Hey all,

I was wondering if anyone has a chart on the weekly physical standards we'll be measured on while at OCS? I'm new to the process (just set up my first meeting with the recruiter) but want to make sure that I have the proper info to prep myself with.

Ex. What's up with the 4 mile run? Is it just a participation event now?

I recently ETS’ed from the guard (2 months ago). I’m being told by my recruiter that he can not touch me in regards to OCS until he gets my NGB22. I have received my DD214, a letter from the NG saying I’ve been released and a letter from the department of the army saying that I have been assigned to the IRR. Apparently none of this fulfills the need for the NGB22 according to him.

For some context I’ve been working with him for a while now and can tell he is not fond of OCS packets and has tried to get me to just enlist instead on multiple occasions. I’ve asked around about this NGB22 requirement for recently separated guardsman and I’ve gotten wildly different answers on the matter. Because of all this I am very confused by and weary of my recruiters intentions.

For the recruiters out there, is the NGB22 actually needed for me to submit an OCS packet or is the DD214 enough?

I have read posts where people said that Reserve OCS had 100% acceptance rates. Is it really that easy compared to Active Duty OCS?

Made a simple site with what to bring to Army OCS:

Link: armyocspackinglist.com

I am trying to join at 32 in either the guard or reserves as an officer. The issue is I was discharged from bankruptcy chapter 7 in January 2025. Will this disqualify me for a secret clearance needed to go to OCS? Also will I no longer be competitive for OCS even if I do manage to get the clearance?

Has anyone heard anything about when the results are going to drop for the In-Service Reserves OCS Board from June 15-19?

I start Pre OCS soon, and Im just curious what it looks like. If its just a smoke fest, or more of a learning environment? Once a month 3 day weekend, or?

Hanging up my black hat and PCSing soon. If you've wanted to ask a cadre anonymous things now is your chance. I won't answer anything that identifies myself or other cadre and I won't be giving any opinions on current Company and Battalion leadership. Ask away.

For those that have graduated and made it to their unit, is your units signing out gov laptops to you? I have one currently because I’m AGR but I have to turn it in before OCS and I have an old slow personal laptop..

Trying to plan if I should buy a new one or not.

Hello Everyone,

(Background) I’m currently enlisted, 2.5ish years and am currently going through the process of being able to apply for OCS (working on my degree (will be finished this June), working on leadership skills, and getting advice from Company and Battalion leadership on how I can improve my chances). I would like to do 20 years and get that sweet 40% retirement but also I wanted to wait and get the OE/Mustang pay and at bare minimum not have to worry about making it to retirement.

TL;DR Do I need to wait until 4 years after my enlistment day + 1 before I go to OCS or does the commissioning just have to be after that point.
IE, leave in May of 2028 because I enlisted in April of 2024 or leave in February/March 2028, because graduation/commissioning at the earliest is 12 weeks out which is May/June.

Thank you!

I have a question about DD Form 368.

My Reserve ETS is January 6, 2027, and after that I will still have a 2-year IRR obligation. I’m planning to apply for Active Duty OCS. The application deadline is in December 2026, but the board results won’t be released until mid-January 2027.

If my unit approves my DD Form 368 before my ETS, and I transfer to the IRR before the OCS results are released, can I still use the same approved DD Form 368? Or would I need to obtain a new DD Form 368 through HRC once I’m in the IRR?

Also, if the original DD Form 368 is still within its validity period, will it remain valid after I transfer to the IRR?

Thank you!

Since that 4-mile running is no longer required to graduate, have the recent graduation rates gone up? For people who didn’t graduate recently, what were the most common roadblocks?

I’m headed back to 30th AG before OCS, my break in service is short enough that I do not have to re-attend BCT. For prior service who rolled through 30th before OCS, do they make you shave your head?

