This post originally appeared on the Sandboxx blog as History of Women in the Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps has a long and proud history that every recruit will learn about when they begin their journey to becoming a United States Marine. With the founding of the Marine Corps in 1776 it wasn’t until 1918 that women became a part of that history. Since then the role of women in the Marine Corps has evolved and expanded as our women Marines continue to push through barriers and pave the way for all women Marines to follow.

History of Women in the Marine Corps

It all began in 1918 when the Secretary of Navy allowed women to enroll into the Marine Corps for clerical duty. The first women credited to joining the Marine Corps was Opha May Johnson. Opha May’s service began on August 13,198 during World War I. During that year 300 more women joined the Marine Corps Reserve for clerical duty.

For the next 100 years women would continue to prove their worth and place in the United States Marines. Here are just a few of the many landmarks made by women in the Marine Corps:

1943

Captain Anne Lentz becomes the first woman commissioned officer.
Private Lucille McClarren becomes the first enlisted woman.

1947

T/Sgt Mary Frances Wancheck of Bobtown, Pennsylvania became the first Woman Marine to rate a “hash mark.” (Hash marks are worn on uniforms and indicate length of service.)

1948

Enlisted and Officer women were sworn in as regular Marines instead of being considered as part of the Marine Reserves.

1949

Annie Neal Graham becomes the first black female Marine to enlist.

1952

The Marine Corps Women’s Reserve participates in color raising ceremonies at the Marine Barracks, Washington, D. C.

1953

Staff Sergeant Barbara Olive Barnwell becomes the first female Marine to be awarded the Navy and Marine Corps medal for heroism.

1978

Col. Margaret A. Brewer becomes the first female general in Marine Corps history.

2013

Pfc Christina Fuentes Montenegro,  Pfc Julia Carroll and Pfc Katie Gorz become the first female marines to graduate from the Marine Corps’ enlisted infantry training course.

2017

The first female graduates from the Marine Corps Infantry Officer Course.

These are just a few of the many accomplishments the women in the Marine Corps have made.  Today women continue to define themselves, making up 8.3% of the Corps women have been proving to be an essential part of the Marine Corps.

Training for women in the Marine Corps

Enlisted Women

The first battle begins at boot camp. All enlisted women in the Corps, regardless of geographic location, are sent to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina for 12 weeks of boot camp training. Boot camp will be the first test for all recruits wish to earn the title of United States Marine. The mission of MCRD Parris Island is:

“We make Marines by recruiting quality young men and women and transforming them through the foundations of rigorous basic training, our shared legacy, and a commitment to our core values, preparing them to win our nation’s battles in service to the country.”

Part of successfully completing requirements to graduate from boot camp will include passing a Physical Fitness Test (PFT) and a Combat Fitness Test (CFT). Women and men have different qualifications to pass these tests. The female PFT qualifications for enlisted females are as follows:

Boot camp will be physically and mentally demanding, learn more about how to prepare for Marine boot camp. After graduation at MCRD Parris Island, new Marines will be sent to the School of Infantry where they will further their training based on their Military Occupational Specialty (MOS).

Women Officers

For those who wish to become an officer in the Marine Corps, 12 weeks of training will begin at Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Quantico, Virginia. OCS will screen candidates to ensure that they have what it takes in order to lead Marines and to win battles. The mission of OCS is:

“To educate and train officer candidates in Marine Corps knowledge and skills within a controlled and challenging environment in order to evaluate and screen individuals for the leadership, moral, mental, and physical qualities required for commissioning as a Marine Corps officer.”

The female PFT qualifications for female officers are as follows:Women in the Marine Corps TodayUpon successfully graduating as an Officer in the United States Marine, training will continue at The Basic School (TBS) and then on to further training based on their Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). Learn more about OCS from a successful Female Marine Officer.

Today women in the Marine Corps continue to push through barriers and pave the path for women Marines to follow. The Women Marines Association’s is a non-profit Veteran’s association with a mission to ensure that women’s history as Marines will continue to be told and passed on to a new generation of Marines. With chapters across the country members strive to help all past, present, and future women Marines. Below are a few videos showcasing the amazing accomplishments our Marines are making.

