Army OCS Granduation - For the Family

The graduation ceremony is the pinnacle of the long Officer Candidate School road for both the new 2nd Lieutenants and their families. It is such a special event and I was so proud and excited at the same time. We looked at this as a start to an amazing journey together. Of course I was worried about what to wear as I wanted to compliment my husband in his brand new ASU's. He and all the other 2nd Lieutenants looked dashing! I was disturbed by how many people I saw in JEANS! If you husband, wife, son, daughter, or friend has just received a commission from the President of the United States and they are dressed in their finest uniform - DRESS FOR THE OCCASION! DO NOT WEAR JEANS! In my humble fashion opinion it is disrespectful to the candidates and the commission itself. Also if you are going to be in a lot of the pictures wear a color that compliments the blues or greens. I am a big fan of www.shabbyapple.com! They have great dresses with great customer service on returns and exchanges. Shabby Apple has helped me so many times!

Back to the day- The graduation ceremony begins in the early afternoon. Get there as early as you can if you want to have good seats. We arrived at 11:45am for a 1pm ceremony and had great seats. There ended up being lots of people that had to stand for the entire ceremony. The Company Commander will speak first and then the guest speaker. The new 2nd lieutenants will then walk across the stage and finally take the oath. After the ceremony then starts the pinning. My uncle pinned one of Luke's "butter bars" and I pinned the next. If they are wearing the new ASU's there is actually not a pin so make sure to take a pair of fingernail clippers to clip off the covering of the shoulder boards.

Life as a Wife during Army OCS - Part II

My husband (Luke) was told that they would get more privileges during the senior phase but a few factors limited those privileges. The first is the fact that they are in the field for 3 weeks and the second was that my husbands company was in general, very strict. After they get out of the field they have another week of military history. This is a huge test and Luke's class lost 6 people and they had to recycle because they did not pass this test or the retake. They will need plenty of study time. This week kinda seemed that senioritis had really set in and the guys were ready to be over.

The final week is time for the formal and graduation. This week is packed as we had 13 friends and family come in for the week. Preplanning is key to this week and to have it be stress free. I had meals prepped ahead of time for when guests were coming in after a long flight. I bought frozen meatballs and had veggie trays on hand. I am also a big fan of my recipes like Zuppa Tuscana and White Chili. These are easy to prep in the morning and just bowl them up when people arrive. Our guests really wanted to see our new home and relax with us. Schedule one night to go out to eat to take some stress off of yourself. We opted for Fuddruckers off of exit 8. This place had something for everyone and military discounts so it was very affordable for people to pay separately.

Make sure to inform your guests who are not savvy about the military on protocol. Talk to them about how to get a vehicle pass to go on post, always having identification with them, and to never speed on post. If you can take a few preventative measures it can really allow for a smooth week. If you inform them ahead of time you will not have confused guests calling you all the time. I also had post maps ready to hand out so people knew where to go with directions to the Infantry Museum and the Columbus Convention Center.

This may sound like a lot of prep but remember this is a huge accomplishment for your soldier!

Life as a Wife during Army OCS - Part I

Please be prepared as this might be a long post since Army Officer Candidate School is 12 weeks long.

Before my husband left for OCS (he was college op) we rented our house out in western Colorado. He left in early November of 2009 for OCS and I drove out to live in Columbus, GA the beginning of December. We wanted to be together if he had weekends or evenings off. This worked out really well for us. I was also committed to being a part of the Family Readiness Group. I was lucky enough to be pinned by the Battalion commanders' wife at the final social. It was so special to get to talk to her and I learned so many things. I got an apartment off of exit 10 in Columbus. His company got 2 weeks off for Christmas exodus and that was great. Two weeks after that was the branching ceremony. Wives - this is a decision you need to be aware of. How your husband branches determines many things so please ask questions. They get to choose based off of the Order of Merit list (OML).

After that they have the Senior Class Ceremony. This is early in the morning and should not be missed by a spouse if you are in the area. It is worth the drive and there is lots of pomp and circumstance. I was so proud of my husband and all of the other candidates. Bring your camera. They will have a covered awning for spouses and guests. The candidates leave directly after to go into the field so dont plan to hang out with your spouse.

The next two to three weeks are tough for the spouses and the candidates. The candidates are out in the field with limited cell phone access. Looking back the weeks did go by very quickly and they did get one weekend off. I had so much fun hearing about the time they spent in the field.

Army OCS Formal - What to Wear

Ok, so if you are anything like me you stressed and fretted about what you are going to wear as a wife to the Army OCS formal. I have not done anything remotely formal since my wedding so this was a stretch for me. I really searched for a dress and am very pleased with it. It was actually a bridesmaids dress I found at a bridal shop. It was not bridesmaidsy at all. I did have to get it altered since I bought it right off the rack. I saw lots of various dresses the night of the event. The majority were long. The event was held at the National Infantry Museum just outside of Ft. Benning.

My recommendations:
Review receiving line protocol prior to arrival
Do something special like get your make-up and hair done - Unkommen in Columbus is an amazing salon for hair and makeup (Dora is a makeup master!)
Don't fret over your shoes if you are wearing a long dress
Do not get the professional pictures - they turned out cheesy and the ones we did ourselves were much better and it takes a ton of time
Focus on accessories
Be social and take time to talk to the Cadre