Creating officers

Known as the “crossroads of the Marine Corps” Quantico, Va. is where every Marine officer will find themselves as they begin their career.

In a swampy section of Marine Corps Base Quantico, lies Brown Field, the training area for Officer Candidate School. Here candidates of OCS will be taught the basics of being an officer in the US military’s smallest branch of service.

For Danny Murphy, a junior at Utah State University, it is an experience that is vivid in his mind.

While most college students were enjoying the summer break, Murphy had just arrived at OCS.

“The night before we were to report to OCS I had a gut wrenching feeling. I knew I was going to be going nonstop for the next six weeks,” Murphy said.

Murphy began OCS by meeting his troop handlers and spent the first week filling out paperwork, shuffling through medical examinations, and learning the basics of marching in formation.

 “The first week was relaxed and our troop handlers showed us the basics,” Murphy said. “I was constantly tired since we woke up at 5 a.m. each morning, but it wasn’t stressful."

After the first week, Murphy and his fellow candidates were taken to a squad bay where they met their sergeant instructors. These instructors would guide them through the next six weeks and be a constant presence.

In order to teach the candidates to think clearly under stressful situations, the sergeant instructors create a chaotic environment as soon as the candidates arrive to their platoons. Candidates dump out their belongings onto the floor and then repack them as an instructor screams over their shoulder.

“We got to the squad bay and it turned into a shit show,” Murphy said. “We were screamed at to ‘hurry up and move faster’ our stuff was scattered and we had to find everything and gather it back up.”

Training picks up as soon as the candidates organize into their platoons. The first morning of training candidates will do a workout session of physical training, or PT, as it is known in the military.

“Our first PT was brutal. We ran about five miles, doing dips, pull-ups and pushups between each mile,” Murphy said.

The first week of training involves multiple classes on military history and basic military knowledge. After that, candidates begin their field training.

One of the main events in field training is a course called the Quigley.

The Quigley is a water obstacle in which cadets swim through swampy, snake infested water, while going under and through obstacles such as logs and barbwire. At one point in the Quigley, candidates must submerge themselves and crawl through a five-foot cement culvert.

Murphy’s roommate, Bryan Haslip, a senior candidate in the Platoon Leaders Class, remembers the Quigley as the event that was the most difficult for some candidates to get through.

 “It lived up to the hype, but some guys made it harder than it had to be. They didn’t think about the tunnel only being five-feet long and freaked out,” Haslip said.

For Murphy, the Quigley was a break from the monotony of every day events such as PT and close order drill.

 “It was kind of relaxing. I just saw it as swimming through some water,” Murphy said.

The field training culminates in an overnight six-mile hike and field exercise. Small Unit Leadership Evaluation is where the leadership of cadets will be the most heavily graded.

During SULE cadets are woken at 3 a.m. and begin their hike. They are split into four-man fire teams and evaluated on their tactics during this time. Murphy found this the biggest challenge because of his billet.

Murphy was given the billet as company gunnery sergeant. His responsibilities in this billet were to get all the candidates ready to go by 3 a.m. and ensure that all weapons and gear were accounted for.

“It was a lot of pressure. I had to make sure every person was ready to go,” Murphy said.

At the end of the field training, candidates are loaded onto helicopters. They are then flown around the base and practice exiting a helicopter tactically.

The last week of OCS is practice for graduation. The candidates repeatedly practice marching onto the parade deck and then running back to the entrance, also called the chute. After practice they spend hours prepping their uniforms.

While Murphy enjoyed the last week and preparation for graduation, Haslip found it an annoyance.

“I hated graduation practice," Haslip said. Marching and then running back to the chute over and over."