Recp Exemption & Waiver Procedures: Fill & Download for Free

As Mike Freeman already Answered rather thoroughly, Marine OCS is for most Marine officer candidates a 10-week affair. A love affair with running so fast you barf and having never enough sleep and being constantly “screened and assessed” as to whether the Corps wants you to lead Marines as a commissioned officer.Those who fail the course are the jilted lovers from their 10-week affair…The single largest number of new Marine commissioned officers every year is from a program called the Platoon Leader’s Course, or PLC (perhaps 40% of all new officers each year…).But the PLC usually puts the officer candidates through OCS TWICE: once at “PLC Juniors” in a 6-week OCS course during the summer between the sophomore and junior years of college, and one more 6-week OCS course during the summer between the junior and senior years of college (the “PLC Seniors” course). Completion of BOTH is mandatory to earn a commission. Attrition is rather high between the two courses…for obvious reasons, many people REALLY don’t want to go back and do it all over again! Which is why it is a requirement: only those who really want it will do it, and finish it, and be screened and assessed twice as meeting the standards required to be an officer of Marines.Other commissioning programs take differing times for OCS:Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP) = 10 weeksNROTC Marine Option = 6 weeksNaval Academy Marine option = 0 weeks (although they usually complete a shorter 3 week version called “Leatherneck” as part of their Academy training)Enlisted Commissioning Program (ECP) = 10 weeksOfficer Candidate Course (OCC) = 10 weeksReserve ECP (RECP) = 10 weeksMeritorious Commissioning Program-Reserve (MCP-R) = 10 weeksWarrant officers = 0 weeks…because they aren’t being commissioned as lieutenants, they don’t have to do OCS: they are already all seasoned staff NCOs and NCOs and are considered to exempt from OCS before accepting their warrant of office (and yes, Marine Gunners and some Recruiting Officers are commissioned as W-2, skipping over W-1 completely, but don’t do OCS either)Limited Duty Officer = 0 weeks…because although they are being appointed (usually “re-commissioned” because they were already commissioned warrant officers before selection for the LDO program) as Captains (in the past some were appointed as 2dLts or 1stLts), they are exempt from OCS games.As Mike Freeman said, for those Marines who are already on an enlisted contract, either active duty or serving a pre-existing reserve contract, all time spent at OCS is creditable for both retirement and pay purposes, so yes, it does count toward an enlistment (excepting contracted ROTC and Naval Academy midshipmen, and PLC candidates who are contractually in receipt of financial assistance, who are all barred by law from receiving longevity or retirement credit from that service).But you may be confused.All US servicemembers are contracted for 8 years…of which any part not served on active duty will be served in the reserve component.You speak of a “total enlistment of 4 years.” That is quite rare, and usually means the Marine is being thrown out with a court-martial conviction or some other administrative discharge (some innocent, some heinous).Most enlisted servicemembers serve 4 years on active duty and then serve the remainder of their 8-year Military Service Obligation (MSO) contract in the reserves in some fashion.There are some Marine officer candidates who enlist for the sole purpose of attending OCS and earning a commission.The OCC program takes someone off the street, qualifies them, and sends them to OCS for 10 weeks. It’s rather sink or swim, actually. No one can attend OCS unless they are in a bonafide duty status, so they voluntarily enlist for the standard 8-year MSO contract, are placed on active duty for the sole purpose of attending OCS, and if they complete OCS are usually commissioned on the spot, and often retained on active duty beyond as they begin their training for the next levels of their career. For those who fail OCS, they usually are discharged completely forthwith…no harm, no foul. Some of those might choose to enlist (again) in the Marines, and may some day be given another chance to go to OCS, but that is not guaranteed and depending on the needs of the Corps and the reason why they failed, they may never be given that chance again. In either case, the active service while at OCS is creditable toward a future retirement and for longevity purposes (pay), if they otherwise qualify for a uniformed services retirement.The PLC program takes college students, pays them a stipend once they’ve enlisted as E-1’s for the usual 8-year MSO, and earns them a commission after they attend OCS twice (as noted above). However, while serving under a PLC enlistment contract, and accepting financial assistance from PLC, their service (including OCS) is NOT creditable toward longevity or retirement (since about 1990). PLC candidates are paid as E-5’s while on active service, but without substantive rank and authority since they remain pay grade E-1’s for the duration of their PLC contracts, with the rank of “Officer Candidate.”Upon commissioning, for both OCC and PLC, their previous enlisted contract is voided, and they enter a new 8-year MSO requirement, of which any part not served on active duty must be served in the reserves. OCC and PLC usually incur a minimum 3.5 year active duty service commitment, but that sometimes go up and sometimes can be converted into a minimum of 4–6 years in the reserves in a Selected Marine Corps Reserve drilling unit.BOTTOM LINE: for some officer candidates and Marines, their time at OCS is creditable toward completion of their service contracts, and for some it is not. It depends…

