Last updated: June 24, 2026
Week 4 of Navy OCS is RLP week — the Room, Locker, and Personnel inspection that many candidates dread. It is a single high-pressure test day that combines PT, a uniform and room inspection, and rapid-fire oral knowledge all at once. Here is exactly how my RLP went.
Room / Locker / Personnel (RLP)
This is probably what people most want to hear about: RLP week. In short, it is a test day where you do PT, get inspected, shout your knowledge, sweat, and avoid eyeballing — all at the same time.
To describe it: an RLP inspection evaluates a candidate officer’s attention to detail across military education, uniform and room standards, and physical-fitness effort during reinforced PT. OCS shapes civilians and fleet Sailors — morally, psychologically, and physically — into newly commissioned officers, instilling the highest principles of honor, courage, and commitment for service in the fleet.
RLP taught me two skills: focusing on the finer points and staying cool under pressure. In the weeks leading up to the big event, you learn to fold clothing neatly, build a rack with hospital corners, and project your voice to a deafening pitch. What the DIs (Drill Instructors) value most is confidence and composure on top of a presentable appearance. If you show up to the “interview” looking like garbage and make a poor first impression, they will assume the worst and look for ways to penalize you. If you come across as confident and assertive, they have less reason to.
My roommate and I slept on the floor on a mat, since we knew we would be graded on how well we had arranged our belongings and the rack. In RLP, something as small as a single hair can cause a failure. We quizzed each other and prepared for our oral exams by going over the Appendix. We went to bed that night feeling both confident and frightened, and no one slept particularly well.
Then it was morning. After breakfast we had about a minute to get ready in our room before lining up outside. My advice: do not eat much — eat as little as you can, or you may end up watching your breakfast hit the floor and cleaning it up. I should add that this is a team effort, so you and your roommates have to help one another. If you need guidance, ask them — “if I fail, you might fail; if I do well, you will do well.” While waiting in line for the DIs to arrive, we would double-check everyone’s appearance and help out. I found that pinching myself (an arm, a hand, whatever) helped settle my nerves.
The DIs and chiefs descended on the area like a tornado, shouting at the top of their nearly shot lungs. It was clear all hell had broken loose. It came down on us, and we endured it. It truly began when one stopped in front of me and yelled, “I will make you fail” — that is when I realized how miserable this was. When they started asking about my uniform I briefly lost my bearings, but I came back. While I shouted nonstop about the Navy’s missions and the identity of the Chief of Naval Operations, the DI measured every inch and centimeter of my belt line, shoes, and socks. After a minute, they ordered me back inside my room.
We called the prep the “origami exercise” — lint-rolling the floor, ironing, and folding the clothes.
The agony continued as the DIs went through my belongings and tossed them around the room. I was told to do push-ups nonstop while shouting out the general orders. Honestly, I could not even finish 10 push-ups, because I could not breathe while doing PT and yelling at the same time. While I was still shouting Appendix facts, the DI had me switch to jumping jacks. The truth is, at that point you can forget about thinking — if you have not memorized the information by heart, it is gone. I was glad when the DI was done with me, because I literally could not breathe; he told me to grab my canteen and line up outside again. Once you are finished and holding a canteen, you are done. Those five minutes were the worst of my life.
My roommate was also quizzed by the DI, but he was too shaken to give the right answers — and he had left a button on his shirt unfastened in the rack. In the end, I remember the DI shouting “You pass!” in my face while telling my roommate “You fail.” He had to start over, rolling over to the H class.
While waiting outside, I could hear everyone’s questions and answers clearly — both the correct answers given wrong and the moments people got disoriented. Keep in mind that failing RLP is fairly common: over 45 percent of my class did.
I could barely complete the rest of the day’s tasks. After shouting at the top of my lungs, my head was pounding. By the weekend we would finally get phone access and could reach our loved ones back home. That is how my RLP went.
New here? I suggest starting with Part 1 of my Navy OCS series. Note: I went through OCS back in the 2010s, so some details may have changed since then — this is shared for educational purposes only. Photo credit: the Navy OCS page. (Candidates cannot use phones or electronic devices during OCS, so there is no way for a candidate to take photos there.)
This post is part of my full Navy OCS Journey series — follow it week by week from the start.
