Officer Candidates School (OCS) is the first step to becoming a Marine Corps Officer. It is the most basic physical and mental proving ground for people who want to lead Marines. Here you will discover that there are no shortcuts to becoming an Officer. Your whole reason for being here is to harden your body, test your will, and learn that overcoming hardship is largely a matter of desire. You will depend on your classmates, and they will depend on you. Fail them, and you have failed your mission. And that means you are going home left only with questions about your focus and strength. Finish this grueling test of your stamina and you will know that you have become what others only deam of being - a Marine Corps Officer.

At OCS you will receive instruction and be graded in 3 areas: physical fitness, academics, and leadership:

Physical fitness counts for 25% of your overall grade. The physical training program at OCS has been designed to teach, then test and evaluate, a very high level of physical fitness in a minimum amount of time. The physical training is built on the principles of physical courage, will power, and determination, while preparing you for the rigors of future Marine Corps duty. The physical aspects of OCS are designed to test an individual's general strength and endurance under varying field and tactical conditions. You will find these aspects challenging and demanding.

Academics count toward 25% of your overall grade at OCS. The general military subjects taught to Officer Candidates provide basic information to include Marine Corps history, tactics, operations and organization, land navigation, and other military subjects. Officer Candidates are evaluated on this material through written exams and practical application.

Leadership is the heaviest weight and most important part of your evaluation. This counts towards 50% of your final grade. The leadership grade is based on practical application events, staff observation, and classroom instruction. Eleven leadership classes are taught in a classroom setting. These formal periods of instruction include classes on fundamental and intermediate leadership and classes on Marine Corps/Department of Defense policies.

At OCS, you will have learned that desire coupled with the right tools can create a powerful leader. At The Basic School, you will rely on those tools every day and become an expert in knowing when and how to put them to use. You will spend six intense months learning everything you need to know to be a combat leader. You will take what you learn from a classroom setting and apply it in field exercises. The training will be thorough. Upon completion of TBS, you can be sure you will make the right decisions when you only have a split second to do so. The type of decision time you will need in a combat environment when all eyes look to the Officer (you) for answers. Because in a real-life situation, you are not dealing with hypothetical. You are guarding the lives of you and your Marines.

Walk through the footsteps of Class 186 at http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/class186/index.php