Officer Candidates School: A History

For those not attending the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., the road to a commission as a Marine Corps lieutenant begins with one of several programs at Officer Candidates School: The Officer Candidates Class, the Platoon Leaders Course, or the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps.

Each course is a screening process intended to motivate, train, evaluate, and screen potential officers. The methods used in this screening process have not changed appreciably since they were first developed.

Prior to World War I, Marine officers primarily came from the Naval Academy or from the enlisted ranks. The first officer training school at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., traces its beginnings to 1891 when Marine Corps General Order No. 1 established the first formal resident school for Marine officers, the “School of Application” at Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.

In 1909, the school moved to the Marine Barracks at Annapolis, Md., and was renamed the “Marine Officers’ School,” and, in 1910, it moved to Norfolk, Va.

With U.S. involvement in World War I came the increase in the size of all the armed services. To meet the need for officers, a decision was made to move the instructional effort to Quantico where individual replacements and new units were being formed for the war. Quantico was where all new officers were going and the “Officers Camp of Instruction,” was organized at Quantico in July 1917. In April of 1918, the school was formalized and titled the “Officers Training Camp.”

In fall 1919, the Quantico commander, Maj. Gen. John A. Lejuene, established the “Marine Corps Officers Training School” and the “Marine Officers Infantry School.” These two schools were combined in 1920 to become the “Marine Officers Training School.” By 1922, this school had further evolved into the “Field Officers Course” (modeled after the Army’s Command and General Staff School) and the “Company Officers Course,” both designed to teach tactics, topography, law, administration, and engineering, among other subjects. A third course, called “The Basic School” was designed to indoctrinate new Marine lieutenants in the duties of infantry leaders.

In 1934, the Marine Corps developed the Platoon Leaders Course, selecting students from certain colleges that did not have ROTC programs. In spring 1935, platoon leaders classes were organized at Quantico and San Diego. Under this new program, college graduates were appointed as Reserve second lieutenants after two, six-week training periods, and were given further training at TBS.

But the increasing needs of World War II still could not be met and in July 1940 and an additional training unit was formed, the “Officer Candidates Class.”

The wartime demands of 1943 prompted the establishment temporary candidate detachments at Camp Elliot, Calif. and at Camp Lejuene, N.C. The Platoon Leaders Course was re-established in 1944, and except for a temporary move to Parris Island, S.C. in 1951, it has remained at Quantico. The addition of the PLC program to officer candidate training led to another reorganization, and in 1944, the Officer Candidates Class was renamed the “Officer Candidates School.”

By September 1945, TBS had reopened, and by 1947, through various reorganizations, had assumed responsibility for the training of all officer candidates, including those of the Platoon Leaders Course and the Naval ROTC.

During World War II, female potential Marine Corps Reserve officers were trained at Mount Holyoke College and Smith College, both in Massachusetts.

The last significant reorganization occurred in 1977 when female officer training was placed under the cognizance of the commanding officer of Officer Candidates School.