OCS Update - 10/10/12

Well, week 1 didn't go as planned for John. He got dehydrated during the Friday of week 1, and was rolled back. Which means he was put into Holding class. You can be put into holding for many reasons. Injuries, illness, falling behind in physical training, etc. They hold those individuals there until the next class starts. They train them up stronger, get extra time to study, and it's actually really good for them. Not so much for family members, because that means he's there an extra 3 weeks. When the new class begins, they join the class at the portion they failed. Which means John joined on Friday. This means he's technically in week 2 right now.

  I did get to talk to him on Sundays while in holding, which was really nice. :) They had him so busy, he didn't have time to write any letters. Week two is almost over!

Here is a summary of Week 2:
Week Two

Having survived the first week you will have the perseverance to continue on. If you are lucky, a new class will come in this week, taking some of the attention off of you. However, new classes typically come in every two - three weeks so don’t count on them just yet.
The second week begins to show signs of the routine nature of OCS. A typical day will be as follows (again keep in mind due to the constant changing of OCS this is also subject to change):

0500 Reveille
0525 PT
0645 Chow
0730 Cleanup
0800 Academics/Briefs
1100 Chow
1200 Academics/Briefs
1700 Chow
1830 Study Period
2100 Sweepers (Cleaning)
2200 Taps (bedtime)

Saturdays, after PT, will be spent drilling, doing sweepers (cleaning the Battalion) and studying. During study times you can begin preparing for RLP as well as studying your required knowledge for the RLP. Sundays, reveille goes off at 0630 and there are Protestant, Catholic, and other services available on base, the rest of the day is yours.

Also, this is the week you will take the 3rd class swim test.
You need to begin preparing for the 3rd week RLP; otherwise you will find yourself in an unfortunate predicament. You will hear this inspection referred to as RLP by the Drill Instructors. RLP stands for Room, Locker, and Personnel inspection although some Drill Instructors argue it stands for Re-Location Program (that is, relocate to H-Class). By Friday evening of this week, all of your pressing and stamping/stenciling should be done. If so, your life will be easier. If not, the results will be less than desirable. Your preparation should have begun Saturday afternoon immediately after the brief your Drill Instructor gave. From that point forward, every free moment should be spent preparing for RLP. You cannot over prepare for this inspection.
You will also begin to interact with all of the other class at OCS. These classes are Officer Candidates, just like your class is now. They have just gone through everything that you are about to go through, so talk to them and listen to their advice. They will be very helpful with questions you may have on how to do certain things for RLP.