Learn more on how to prepare before marine boot camp or grab one of these books about women in the Marine Corps:

• Leading From the Front
• When Janey Comes Marching Home: Portraits of Women Combat Veterans
• Hesitation Kills

Make sure to download the Sandboxx app to send/receive mail faster at boot camp or OCS.

Thanks to 2ndLt A for sharing her insight into OCS as a female Marine Candidate and the challenges you will face there. Regardless of gender, OCS is about mindset. Female Marine candidates, your mentality will be the reason you succeed or fail at OCS.

You better be prepared to be a servant.

As a female Marine candidate or any candidate, if you aren’t there for the enlisted Marines you may be leading someday, get out. You don’t need to be there if joining is about you. Be forward, but tactful. Keep your personal life, your personal life, and your work life your work life; be able to keep them separated. Whatever you do, make a decision. Not making a decision is the same as making a decision and it is the wrong one. Always be confident in what you decide and if someone doesn’t like it, be able to shift it. No plan survives first contact. If you remember that, you will be good.

Prepare for the hikes

As a female Marine candidate, in particular, you better be able to hike. Be physically fit and don’t let your head get in the way. Know how the boots should fit for extended periods of time and how to prevent blisters. You can do more than you think you can. The Obstacle Course is nothing. It just looks tall. That is it.

Make sure to stretch every single night, even if you are exhausted. A lot of candidates got hurt because they didn’t stretch adequately enough. When I say stretch, I mean stretch everything, even if you don’t think you used that muscle group.

Don’t let another female Marine candidate get to you with the “spear-evals” (peer evaluations). It is just one of those things you have to deal with. Develop the mental fortitude to compartmentalize what is said, and still continue strong. Don’t hold a grudge with any one because they are under the same amount of stress as you are. Everyone handles stress differently.

You will know the ones that shouldn’t be there because it will be all about them.

Know that OCS is a team effort, even if doesn’t seem that way. Some of your best friends will come from OCS once you all get through. So make sure to keep good camaraderie with them.

Sergeant Instructors (SIs) will find the one thing that gets under your skin and will poke, prod, and try to mess with you so you break. Just don’t let anything get under your skin. For example, I was horrible at keeping my bearing. The SIs knew it. There probably wasn’t a week that went by where I didn’t get at least three bearing chits. They know how to make you pissed off because that is their job. Know that, remember it, and don’t let them get under your skin once they have found that spot. If you are at OCS, the board selected you because they think you can make it. It’s all mental.

Be ready for mind games

In the squad bay, you will have a combination lock on your wall locker and footlocker. One of my Sergeant Instructors’s favorite ways to shake things up was to find locks that weren’t locked whilst we were sleeping and then lock them together and leave those locks by the duty hutch (where the staff sleeps) for us to find in the morning. Never a good day if your lock was one of those. They will also play games with you in regard to addressing them and the other staff. Even if you get every single word correct in the phrasing, just know you could have said it better and louder. So just go with it. Being a female Marine candidate means the mind games and petty critiques from the Sergeant Instructors are even harsher than what the males received.

Hygiene for female Marine candidate

Regarding female specific hygiene. I used coconut oil in my hair. I slathered my hair in coconut oil after I washed my hair and then put as much gel in it as possible to reduce the number of flyaways (which will get you a chit). I didn’t do the sock bun because it took too much time. I usually did the “rose” or the twist bun. I was able to keep my hair in the bun for two to three days, depending on what we did, by using one of my shirts as a sort of pillow. I would twist my shirt into a whip, like when you flick someone with a towel, and then wrapped that around my bun. It allowed me to sleep on my back and not mess up my hair/bun. I never had a period at OCS but those who did usually just used tampons. They were the easiest and quickest way to deal with that whole thing. Just know that it is going to be gross no matter what happens. Deal with the fact that you are going to smell bad and you are going to be super gross. Don’t worry about it because everyone else is in the same boat. Embrace it.

