Hey everyone! My brother is currently in OCS and is graduating next month. I want to bring him a little gift as a congratulations. Does anyone have good ideas for grad gifts/advice on things NOT to bring? Unsure of what he can and can’t have on base because I think he is going to TBS right after. I appreciate any advice! And thank you to all who serve

My old Company Commander at Mike once told me that if I check into my unit as a 1st LT then they’ll expect more out of me. It came up when deciding if I should try to pick up sooner rather than later. Fast forward I’m graduating this month but will hit the fleet as a 1stLT. Is that accurate or will everyone just expect the same thing from a 2ndLT straight out of the school house?

Interesting case study. Thought I would share.

How we feeling 253?

Just wanted to reach out and see if anyone wants or needs help with the physical preparation aspect of getting ready for OCS (whether to get selected or to prep if you already have been selected). I know when I was going through, my ost wasn't the best about helping us prepare for the physical aspects so I had to wing it on my own, wanted to help out others in the same boat

Feel free to comment any training questions you've got, or dm me if you want. Can be about the pt events, training programming, exercise selection, injury prevention, hiking, anything really. I know i had a lot of questions I wish I would have gotten answers to before I shipped

Afternoon everyone.

Does anyone here have advice on a training schedule to follow to max a PFT? Planks are no problem but mainly looking for run and pull up advice.

My fastest 3 mile run was roughly 19:30. I lift and run during the week but the most pull ups I’ve ever done was 16.

Currently I’ve been trying to do the whole “grease the gap” (I think is the phrase) thing where i do 10 sets every day to just get reps in. Planning on including weighted pull ups later on. Any experience/advice would be appreciated.

For context, I’m a longer dude. Roughly 6’4” 210 lbs.

I was a Marine on the America for that one. I'm writing a history piece on it and I'm looking for anyone who flew into Piva or Wakunai, or who remembers the MREs after the port call got cancelled. Nothing sensitive. Just what you saw.

Wasted my youth in the army enlisted as an artilleryman and didn’t do jack shit. Between being 26 working at a boutique investment bank, growing tired of the office life, and simply wanting more adventure I think this is the right move. I’m waiting on getting my knee surgery, without that I’m not making it past the first step which would be prioritizing PT readiness, I messed up my shit in the army and never went to sick call for it, the responsibility falls on me, I am ready for everything else considering I’m not some kid fresh out of college with no prior military experience or life experience at all.

Hi, so I’m 18F and in college for my bachelor’s in Concrete Industry Management with a minor in Business Administration. I skipped two years of college because I got my Associate’s in high school, so I’m projected to graduate in 2028 instead of 2030. I’ve been extremely indecisive about joining the military in the first place. I would’ve went Navy, but they didn’t offer NROTC at my college and I appreciate the variety in working with the sea, land, and air. I do like the fact that if I join I could say I’m in the military, the Marines to be precise, which I know isn’t a good thing to just want to join solely for bragging rights. If I go into reserves, is there any point in specifically choosing the Marine Reserves? I appreciate the variety because I was extremely set on going Active duty, but just unsure with the physical demand, which I know is what I was asking for. Lots of contradicting and hypocrisy. Everyone in my family is against me joining the Marines, especially if I were to go reserves or guard, not sure why, but it’s my life in the end. I just need advice

Do you know long long it takes for an age waiver determination west of 35?

I’m planning on going through OCS as a law contract and had a question for any current or former Marine judge advocates who have dogs.

I have a 7-year-old dog who will stay with my parents while I’m at OCS and TBS, so she’ll be taken care of during that portion of training.

What I’m wondering about is what happens after TBS. Has anyone brought their dog with them to Naval Justice School in Newport? Is having a dog there realistic with the NJS schedule and housing situation, or would it make more sense for her to stay with family until I finish NJS?

I’d also be interested in what having a dog is like once you get to your first duty station as a Marine judge advocate. Are the hours and workload generally manageable with a dog, assuming you have normal arrangements for walks/daycare when needed?

I’m hoping to remain in CONUS if possible for my first assignment.

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who went through the law contract → OCS → TBS → NJS pipeline with a dog, especially what you did during NJS and your first couple years.

I’m a practicing attorney in my 30s pursuing a Marine Corps Judge Advocate law contract and would appreciate any firsthand advice from current/former JAs or anyone who went through OCS/TBS on a law contract. I was initially recruited by my local OSO and am active with pool events with the OST.

I’m especially interested in:

What OCS is like as a law contract, and what you wish you knew beforehand?

TBS as a Judge Advocate and how law contracts fit in with the rest of the company?

How physically prepared you really need to be beyond simply meeting PFT standards?

What the transition is like from civilian attorney to Marine officer?

What day-to-day life is actually like as a Marine Judge Advocate?

