Personal Hurdles - Continued

I didn't mention that being married to a foreign citizen, which has brought about a significant amount of foreign travel for us, is another hurdle we're working with.

The SF 86, used to obtain your secret clearance goes into great detail regarding where you travel and foreign citizens you are assocated with.

I really doubt this will have a big impact, but I wouldn't doubt that it will take me longer to obtain the required clearance level to be a US Army Officer.

My wife is Croatian, so we go to Croatia at least once a year to see her family.  Croatia is a up for European Union membership in 2010, and is a friendly country to the United States.  My OIC from Active Duty was also married to a Croatian citizen and he's at the level of O-6 now... 

Through Ana I have met a few friends, one of which I talk with on a monthly basis or so via Skype.  I have no business connections or ties, and no property or influence in the country, which is what the SF 86 is trying to reveal to ensure that you are not going to be placed in a situation where you may be influenced to release sensitive/classified/secret information.

I'll keep this blog updated on how this "hurdle" is crossed.

Branch BOLC III/OBC Locations

Every OCS candidate starts with basic combat training unless you are prior service, in which case you go straight to OCS (may differ for interservice transfer) at Fort Benning Georgia.  Basic Training lasts 9 weeks plus time for inprocessing (in 1999 my group took 2 weeks to inprocess).  OCS begins at Fort Bennning and lasts around 12 weeks.  After OCS every newly commissioned 2LT will go to BOLC II at either Benning or Sill for 7 weeks.  Following BOLC II the officers will go to their branch to finish up training at BOLC III (formerly OBC) a branch specific training program lasting from a few weeks to 3 months (from what I can tell from various blogs and branch school websites).  Other training may be attended based on class start and end date differences and it seems that there are many stories of how the education process works out for each person.  For instance, branching Infantry will give you the opportunity to attend Ranger School, Airborne, and possibly any of a number of other courses such as sniper operators course, pathfinder, bradley leaders course, stryker leaders course, all depending on the start and end times on your BOLC courses.

This is a list I've put together from searching the intenet via Google for the various schools and locations.

BRANCH                              LOCATION                                                          
Adjutant General             Fort Jackson, SC                               
Air Defense                        Fort Bliss, TX
Armor                                   Fort Knox, KY
Chemical                              Fort Leonard Wood, MO
Engineers                            Fort Leonard Wood, MO
Field Artillery                     Fort Sill, OK
Finance                                 Fort Jackson, SC
Infantry                                Fort Benning, GA
Medical Service                Fort Sam Houston, TX
Military Intelligence       Fort Huachuca, AZ
Military Police           Fort Leonard Wood, MO
Ordnance                    Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
Quartermaster          Fort Lee, VA
Signal                                    Fort Gordon, GA             
Transportation                  Fort Eustis, VA

Resources

There is a vast amount of great information regarding OCS and the Army in general, if you are interested in pursuing a commission or an enlistment check these out...

www.goarmy.com

locate a recruiter and talk about your interests

www.armyocs.com

research questions you may have already asked by others pursuing OCS, in OCS, and already commissioned, as well as a few very knowledgable recruiters specialized in the OCS process

Personal Hurdles - Everyone Has Baggage

First off the US Army Officer is expected to be the most professional soldier wearing the uniform.  The Army sets high standards, and rightly so offers no compromise.  That being said, everyone has their own issues to work.  

My issues:

• 1997, I was 16 and charged with minor possession, and possession of paraphernalia... from talking with my recruiter, I have found out that because I am prior service (previously served) and I was able to obtain a waiver on my initial entry with no further problems arising, this will not be an issue in my current pursuit
• Various speeding violations from before I was 18 years old and one after
• Weight, I'm currently 6' 3" meaning I should only weigh a max of 206lbs, I'm currently at 217, I should make tape (my BMI is low enough to qualify)
  
• Physical Fitness I need to pass a PT (Physical Training) test running 2 miles in no more than 17 minues (I'm 27), do 42ish pushups in two minutes and 52ish situps in two minutes. No problem on the run, i've been working on pushups, and I need to get started on situps but haven't yet due to a minor operation on my back where I had a cist removed

I'll keep the status of these updated in how they have played into the application process as I make it through.

Introduction

I got out of the Active Duty Army in 2005 after serving at Walter Reed where I went to the Pentagon on September 11th, and the 1st Infantry Division in Wurzburg Germany and Tikrit Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom II.  Towards the end of my time on AD I met my wife, Ana, a citizen of Croatia, in Germany.  May 2005 I returned to Tennessee and began working on a degree in Finance starting at the community college and then ending up at The University of Tennessee, Chattanooga...  During my time in school I've been deployed a second time to Iraq with the Tennessee National Guard in support of detainee operations at Camp Bucca, I've been the treasurer of the Spanish Club for a year, a mathematics tutor, and I began working at Array Marketing as a Sales Analyst and then promoted to Cost Accountant...

I look at my time in the US Army as some of the best days of my life second only to my small and growing family (Ana and I found out we're having our first baby..).  As she's been through two deployments with me, up until recently she did not like the idea of being involved in the Army anymore.  After the news of our coming baby, and the recent events in the US economy, she's begun to see it in a whole new light.  The ability to retire in 14 years (after 6 already completed on Active Duty), guaranteed health insurance, education opportunities, great schools through the DOD, and the opportunity to live in Germany closer to her family in Croatia have all begun to play a heavy roll in her decision.  

Now with her new found opinion which has slowly developed, I am once again able to be a part of one of the greatest organizations in the world.  I currently have between one and two more semesters to go before I complete my BS, expecting to graduate in either August or December of 2009.  I have already jumped in knees deep to the recruitment process and I'm expecting to go to the Atlanta USAREC Bn OCS Board in March 2009.  This time, I will earn the privilege to lead soldiers with the highest responsibilities being placed on my shoulders as an Officer commissioned in the US Army.

I intend to make the blog into a tool which can be used in the future, by those wishing to pursue a commission in the US Army via OCS College Option.