Photo By Capt. Marcia Bruno | Maj. Michael Bradley (right), Mississippi National Guard, instructs VING OCS...... read more read more
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Virgin Islands National Guard members are now afforded the opportunity to prepare in a training environment before attending officer candidate school, Jan. 23-28, 2022.
The Officer Candidate (OC) prep program provides potential enlisted Soldiers with an environment that exposes the candidates to the criteria and experiences set in OCS. The prep program is one method VING will use to fill numerous officer vacancies.
The OC prep program is a six-day training held on St. Croix to introduce prospective candidates to what they will face during the 57 days of the OCS-Summer Accelerated Officer program.
"Mississippi has a solid program," said Capt. Basil Williams, VING project manager. "Mississippi noticed a high retention rate in phase one since they created the prep program. Since then, there is a 100% success rate for OCS completion."
The partnership between the VI and Mississippi to host an Officer Candidate Prep Program on St. Croix was initiated in November 2021. The Virgin Islands National Guard partnered with Mississippi to learn best practices, eventually leading to VING hosting its prep course taught by VI personnel.
"The OC prep intends to successfully prepare the candidates for the rigorousness and intensity of the environment so that when they come into the OCS environment, it doesn't shock them," said Maj. Michael Bradley, OC prep director." The intent is to increase the probability of success in the OCS program."
After the candidates complete the six days on St. Croix, they will move on to phase zero at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, which is usually held around March and runs until May.
Virgin Islands National Guard SPC Jermaine Baptiste, 631st Engineer Company, recently returned home from basic training in the fall of 2020 and said that the OCS prep program was a rewarding experience, which reminds him of basic training. "I want to become an officer to do better for myself because I have the potential. I also want to be able to help move the VING forward."
After phase zero, the candidates will move on to the 8-week or 57 days Summer Accelerated Officer program at Fort McClellan, AL. The rigorous training includes three phases and takes place twice a year; January through March and June through August.
Virgin Islands National Guard Staff Sgt. Latoya John, Joint Forces Headquarters, joined the prep course a week prior, with aspirations to become an officer because of the opportunity to make strategic decisions for the organization. "Getting back into the discipline mindset has also been a great experience for me, having to be one of the oldest candidates in this group. So it
has been challenging physically, but nothing beats a great challenge keeping up with the younger soldiers."
The Virgin Islands National Guard continues to be ready, relevant, and responsive in its efforts to provide trained and professional troops to meet the demands of the Armed Forces.
| Date Taken: | 06.11.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 06.11.2022 18:46 |
| Story ID: | 422738 |
| Location: | VI |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, State partnership between VI and MS establishes an officer candidate prep program, by CPT Marcia Bruno, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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