Quantico Letter I

Hello all,

I have officially passed the half way mark in OCS and it's going great. I am healthy, motivated and getting very good marks on our graded events. We have 5 weeks left of training before graduation on Dec. 10. Vital signs: physcial fitness test 300/300, weight 194.5 down from 206.6, overall OCS GPA 94/100.

An Old Place

Brown Field (aka OCS), is a small batallion post in the forest outside of Washington DC. Alongside the Potomac, it is a small black-top toe hold in a sprawling forest and network of hills. The forest is dense. The autum leaves make a soft carpet, cushioning and quieting your steps on field manuevers. The tree line is so dense it makes land navigation difficult. If you don't find a cumbersome fallen tree in your way, you'll be wrestling with saplings at every step. Sunset here is more beautiful than the sunrise. For some reason the color of the sky is more vibrant and dramatic. Maybe it goes better with the color of the woods to the West, than the blue of the river to the East. Maybe it's that mornings here are literally freezing and all we have is an unreliably waterproof windbreaker (they did just authorize cotton knit gloves, which are nice but don't do much for the wind). At any rate, the sunset here over the forest is a pleasure that the drill-instructors cannot take away from me.

One of my favorite things to do here is go for squad runs. About 15 of us will get into a column of twos with an instructor at the front setting the pace. We take narrow clay roads up throuh the woods, to the top of some steep hills and around a few ponds. We, of course, call cadence on the runs, and the strength of our voices determines the speed of our run. The louder we are, the slower we go. Well, you all know how I love to hoot and holler. I usually call most of the cadence and we go pretty pretty slow.

On our 5 mi individual run (32:39) I had some alone time out there and that's when the beauty of this place really hit me. Quantico Virginia is, in of Paul Simon's "Graceland", in the cradle of the civil war. This place looks like a scene from the movie "Glory". A few steps off the path and the woods here are the same way the colonists found them. As I go out into town I see plaques and signs dedicated to battles and engagements of the civil war. Going along I realize this is an old place. Virginia celebrated is quadrennial in 2007 and one can really feel the history. The sheer weight of the forest, it's unconquerable thickness, reminds you that it has been here long before you and will continue long after you are gone. Then you begin to realize the same thing about OCS. We are OCC-205. 204 classes have come before us. Brown Field proper is a pretty spartan place. This isn't West Point. The dominating features are rusted wharehouses and black top.  But, this place has history too. There is a relic tank from WWII with it's gun pointed straight down the avenue of approach to the chow hall.In a classic Marine Corps way, Brown Field tersely understates the importance and magnitude of the OCS experience. It's pretty cool knowing you are part of something big, part of history, part of a tradition. 

Ruff 'n Tuff

There are two Ruff's at OCS. The first is Sgt. Major Jason Ruff. He is the commanding officer's right hand man. On our initial physcial fitness it was about 40F and raining. He was heard berating a candidate: "STOP shivering! It's a loss of military bearing!". The second Ruff has to do with the program. It's pretty rough and tough. I weighed myself after 4 weeks and found that I lost 12 lbs! We are getting a little more sleep now, particularly on liberty, but it is not uncommon to get 2-4 hours of sleep sometimes. I hit the rack usually at 9 and start my day about 3am, even though official revellie isn't until 0500.

We started out with 55 people. We are now down to 38 and we still have more to go. We had 9 people quit, 1 was dismissed by a performance board and the rest were ruled not physically qualified. The number of "Drop on Request" (i.e. quitter's) has been unusually high in my platoon. I think it means that the people left over are stronger and more motivated, which will lead to a more cohesive stronger platoon.

While challenging, I am well within my capabilities. The thing that really gets me is sleep. No matter what I can always put one foot in front of the other. Mission accomplishment is never at risk, but it can be fairly unpleasant to be dizzy, disoriented etc all day long. Falling asleep while standing up is tough. I haven't hit the deck yet, I usually wake up in time to step forward and catch myself.

Seriously though, if it wasn't tough it wouldn't be the Marines. I am just fine.

Grades, marks, and reviews.

Something you might not have expected about OCS is that there are lots of official grading. Fortunately I am doing quite well. I am ranked 2/15 in my squad and recieved a 96% on my commander's evaluation (98% was the top score). My combined GPA is 94/100 which puts me at 4th in the platoon. The guys ahead of me were prior-enlisted so they are pretty locked-on. The grades are really only important on the lower end. They are used to determine whether or not someone should be retained or sent home. Nonetheless, those of us at the top are getting compettive. We want to do the best we can. Maybe we really are becoming Marines. At any rate, the top scores do get one thing - they get awards and will be superior officers in the graduation formation.

A Good Platoon

I really like my platoon-mates. Most of us are a bit older and had to wait a long time to get here. Selection for OCS has gotten much more competitive so you really need to fight to get in. As a result there are fewer guys who slip in. I am making good friends and am very impressed. Out of 38 candidates we had 8 people with perfect physical fitness tests and more who had perfect run times. Bottom line: lot of "motivators" as they call 'em in the Corps.

Sunset Parade

The other night we marched from the chow hall about .75 of a mile to the barracks for "Transition Training" which is basically the drill instructors time with us in the squad bays. The senior instructor GySgt. Gonzalez had us, and instead of heading back inside, he turned us around at the barracks for more drill. He then ordered us to "go quiet" - we usually shout out the drill sequences as we do them. We then marched around the parade deck for 40 minutes. We were the only platoon out there so the usually chaotic noisy parade deck was silent. The only sounds were the cadence, boots and slap of the rifile as we executed manual arms. It was then that I began to understand drill. Drill, like yoga or distance running or Thai-Chi, has it's own zen-like feeling. When it is exexuted corretcly there is a feeling of slef-control and discipline like no other. At sunset on a cool fall evening against the brick barracks and tall forest, it really makes you feel like you're becoming a Marine.

In summary I am doing just fine, and in small ways enjoying my experience. Thank you to all the folks who have written letters. If you want to drop me a line the best way to do so is the USPS. My address is below.