An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Articles
News | May 18, 2017

Leadership through Officer Candidate School

By Spc. Avery Cunningham 172nd Public Affairs Detachment

There are multiple ways to become an officer in the Army; college students could join the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps while pursuing their degree, attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, receive a direct commission or attend the Officer Candidate School.

OCS is the program tailored for currently serving Soldiers or recruits with a four-year degree to earn their commission.

“It’s a program [Officer Candidate School] where we take enlisted Soldiers from the Army National Guard and we train them and turn them into commissioned officers,” said Capt. Mathew Higgins, a senior instructor with Hotel Company, 2nd Modular Training Battalion, 124th Regiment (Regional Training Institute), Vermont National Guard.

For the National Guard, each state has its own OCS program, so a state can be self-sufficient in officer training.

“The advantage of OCS is you can be an enlisted soldier for several years and as long as you meet that minimum college requirement, you can come here and do this on the weekends and two, two-week resident phases, so it makes it a little bit easier for citizen-soldiers that have full-time jobs and families,” said Maj. Sam Weber, Delta Company, 195th Regiment (RTI).

The National Guard breaks the training down into four phases. The first phase, Phase Zero, is the preparatory phase, lasting between two to six months. The second phase, Phase One, is their first annual training. For Region One Soldiers, this is hosted at Camp Niantic, Connecticut. This focuses on basic Soldier tasks and skills.

Phase Two is the longest phase as it consists of monthly drills throughout the year being conducted with other officer candidates. It builds on foundational skills while also introducing troop-leading procedures, five-paragraph operations orders, how to lead, and how to train each other.

To progress to Phase Three, Region One OCS candidates take part in a four-day training event held at New Hampshire National Guard Training Site in Center Strafford, New Hampshire. This event occurred from May 18 to May 21 for the officer candidates of Region One.

Phase Three is the final phase consisting of a three-week course and a final evaluation. Qualified candidates receive their commission after this phase.

“In under two years, they go from being an enlisted Soldier or an NCO to being a commissioned officer,” said Higgins.

The transition from an enlisted Soldier to an officer can be challenging, but Higgins says they want to produce the best leaders possible.

“The leaders are the ones who have the foresight and vision to drive the Vermont Army National Guard to get us where we need to go,” said Higgins. “This is not an easy thing to do, it’s definitely not for everybody. It’s a challenge and you will be challenged, you will be stressed, but that breeds success and weeds out all but the best.”

The official logo of the Vermont National Guard.

TAG's State of the Guard - April 2025

The above YouTube video link may not work on all government computers. Read the transcript of MG Gregory Knight's full State of the Guard here.

National Guard News
U.S. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...