Differences Between Marine Boot Camp and Marine OCS

By John Canfield


If you're a Marine Officer or an enlisted Marine, you have to earn the title by undergoing a brutal rite of passage, whether at USMC OCS in Quantico, VA, or at MCRD San Diego/Parris Island. Take a look at several of the similarities and distinctions between OCS and boot camp.

Boot Camp is 13 weeks long. There are two different locations at which you can attend Recruit Training, MCRD Parris Island or Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. USMC OCS is either 6, 10, or 12 weeks long depending on which commissioning source you choose. Unlike Recruit Training, OCS is only held at one location, Quantico, VA.

All enlisted Marines go to bootcamp. Some Marine Officers need not attend Officer Candidate School. Those individuals who attend the U . S . Naval Academy aren't required to attend OCS to receive a commission in the United States Marine Corps.. Naval Academy graduates are commissioned as 2ndLts in the Marine Corps upon graduation from the Naval Academy. Any candidates who don't attend the Naval Academy must complete Officer Candidate School to get commissioned..

Prior enlisted Marines who wish to pursue a commission and apply for MECEP will need to attend 6 weeks of Officer Candidate School during one of their summer breaks during college. This is known as the "Bulldog" option of Marine OCS. Platoon Leaders Class is another alternative that Marine Officer Candidates can choose. That's where Marine Officer candidates participate in six weeks of OCS immediately following their freshman or sophomore year of college, and the second 6-week session of Officer Candidate School after their junior year. Following graduation from college, they will be commissioned as a 2ndLt in the Marine Corps. A final option is called Officer Commissioning Class (OCC). In OCC, Marine Officer Candidates complete ten straight weeks of OCS after their senior year of college and are commissioned as a Marine Officer upon completion of OCS.

Marines are evaluated differently on their own leadership potential during Marine Boot Camp and OCS. During bootcamp, you will have the opportunity to hold various leadership billets. The lowest leadership billet you can hold in recruit training is a fireteam leader, where you will be in charge of yourself and three other recruits. The squad leader is accountable for himself and three fireteams underneath him. The platoon guide accounts for the overall platoon. The extent of their responsibilities are to ensure that the Marines under them are carrying out the orders of the Drill Instructors. They're usually the ones who are held accountable when someone in their unit does something wrong. They are going to usually be getting IT'd the most, alongside individuals who are not conducting themselves in an acceptable manner. Billets in bootcamp might be held for minutes, hours, days, or weeks, depending the length of time you last before you mess something up.

In Officer Candidate School, Marine Officer candidates have a chance to hold all the same leadership roles as recruits in boot camp as well as several additional billets including Platoon Leader, Platoon Sergeant, Company GySgt, Company First Sergeant, Company Executive Officer, and Company Commander. Billets in OCS rotate every three days, and most Marine Officer candidates will get the opportunity to hold no less than one platoon or company level billet. Billets at OCS are similar to what they would be in the Fleet Marine Force .




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