Posted on Feb 26, 2021
Does the ARNG OCS Program (state run) still allow officer candidates in who do not currently have a bachelor’s degree?
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I remember when I was considering going that route back in the 80’s in the MDARNG that you could receive a commission as a 2LT by going through the state’s OCS Program. The only consideration was that if you remained an officer and wanted to get promoted to MAJ, you had to get your bachelor’s degree.
Posted in these groups: 
OCS
Officer Candidate School (OCS) (Army)Maryland ARNG
09S: Commissioned Officer Candidate
OCS Officer Candidate School (OCS) (Army)Maryland ARNG 09S: Commissioned Officer Candidate
Posted >1 y ago
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It is best to have your bachelor's degree out of the way because I knew a first lieutenant who did not get done and he was kicked out after 8 years. The only caveat is if you don't go to benning, and you want to go active duty and stay active duty, they really discriminate against those who went to a State franchise OCS. If you want to go on tours is one thing. I have had conversations with people saying they try to go active duty and the active component dislikes state OCS. I was mobilized 3 times so I have plenty of experience. I have had debates and arguments with active duty soldiers who put us down. I am retiring at the end of October but I was able to have above a 290 to a 300 on my APFT half of my military career.
CPT Lawrence Cable SP5 Peter Keane MSgt Neil Greenfield 1LT (Join to see)
CPT Lawrence Cable SP5 Peter Keane MSgt Neil Greenfield 1LT (Join to see)
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CPT Lawrence Cable
Even though there was an effort to integrate the Army National Guard into the Army during the 1980's, the aftermath of Vietnam was still out there. Look at Desert Storm, none of the Round Out Brigades were sent, even though most of the Division Commanders pushed for them. The excuse was their performance at NTC, but my Engineer unit augmented the bad guys every so often, my experience was that all the units got their asses kicked at NTC.
My Engineer unit were Divisional Engineers, so we trained to provide support for Mechanized maneuver units. We had our bags packed and POM accomplished within month of the invasion, then set there while they pulled a Corp level Engineer Brigade out of Europe to serve in that capacity. WTF sense did that make? I did a Keep Up/Augmentee mission with that same Brigade about a year after and, of course, unit comparisons came up. They were shocked when I told them that the only place I saw any advantage to the Active Engineers were in the 12B squads, but my operators, mechanics, and demo guys would have ran circles around these guys. If my equipment had been in the same condition as theirs, my maintenance Sgt. would have been pulling my size 10's out of his ass.
I was the Assistant Brigade Engineer, under the then new system, the Battalion Commander was the Brigade Engineer, but he had Battalion to run, so the day to day operations and planning were done by the ABE and Operations Officer, who was the only person in the Brigade that had anywhere near the operational experience as a Divisional Engineer. I had the added advantage of being a former Grunt, so I spoke Maneuver. We were in one of the last REFORGERS, but since the Soviets were going home, they gave us a North South mission instead of the Fulda Gap. They then threw a combined river crossing/line of death mission at us while the Operation Officer was unavailable. The Engineer staff was panicking, I was the New Guy and National Guard, but the Brigade Commander wanted the Engineer Bridging/Crossing plan right then, so I gave it to him. This one wasn't really rocket science, I had them attach an experienced Engineer Squad to the Scouts to assess the route and bridging requirements, while the Maneuver guys started planning to seize the far side objective with an Air Assault. The report came back that we could use a demoed bridges support with a AVLB, so secured the near side, smoked the far side to cover the bridging and Air Assault, brought up a MICLIC to do the initial lane clearing and had them proofed with the mine plows.
They had located the Operation Officer by that time, who was trying to get some much needed sleep. He walked in just as I started to brief the Brigade Co. He listened to the plan, the Commander looked over at him, he made the single statement, "yes, that will work", turned around and went back to bed. After that, they never questioned me again. Then they found out that I would actually tell Higher Headquarters stuff that they didn't want to hear, but was the actual truth, you would have thought that I had just started healing the sick.
My Engineer unit were Divisional Engineers, so we trained to provide support for Mechanized maneuver units. We had our bags packed and POM accomplished within month of the invasion, then set there while they pulled a Corp level Engineer Brigade out of Europe to serve in that capacity. WTF sense did that make? I did a Keep Up/Augmentee mission with that same Brigade about a year after and, of course, unit comparisons came up. They were shocked when I told them that the only place I saw any advantage to the Active Engineers were in the 12B squads, but my operators, mechanics, and demo guys would have ran circles around these guys. If my equipment had been in the same condition as theirs, my maintenance Sgt. would have been pulling my size 10's out of his ass.
I was the Assistant Brigade Engineer, under the then new system, the Battalion Commander was the Brigade Engineer, but he had Battalion to run, so the day to day operations and planning were done by the ABE and Operations Officer, who was the only person in the Brigade that had anywhere near the operational experience as a Divisional Engineer. I had the added advantage of being a former Grunt, so I spoke Maneuver. We were in one of the last REFORGERS, but since the Soviets were going home, they gave us a North South mission instead of the Fulda Gap. They then threw a combined river crossing/line of death mission at us while the Operation Officer was unavailable. The Engineer staff was panicking, I was the New Guy and National Guard, but the Brigade Commander wanted the Engineer Bridging/Crossing plan right then, so I gave it to him. This one wasn't really rocket science, I had them attach an experienced Engineer Squad to the Scouts to assess the route and bridging requirements, while the Maneuver guys started planning to seize the far side objective with an Air Assault. The report came back that we could use a demoed bridges support with a AVLB, so secured the near side, smoked the far side to cover the bridging and Air Assault, brought up a MICLIC to do the initial lane clearing and had them proofed with the mine plows.
They had located the Operation Officer by that time, who was trying to get some much needed sleep. He walked in just as I started to brief the Brigade Co. He listened to the plan, the Commander looked over at him, he made the single statement, "yes, that will work", turned around and went back to bed. After that, they never questioned me again. Then they found out that I would actually tell Higher Headquarters stuff that they didn't want to hear, but was the actual truth, you would have thought that I had just started healing the sick.
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According to the NG website, the degree is only required to go to Benning Federal OCS
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