Mastering the OAR Reading Section: Using Navy Instructions to Boost Your Score
When I was preparing for the OAR (Officer Aptitude Rating) as a young applicant, the reading comprehension section felt like a wall of jargon. I remember staring at practice passages wondering how anyone could parse the dense language. Over the years—and after commissioning through OCS and serving as a Cryptologic Warfare Officer—I learned that the best oar reading comprehension tips come from training with the real thing: Navy instructions like NAVADMINS (Navy Administrative Messages) and BUPERSINSTs (Bureau of Naval Personnel Instructions). This article lays out the strategies that helped me and many of my shipmates sharpen our reading skills and tackle the OAR with confidence.
Why Navy Instructions Mirror the OAR
The OAR reading comprehension section is designed to test how well you understand technical, bureaucratic prose—exactly the kind of writing you’ll encounter daily as a naval officer. The passages often pull from military or government documents, and the questions ask you to identify main ideas, make inferences, and interpret tone. I found that practicing with actual Navy instructions gave me a huge leg up. Not only did the vocabulary and sentence structure feel familiar on test day, but I also got faster at spotting key information.
Here’s a trick a fellow prospective officer shared with me: download a few recent NAVADMINS or BUPERSINSTs from the Navy’s public websites. (Your recruiter can point you to the right links.) Read one every day, time yourself, and try to summarize the main points. After a week, you’ll notice that the style stops feeling foreign. That’s when you know you’re ready.
If you want more structured practice, save these documents as PDFs, upload them to an AI tool, and ask it to generate sample questions referencing the document name. This creates a nearly endless supply of AI practice questions that match the test’s format. I did this with a few friends, and we all felt the material was spot-on.
OAR Reading Comprehension Tips: Train Like an Officer
Beyond using official documents, there are a few oar reading comprehension tips that every candidate should know:
- Read actively: Don’t just skim. Underline or note key terms, transitions, and conclusions. Ask yourself what the main point of each paragraph is.
- Build your military vocabulary: Words like “per,” “pursuant to,” “shall,” and “hereby” appear constantly. Look them up and practice using them in context.
- Practice under time pressure: The OAR reading section is timed. I set a timer for 20 minutes per passage and forced myself to answer all questions before the bell.
- Review your mistakes: After each practice set, go back and figure out why you got a question wrong. Was it a vocabulary issue? Misreading the question? Knowing your weak spots helps you improve.
Another tip: read high-level publications like The Economist, Foreign Affairs, or The Atlantic. These sources use sophisticated language and complex arguments similar to what you’ll see on the OAR. I made it a habit to read one article a day and summarize it aloud. That practice boosted both my comprehension and my confidence.
Putting It All Together
Combining real Navy documents, AI-generated practice, and quality reading material gives you a well-rounded preparation plan. I saw my own OAR reading score climb after just two weeks of this approach. Remember, the goal isn’t just to pass the test—it’s to build the skills you’ll use every day as an officer. Whether you’re deciphering a NAVADMIN at 2 a.m. or writing your own reports, strong reading comprehension is a career-long asset.
For more guidance on the entire OCS journey—from studying the OAR to surviving Officer Candidate School—check out our Navy OCS Journey hub. You’ll find firsthand advice from officers who have been exactly where you are.
Stay motivated, study smart, and I’ll see you on the other side. Fair winds.
