How to Become an Infantry Officer in the Marines
As an infantry officer, your responsibilities will include training enlisted Marines and commanding them in the field. The U.S. Marines offer the opportunity to complete your degree while working toward earning your commission as an officer. Once you have your commission, expect rigorous academic and physical training. Talk to a local Marines recruiter to decide whether the Marines are right for you and whether you qualify to become an infantry officer.
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Instructions
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Contact your local Officer Selection Officer (OSO). Go to your local recruiting office or visit the website of the Marines to find an OSO near you. Talk with your OSO about your options and what you can expect training and life in the Marines to be like.
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Select your preferred pathway to becoming an Infantry Officer in the Marines with the help of your OSO. If you are in college or heading there soon, consider joining the Marine officer NROTC program, the platoon leaders class or the officer candidate course. These programs all allow you to finish your college degree while beginning your training for your future career in the Marines. If qualified, you might also enroll in the U.S. Naval Academy, a four-year program that prepares students to become officers in the military.
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Complete officer candidates school in Quantico, Virginia. This course singles out students qualified to earn commissions as Marine officers. Expect a mix of academic coursework and rigorous physical training. Your instructors will teach you general orders, land navigation and tactics. Your physical training will include a combat simulation course, physical fitness tests and rigorous endurance hikes (while suited up in full combat gear). Your Officer Selection Officer will help you prepare for the physical demands of officer candidates school.
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Go to the basic school in Quantico, Virginia, if you have successfully earned your commission after officer candidates school. This is a six-month program that emphasizes skills like tactics and patrolling, as well as how to teach and mentor fellow Marines. Expect academic classes, physical training and simulated field exercises, including an intense helicopter assault and combat exercise in the final phase of your training.
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Enroll in specialized training to become an infantry officer, if you are successfully assigned to it. This is your MOS, or military occupational specialty. The infantry officer course in Quantico, Virginia, lasts for 10 weeks and develops your skills in training Marines under your command, gathering intelligence and developing battle plans.
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Tips & Warnings
After you successfully complete your specialized training in the infantry officer course, the Marines will assign you to your first tour of duty, which may be a deployment overseas. After your first tour, the Marines might assign you to become an instructor or a recruiter.
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