The Basic Officer Leader Course (BOLC) is a two-phased training course designed to commission officers and prepare them for service in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. Prospective officers complete Phase I (BOLC A) as either a cadet (

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in al ...

) or an officer candidate ( Officer Candidate School (United States Army)) before continuing on to BOLC B as Second Lieutenants. If BOLC B is not completed within two years of commissioning, 2LTs will be administratively separated from the service unless there are extenuating circumstances. This a progressive model designed to produce US Army officers with leadership skills, small unit tactics and certain branch-specific capabilities.

BOLC A

The majority of Army officers start in Phase I of BOLC pre-commissioning training through the

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country. How OCS is run differs between countries and services. Ty ...

, or the

. At this stage officer candidates learn basic leadership skills and small unit tactics. Direct commissioned officers (primarily medical/dental, legal and chaplains) not from a pre-commission training source must attend the Direct Commission Course (DCC) in place of BOLC A. DCC consists of a six-week course at Ft. Benning, Georgia or Ft Sill, OK (AMEDD). The primary purpose of this training is to provide basic military training to obtain the skills necessary to continue on to BOLC B. DCC is required for all direct-commissioned officers regardless of prior service experience.

BOLC B

The second phase of the Basic Officer Leader Course - previously referred to as the Officer Basic Course (OBC) and BOLC III - is designed to develop new combat-effective officers and train them to perform their wartime duties as commissioned officers. It is during this phase that they learn the specifics of their branches, and the systems and equipment they will use in their duty unit. *

Chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., w ...

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

, and

Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...

officers train at the

U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence Fort Leonard Wood is a U.S. Army training installation located in the Missouri Ozarks. The main gate is located on the southern boundary of The City of St. Robert. The post was created in December 1940 and named in honor of General Leonard Woo ...

(MSCoE) at

Fort Leonard Wood Fort Leonard Wood is a U.S. Army training installation located in the Missouri Ozarks. The main gate is located on the southern boundary of The City of St. Robert. The post was created in December 1940 and named in honor of General Leonard W ...

, Missouri. *

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

and

Armor Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...

officers train at the

U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

(MCoE) at Fort Benning, Georgia. * Signal Corps and Cyber Corps officers train at Fort Gordon, Georgia. *

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

officers train at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. *

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

, Finance and Chaplain Corps officers train at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. * Field Artillery and

Air Defense Artillery The Air Defense Artillery Branch is the branch of the United States Army that specializes in anti-aircraft weapons (such as surface to air missiles). In the U.S. Army, these groups are composed of mainly air defense systems such as the Patrio ...

officers train at the

U.S. Army Fires Center of Excellence The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

(FCoE) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. *

Logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

(

Transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

, Ordnance, and

Quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In ...

) officers train at the

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(ALU) at Fort Lee, Virginia. *

Aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot a ...

officers train at

Fort Rucker Fort Rucker is a U.S. Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was named for a Civil War officer, Confederate General Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training installation for U.S. Army Aviators and ...

, Alabama. * Army Medical Department (AMEDD) officers train at

Fort Sam Houston Fort Sam Houston is a U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas. "Fort Sam Houston, TX • About Fort Sam Houston" (overview), US Army, 2007, webpageSH-Army. Known colloquially as "Fort Sam," it is named for the U.S. Senator from Texas, U.S. Represen ...

, Texas. *

Judge Advocate General's Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called jud ...

officers train at

The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School, also known as The JAG School or TJAGLCS, is a graduate-level division federal service academy located on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. The center is ...

in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Notes

* BOLC II was a 7-week combat preparation course located at Fort Sill, OK and Fort Benning, GA. It was discontinued at the end of 2009, and as of 2010, any required training has now been merged into BOLC B (formerly BOLC III). * Until June 2013, Army Judge Advocates, complete their training in reverse order, first attending BOLC B at The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School (TJAGLCS) in Charlottesville, Va., and ''then'' attend the DCC course at Fort Benning. As of the 191st Judge Advocate Officer Basic Course (JAOBC), the direct commissionees will attend DCC first and then attend BOLC B at TJAGLCS. * Chaplains, who are direct commissioned, complete initial training and BOLC in one setting at the US Army Chaplain Center and School (USACHCS) located in

Fort Jackson (South Carolina) Fort Jackson is a United States Army installation, which TRADOC operates on for Basic Combat Training (BCT), and is located within the city of Columbia, South Carolina. This installation is named for Andrew Jackson, a United States Army gene ...

. The initial phase is called Chaplain Initial Military Training (CIMT) with the remaining three phases consisting of Chaplains BOLC (CH-BOLC). The four-phases are usually referred to as CH-BOLC, with little distinct separation between the different phases.

References

{{US military navbox Military officer training in the United States United States Army education

BOLC A

BOLC B

See also

Notes

References