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The Officer Candidate School is a mentally and physically challenging course designed
to educate and train enlisted soldiers to serve as Federally Commissioned Officers.
The program is conducted in four phases:
0 Phase: Six drill weekends, training focus is orienting new Candidates to the OCS environment,
reviewing and finalizing your pre-commissioning packet, and train up for follow on phases.
Phase 1: Two weeks long, training will focus on Army operations, how to plan and conduct
training, leadership, and land navigation. One week will be in the field and one week in garrison.
Phase 2: Four consecutive weeks for the accelerated course course, the major blocks of
instructions will be on Tactics, Force XXI, Communications, Field Artillery, Combat Service
Support, Leadership, and Military Intelligence. The majority of the time you will spend in garrison.
Phase 3: Two weeks, training will focus on Field Leadership Exercises. The majority of this
Phase you will spend in the field.
LEADERSHIP
Leadership is evaluated by the Teach, Assess and Counsel (TAC) Staff. Leadership evaluation
is a continual and ongoing process while attending OCS. You will be evaluated on the folling
leadership dimensions.
INFLUENCING ACTIONS:
(1) Communicate: Make your subordinates understand you, using a variety of means. The
responsibility rests with the leader to make subordinates understand.
(2) Decide: Use of the problem solving steps. ID problems, ID facts/assumptions, generate
alternatives, analyze and compare alternatives, decide, execute then evaluate/assess results.
(3) Motivate: Give subordinates the will to accomplish the mission by providing direction and
purpose. Empower subordinates and use positive or reinforcement as situation dictates.
IMPROVING ACTIONS:
(1) Develop People: The ability to train and prepare subordinates to assume positions of greater
responsibility. The ability to get people to reach their potential. Mentor, teach and counsel.
(2) Build Teams: Training small teams is the cornerstone of the Army team, get people to work
together, execute thoroughly and quickly, to thrive on challenge and learn from experience is
how we build teams.
(3) Learn From Experience: Look at situations and experiences and learn from them, do not
make the same mistake twice. Teams are learning organizations and leaders are the teachers
that enable the team to learn.
OPERATING ACTIONS:
(1) Planning: A plan is a proposal on how to execute a mission or directive. Be able to plan for
both specified and implied missions. Use reverse planning, start with a desired end state and
work towards time now.
(2) Preparation: When leaders plan subordinates prepare, leaders must give their soldiers the
time to prepare good use warning orders and information updates allows for this to happen. Must
use rehearsals.
(3) Executing: The act of accomplishing the mission to standard and on time, including the ability
to change with changing situations and adapt to these changes.
(4) Assessing: The ability to see through the battlefield clutter and get a true read on what went
right and wrong, most importantly how to correct weaknesses.
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS:
(1) Communicate: Transmitting a message in a clear concise manner so the intended receiver
understands it. Being able to communicate verbally and in writing.
(2) Supervise: Check and recheck, find the balance between over supervision and not
supervising enough, Supervision with the span of control.
(3) Counsel: The ability to outline a plan for the unit or the subordinate to reach an individual or
unit goal. Ultimately resulting in a plan of action, or a road map for improvement.
CONCEPTUAL SKILLS:
(1) Critical Reasoning: Problem solving, understanding situations, finding causes and arriving at
justifiable solutions.
(2) Creative Thinking: Thinking outside the box, finding new solutions to old problems or creative
solutions to new problems.
(3) Reflective Thinking: Open to feedback from all sources, be able to listen and use the
feedback. The ability to take information, assess it and apply it to behavior to explain why things
went well or not.
(4) Ethical Reasoning: Define the problem, know the relevant results, develop and evaluate
courses of action, choose the course of action that best represents the Army values.
TECHNICAL SKILLS:
(1) Know Equipment: Know your equipment and know how to operate it. Understand the
concepts behind the equipment and how it is used.
(2) Operate Equipment: Se the example and learn to operate the equipment you and your
soldiers are responsible for.
TACTICAL SKILLS:
(1) Know Doctrine: Understand the art and science of doctrine.
(2) Field Craft: Know and pass on the skills required to sustain in the field.
(3) Tactical Skills and Training: Be the primary trainer for individuals and teams exercise this by
using the span of control and train as you fight.
EMOTIONAL ATTRIBUTES:
(1) Self Control: Always in control of emotions regardless of the situation. Give subordinates
perspective at all times. Know how to send the intended message with the intended amount of
emotion, Cool-headed.
(2) Balance: Display the right amount of emotion for the situation, self-control allows for balance
and give the leader the ability to lead and motivate in the toughest of circumstances.
(3) Stability: Steady, levelheaded and calm in the face of the most difficult of situations.
MENTAL ATTRIBUTES:
(1) Will: Will gives the soldier or leader the drive to continue, regardless of the situation or
conditions. The inner drive that enables us to drive on and complete the mission.
(2) Self Discipline: Self-discipline gives the leader the ability to master his/her own impulses.
Leader must think clearly in order to act responsibly, self discipline is the lynch pin that allows
this to happen.
(3) Initiative: Initiative is the ability to act when there is none or little clear guidance. The leader
who displays initiative is a self-starter and has the ability to see requirements that are not always
spelled out. Clear understanding of the commander’s intent allow a leader to exercise initiative to
accomplish a mission.
(4) Judgment: Make the best decision for the situation, good judgment means the ability to juggle
information that may or may not be clear, analyze and compare courses of action and come to
the best decision for the situation.
(5) Self-Confidence: The faith that the leader will act correctly and properly given a situation.
The ability to make an attempt. Competence gives leaders confidence, and the more confident,
the more competent they normally become.
(6) Intelligence: The ability to think, learn and reflect. Intelligence comes from the ability to
combine knowledge, from study, skills from experience and have the ability to reflect on the past
and learn from it.
(7) Cultural Awareness: Sensitive to the cultural backgrounds of soldiers. Sensitive to the culture
of the country you are in and aware of the differences. Leaders must take advantage of the
these differences, identify commonalities in order to build cohesive teams.
PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES:
(1) Health Fitness: Everything you do to maintain good health. Healthy soldiers perform better
under stress and leaders must be healthy to lead soldiers in the most stressful times.
(2) Physical Fitness: Set the standard, leaders must maintain the highest level of physical
fitness. Unit readiness begins with physical fitness. A unit that is not fit will not endure the
hardships of combat, regardless of branch or job.
(3) Military Bearing: Look and act like a soldier. Know how to wear the uniform and wear it with
pride. Meet height/weight standards and always carry yourself like a soldier.
