If your posting order says Officer Cadet School (OCS), you have been selected to train as an officer cadet. You do not need to understand the entire course before reporting. Start with your posting instructions, arrive ready to learn and expect standards to rise from BMT.
This guide is for someone who already has an OCS posting. If you are still in BMT, read how command school selection works. For every possible route after POP, see what happens after BMT.
OCS at a glance
- Location: SAFTI Military Institute
- Course length: about 38 weeks
- Course phases: Common Leadership Module, Service and Professional terms, then Joint Term
- Outcome: a commission as an SAF officer, normally starting at 2LT
- Motto: "To Lead, To Excel, To Overcome"
OCS trains cadets across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Digital and Intelligence Service. Your exact course after the common phase depends on your service and vocation.
The OCS course
Common Leadership Module
The first two weeks bring cadets from the four services together. Expect induction, common military knowledge, regimentation and an introduction to the standards expected of an officer cadet.
Service Term and Professional Term
CMPB groups these phases into 33 weeks. Cadets branch into their services and vocational training paths. Army cadets may later split into formations such as Infantry, Armour, Artillery, Guards, Signals or Combat Engineers.
The sequence, exercise names and location vary by service and vocation. An Army infantry cadet's Professional Term is not a reliable preview of Navy, Air Force or DIS training.
Joint Term
The final three weeks bring cadets together to share service experiences and prepare for commissioning.
Wings and vocation streaming
A wing is roughly the OCS equivalent of a BMT company. Do not worry about memorising every wing name before reporting. Only some wings may receive a given batch, and the experience can change with commanders and programme.
Your starting wing does not by itself explain your final vocation. Streaming occurs through the course according to service arrangements, suitability, performance and organisational needs. Follow the briefings given to your batch instead of relying on an old wing list.
OCS survival guide
Before reporting
- Follow the posting order exactly for timing, dress and packing.
- Arrive able to pass IPPT if you can. Build running fitness, leg strength and recovery habits.
- Organise issued kit and replace small consumables during block leave.
- Do not spend heavily on unofficial gear before learning your wing's rules.
Do you need IPPT Gold?
Gold is a useful target, not something to panic about before day one. Training expectations and remedial arrangements can vary. A recent discussion from a newly posted cadet asked the same question, while replies described experiences that depended on course and wing.
The practical answer is to arrive as fit as you reasonably can, take scheduled training seriously and confirm current requirements with your instructors.
Sleep and daily life
OCS is regimented, and daily life varies across phases, wings and vocations. Do not assume one senior's timetable will be yours.
Protect sleep whenever the programme allows it:
- Prepare equipment before the final minutes of admin time.
- Share routine work across the section.
- Pack for the next activity before using your phone.
- Raise genuine health or fatigue problems through the proper channel.
Working with other cadets
The people around you are not merely competition. They are the team that gets everyone through inspections, planning, exercises and the bad days.
- Be dependable with small tasks.
- Share information instead of hoarding it.
- Do not wayang at your section's expense.
- Ask for help early, then return it.
- Learn how different people respond under pressure.
Command and assessments
- Understand the mission before building a complicated plan.
- Give clear tasks, timings and checkpoints.
- Keep track of the people who are quiet, tired or falling behind.
- Make a decision with the information available, then adapt.
- After an exercise, identify what failed without throwing someone under the bus.
OCS is not only a test of who can shout or run fastest. You are being trained to answer for other people's training, morale and discipline.
When you feel like you do not belong
Selection is not a promise that you will already look or feel like an officer. It means you were selected to begin training.
There is no complete public scoring formula for why one recruit receives OCS and another does not. Do not waste the first weeks trying to reverse-engineer your posting. Concentrate on becoming useful to your section and improving from each assessment.
Common questions
Is OCS one school or several courses?
OCS is a school, but cadets train in wings and later follow different service and vocation pipelines. That is why two former cadets can describe very different experiences without either account being completely wrong.
Will I be confined again?
Confinement and book-out arrangements can vary by batch and training phase. Your posting instructions and first-day briefing are more reliable than an old account.
Can I choose my vocation?
You may indicate preferences, but the final path also depends on suitability, performance and organisational requirements.
What if I cannot cope or get injured?
Tell the appropriate commander or medical professional early. Hiding an injury can make it worse. If you may leave the course, read the OOC and down-PES guide, but ask your chain of command about your actual case.
Sources and further reading
- Official OCS page
- CMPB course overview
- Recent OCS survival-guide discussion
- Ranks: OCT and commissioned ranks
- NSF allowance: officer cadet and officer allowance
- SCS guide: the specialist route