Dealing with challenges

I struggled with the tests. I was able to always be “awake” during the classes, but studying later was difficult for me. Make sure to do well academically because that can send you home. If you have a good academic grade from the beginning it’s one less thing to worry about through the rest of the cycle.

Nothing was super difficult but dealing with an injury whilst trying to complete the Obstacle Course and Endurance Course is difficult. My advice, don’t get injured and don’t give up even if you are. If I had to choose a most challenging phase, it would be the middle of the ten weeks because that is when you can start to see everyone’s weaknesses and strengths. This is when you have to learn how to use people’s strengths and learn how to handle your weaknesses.

Medical is the equivalent of candidate death! So if you want to make it through, don’t go unless you are made to. Don’t leave until they force you to leave and even then, do everything you can to stay. If you are sent home for whatever reason, come back. You wanted to do it for a reason and that reason is good enough to keep trying. There were girls in my platoon that were there for their third time. If you want it badly enough, you are going to make it. Plus, if you do come back again, you will be held in great esteem because you “know the ways.” Share your knowledge no matter if it is your first, second, or third time being there. You aren’t fighting for an MOS yet. You are literally fighting against yourself and the limitations you put on yourself. Once you get past that, you can do whatever you set your mind to.

OCS is nothing like college. Expect to be blasted from all directions and you will be fine.

I honestly dealt with my stress by praying. I also had a great fire team and we all were good at keeping each other accountable.

Lessons learned

My biggest takeaways were that I can do more than I ever thought I could physically, emotionally, and mentally. I can handle more than I thought and there are more limits I am willing to push. Have a reason to be there and remember what it is. I was there because I feel God calling me to be in the military and that He will use me here somehow. Others were there because they have always dreamed of serving their country and serving as a leader. Never let yourself be the reason you are there. It is not about you. The second you make it through OCS and head to TBS, your purpose is to serve. Get used to it.

Whatever challenge they throw at you, hit it head on. Don’t hold yourself back.

Thanks to Lt. W for her insight into OCS as a female Judge Advocate candidate. Candidates, learn as much as you can before you go to OCS!

OCS is a life changing challenge.

It is hard for everyone! However, there are some challenges that are specific to female candidates. Hair is a lot more complicated at OCS! You won’t have a lot of time, and the standards are insanely strict. When the Sergeant Instructors told me that I had to wear it in a bun without any hair ties or bobby pins showing, I thought they were crazy. Not only did I have to hide any sign that my hair was not naturally held in a bun, but it had to stay in place after crawling through the mud. Hair will be a problem the entire time you are at OCS. My advice would be to practice doing it correctly and quickly, so you do not spend too much time doing it in the morning and you can get more sleep. Got2bglued Styling gel is a must have for OCS. Every girl in my platoon used it to keep her hair from falling out.

Hygiene

Everyday hygiene can be more difficult for females as well. Thankfully, we were able to shower almost every night (unless we were in the field). Due to the time restraints after morning PT, I found it easier to use baby wipes, rather than showering like the other girls. Whether you decide to shower or use baby wipes, baby wipes will be essential for the nights when you are out in the field. You will feel much better at night after changing your sports bra, underwear and shirt after you have wiped down with a baby wipe. During the times when you are in the field, I would also make sure to bring cotton underwear and compression shorts. Cotton underwear will help to prevent UTIs and the compression shorts help you from chafing. When you are unable to clean properly, these issues are a lot more likely. There were a lot of girls walking around like cowboys because they had such bad chaffing that they could not let their legs touch.

Try Your Best at All Times

Regarding PT, try your best at all time! Make sure you are at your top physical shape before you go. OCS will be challenging no matter what but the better physical shape you are in the better your entire experience will be. Remember the faster you run, the harder it is for them to yell at you. I think the most important thing for female candidates to do is to work on upper body strength and pull-ups. Due to the types of physical training you do at OCS, you will lose a lot of that strength, so you need to have a good starting point. Work on maxing out your pull-ups. Pull-ups are essential for OCS.

