Selection and Entry
Entry to the Officer Candidates School comes from several different commissioning programs:
- Officer Candidates Course (OCC) for college seniors and graduates
- Platoon Leaders Class (PLC) for college students with one or more years left in school
- Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC)
- Enlisted Commissioning Program (ECP) for enlisted Marines with a college degree
- Meritorious Commissioning Program (MCP) for enlisted Marines within 18 months of graduation
- Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP)
- Officers Candidates School(OCS) is waived for Naval Academy graduates commissioned into the Marine Corps
Officer Candidates must pass a series of tests before being admitted into the Officer Candidate School. An Officer Selection Officer, usually a Captain, meets with a prospective Officer Candidate. Upon completing a satisfactory interview, the OSO then makes the decision to move the prospective candidate onto the next step. The prospective candidate then must complete a short essay about why he wants to be a Marine Officer, provide identification (usually a birth certificate and Social Security card), pass a background check, provide five letters of recommendation, and complete a physical medical exam.
After successful completion of these steps, the OSO may then conduct the Officer Candidate through a Physical Fitness Test. Upon reaching a score on the test that the OSO deems to be acceptable (usually in the range of 285 and above), the Officer Candidate then signs the contract (including the contract to attend the course, the fraternization policy acknowledgement, and the Marine Corps drug policy acknowledgement). Candidates choose to enter the program as either a ground, air, or law contract.
All of this information is sent to a review board, which will vote to decide if the Candidate should be accepted to Officer Candidate School. These review boards generally convene only once a month. After receiving a majority vote of acceptance from the review board, the Officer Candidate is officially accepted into the Officer Candidate Program and scheduled for a class.
Read more about this topic: Officer Candidates School (United States Marine Corps)
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