go "uh....." guess who gets an earful? When you're the SDO and you're briefing the skipper on monday morning, and he asks about the condition of one of the sailors who got hurt over the weekend, and the guy you relieved didn't tell you shit about a dude who went to the hospital over the weekend... he won't be happy. Now I get your point that at OCS it is something to easily avoid... but if you get stuck with leadership... at least it's an idea of what's to come.

^^^ True dat

What, writing the schedule everyday of candio phase wasn't your idea of fun? : )

You'll be doing that in the future.. enjoy.

 

[nugget61]

I can't seem to find it now, but I think I read on here somewhere that there is a discount at the end of OCS when you're buying your uniforms - is that still around and how is it that you get that discount? I want to open a USAA account before OCS and have it all set up for the direct deposit before I go but if that's how you get the discount then I'm going to have to wait.