Sleep is the biggest challenge female candidates face which the guys will have a lot easier. The male platoons keep their numbers much higher than the female platoons, so they do not have to do fire watch (position where you watch over the platoon at night) as often. The males will have fire watch once a week, while the female platoons may end up having fire watch every other night and, in the end, every night.

Advice for Judge Advocate Candidates

The Judge Advocate candidates negatively spotlight themselves by trying to act like law students at OCS. Do not try to understand the rules, do not try to analyze the rules, and do not try to argue your interpretation on the rules. The culture of OCS is nothing like law school. Remember learning how to sit for hours straight reading case after case? At OCS, you will be standing for hours with the sun beating down on you. This is not the place of, “It depends…” or people who live in the law library. There is always one answer here and no one cares about your interpretation. Judge advocate candidates learn the lesson to keep our mouths shut a little slower than everyone else. Our personalities are a little different and everyone can tell.

It’s Their Game and Their Rules

One of my worst moments at OCS was when I tried to argue how I did not break the rule. I was called to the front of the squad bay and yelled at for five minutes straight with spit firing at my face. You are not there to interpret rules. Even if you know you are correct, you need to accept the interpretation of your superiors. Your life will be much easier if you fall in line. (This is obviously only advice for being a candidate and should not apply to being a Judge Advocate.) The hardest challenge at OCS is changing your mindset from a law student to a candidate.

In retrospect, I wish I would have known how much I would value letters from home. A lot of the biggest challenges at OCS you cannot prepare for. You can never prepare for being tired, hungry, and having someone yell in your face. It is something that sucks every time and you just have to push through. But letters from home will remind you of good things and help you escape for moments of happiness. Encourage your family and friends to write you funny jokes or just tell you about how fun summer can be elsewhere. I wish I had realized this earlier in the cycle. The letters made my time much easier.

I think my best piece of advice would be to enjoy your time and know that everything that goes on is supposed to happen. You are not going to get out of things. You have to fail, you have to be tired, you have to get yelled at, and you have to manage under stress. Everything that is happening is to make you better.

Female Candidates, what questions do you have about OCS?

Thank you to Norfolk Virginia’s Officer Selection Officer, Captain Calderon, for sharing her background and advice for future candidates. If you’re around the southern Virginia area, feel free to reach out to her recruiting unit with any questions about joining: 4th Marine Corps Recruiting District.

What’s your background?

I played Division I soccer all four years of college and graduated from the Naval Academy in 2011. I was first assigned as a landing support platoon commander in charge of 74 Marines in CLR-27, Landing Support Battalion. I later deployed to Afghanistan as a Motor Transport Platoon Commander and Transportation Officer under Combat Logistics Regiment 2, Combat Logistics Battalion 6. When I came from deployment, I was assigned as the Executive Officer of Landing Support Company under Transportation Support Battalion (TSB), Combat Logistics Regiment before becoming a Marine OSO.

Captain Calderon’s Basic Logistics Officer Course class in 2012

Why did you join the Marines?

I joined the Marine Corps for a couple of different reason. First, I am an extremely competitive person as I was a DI athlete in college and enjoy the challenge that comes with being a Marine.

There is never a dull moment in your career and you are always being presented with both mental and physical challenges that you have to overcome.

Second, my father was also a Marine and instilled in me a great sense of discipline and structure into my life. I knew the Marine Corps would carry this further and help me create good habits that would last a lifetime.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

My deployment to Afghanistan was definitely an amazing experience! Since there is not much to do except work, workout, and get to know your Marines, you get really good at these things. You build a sense of camaraderie with those that you deploy with that would be hard to replicate anywhere else.

How can a Marine OSO and candidate work well together throughout the recruiting process?

Have a strong desire to succeed and we will help you to meet your goal.

Those that do not have a desire to become a Marine Officer do not do well in our program and get weeded out very quickly.

What advice do you have for female applicants and candidates?

