page_title: Officer Candidates School (United States Marine Corps)
section_title: Training
hierarchical_section_title: Officer Candidates School (United States Marine Corps) / Training
caption_attribution_description: English: Gunnery Sergeant Shawn D. Angell is a Platoon Sergeant (correct U.S. Marine Corps term) at the Officer Candidate School aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., dedicated to training, educating, evaluating and screening the many candidates who go through the course and turning them into Marine leaders.
context_page_description: The United States Marine Corps Officer Candidates School is a training regiment designed to screen and evaluate potential Marine Corps Officers. Those who successfully complete the period of instruction are commissioned as Second Lieutenants in the United States Marines. Unlike the other United States military services, the majority of Marine Corps officers complete OCS to earn a commission; the exceptions are midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy, limited duty officers, and inter-service transfers. It is located at Marine Corps Base Quantico.
  Depending on the course, Officer Candidates go through either a 10-week, or two 6-week courses over separate summers, designed primarily to screen and evaluate candidates' fitness to lead Marines by placing them in leadership positions in a stressful environment. The 10-week course only happens after a candidate's junior year of college. Students are evaluated during 2–3 day garrison command billets at the company and platoon level, and squad and fire-team level tactical billets during field exercises.
context_section_description: OCS screens potential officers using a program designed to test and assess the candidates by using the three graded categories of Academics, Leadership, and Physical Fitness. This includes evaluated events such as the leadership reaction course (LRC) and small unit leader evaluation (SULE). The Period of Instruction (POI) is divided into must pass events, such as hikes and the Endurance Course, and purely graded events that factor into one of the three graded categories, such as LRC and SULE. Candidates must maintain a minimum of 80% in Academics, Leadership, and Physical Fitness to graduate, as well as passing all the mandatory pass/fail events such as the Endurance Course. Events that must be passed for graduation are also given percentage grades that factor into one of the three graded categories. 
  Regardless of course, the instructors usually include officers to handle most academic instruction, enlisted sergeant instructors (Staff Noncommissioned Officers taken from the drill instructor community) to conduct most of the day-to-day management, and other instructors (most often non-commissioned officers) to teach most field skills. Officer Candidates on both courses have many related expenses (including travel to and from Officer Candidate School, meals, and lodging) paid for them (after the conclusion of training), and have expenses for uniforms, books, and other supplies deducted from their pay.  The Training and Education Command designs the program of instruction for OCS.
caption: A Gunnery Sergeant Instructor corrects an officer candidate
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