Posted on Mar 24, 2021
Can you commission through the National Guards (traditional) OCS route as an Army Reservist?
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Does anyone have any up-to-date info on whether or not a person can commission in the Army reserve through the National Guard’s state (traditional OCS) route. I’ve read its happened before but not sure if this is still a thing.
-If so, do you have to meet all commissioning requirements or can you begin the training once you 90 college credit hours and a 110GT?
Thank you all in advance
-If so, do you have to meet all commissioning requirements or can you begin the training once you 90 college credit hours and a 110GT?
Thank you all in advance
OCS
Officer Candidate School (OCS) (Army)
ARCC (Army Reserve Career Counselor)
Army Reserve Elements
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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Technically you could but would never get a slot. The Reserves are federal so they would only send you to Federal OCS. That is just how it is structured. I you were in the Guard and then went to Guard OCS you would have to wait to get your Federal recognition. National Guard Officers are commissioned with pretty much a promissory note saying that they will be Federally recognized. So if you went to National Guard OCS you couldn't return to the Reserves as an officer until your FEDREC came back. It takes months for NG officers. Once you have that then you could then go. I am regular Army now and I went to OCS. I transferred over as a 1LT. I have never heard of a Reservist doing this.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
Is the long wait for Federal Recognition something new. I commissioned in the Guard in July and already had Federal Recognition by the time I left of IOBC in November. It was fairly automatic and just timed around the next session of Congress. I don't every remember it taking much more than 6 to 8 weeks.
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CPT (Join to see)
CPT Lawrence Cable When your Federal you have it from day 1. That is the difference. If someone was in the reserves then technically they wouldn't even be an officer because the commission you had when you left OCS was only a national guard commission. That is why the reserves only use federal OCS.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
CPT (Join to see) - But the technicalities of any commission are the same, nominated by the President, then approved by Congress, then the President grants the Commission. The only real difference is there is an intermediate step of going through NGB. While all of this is generally administrative by the Office of the Secretary of Defense , the holdup on the Guard side today seems to be with getting the appointment packet to the OSD in a timely fashion. For your reading pleasure. https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-19-527r.pdf
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If your question is can you attend as an Army Reserve soldier, then the answer would be no. If you want to know if you end up with a Reserve Officer Commission, then the answer is yes. You end up with a Federally recognized commission at the end of it all.
I never served in a state that allowed the 90 credit hours, they had enough candidates that were fully qualified that they didn't need to allow it. I understand some states still do, so check with the state you want to join. There is still a vetting process that goes on with the application. It's been a long time since I was active in the Guard, so I don't have a good feel on how competitive it is today.
I never served in a state that allowed the 90 credit hours, they had enough candidates that were fully qualified that they didn't need to allow it. I understand some states still do, so check with the state you want to join. There is still a vetting process that goes on with the application. It's been a long time since I was active in the Guard, so I don't have a good feel on how competitive it is today.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
PFC Gerald Dudley - You can transfer to a Guard unit, but that would require a DD Form 368 from the Army Reserve to enlist in the Guard. Then you can apply for OCS or see if they will let you enlist on an OCS Contract.
If you are of the opinion that it is an easier route, it's not. Instead of getting psyche up one time and going through it all, you have to get psyched up once a month for 14 to 16 months, plus two AT periods. I don't believe that they paid us for a MUTA5, but you had to be there on Friday night to have any hope of getting your room and wall locker display squared away. I had come from an Infantry unit, so the PT didn't scare me, I was in much better shape than any of the TAC's, and didn't really find the academic load to be that bad as long as you read the material. OTOH, the TAC's make your life miserable and I dislike my TAC's to this day.
If you are of the opinion that it is an easier route, it's not. Instead of getting psyche up one time and going through it all, you have to get psyched up once a month for 14 to 16 months, plus two AT periods. I don't believe that they paid us for a MUTA5, but you had to be there on Friday night to have any hope of getting your room and wall locker display squared away. I had come from an Infantry unit, so the PT didn't scare me, I was in much better shape than any of the TAC's, and didn't really find the academic load to be that bad as long as you read the material. OTOH, the TAC's make your life miserable and I dislike my TAC's to this day.
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