There is no difference between female and male Marines. You are simply a “Marine.” What you think becomes your reality. If you think that you cannot do pull-ups, then you will not be able to. If you have a goal and believe that you can do 20 pull-ups, you will achieve it. Everything starts with a vision, desire to succeed, and action to make those things happen. Never sell yourself short as a female! There is nothing that a male can do that you cannot also do!

What is the biggest reason behind failure at OCS?

Mental toughness. Those that do not have the correct mindset going into OCS, will not succeed. I highly suggest that people watch motivational videos or those on mindset prior to going to OCS because there will be times when you feel like quitting and remembering “why” you are there during those times is critical to making it through. Also having that determination and desire to succeed will carry you through OCS because those people have the mindset that no matter what obstacles are thrown their way, there is nothing that will keep them from succeeding.

What is the #1 thing you wish candidates knew before OCS?

You will be on your feet a LOT!! The average candidate has walked/run over 11 miles a day while at OCS! The more that you do now with weight on your back (running with weight), walking extremely fast with weight, etc, the more that will help you while at OCS.

How can potential applicants get in touch with you?

If you think you have what it takes to take the challenge of becoming a Marine, you can call our Marine OSO office at

(757) 423-0120

Stop by at

4211 Monarch Way, Suite 101,
Norfolk, VA 23508

or e-mail me at Christine.calderon@marines.usmc.mil

Check out our facebook pages at

Marine OSO Norfolk

Or my personal facebook:

Christine Alexis Facebook

Being a short and skinny candidate at Marine OCS

So you have some concerns about being a short and skinny candidate at OCS?

I was also a short and skinny candidate at OCS. Height: 5’ 6” and 120 lbs at my lightest point at OCS and the second shortest candidate in the platoon. Here is advice, tips, and straight talk to help you through OCS. There’s a lot of things you can’t control, being a short and skinny candidate is one. Focus on the things you can change and put the rest behind you. In a formation, the tallest candidates comprise the “Big end” and smallest the “Little end.” Many of these insights will apply to the majority of female candidates as well.

Percentages are debatable. But I think a solid 60% of OCS is in your head. That 60% has nothing to do with your physical fitness, intellect or leadership ability. And subsequently, nothing to do with being a short and skinny candidate. This is the part that burns a lot of candidates because they psych themselves out and go into what Colonel Nethercot (former Commanding Officer of OCS) called a “death spiral.” Essentially, they convince themselves they suck and start to retreat inside themselves. This, in turn, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Just remember, if it doesn’t challenge you it won’t change you. Nothing grows in its comfort zone.

Who dares wins.
-British SAS motto

On Black Friday (pickup day) the Sergeant Instructors are going to look for anyone that stands out. Candidates who are slow or don’t sound off in particular. They also pick on those who don’t blend in. There is no place for individuals at OCS. Being a short and skinny candidate makes you stand out. For that matter, being anything other than an athletic build, average height, white male makes you stand out. Remember everyone is wearing the same thing with the same haircut, so anyway they can differentiate you is going to get you extra attention. In order to avoid extra attention, you’ll need to be louder, more intense and more adaptable than those around you.

It’s nothing personal, just war fighting.”-GySgt A

Make no mistake, there are things at OCS that will be harder for short and skinny candidates. But I don’t think it has much bearing on whether you graduate.

Confidence, confidence in everything you do. Dominate your environment and walk like you own this town. Just remember that someone else always has it worse than you. A candidate in my training company had a stress fracture in his foot for the full ten weeks. He made it, although I’m sure the runs and hikes were much harder for him. It’s pretty hard to feel bad for yourself when you know someone else is in a lot more pain than you.

Ultimately, taking the initiative, making a decision and communicating that decision is the most important thing at OCS. The staff doesn’t even particularly care if it’s the right decision, they call this, “Good initiative, bad judgment.” This has no bearing on your height or weight.

