Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Austin Pearce | U.S. Army National Guard officer candidates from South Dakota stand with their...... read more read more
Ninety-nine U.S. Army National Guard officer candidates from 19 states and one U.S. territory attended their graduation ceremony from Class 18-01 Officer Candidate School at Mount Rushmore near Keystone, July 27.
The ceremony represents the end of Officer Candidate School - the first step in officer training and development – and the beginning of their careers as commissioned officers.
“Today’s ceremony marks a significant event for you, it signifies that you have endured the tough, grueling and demanding training that qualifies you to become a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army,” said Maj. Gen. Roderick R. Leon Guerrero, Guam National Guard adjutant general and the ceremony’s guest speaker. “To get to this point, you have to demonstrate certain attributes – such as strength, courage, intelligence and patience – which will be constantly tested throughout your career.”
The OCS program in South Dakota is one of two programs throughout the U.S. that offers all three phases of OCS in one location, allowing National Guard Soldiers to pursue the accelerated eight-week option. The other option candidates can take is the traditional track, which consists of 16 to 18 months of drill weekends and two two-week training periods.
“This gives candidates the opportunity to come here and go through the fast-track program in South Dakota or in Alabama in the wintertime, but South Dakota is the main program for the summer,” said Lt. Col. Walyn Vannurden, commander for this summer’s accelerated OCS program in South Dakota. “The traditional route has its pluses too, because they have time back at their home state and they can drill monthly and learn their leadership skills at a slower pace; rather than drinking from a firehose like the fast-trackers.”
OCS is taught in a high-stress environment, where candidates are tested academically and physically, both in the classroom and in field environments.
“It’s really all about leadership training and becoming an Army leader because they’re our future leaders in the Army National Guard,” said Vannurden. “We’re sending back trained candidates that are ready to become second lieutenants and platoon leaders to lead out in the battlefield.”
In order for the candidates to be successful throughout the program, they had to rely on each other’s strengths and maintain a high degree of cooperation between one another.
“We would help each other study if there were any deficiencies that we noticed – it took a lot of teamwork,” said Officer Candidate Joshua Wangeman, SDARNG. “That’s most of what OCS is about – overcoming those challenges and working together as a team to build uniformity and to motivate, encourage and assist each other – it’s what we’re going to have to do for our Soldiers and peers as a leader.”
The candidates’ next step to developing as an officer is to attend the Basic Officer Leader Course, which focuses on their branch-specific training; such as engineering, field artillery and transportation.
“As officers, we expect more from you – you are not only responsible for developing yourself, but developing your Soldiers as well,” said Guerrero. “Don’t harness your focus on success, rather focus on your development and success will follow.”
| Date Taken: | 08.02.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.02.2018 13:52 |
| Story ID: | 286962 |
| Location: | KEYSTONE, SOUTH DAKOTA, US |
| Web Views: | 469 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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