Photo By Master Sgt. Joseph Vine | Spc. Radnee A. Anib, a potential candidate for OCS and a driver for the senior...... read more read more
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BAGHDAD - Officers are the Army’s leaders. They make the decisions that can impact soldiers lives on and off the battlefield.
Thirteen potential candidates for officer candidate school took their first step in becoming one of the Army’s leaders May 25, during a structured local board.
“This board will make the recommendation that a candidate get selected to go to OCS,” said Maj. Neil Travis Parks, president of the OCS board and deputy targeting and plans officer with the United States Forces – Iraq Joint Fires Cell. “We are not the final authority. The candidate’s packet will go to the human resources command where they will review the packet further and make the final decision on whether the soldier is accepted.”
“This is an important responsibility,” he said. “We are picking future leaders in the United States Army. It’s not an easy task and not one that I take lightly.”
The board members, who are charged with making the decision that could affect the lives of the 13 candidates, consisted of a board president and three board members in the ranks of captain or higher.
“I know what these guys are going through; it’s very competitive,” said Capt. Jared DeMello, a basing officer for USF-I J7 who went through the OCS board as a civilian. “It’s important to give them that same opportunity to go on to succeed and do what they want to do.”
For the soldiers that went through the board, some were taken aback at how different it was from an enlisted promotion or Soldier of the Month board.
“It was more of a job interview than a promotion board,” said Sgt. Aaron Starr Byron, a potential candidate for OCS and a human intelligence collector with Company B, Task Force Dragon, USF-I analysis and production directorate. “You’re not getting up in front of a line of first sergeants; that intense structure wasn’t there.”
“It wasn’t as stressful as I thought,” said Spc. Radnee A. Anib, a potential candidate for OCS and a driver for the senior enlisted advisor to the deputy-commanding general of operations, USF-I. “It was a very relaxing environment.”
“The board is more about your personality and you as a person,” said DeMello. “Not everybody wants to be or should be an officer, but everyone that does and are qualified, should be given the opportunity and set up for success.”
Both Byron and Anib have been accepted by the board to have their packets sent to HRC, and consider it a privilege just to get the chance to apply.
“Applying to OCS is a huge step,” said Byron. “It’s something I’ve planned on doing for quite a while. I see this as a great way to move my career forward.”
“This is the next step for my career in the military and I’m accomplishing one of the goals that I set for myself,” said Anib. “This will put me in the position that I want to be, which is to take care of soldiers.”
Anib said he feels there are many qualified soldiers who are sitting on their hands and not taking the initiative when it comes to applying to OCS.
“I hear a lot of people saying, ‘I want to be an officer,’ but those are the ones who need to put their plans into action and go through with it,” he said. “Speak less and do more.”
| Date Taken: | 05.25.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 05.29.2011 04:58 |
| Story ID: | 71272 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 66 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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