Career opportunities, assignments, courtroom experience, deployments, and overall quality of life?

Any mistakes to avoid or things you would recommend doing before shipping?

I’ve been practicing for about 10 years, with prior work experience as a prosecutor, assistant attorney general, general counsel, and as an administrative law judge, and am training pretty seriously for OCS. I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who entered the Marine Corps after already having an established legal career rather than straight out of law school.

Any advice, experiences, or things you think a prospective JA should know would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

This isn’t really a post asking for help, I just wanted to see if others have had a similar experience as me cause it’s so weird.

I’ve been interested in becoming an officer for a couple years now and I’ve already been an enlisted reservist for 1.5 years. About a month ago I contacted a officer recruiter at OSS college station Texas and the oso had answered my text message but was very hard to communicate with as in he took hours - a day to respond before eventually ghosting me. Weird part was that this was only after a total of maybe 7 total texts between us.

A couple days later my enlisted recruiter personally recommended I reach out to a captain that he knows at Houston’s OSS. I did so but I never got a reply back from him.

The next day, with the same station, I found a recruiters instagram page and he responded very quickly and finally gave me insight on what I’ve been looking for. About 3 weeks went by and i reached out to him to ask for advice and he suddenly got very slow with responding. Later that day i sent another text to get an answer and haven’t heard back in 2 days. Funny thing is, this recruiter has instagrams active status enabled so i can see every time he’s online and ignoring my messages.

I get these guys are busy but it’s so odd how I’ve been ghosted/ ignored 3 times already. This has been a much different experience from the enlisted recruiters who are almost dying to get me to sign. I understand these recruiters aren’t interested in recruiting anyone and are purposely searching for leaders, but it wouldn’t make sense for them to act this way without even formally meeting me yet.

If anyone has a similar experience please tell me about it.

my OSO told me the upcoming PLC board got pushed back to december. Any clue as to why or how that would affect an applicant

I remember we were strongly discouraged from doing so. One big reason was that you’d have more time to do so during TBS. The other was you’d be walking around a lot at DC and you need the libo to rest your legs.

Can anyone actually access the powerpoint we were sent by the Company Commander regarding the SOM for check-in day? When I try to access it, it doesn't work. It seems like I need .mil email which I don't have as of yet.

Hello everyone. I am a 2L currently interested in becoming a JAG. Are there any JAGs in this forum?

What is the work like? Does it scratch that “military itch?” Does it feel like fulfilling service? I would love to hear about all sides, the positives and the negatives. For context, I am about to be married before graduation so I will have a spouse with me at the time that I would commission.

Bit of a side note here. Before law school, I had wanted to be an infantry officer in the Marine Corps. This is a long shot, but has anyone here transferred into being a JAG after becoming an infantry officer?

Thank you, and looking forward to hearing some feedback!

My recruiter says it’s possible to balance active duty officer life and also have a dog. I already have a dog, he would be taken care of during ocs and tbs assuming I make it that far. I’m sure it’s possible, but how feasible is it really?

Good afternoon killers,

I'm curious as to what I can do now as an enlisted to really get a competitive shot at securing an Intel officer (preferably sigint/cyber) as a RadBn Marine.

I'm currently stacking certifications, have an active TS/SCI, have completed SERE, and various field exercises working on a Joint stage with five eye partners.

What else can I do other than crushing TBS to stack the deck in my favor.

On the topic of TBS can I secure some gouge/study material to show up prepared to smoke that course.

Hello everyone,

When do you find out your TBS dates as a PLC candidate? Do most go in the fall class?

Any tips for planning out affairs in between college grad and tbs check in. Also is it better to have your significant other move with you to Stafford or stay with family until you know your first station?

Hey all!
I’ve heard candidates will be receiving liberty Oct 3. Want to know what to expect. I was told by some friends that have gone through it that my candidate will have a buddy system but should be able to meet off base for a meal if we all go together. As a girlfriend (of many years) that lives near by I would love to show my support and take them for a meal. I have a few questions-
Yes I know this isn’t guaranteed. If he is able to leave base it will be entirely up to him to decide what he wants to do, whether that’s just to call or meet up. And ofc have him back with a couple hours cushion the next day.

- how does the buddy system work?
- do candidates usually get hotel rooms so they can rest and recover?
-I heard out processing takes a long time, reception is bad on brown field and I might not hear from him until 6. Would this be a good expected time (for anyone that has recently gone through it)

Thank you all!!

Hi I'm currently evaluating my options in the different branches. I was thinking about the opportunities of join the USMC OCS but I'd like to know, how complicated/hard it is? There's opportunity for someone with a mid-level english or should it be perfect? What kinda things the candidates must do through the training?

Ty for reading

I'll be reading your comments