Pre-OCS Phase 0 (Weekend 1 of 3)

There is a sign on the entrance to Ranger school at Fort Benning that reads: "Not for the weak or faint-hearted." Well that about sums up the first weekend of Pre-OCS for Class 56. The course ran Friday night through Sunday night in a high stress atmosphere. Meaning, a lot of attention from the TAC Officers/NCO's and a lot of yelling and smoke sessions. TACs have replaced drill sergeants and are the cadre for the OCS course. Whenever speaking we had to address them with, "Sir/Sergeant, Officer Candidate [last name] (insert question comment, etc...)" They wear black patrol caps to distinguish themselves from us- as if they needed any help. All of our TACs are solid instructors. They're tough but they're also clearly there to teach you and help you learn- granted that doesn't mean they'll teach you nicely, but the knowledge you need eventually gets to you.

We did a diagnostic APFT test the first thing Saturday morning- and as expected the standards were strict.  The difference between a diagnostic and a record APFT is that the diagnostic doesn't go on your record. If people failed by more than 10% in any event they were sent home at the end of the weekend (scoring lower than a 50 in any event). For the Phase 0 record APFT in May the minimum passing score is 60 but to be competitive you need scores in the 70-80 range for each event. Starting phase 1 is all based on an OML. Think of Phase 0 as tryouts. Contrary to what my recruiter made it sound like, when you enlist as a 09S or officer candidate, your contract will get you into Phase 0 if you meet all the requirements. You aren't at any point guaranteed a commission. The odds of commissioning are actually very low. The class a year ahead of us (Class 55) had about 90 people in the start of Phase 0 and as of this weekend they're down to 15 in Phase 2 with five months to go. 09S candidates are looked down upon by the TACs as we have no experience whatsoever leading troops. No deployments, nothing. So we definitely have to prove ourselves. 17 candidates were sent home and requested not to come back. More will self-withdraw by next month. Class 56 started out with 83 candidates and slowly but surely that number is shrinking.

When we weren't getting smoked, we were in the classroom taking refresher courses on land nav[igation]. Next month we'll take a written exam and do a field exercise on a night and day land nav course. They generally didn't let us stay in the classroom for more than 45 minutes at a time without finding some reason to get us outside for a little exercise. We went to bed between 2200 and were up by 0500 both days, and we had fireguard shifts for an hour at some point during the night. The facilities including the bays were top notch. I was expecting run down- typical military condition buildings, but everything was new and in really nice shape. Texas has gotten awards for their OCS program and consistently ranks in the very top programs in all the states.

It's all a game. The TACs know its a game. And if I play their game for the next 17 months as hard as I can I'll have my butter bar.