I received an email from someone currently at COT. I found the info helpful so thought I would share it with you.
Hope you can get something out of it too!!
I wish my recruiter would have told me how mean they are to you the first couple of days. He said they would be "testing your commitment" because "they try to weed people out in the first couple of days" (which is stupid to say because we've already been commissioned so it is almost impossible to get out). I was not prepared. Be ready because they start yelling at you literally the moment you get out of your car. They bring in all these drill sergeants from Lackland plus a couple that are stationed here.
I had a very heavy government issue green duffel bag (make sure you buy one beforehand if possible), a laptop case, and a garment bag with my uniforms and the taxi driver literally dumped me out in the middle of the parking lot. Apparently I was taking to long to pick it all up because within a few seconds they were screaming at me to hurry up, pick up your stuff and come read the instructions on the sign. They gave me two seconds and then apparently I took too long to read the sign because they were screaming at me again. They expect you to stand perfectly at attention, preface everything with "Sir" and do everything exactly as they say.
You think they will treat you nicely and as adults because you are an officer but they treat you exactly as they would a new recruit in basic training in order to indoctrinate you. Make sure you have your hair up off your collar and your shirt tucked in! Oh, and make sure you have at least two changes of civillian clothes because that's what you wear the first two days while everyone is getting their uniforms.
You will have about five minutes to find your dorm room (after you are marched to the dorm), unlock it, dump your stuff, fill up your hydration system (you will wear one constantly) and grab a folder off your bed with your name on it and meet back in the lobby. If it is around mealtime, you will have about five minutes to eat in the chow hall while they scream at you about how they don't have time for you to savor your food. They will give you a copy of the OTS manual when you check in, make sure you have it easily accessible so you can read it every time they are not actively marching you or (you guessed it) you will get screamed at.
The day you check in doesn't count as an actual in training day. On the next day (your first actual day) they wake you up at 4:30 am by screaming in the hallway "Everyone get out here right now!" and everyone comes out shaking in their pajamas. They then tell you that you have exactly three minutes to get completely ready for the day.
Basically, your first week or two you are getting screamed at constantly by MTIs (drill sergeants). They make you stand outside for hours in the hottest part of the day for marching practice. Make sure you wear sunscreen and drink lots of water! We had quite a few people get heat-stressed.
The good news is all that horrible treatment makes you bond really fast with your flight. Mine has 15 other people of different ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds and we all look out for each other like family. Since we only have 1 1/2 weeks left, the instructors pretty much leave us alone (all but two of the drill sergeants go back to Lackland after the first week is over; it's a TDY for them).
Overall, I think this has been a positive experience. Everyone is our flight has a special duty within the flight, for example I am my flight's computer officer, and there's a social officer, athletic officer, etc. If something interests you, make sure you volunteer because you will get stuck with something. You rotate through leadership positions so I think I am a better leader for coming here.
Don't worry so much about the PT. You have a total of four PT sessions the whole training period. We took did our PFB on the first Friday and just did the PFA (the one that counts) yesterday. Being physically fit helps, but it's not a deal-breaker. It really is about mental strength: the ability to withstand the stress and to learn vast amounts of information in a short amount of time. They admit they deliberately stress us out as much as possible because we have to be able to perform effectively under pressure. Most important, I think, is forget you're a nurse. They make you sign an agreement that you will not practice your medical specialty unless it's a situation concerning life or limb. They have their own IDMTs who take care of injured people. You are an officer first. People like to look down on medical officers saying, "oh, you're just a limited-duty officer," (i.e. not a "real" officer) but they what they put you through makes you just as tough and smart as a line officer.
Sorry this is so long but I think if I were going through this again I would want to know all this stuff. Bottom line is: I'm glad I'm here, even if I wasn't the first few days. I have made some incredible friends and had a lot of fun.
I'd agree with you if you were talking about the line side officer training - BOT. But that's as regimented as BMT was (think "Officer and a Gentleman" - that's line side OTS).
COT is the most disorganized and disorderly military training I've personally ever encountered. If they really want people to gain the type of experience you speak of, it should be infinitely more regimented than what it is. COT does not prepare civilians for a lot of things and it leaves an awful lot of holes in a lot of areas.
And it doesn't sound to me like the Army's is as poorly organized as the Air Force's is (someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the Army's version sounds a lot more pulled together).
I DO agree with what you said here, one hundred and fifty percent:
So although officer training (for medical personnel) may not be as physically demanding or demeaning as that for enlisted, it is still mentally stressful, and it will be physically demanding for someone who is not prepared for it.
Now I have not personally been through officer training yet, so those of you who have please add to or correct anything I have said. However, it is not fair to a civilian who has not been exposed to the military, for a recruiter to say that training will be a piece of cake without further explanation
The underlined part is completely true, and part of why recruiters annoy me. You can tell a prior enlisted guy that COT's a piece of cake, because there's a shared framework. (Compared to BMT, given the shared knowledge, it is.) But there were a lot of ways it was even harder. I would never tell a civilian it's a piece of cake. Overall it's not HARD, no - but it's definitely DIFFERENT. And it's culture shock, yes (to a civilian), but it's meant to be.
The best part is it's quick. BOT is 13 weeks of BMT on steroids.
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carolinapooh, BSN, RN
3,577 Posts
I'd agree with you if you were talking about the line side officer training - BOT. But that's as regimented as BMT was (think "Officer and a Gentleman" - that's line side OTS).
COT is the most disorganized and disorderly military training I've personally ever encountered. If they really want people to gain the type of experience you speak of, it should be infinitely more regimented than what it is. COT does not prepare civilians for a lot of things and it leaves an awful lot of holes in a lot of areas.
And it doesn't sound to me like the Army's is as poorly organized as the Air Force's is (someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the Army's version sounds a lot more pulled together).
I DO agree with what you said here, one hundred and fifty percent:
So although officer training (for medical personnel) may not be as physically demanding or demeaning as that for enlisted, it is still mentally stressful, and it will be physically demanding for someone who is not prepared for it.
Now I have not personally been through officer training yet, so those of you who have please add to or correct anything I have said. However, it is not fair to a civilian who has not been exposed to the military, for a recruiter to say that training will be a piece of cake without further explanation
The underlined part is completely true, and part of why recruiters annoy me. You can tell a prior enlisted guy that COT's a piece of cake, because there's a shared framework. (Compared to BMT, given the shared knowledge, it is.) But there were a lot of ways it was even harder. I would never tell a civilian it's a piece of cake. Overall it's not HARD, no - but it's definitely DIFFERENT. And it's culture shock, yes (to a civilian), but it's meant to be.
The best part is it's quick. BOT is 13 weeks of BMT on steroids.