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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Navy Reserves OCS
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Question
Is there a difference in OCS for reserves as compared to active duty in the navy. I know OCS training is different for army national guard. Just trying to figure out which OCS i want to join.
Hi Brian,
There is no difference between Reserves OCS and active duty OCS. In fact active duty and Reserve officer candidates attend OCS (OTS in the Air Force), side-by-side.
The reason that OCS/OTS is different in the Army and Air National Guard is because the National Guard is primarily owned/managed by the state governments, not the federal government.
There has been an emerging trend, during the past few years to make National Guard officer training as similar to active duty/reserve officer training as possible. In fact, the Air Force has just announced that it plans to move all Air National Guard OTS training to Maxwell AFB (where active duty/reserve OTS is conducted).
I suspect that, within a few years, National Guard OCS/OTS will be absorbed by the active duty/reserve programs, just as it is with enlisted basic training.
For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my US Military information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
About.com US Military Guide
http://usmilitary.about.com
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Answers by Expert:
Rod Powers
Expertise
Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.
Experience
Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.
Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).
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