In the
United States Armed Forces, Officer Candidate School (OCS) or the equivalent is a training program for college graduates and
non-commissioned officers, soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and coast guardsmen to earn commissions as officers. The courses generally last from six to 17 weeks and include classroom instruction in military subjects, physical training, and leadership. People may earn a commission in the United States Armed Forces through OCS or
OTS, by staff appointment, through
Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), or through one of the five
federal service academies. • The
Officer Candidate School of the United States Army is a 12-week-long program held at
Fort Benning,
Georgia for both prior service and non-prior service candidates. The Army is the only U.S. branch in which those with no prior military service must first attend
Basic Combat Training. There are also
Army National Guard Officer Candidate Schools that allow an Army National Guard soldier to train within the "one weekend a month, two weeks a year" training program; this is called "Traditional", as it is the original method for the Army National Guard, and takes 18 months to complete. In addition, Army National Guard soldiers have the option to attend the federal course or to attend a 7-day-per-week accelerated eight-week program in conjunction with other states. Both federal and state programs are accredited by the
U.S. Army Infantry School. Upon completion of either OCS programs, graduates are commissioned as
Second Lieutenants (2LT) and then attend the rest of their Basic Officer Leadership courses. In 2006, the officer commissioning programs changed, making the entire process, "Basic Officer Leadership Course", occurring in two phases (BOLC-A and BOLC-B). Phase A is the original commissioning source (OCS, ROTC, USMA, Direct). BOLC B is the Officer Basic Course which trains the new officers into their Basic Branch skills and includes three weeks of basic soldiering skills. • The
Officer Candidates School of the United States Marine Corps is at
Marine Corps Base Quantico,
Virginia. All Marine officers are initially trained at OCS, with the exception of those who come from the
United States Naval Academy. Entrance to OCS is obtained through the
Platoon Leaders Class and
Officer Candidates Course programs. Candidates who enter the
Platoon Leaders Class attend either two six-week sessions or one ten-week session during college. Those who enter the
Officer Candidates Course attend one ten-week session after graduation from college.
Naval ROTC midshipmen in the Marine Option also attend for one six-week session prior to commissioning. Graduates are commissioned as
Second Lieutenants (2ndLt) in the U.S. Marine Corps. Regardless of commissioning source, all Marine Corps officers attend
The Basic School (TBS) prior to beginning training for their
Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). • The
Officer Candidate School of the United States Navy is a 13-week course located at
Naval Station Newport,
Rhode Island. It has been based there since the fall of 2007 after relocating from
NAS Pensacola,
Florida. In the 1990s, OCS had departed Newport to combine with Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS) at
Naval Air Station Pensacola. On its return, it brought the tradition of USMC drill instructors (a la
An Officer and a Gentleman) from NAS Pensacola. Upon completion, graduates are commissioned in the rank of
ensign (ENS) in the U.S. Navy. • The
Officer Training School of the United States Air Force and Space Force is located at
Maxwell Air Force Base,
Alabama. There are three programs offered at OTS. The first is
Basic Officer Training (BOT), for those seeking a commission to the active duty
USAF. It is a 9-week-long program consisting of two parts. In the first part, officer trainees learn military skills, USAF history, and other classroom and skill courses needed for serving in the Air Force. In the second part, they are given ranks from Officer Trainee O-1 (2d Lt) to Officer Trainee O-6 (Col), and learn how to be a leader, including the opportunity to lead other Officer Trainees. Graduates are commissioned as Second Lieutenants (2d Lt) in the U.S. Air Force. The second program is
Commissioned Officer Training (COT), a five-week introductory program to the USAF for those who have been
directly commissioned in the USAF, primarily as chaplains, doctors, and lawyers. Trainees in COT range in rank from O-1 to O-5 and will report directly to their respective units after training. The third program is the
Academy of Military Science (AMS), a detachment of the
Air National Guard Readiness Center that is embedded at OTS. AMS is a six-week program designed to train and commission officer candidates to fulfill USAF and
Air National Guard (ANG) requirements. The AMS program covers the same subject areas as BOT and COT, but also provides education in ANG heritage and the role of the "Citizen Airman". The majority of AMS students are prior-enlisted and many may also have civilian careers. Once AMS candidates successfully complete all OTS graduation requirements, they receive the oath of office and receive state and federal commissions as second lieutenants in the ANG with both state and federal responsibilities. • The Officer Candidate School of the
United States Coast Guard is at the
U.S. Coast Guard Academy in
New London,
Connecticut, where it has been located since August 1998. Prior to August 1998, Coast Guard OCS was located at the Coast Guard Reserve Training Center (RESTRACEN) in
Yorktown,
Virginia. OCS is a 12-week-long program. Graduates are commissioned in the rank of ensign (ENS) in the U.S. Coast Guard and may report to Coast Guard cutters, sectors, or directly to flight training. •
Officer Candidate Schools are also maintained by the active
State Defense Forces of the
United States by direction of their respective state military departments and by the state's
National Guard Adjutant General. Similar to their state's
National Guard counterparts who take a dual federal and state military commission, military officers who are commissioned through a
SDF Officer Candidate School take a sole military commission to the state that they support, recognized by their state's military code and . In states with full integration of state military resources (
SDF and
National Guard counterparts) the curriculum is often similar, with the
National Guard curriculum taking on additional requirements to meet federal recognition (referred to as FEDREC). For example,
California maintains both Officer Candidate Schools at
Camp San Luis Obispo, with the
State Guard OCS being 11-12 months and the
National Guard OCS being 16-18 months, both celebrate a joint graduation. • During WWII, the U.S. Army Signal Corps ran an Officer Candidate School located in the war zone labeled as the South West Pacific Area (SWPA), at Camp Columbia, Brisbane, Australia. From photographs taken by the U.S. Army, it is apparent that this course was integrated with the U.S. Army's Signal Corps OCS program at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey. Contemporary records indicate that the course was branch immaterial – perhaps the first branch immaterial course in the Army. Unfortunately, there is little information about the particulars of how SWPA OCS was operated, such as its length, subject matter content, training routine, etc. In particular, its years of operation and other reliable statistical information are not readily available. ==See also==