Every day at OCS, you have the opportunity to decide who you want to become. The little things are what will define who you are becoming. Be aware that you are developing habits throughout the cycle that will lead to your success or failure at OCS. Find an excuse to win. Every day you need to fight for the chance to have tomorrow. Find your center. Whether its religion, support from home, etc. Know what’s going to keep you grounded before you go. Personally, I was able to keep a level head through most of OCS. I attribute this to support from my community via letters and staying grounded in my religion. While at OCS I received enough letters to read more than one every day. That’s all thanks to the people back home supporting me. This also makes no difference if you are a short and skinny candidate.

Straight Talk

The honest truth is no one cares if you are a good leader on the best day of your life. Consider this, you don’t pick your best friends or evaluate an employee on the best days. You evaluate their merit when things get hard. Anyone can do well when life is going their way and everything is in their favor. Can you lead when the deck is stacked against you? OCS will back you into a corner and give you three choices: Lead, follow or get out of the way. You are there to prove you have the potential to lead Marines. Chaos reveals character and friction, fortitude.

Know exactly why you want to be a Marine officer before you go. Make no mistake, I wasn’t a stellar candidate. There were many times when I doubted myself. It’s often said, “Don’t make a decision (to quit) when you are going uphill.” And remember, someone is always watching. The motto of OCS is “Ductus Exemplo”, Lead by Example.

Take 50 mg of suck it up. Some of Y’all need 100 mg, its like extra strength Tylenol, you understand?
-GySgt V

Mental

-Everyone has different points of friction at OCS. Afterward, you’ll talk with your buddies and be surprised by the things they thought were hard. And they at yours.

Physical

–Hikes will be harder, partly because the pack will be a greater percentage of your body weight and partly because short guys are usually put in the back of the column. When the head of the column is over large hills, they will start to speed up and you will still be trying to get to the top.

-Certain things will be easier. Pullups or any exercise where you have to pull yourself over something, i.e. the Obstacle Course, is ideal for smaller guys. I think the PFT is easier for little candidates and the CFT, harder. The combat course and the Quigley, in particular, are easy for little guys because we can crawl under the barbed wire and through small spaces faster. Runs are debatably easier. You don’t see many big guys doing college cross country for example. This obviously has a lot to do with fitness though.

-One distinct advantage is short and skinny candidates need fewer calories to run at the same performance level. For the first half of OCS, you’ll have no more than 6 minutes to eat each meal. I think it starts somewhere around 3-4 minutes. Use a spoon and just shovel the contents into your mouth. Carbs, salt, and protein first. Utilize the fruit bar in the morning to get your vitamins. When everyone else is in pain from hunger, you’ll be sitting happily.

Leadership

-For reasons unknown, short and skinny candidates don’t do as well on peer evaluations. The best guess I heard was that it’s harder for the little guys to show command presence and dominate their environment. That said, I never saw someone gets dropped for reasons that could be attributed to being a short and skinny candidate.

Totem

One mental trick you can use it to develop a “totem”. Conceptually, this is similar to Leonardo Di Caprio’s spinning top in the movie Inception. In this case,  it’s an image or memory that each person holds to themselves and can replay like a GIF when they’re getting close to the edge. This is very useful for anxiety attacks and for keeping candidates from going internal. Make it a prized perception, a moment of comfort, something you don’t share with the world. And make it only a moment, not a full on day of your life you have to replay. After a day when you’ve been beaten into the ground, sit in your rack, stretch and replay that GIF in your head. This adjusts your mindset to put you in a better mood and keeps you from dwelling on how much you sucked that day.

Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable.

OCS made me realize I had lived life in my comfort zone. I don’t really think there is any true way to fully prepare for OCS. That’s the genius of it. The instructor’s job is to make you feel like the worst candidate OCS ever had. There was one instructor who was always picking on me. He would make me chase birds across the parade deck whenever we had free time and my blouse sleeves were never tight enough for him.  At the EGA ceremony, he gave me my EGA and told me, “I knew from the first day you were going to make it. But it would not have been fair to the Marines if you were not tested. You don’t like to quit and you’re really smart. You’re going to be somebody in this gun club one day.” Truth be told, I thought he absolutely hated me until that day. At graduation, another told my parents that I was the one he respected the most in the platoon. This was all a big shock to me. At no point in the ten weeks did I feel smart, accomplished or particularly tough.

