Warrant Officer Candidate School

Sequence and Requirements

Phase 1

Phase 1 of WOCS is available as either distributed learning dL or resident training. Attendance at the Phase 1 (Resident) course is MANDATORY for all Soldiers in the grade of E-1 through E-4 and for E-5's that are not WLC/PLDC graduates.

Phase 1 dL. There is only one Phase 1 dL class scheduled, covering the entire training year. Once you have been enrolled in ATRRS for Course 911-09W (DL), you must access the training at https://courses.leavenworth.army.mil by logging in with your AKO short name and password. Supplemental instructions for WOCS Phase 1 dL students:

a. NCOs who are fully qualified/selected (FQS) and fall into one of the following categories are required to complete the Phase 1 dL.

(1) US Army E-5 WLC/PLDC graduates and Army E-6 or higher.

(2) USMC E-5 or higher.

(3) US Navy E-7 or higher (E-5 and E-6 must request a wavier to be enrolled in Phase 1 dL. Proof of operational leadership schooling/ experience must be provided to the Commandant, WOCC).

(4) US Air Force E-7 or higher (E-5 and E-6 must request a wavier to be enrolled in Phase 1 dL. Proof of operational leadership schooling/ experience must be provided to the Commandant, WOCC).

b. Soldiers (E-1 thru E-4) that have completed WLC/PLDC are PROHIBITED from enrollment into Phase 1 dL. Soldiers promoted or advanced to the grade of E-5 solely to attend WOCS will be disenrolled from the Phase 1 dL and enrolled in the next Phase 1 resident course.

Phase 1 dL is a MANDATORY non-resident course that must be completed not later than two weeks prior to attending resident WOCS Phase 2 training at Fort Rucker or RTI locations.

Phase 1 Resident. (E5 non-graduate from PLDC/WLC and all E1 to E4. All others ineligible to complete Phase 1 dL) should be enrolled in corresponding Phase 2 class. Example: Student enrolled in Phase 1 (resident) class 06-012 should also be enrolled in Phase 2 class 06-012.

Phase 2 - All candidates attend resident phase 2 training.

WOCS Course Dates are available through the USAWOCC AKO page.

Welcome letter and packet for new candidates. (Requires AKO access). Check back periodically for updates.

Warrant Officer Candidate Standing Operating Procedure (WOC SOP). (Requires AKO access).

If you have further questions, phone the HHC personnel section, 334.255.1287 or 1967
DSN 558-xxxx

IF YOU ARE BRINGING YOUR FAMILY

Candidates authorized to move their dependents to Fort Rucker must do so PRIOR to their report date for WOCS. It is the individual’s responsibility to request 10 days permissive temporary duty (PTDY) for house hunting, from the losing command, and to settle their family prior to signing in to HHC. Once signed in, candidates will NOT be authorized PTDY until completion of WOCS. Candidates who are intra-service transfers will be processed case-by-case due to the limitations and restrictions placed upon them by their losing branch of service. All personnel arriving to Fort Rucker, PTDY for house hunting, are required to first report to the Post Housing Office (located in Bldg 5700) to have their PTDY paperwork stamped. Warrant Officer Candidates are authorized on post quarters, if available.

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A COMPLETED SECURITY CLEARANCE: Candidates must have an interim secret security clearance to apply, and a completed Personnel Security Questionnaire and fingerprint card to attend WOCS.
If your current enlistment exceeds your projected graduation date from WOCS you do not need to extend your enlistment. On successful completion of WOCS you will be discharged from your enlistment contract and take the appointment oath of a Warrant Officer.

PREPARE PHYSICALLY!

You will participate in daily physical training to include weekly road marches up to 10K. Condition yourself in advance and bring comfortable marching boots. FM 21-18 discusses conditioning road marches. Also, during the summer months you can expect high temperatures with extremely high humidity.

PHONE CARDS - BE CAREFUL!

You may either bring your cell phone or you may purchase a prepaid calling card to use on the pay phones during WOCS. Read the fine print when purchasing these cards. Depending on the company producing the card, there may be a surcharge for using a pay phone, varying from 6 to 33 minutes being deducted from the card just for the “connection fee” to use the pay phone. This connection fee is charged to the card in addition to any time spent on the phone. (The WOCC does not sell or promote the use of any specific prepaid calling card.)

GRADUATION Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS) continues to evolve to better align its philosophy and activities to meet the needs of an Army at war. The driving force is the desire to produce warrant officers better qualified to operate effectively in the demanding operational environment (OE).

The current focus emphasizes officer roles and responsibilities more, and individual activities less. Candidates are required to meet high standards for maintaining their personal living areas; however, the standards are based on the need to maintain a clean and orderly living environment rather than what many in the past perceived as arbitrary specifications designed to heighten stress levels.

Urban Ops Training There are experiential learning events throughout the program, particularly warrior tasks and battle drill related activities that provide leadership opportunities while emphasizing lessons relevant to the OE. These activities culminate in a field leadership exercise (FLX) that draws heavily on recent lessons learned. This capstone event provides candidates expanded opportunities to apply flexible, adaptive leadership principles in stressful, sometimes ambiguous, situations to reinforce and build upon previous classroom theory studies and discussion.

Training, Advising, and Counseling Officers (TACs) and academic instructors concentrate primarily on training and secondly on assessing candidates’ performance. This becomes apparent in the time and effort TACs and instructors devote to serving as role models, mentors, and coaches.

Throughout all the changes, rigor is maintained—even increased—and the goal continues to be to provide candidates the foundation they need to succeed as warrant officers in a changing Army, and to be adaptable to the ever increasing challenges of the OE.

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Last updated 03 June 2009