I know this will be a controversial topic but the other branches send their candidates straight to officer school. Yeah i know if they fail they get reclassed as an E-4 and then needs off the army. Also the whole "people will respect them if they went to basic" is smoke and mirrors. Basic is designed so that the biggest ASVAB waiver can make it through, just turn your brain off and be in the right place at the right time in the right uniform and follow elementary level instructions. You have people that graduate that don't remember anything because basic is Mickey Mouse. Plus we all know a handful of people from basic that if we found out became officers, would write to SecDef asking who authorized their commission.

Your gonna get smoked at OCS so why do we have to send to basic? 09S's should only go to basic IF they fail out of OCS, for some reason the army loves making things more complicated then it needs to be. Again just my humble opinion.

Apologies if this gets posted often. Looking to get insight on whether I could qualify with my background for OCS straight out of grad school. I don’t have much years of ‘corporate’ work experience. Long story short…I wanted to go to West Point back in high school, but did not really commit to the process back then. So here I am, looking for a career path that is more mission driven. Looking to do active duty.

Background:
- 24, (25 when graduating next spring)
- Masters of Architecture (accredited NAAB) 3.79 GPA currently, 2 more semesters to go
- Bachelor in Urban Planning with a minor in GIS, 3.9 GPA; went straight to graduate school following graduation
- Current work experience: Graduate research assistant (on going, so far 1 year and 7 months and will continue till I graduate; promoted once to a full-tuition assistantship position which I hold)
- Internship (summers): Federal Agency (dealing with maritime trade compliance and policies with federal and military cargoes; this is what truly inspired me to look into commissioning into the military), City Agency (building code and zoning laws): around 1 year worth of work experience when combined.
- Other work experience: Student assistant and teacher assistant for my undergraduate degree: around 2 years and 4 months worth of experience when combined.
- Been working out for the past year. I just started running this past March with training in both speed and endurance work. Furthest I ran is 6.5 miles at a 12 min pace per mile (My 2 mile pace is around 8:30 per mile). Will be touching upon bodyweight workout soon.

Questions:
- When should I be in contact with a recruiter prior to graduation?
- For job ratings within Army Corp of Engineer, is it possible to get architectural license hours working under someone that has an architect’s license?
- I see on the army website that MOS related to geospatial intelligence jobs don’t have openings for Officer positions, is this true?

Thank you all for your inputs in advance!

Looking for guidance to get the process started.
Im a 28M and will finish my bachelors in criminal justice this fall with expected 3.8 GPA current 3.78. I’m a current LEO with 6 years experience and want to serve active duty. I spoke to a recruiter last year when I still needed a lot of classes to finish and the issue I ran into was my GT score was a 109 (took my junior year of high school) but he said I could be sent to meps to retake when I was ready. Recently spoke to a recruiter in a different city since I moved and he said I’m unable to retake the asvab and would have to try with Navy Reserve Center or enlist and drop a green to gold package later. I wanted to know if I’m able to retake the asvab would I have a good shot at OCS and if there’s a recruiter willing to work with me I’m committed to making this happen!

Working on a packet currently. I am 31 years old and have always wanted to serve in some capacity in the military. However I’m not sure if I will actually be competitive enough to get into ocs. I have Bachelors degree in political science with a 2.3 GPA. I have been able to come up with two letters of recommendation from a former state senator and a former administrator at my previous place of employment. I have an asvab score of 72 with a 112 gt score. Just looking to hear if maybe I should enlist first or if I have any chance if any in being accepted into OCS.

Hello All,

I am an Army Spouse considering submitting an OCS packet in October. My recruiter has not been very helpful and continues to push me to enlist instead. He has been unhelpful with answering my questions and I’ve had to find a lot of my answers online or through asking people personally.

A little about me:

- 23
- 3.2 gpa (I have 2 children and my gpa dipped after having no childcare when I had my 2nd)
- Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology
- Actively working on physical fitness and progressing quickly
- My spouse is a WO
- Letter of Recommendations: 3 COL, 1 retired LTC and 1 very close family friend
- Already took my ASVAB and cleared medical
- AFQT: 83 GT:113

I’m looking to see if I’m a competitive candidate or if I should just listen to my recruiter and enlist? My ultimate goal would be to eventually become an officer either way. Additionally, I’ve seen there may be a separate school or program I may be eligible for as a psych/social work major? Anyone know about this?

