Officer Candidate School (United States Army)

US Army Officer Candidate School
The original Officer Candidate School logo, "the OCS road wheel"
Active1941 – 19/20 December 1949
1951 – present
Country United States
Branch United States Army
TypeTraining
RoleTrain and commission U.S. Army Officers
Part ofTraining and Doctrine Command
U.S. Army Infantry School
Garrison/HQFort Moore, Georgia
Motto(s)"Standards, No Compromise"
MarchOCS Alma Mater
Commanders
Current
commander
Lieutenant Colonel Wilford Garvin III

The United States Army's Officer Candidate School (OCS) is an officer candidate school located at Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning), Georgia, that trains, assesses, and evaluates potential commissioned officers of the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Reserve, and Army National Guard. Officer candidates are former enlisted members (E-4 to E-8), warrant officers, inter-service transfers,[1] or civilian college graduates who enlist for the "OCS Option" after they complete Basic Combat Training (BCT). The latter are often referred to as college ops.

OCS is a 12-week course designed to train, assess, evaluate, and develop second lieutenants for the U.S. Army.[2] It is the only commissioning source that can be responsive to the U.S. Army's changing personnel requirements due to its short length, compared to other commissioning programs and their requirements. Completing OCS is one of several ways of becoming a U.S. Army commissioned officer. The other methods are:

The U.S. Army Officer Candidate School is organizationally designated as 3rd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment, 199th Infantry Brigade.[5] It was redesignated from the 3rd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment in June 2007. It is a subordinate unit of the Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) also headquartered at Fort Moore. As of July 2014 the battalion has five training companies and a Headquarters Company in operation, designated HHC, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta and Echo, each of which can conduct one class at a time, with a maximum of 160 candidates being trained in each class.[6] Alpha through Delta are used for OCS. Echo Company is reserved for the six-week Direct Commission Course, which is the initial entry training for direct commission officers such as Judge Advocates. HHC serves as the "holding" company for brand new candidates going thru their in-processing or for injured candidates who are recuperating from their injuries. Those who recuperate from injury are often "recycled" into the next class. Every three weeks a class graduates and another one is started.

The commander of the 3rd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment (OCS), 199th Infantry Brigade is Lieutenant Colonel Wilford Garvin III,[7] and the Command Sergeant Major is Command Sergeant Major Gilmer.[7]

  1. ^ In this case, Inter-Service Transfer refers to enlisted members of the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, or U.S. Marine Corps transferring to the U.S. Army to attend OCS.
  2. ^ "OCS Branch Descriptions" (PDF). Fort Benning Maneuver Center of Excellence. 9 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Service Obligation". U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. 27 January 2013.
  4. ^ Army Regulation 614–120 Interservice Transfer of Army Commissioned Officers on the Active Duty List para 2–5 Application of officers of other uniformed services
  5. ^ 199th Infantry Brigade[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ ATRRS Course Catalog Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ a b "OCS Home". benning.army.mil. United States Army. Retrieved 30 October 2021.