When you doubt yourself, remember,  “I read about this. I knew this was coming and others like me have made it through.” Everyone feels like the worst candidate at some point.

Candidates, what questions or advice do you have about being a short or skinny candidate at OCS?

Thanks to Mustang Lt. S, formerly a SIGINT Sgt, for her insight into female hair and hygiene at OCS. Female candidates, practice before you go so you don’t lose precious sleep time at OCS.

Hair and Hygiene

Long Hair (Touches the bottom of your collar and longer)

Here’s the honest to god truth: If you haven’t figured out how to put your hair up without fly-aways by the time you go to OCS, just cut it all off because you’re probably just being lazy. In all my time in the Marine Corps, I have only come across a few non-Black women who had hair that was justifiably difficult to put back smoothly, and they were still women of color with ponytails you couldn’t even wrap your hand around. Every white woman I heard complain about their straw-like hair being difficult to put up just warranted massive eye rolls.

There are two main ways to put long hair up (1) Sock bun, and (2) Twist bun. Shorter hair should use the sock bun, while longer hair can be twisted.

Note: Another source and friend of the blog has informed us that the sock bun “Looks great, but time-consuming as hell. Use only if you have the time, energy and give a damn factor.”  And the twist bun is, “Easy, effective. Get’s the job done. Whatever you choose, tons of hairspray and gel. If it doesn’t look like you schlacked your head you did it wrong.”

1. For the sock bun, I do not recommend the soft squishy foam bun things you buy at the pharmacy or whatever. They’re soft and unmanageable for how tight you want your hair to be. Just take a boot sock, cut the toe, and roll it firmly into a donut. If your hair is even longer, you can make this donut larger by simply adding another boot sock to it. Your first few donuts may not look that nice or be very smooth. That’s okay! It takes practice, so I suggest rolling one at least a dozen times before shipping.

Now, this should absolutely not be an issue at OCS, but for future reference, if you are trying to grow out medium length hair and need to try to put it up in a bun, use an ankle sock or hosiery to create the donut. This can give you a tiny little bun to work with. I have used this method with success when growing my hair out from chin-length.

2. For the twist bun, you can incorporate braids if your hair is thinner. I do not recommend this if your hair is already thick. It just adds to the girth of the ponytail you are trying to twist.

Medium Hair (Above the bottom of the collar)

This may be a personal preference, but I only recommend this cut for women who have naturally straight-as-shit hair or women who wear wigs/weaves with this style. If you have to flat iron it to make it look tidy, I would not bother with this haircut. While I completely empathize with people who find it absurd that wavy and curly hair is viewed as “less professional” than straw straight hair (I have ringlets), you chose to join this professional organization where appearance really matters. Also, it just makes keeping your cover on when it’s windy pretty difficult.

Short Hair (Think pixie cut length)

Do your thing, ladies. I’ve chickened out of going for this style too many times. This is probably the most practical and lowest maintenance haircut available.

General Tips:

• Do not use “see-through” or “clear” hair bands. Those tiny little ones you want to slap on the end of a braid? Purchase ones that match your hair color, especially if you have darker hair. Clear hair bands just appear white, especially against dark hair.
• If you have blonde hair, don’t buy light colored blonde bands. Go a shade darker. You are going to be putting gel in your hair, so your hair will be slightly darker and the light blonde hair band will stick out like a sore thumb.
• No, you don’t get to litter your hair with barrettes to keep fly-aways down. You slap on as much gel as possible until you have a helmet head.
• Speaking of gel, use a lot of it. Men have to pay every week to get haircuts and buy those razors to shave their faces every day. You can shore up some cash to purchase the copious amounts of gel required to look tidy.

Note: Recent OCS graduates have informed us Got2b Glued is the hair gel of choice at OCS.

• Use a small bristle brush or one of those nail cleaners to smooth down hair while putting it back in a ponytail. Dab a bit of gel onto it, then run it over your hair and back into your hair holding the ponytail to get rid of most bumps and loose hair.