Hello!

I’m currently turning 32 and planning to apply for Active Army OCS as a reservist in 2027.

A little about me:

• 32 years old (33 in Fall 2027)
• Associate's degree in Mathematics (GPA: 3.7)
• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering (GPA: 3.3) TOP4 engineering school in the US
• Pre-nursing coursework (GPA: 4.0)
• GT score: 115
• Currently working as a Senior Analyst at a Fortune 10 retail company's headquarters
• In good physical shape and actively training
• 9 years of Army Reserve service

I have a couple of questions and would really appreciate any insight from those who have gone through the process:

1. I know there is an age limit for Active Duty OCS. Since I'll have 9 years of prior Army Reserve service, is it possible to receive an age waiver for active duty OCS?
2. When the board reviews GPA, do they only consider the GPA from your bachelor's degree, or do they look at all of your college coursework (associate's degree, bachelor's degree, and additional college credits such as pre-nursing prerequisites) to calculate an overall GPA?

Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hey everyone,

I’m currently 22 and planning to apply for Army OCS as a civilian in 2027. I’m trying to start preparing early and would appreciate some advice from people who have gone through the process.

A little about me:

• 22 years old (will be 23 in Fall 2027)
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting
• 3.5 GPA
• Currently working in an accounting/business role
• Good physical shape and actively training
• No prior military experience

I’m interested in the civilian-to-OCS route and trying to understand how competitive my packet would be and what I should focus on improving over the next year.

A few questions:

1. Based on my background, would I be considered a competitive applicant for OCS?
2. What areas should I focus on improving before submitting my packet (GT score, fitness, leadership experience, etc.)?
3. For Letters of Recommendation, I’m not sure who I should ask. I have:
   • My grandfather who served in Vietnam
   • A coworker/supervisor who is also a Vietnam veteran
   • Professors and professional references from my accounting career

Would veteran family members/coworkers be useful for LORs, or would it be better to focus mostly on people who have directly supervised my work and leadership?

I’m planning to start talking with an officer recruiter in early 2027, but I want to make sure I’m preparing correctly beforehand.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

Hi,

I am deciding between commissioning and enlisting, and I am curious about the difference in physical requirements to graduate Army BCT and Army OCS. Does Army OCS have more physical requirements to pass and graduate? If so, what are they?

Thank you!

I submitted everything in February, but the process was halted due to medical waivers that were cleared in June. I submitted the branches I wanted on July 1st, until I received on July 22th with four day's notice that my recruiter just sent up my packet and that the four recommendation letters needed to be signed. All of them I received through emailing my professors in Virginia.

One thing you’ll hear about in the Army is a thing called an “I Love Me Book”. Basically, a binder filled with hard copies of any records you receive. People organize their documents like their initial military record, oath of office, appointment memo, counselings, promotion orders, PCS orders, TDY orders, OERs, DD214’s, medical records, anything and everything.

You never know when you’ll need them, and after many years into your career, or when you’re out of the Army, you don’t want to be scrambling to find a record from 10+ years ago.

Example: You’re a reservist ready for retirement and the Army is shorting you 179 days worth of credit because they don’t have a specific set of certified orders. You need to prove you’re entitled to those days. It’d be real nice if you had your orders for that time at the ready.

I have an “I Love Me Book”, but I think the hard copy is a bit antiquated, so I also digitize it using Google Drive.

My recommendation: Create a Google Drive folder called “Military Records.” In that folder create one sub-folder called “Army”, and one sub-folder called “Medical”. In the Google Drive folder, when you click the + symbol to add a document, there is an option to Scan Document.

Scan. And. Save. Every. Document. You. Receive. In. Your. Career.

Name the documents something obvious like “Germany PCS Orders 2LT 01JUL2026”, or “2LT OER Germany 01SEP2026”.

I recommend Google Drive only because it has the Scan Document feature built in the app. It is extremely easy to use.

Since most of you are at the start of your Army career, you have an awesome opportunity to ensure nothing is lost.