Marine Corps Senior Drill Instructors from Marine Corps

Marine Corps Senior Drill Instructors from Marine Corps Recruit depot San Diego demonstrate how to properly execute an "About-Face" during the close-order drill portion of Pre-OCS Weekend at Camp Bullis, Texas. Future Marine officers with the Officer Selection Team, Marine Corps Recruiting Station San Antonio, 8th Marine Corps District, spent their MLK holiday weekend preparing for Officer Candidate School by participating in "Pre-OCS Weekend," Jan. 17-19, 2014, at Camp Bullis, Texas. The purpose of the three-day event is to give the future officer candidates a preview of what they will endure during Officer Candidate School. Some of the events included a physical fitness test, introduction to Marine Corps close-order drill, a 4-mile hike, a leadership response course and a combat fitness test. Maj. Matthew H. Peterson, Marine Corps Recruiting Station San Antonio commanding officer, spent a few minutes to talk to the officer applicants. Peterson explained that despite how the media glorifies military service what they were about to face was going to be hard and real. "There is going to be all kinds of books and people ... jumping up and down (showing their support for you as a Marine,)" Peterson said. "None of that is going to be there when Marines are depending on you to make the decisions that could be the difference between whether they go home or not." "That's what I mean when I say it's real."