Navy OCS Week 1, Part 1: The 3 Phases of OCS

Last updated: June 24, 2026

What is Navy OCS like? In a word: intense. Officer Candidate School is the Navy’s 12-to-13-week course in Newport, Rhode Island that turns civilians and prior-enlisted Sailors into commissioned officers, and the first week is a shock to the system — constant yelling, almost no free time, knowledge to memorize, early-morning PT, academics, inspections, and the swim qualification. The program is broken into three phases. This post is the big-picture overview, and the rest of my Week 1 series then walks through those first days one at a time.

Before I go any further, let me explain the three phases that the Navy Officer Candidate School (OCS) is broken into:

1. Indoctrination (Indoc) (3 weeks): is for new recruits to the Officer Candidate School and lasts for three weeks. During this time, there is a lot of information that might be overwhelming to learn.
2. Officer Candidate (JOC) (5 weeks): is a phase serving as a transition after successfully passing the Indoc.
3. Candidate Officer (Candio – SOC) (4 weeks): An individual who is currently in the process of becoming a Navy Officer

We all know that the first week of Officer Candidate School is the toughest. Though physically and mentally demanding, this week at OCS was the most challenging part of my training, as everything was new. My new daily routine would be detailed in order to help you adjust to your new environment.

If I could give you any piece of advice, it would be to never be late. In addition, arrive 10 minutes early to ensure a smooth process for everything. Curious to know the rules? For OCS, being on time means being late.

My OCS began on Sunday, thus I needed to get there on Saturday. Though we were fortunate enough to have our travel and accommodation costs covered in full, several of us had trouble sleeping the night before the event due to nervousness and uncertainty about what was to come. Everyone’s schedule was different, mine was 0800 (8:00AM) but others were 1600 (4PM).

It is not uncommon for new recruits at the Navy Officer Candidate School (OCS) to feel anxious upon their arrival. Because there are so many new things to learn and things to take in, it can be difficult to keep up with all that is going on. But try not to worry too much about it because we will eventually get the feel of it. The following is an outline of what you should anticipate during the first few days of OCS. To be honest though, everyone needed to be ready even before OCS, otherwise they will be weeded out easily during the first few days.

I was nervous yet, I knew I was chosen, I knew I was the one and I would be the one that I want to be.

I expected to go through a lot of indoctrination processes during the first week that I was at OCS. This is essentially a condensed version of the comprehensive training I would need to complete in order to become a Navy officer. I had to memorize the general orders of the Navy in addition to information regarding the rank system, military orders, Appendix and more. I also started to gain an idea of what my daily schedule will be like while I was there, which was an important step in the process.

During my first week at OCS, I got a lot and I think I got used to hearing a lot of yelling and shouting. During this time, each of the candidates, if not all, lost our voices, because we had to yell at all time. It was normal! At OCS, you will invoke the beast inside you. I myself discovered a yelling voice with the pitch that I never thought I had in my life. I knew a lot of people practice yelling before OCS, but here it was brutal, even a “Yes” or a “No” needed to be shouted.

Remember the Candi-O I talked about? They remained by our sides throughout the entirety of the first week in order to assist us in comprehending the fundamental training, such as where to go to eat (the chow hall), how to march, how to walk, and even how to yell…

There are many things that happen during the first week, so I will cover mostly every day in each post.

This post is part of my full Navy OCS Journey series — follow it week by week from the start.