Showers

Female candidates don’t need “more” showers than men. If you’re honestly asking yourself how you will survive, remember that there are still women in this world who live without running water in the jungle for their whole lives. Get over it. And in any case, when I went through OCS, you had the opportunity to shower and even wash your hair every night!

Now, I would recommend showering whenever given the opportunity. However, for you ladies with long hair (like me), I do not recommend washing your hair every night. When I was in enlisted boot camp, we were allowed to wash our hair once a week and we all totally survived. Washing your hair and then putting it up every night can take a lot of time. It also takes up a lot of gel because you’re reapplying all the time. There’s no real purpose for this. In fact, it’s not even generally healthy to wash your hair and strip it of its oils every day even outside the context of the OCS time crunch.

However, I do want to stress how important it is to let your hair fully dry every few days. This may mean waking up a little earlier and putting it up before morning lights, as opposed to putting it up before you sleep.

There have been women who had mold start to grow in their hair because they always put it up wet.

While I find it more manageable to put up and style wet hair, I still ensured I washed and then let my hair fully dry every three to four days.

Periods

Honestly, most of us stopped having our periods during training. If you do have your period, however, you will need to furnish and keep your own sanitary materials. If you’re worried about menstruating while in the field or in other less-than-civilized situations, that’s just something you’re going to have to power through. As mentioned before, women all over the world deal with these things in much less privileged settings. You’re going to survive.

Female candidates prepare now for the challenges of OCS. Do not neglect hair and hygiene at OCS.

Female candidates, what else do you want to know about hair and hygiene? Comment below with your questions!

We covered the top questions received on the blog and in our facebook page. Feel free to connect with either of us in Sandboxx as well.

Note: we shot an hour of supplemental footage, containing advice exclusively available to future Marine Officers in the Sandboxx app. Check it out by downloading for iOS or android.

Check out the video below to hear her advice on the following:

• What are the top reasons why candidates fail at OCS?
• What specific advice does she have for female officer candidates?
• How can you make your application look stronger than your competition?
• How early should you talk to an OSO?
• What advice does she have for training for the PFT?

As always, if you have more questions, ask them on this site or to our social media.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FMarineOCSBlog%2Fvideos%2F646678842159060%2F&show_text=0&width=400

Resources mentioned in the video:

1. Packing List
2. Boots discussed
3. Armstrong 360
4. Armstrong pullup program
5. Major Misty Poser’s No Excuses Pullup Program
6. Crossfit
7. Couch to 5K

We hope you enjoyed this. With your feedback and ideas, we can create more content like this.

I will be applying for the OCS class who will enter in June of this year. This is a silly concern- but I’m 5’0 tall-even. I know that everything will be exceptionally more challenging for me considering my size but watching Obstacle Course videos online makes me feel like it will be impossible for me to pass the O course in time as well as any other challenges – any advice to help me feel less anxious about it?

Answer:

Many females get through OCS who are less than 5′. I even know two short males who were top candidates in my OCS platoon about 5′ tall and about 130 pounds and 120 pounds. They excelled!

You will need to modify your training

This will put you in decent standing, but not the top of your class if these are your max sets.

MALE

Pullups: Max set 18

Pushups: Max set 65

Run: 21:00 3-mile

Run: 880 meter sprint in 3:15 in boots (2:45 running shoes)

Flutterkicks: Max set 60 (30 flutters per leg)

Crunches: Max set 100

Ammo can lift: Max set 90 (35-lb can)

Four-mile hike with 40 lbs: 75 minutes (rucking at 3.2 mph)

Two-mile run in boots: 17 minutes (7 mph)

FEMALE

The National Strength and Conditioning organization’s TSAC Program is an educational program designed specifically to optimize mission/job performance for tactical athletes and tactical facilitators.

Dr. William Kraemer, PhD, CSCS,*D, FNSCA, and Tunde Szivak, MA, presented at the 2013 TSAC Conference on the integration of women into the world of modern war fighting, and discussed their physiology and social/psychology.

Click for video: