Welcome to all you aspiring Marine Corps officers. We hope the blog and our social media content helps you achieve your goals.
Check out the Washington Post’s story on OCS here
Armstrong 360 Workout Routine playlist (full workout here)
How to Become an Officer of Marines
USMC Pull-ups: PFT Rules
USMC Crunches: PFT Rules
USMC Push-up Rules
Motivating USMC Commercials
PBS Marines Documentary
“Semper Fidelis, always faithful. You’ll take the corpse off the battlefield even if it means your own life … Alive or dead, they come back with you.”
– Nancy Sherman, professor and author of Stoic Warriors
THE MARINES examines the unique “Warrior Culture” of the smallest but fiercest branch of the U.S. armed services. With significant access to Marine Corps training facilities in Parris Island, South Carolina; Quantico, Virginia; and Twentynine Palms, California, THE MARINES reveals what it takes and what it means to be a Marine – from the first moments of a recruit’s arrival at boot camp.
THE MARINES offers extensive coverage of the often grueling Marine Corps training, including the Martial Arts Program, confidence course and intense rifle range instruction. The program also demonstrates how the Marines evaluate and shape their future leaders with the rigorous Officer Candidate Leadership reaction course and infamous “Quigley” exercise.
More than 30 current and former Marines of all ranks, authors and military correspondents were interviewed to tell the story of the rich history, traditions and continuing importance of the Marine Corps and the warrior ethos it instills.
“How the Warrior Culture is engrained and how it sets the Marines apart from other armed services branches are critical aspects of Marine development and understanding,” said producer/writer/director John Grant. “This program offers an in-depth and unvarnished look at the rigorous physical and psychological training employed to create this tenaciously loyal, highly skilled breed of combatant ready to defend country and comrade at any cost.”
Other segments of THE MARINES focus on the Wounded Warrior Barracks in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; the new Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia; and women in the Marines. The program also travels to the country’s largest Marine base in California, where Marines are seen training in mock Iraqi villages just weeks before deployment overseas.
Can you apply for the PLC program before college or during High School?
I believe you would have to be in college due to the required letters of recommendation that have to come from certain members of your college administration. For a full answer, I recommend talking to an OSO however.
Jeremy, You have to be enrolled in a college in order to apply for the PLC program.
-Erik
I am 15 and soon to be high school sophmore, and becoming a marine officer is my dream, does any one know the Odds of getting a NROTC scholarship in high school??
Jeremy, the odds are pretty low. I am currently a sophomore at ODU as a Marine Option Scholarship Midshipman. I can say it is pretty difficult to obtain; however, it also depends on the number of people applying in your state as well as the number of scholarships the Marine Corps is planning to hand out that year. Either way, there are still the 3 year and 2 year scholarships when you get into college. You can always apply for those. If not PLC works to. Another and final option is receive your degree and then go to a recruiting station and talk to your recruiting officer and he can give you the option of OCS if you truly want to be a Marine Corps Officer.
yes, i have heard it is very hard to get, maybe even unlikely to gain. But how did you get to maintain the scholarship?
Jeremy
What happens if your graduation date is delayed. For example if I attend PLC the summers after my freshman and junior year of college, and then I have to go an additional year after my senior year to complete my academics. Will this cause any problems in getting commissioned?
I am not sure, but I know for OCC you have 1 year to accept your commission. Miss the date, and you get to do OCS all over again. Talk to an OSO on that one.
Does this apply to PLC and OCS?
Not sure! Talk to an OSO about current rules.
Thank you!
Hi, my name is Tommy. I am 24 years old now and currently attending Northern Essex Community College. I look forward to transferring to a UMASS after my two years to get a bachelor’s degree. My question is, “are there any other ways to prepare for Marine OCS other than NROTC?” I know the age limit for NROTC is 23, but I will be 26 when I go to UMASS. May somebody help me answer my question? Thank you.
Tommy,
The bad news is, if NROTC is not a possibility, I think you’d have to mostly prepare yourself. The good news is, you don’t need an organized program to be enrolled in, to get you prepared. Just research as much as you can online and by talking to any officers you know, and do the workout on this site religiously. You will be good to go.
Thank you very much. This was very helpful. Though I do have one last additional question. I heard that you have to provide letters of recommendation from teachers and staff faculty. Is this necessarily required? If yes, should I start early with these letters?
When I was applying a few years ago, we needed one from a professor and one from the academics dean or something long those lines, which basically tells the Marines that you are in good academic standing with the school. Regardless of the rules, a recommendation from a professor that you are a hard worker in class is a great thing to have.
This should make all of you feel better to see. Admin- consider embedding the videos and links at the top so more people see them.
There was a Story on OCS 2009 (my platoon was the primary platoon in the video). It depicts a PLC OCS class. There are videos and a more elaborate story/article. This is real video of actual training events and days at OCS as a PLC Junior.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/metro/quantico/video.html?sid=ST2009113003305
Also that famous pic of a Gunny yelling at a candidate is from this story. It was my platoon.
This video is a bit older but it might also help.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/class186/part3-mainbar-a.php
Lt, thanks for all the awesomeness.
for the pushups can you do wide ones too because it shows him doing that also
Yes, wide or narrow is fine.