The US Government does not, per se, evaluate educational coursework completed at any foreign, i.e., non-US, educational institution.Applicants for a US Govt position (such as commissioned military officers, foreign service officers, or many other US Govt positions) that requires specific education, especially higher education at the baccalaureate level or higher, must provide — at their own expense — the “interpretation” letter from a private company showing that the individual completed foreign coursework at least equal to that required by the position.Coursework will only be accepted from an accredited institution. To determine if your school is accredited and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education refer to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and U.S. Department of Education for a list of accredited schools.If you attended a foreign college or university, you must provide a letter from a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign education credentials. For a list of evaluators, you may go to National Association of Credential Evaluation Services. The letter needs to state whether the courses were at least equivalent to those gained in conventional U.S. education programs.(See: https://www.dfas.mil/careers/howtoapply/transcriptscertifications.html)US military officers generally, although not always, require a baccalaureate degree.[1][1][1][1] Exceptions include:Certain officers commissioned from the US Army OCS or the USMC Reserve Meritorious Commissioning Program (MCP-R), who may be appointed as commissioned officers with less than a full baccalaureate degree, but generally with at least an associate’s degree or 90 semester units. These officers require specific waivers that only extend for 2 years to complete their baccalaureate degrees.[2][3] [4]Reserve officers appointed under provisions of DoD 1215.17, permitting appointment up to O-2 with a reserve commission, for selected officers, but only providing 2 years to complete the baccalaureate degree, and cannot be promoted to O-3 without the completion of the baccalaureate degree.[5]US Navy and Marine Limited Duty Officers (LDO’s), who are exempted from higher education requirements (although having higher education increased their likelihood of being selected to be LDO’s).[6] [7]Any warrant officer (W-1 through W-5) appointed in the Army/Navy/USMC/USCG, although like LDO’s having higher education may increase the likelihood of being selected for the warrant officer program.Certain commissioned officers of the Alaska National Guard who are members of Alaskan Scout units.[8]Additionally, officers appointed into any State Defense Force (SDF) or organized naval militia, other than the National Guard of the United States, have to meet State requirements, and not necessarily the same requirements as the federal armed forces. Each State maintains its own requirements for its own SDF.BOTTOM LINE: US born citizens may seek to join the US Army (or other Services) as a warrant officer without any specific educational achievements except a high school diploma, although higher education might help in succeeding in the application.Such citizens may also seek to join the US Army (or other Services) as a commissioned officer (second lieutenant and up), if their foreign degree is evaluated by one of the several private organizations that specialize in “interpreting” foreign degree requirements and comparing them to US baccalaureate degrees from nationally or regionally accredited US universities and colleges. If the foreign degree is deemed equivalent, then the summary of both the foreign transcripts plus the “interpretation” and/or cross-walk of the foreign degree to US degree requirements must accompany the application. In some cases a person’s foreign degree may not be completely equivalent, and various additional coursework might be required at a US accredited university to have a completely “equivalent” degree.Any individual with foreign coursework can pay the private organizations to review their coursework and make recommendations, but for applicants for a US armed forces officer position, or any US Govt position that requires a baccalaureate degree or other higher education, the individual must include the “interpretation” with their application.Officer recruiters should be consulted well in advance of deadlines for any upcoming officer accession programs, to allow for completion of all pre-application preparations, including the evaluation of foreign degrees.See also:Credentialing of Foreign Degrees for a United States Government Application (Credentialing of Foreign Degrees for a United States Government Application)http://aice-eval.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/AICEMilitaryCredentialsEvaluationGuide.pdfMilitary Foreign Education Reports (Military Foreign Education Reports)Footnotes[1] https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/130426p.pdf?ver=2018-10-26-085822-050[1] https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/130426p.pdf?ver=2018-10-26-085822-050[1] https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/130426p.pdf?ver=2018-10-26-085822-050[1] https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/130426p.pdf?ver=2018-10-26-085822-050[2] https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/r601_100.pdf[3] FISCAL YEAR 2020 (FY20) MECEP, ECP, RECP AND MCP-R SELECTION BOARDS > United States Marine Corps Flagship > MARADMINS[4] 10 U.S. Code § 12205 - Commissioned officers: appointment; educational requirement[5] https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/121517p.pdf[6] https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/SECNAVINST%201412.9B.pdf[7] https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/milpersman/1000/1300Assignment/Documents/1301-400.pdf[8] 10 U.S. Code § 12205 - Commissioned officers: appointment; educational requirement