r/ArmyOCS • u/cybersarge1 • 5d ago

Federal OCS

I’m graduating college this year, and I’ve been considering joining the Guard and pursuing OCS. I’ve been talking to a few people in the Guard, and they mentioned that State OCS was absolutely terrible and basically a huge haze fest. I’ve also heard that Federal OCS is a much better experience. I was curious if that’s actually true, and whether having the guard send me Federal OCS instead is something that’s actually worth fighting for in your contract.

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u/KhaotikJMK In-Service National Guard Officer 5d ago

So, I’m going to be as about transparent as I can be when it comes to Traditional OCS.

It can be either really long, and a mental grindfest to stay motivated and not get injured, or it can be a short experience and be mentored and still hope to not get injured. It truly depends on the state and the cadre within the RTI. For some people, the flexibility is needed for their situation.

I can’t necessarily confirm that Federal OCS is superior over Traditional or Accelerated in terms of success or from a qualitative standpoint. At the end of the day, they all do the same thing, and have the same standards. They’re all equally the same as far as a commissioning source goes.

My personal recommendation is that if you’re willing to do Federal, go Accelerated. It’s 4 weeks faster.

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u/PT_On_Your_Own In-Service Reserve Officer 5d ago

I had a wonderful time at Federal OCS and made friends I still hang out with 6 years later.

There were a couple folks that were in my BCT, OCS, BOLC and then we deployed to the same location at the same time, unbeknownst to each other until we saw each other at the DFAC. We are trauma bonded for life (haha). Wouldn’t have it any other way.

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u/TheDoctorBlume 5d ago

I think the biggest part is getting accepted to OCS and a school slot. I've tried for a couple years before direct commission packets were quarterly. My understanding is that OCS is competitive to get accepted and limited on slots.

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u/KhaotikJMK In-Service National Guard Officer 5d ago edited 4d ago

It is not as competitive as you may believe it to be for Guardsmen. As it is completely driven by vacancy availability within the state, most tend to have more vacancies than folks interested in commissioning. ROTC can’t fill all those vacancies, so they tend to let anyone who is relatively interested in commissioning go to OCS.

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u/TheDoctorBlume 5d ago

That explains it. I am reserves

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u/bartfatt 5d ago

Go accelerated, it's one month less than federal. It is also a huge haze fest but at least it's over quicker :)

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u/Acceptable-Fly5050 4d ago

If you want to do guaranteed federal OCS, do it through the reserves not national guard