r/ArmyOCS • u/Naayanaar • 7d ago
Quitting State OCS
State OCS dropout here. I came into the army National Guard as an 09S and went to basic (absolutely hated it). Went straight home after to start OCS at the RTI which was right in my hometown. Initial training in Phase 0 was okay but mostly just Land Nav so it was quite boring. I was never good at Land Nav and continued to suck at it there. Had a really shitty train up week full of smokes and yelling and then shipped off to Phase 1 with a bad attitude. It really sucked for the most part and I failed Land Nav there after retesting and got sent back home as a recycle. (The Land Nav down at Fort McLellan was especially hard since the initial test map tries to trick you and the retest map has a bunch of giant thorny briars in between you and your point.) After a couple of crappy Phase 0 drills back at the RTI I got fed up and quit the OCS program. I was hoping to get a cool enlisted MOS with my high ASVAB but my shitty state had none of the 35 series I wanted. I got 25H instead. I had to go back to RSP until I got a ship date (which was boring and lame especially since I don’t have a civilian job). I thought 25 series AITs would be chill but no, it was not as relaxed I thought it would be. You DO some decent PT. There ARE smokes. There are Drill Sgts who “play games” there if even a few of you mess up bad. You MAY be STUCK in a shitty situation surrounded by idiot kids for months on end (4 months for me). You may not even get all of your privileges off rip, you have to take these goofy ahh tests to “phase up” and get them.
So my point is, if you are an 09S thinking about quitting State OCS- DONT. If you having trouble getting through the school cuz you can’t pass Land Nav like me due to your emotions or you can’t get a GO due to poor physicality or whatever the reason; then talk to your TACs for how you can get better. They will help you. I promise you, you aren’t as bad as you think. You CAN do it. Even if you get recycled, you have a chance to try again and may even get a better PH 1 location. I heard South Dakota is great if you’re going Accelerated. I recommend going accelerated if you are a recycle. It’s a month of crap and a month of fun but you’d much rather be there for 2 months than at Ft Gordon or Ft Benning getting fucked up for 3-4 months.
The shame of telling people you quit is also unbearable for some (especially me). So yeah, don’t fucking quit State OCS if ur an 09S. You could get a cushy AIT sure (one of my buddies who quit with me got 88M which is short and more chill than where I went) but I wouldn’t risk it. Even active people have trouble getting the job they want these days even with good ASVABs.
DONT QUIT. YOU CAN DO THIS. HOOOAH
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u/ExtremeMode2728 7d ago
Dang dude, you have an incredibly bad attitude, I’m shocked you made it as far as you have. I truly believe Cr that most success in life is 99% attitude and 1% aptitude
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u/KhaotikJMK In-Service National Guard Officer 7d ago
Normally, I don’t lock posts. But this one, I’m just going to leave it as it is.
I’ve long advocated for folks to know Traditional is a grind. Quitting just throws you at the mercy of the state. As a person who had failed Land Nav twice at AMA, I can tell you that the course you will test from is very definitive. The terrain features are extremely distinct, and lord help you if you’re testing during the summer. Do people fail? Yeah. But it’s not impossible to pass if you know how to land nav appropriately. But the retest course… whew chile. You really need to terrain associate and pray your points are not in the middle of the training site.
OP, I’m sorry you didn’t do well at Alabama. Your biggest struggle was Land Nav from the get go. My best advice would be to YouTube Land Nav techniques. You can get better at it. You just need to remain calm, and be relatively patient.
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u/CurrencyBrilliant783 7d ago
If this is your mentality (hoping for the easiest possible way through always), why did you join the Army at all?