There are more questions and comments related to MOS selection and The Basic School than any other topic. While going through old paperwork preparing to update my OMPF (VERY IMPORTANT!) I stumbled across my report card from The Basic School. Seeing as how everyone wants to do well at TBS and get a sweet MOS it seemed only right that I share this information with you all.
Disclaimers:
- The weights may not be the same when you get to TBS.
- Some of the events may have changed.
- My rankings were relative to my class. Don’t think that matching my scores will equate to doing well. Do better than I did!
| EVENT | SCORE | WEIGHT | SCORE*WT | STANDING |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| REVIEW EXAM | 90.0000 | 1.00 | 0.90 | |
| PHASE I EXAM I | 91.6670 | 2.50 | 2.2317 | |
| PHASE I EXAM II | 97.7778 | 2.50 | 2.4444 | |
| PHASE II EXAM I | 95.5556 | 3.00 | 2.8667 | |
| PHASE II EXAM II | 91.1112 | 3.00 | 2.7333 | |
| PHASE III EXAM I | 91.1112 | 3.50 | 3.1889 | |
| PLT CDRS ADMIN TEST | 97.0000 | 3.00 | 2.9100 | |
| PHASE III EXAM II | 100.0000 | 3.50 | 3.5000 | |
| PHASE IV EXAM I | 88.8890 | 4.00 | 3.5556 | |
| PHASE IV EXAM II | 86.6668 | 4.00 | 3.4667 | |
| ACADEMIC TOTALS | 92.8575 | 30 | 27.8572 | 16 |
| 2ND LEADERSHIP EVALUATION | 85.0000 | 8.00 | 6.8000 | |
| 3RD LEADERSHIP EVALUATION | 85.0000 | 12.00 | 10.2000 | |
| 4TH LEADERSHIP EVALUATION | 85.0000 | 16.00 | 13.6000 | |
| LEADERSHIP EXAM | 98.5000 | 4.00 | 3.9400 | |
| LEADERSHIP TOTALS | 86.25 | 40 | 34.5400 | 89 |
| RIFLE QUAL | 88.0000 | 12.00 | 10.2000 | |
| PISTOL QUAL | 90.0000 | 1.50 | 1.3500 | |
| COMM PRAC APP | 95.0000 | 1.00 | 0.9500 | |
| COMBAT LIFE SAVING | 99.0000 | 1.00 | 0.9900 | |
| LAND NAV DAY | 80.0000 | 3.00 | 2.4000 | |
| LAND NAV NIGHT | 85.0000 | 2.00 | 1.7000 | |
| CREW SERVED WEAPONS | 94.0000 | 2.00 | 1.8800 | |
| COMBAT ORDERS | 87.0000 | 3.00 | 2.6100 | |
| TACTICAL DECISION MAKING 1 | 83.0000 | 4.00 | 3.3200 | |
| DOUBLE OBSTACLE COURSE | 100.0000 | 2.00 | 2.0000 | |
| ENDURANCE COURSE | 98.7500 | 3.00 | 2.9625 | |
| TACTICAL DECISION MAKING 2 | 83.0000 | 4.00 | 3.3200 | |
| PFT | 96.0000 | 1.00 | 0.9600 | |
| CFT | 100.0000 | 1.00 | 1.0000 | |
| MIL SKILLS | 89.2083 | 30.00 | 26.7625 | 22 |
| OVERALL | 89.1597 | 100.00 | 89.1597 | 38 |
Overview
You can quickly see that academics and military skills carried me through TBS and helped get me into the top 20%. Leadership dragged me down significantly, but I’ll talk about that a little later.
If you look at my military skills scores, I didn’t do well on a lot of events, but I still came in 22 overall for that category. Take that as a hint you can make some real money there. My Tactical Decision Making scores are 83%, but the average was in the 60’s and those test CANNOT be retaken. You get what you get. The details related to those tests are a bit of a secret, so I don’t want to spoil the surprise by giving more details. Just don’t memory dump information after an academic test.
Physical fitness also helped carry me with solid double obstacle course and endurance course scores. The PFT/CFT are only 1%, so don’t worry about those. Your real focus should be on practicing the obstacle course and doing the endurance course on weekends as much as you can.
Land Navigation really hurt me and was disappointing. I did much better on the practice courses, and just dropped the ball when it came to the finals. Do the remedial courses on the weekends if you’re not getting perfect scores. It sucks to lose a Saturday, but it’ll be worth it. I regret not getting more practice in.
Leadership Evaluation
Leadership grading is very strange at TBS and constantly changing. It used to be that your SPC would rank the platoon from 1 to whatever. Your grade then correlated with your rank. The number 1 person got 100%, number 2 got 99%, etc. I may not be completely accurate with the old method, but it was something like that.
My company decided to do 5 tiers that would follow a bell curve methodology. For example, let’s say there were 30 people in my platoon. It might go something like this:
- Top: 3 people at 95%
- Top-middle: 5 people at 90%
- Middle: 14 people at 85%
- Bottom-middle: 5 people at 80%
- Bottom: 3 people at 75%
Every SPC would follow this scheme to prevent any particular platoon from having a higher average. To receive above 95%, your SPC would have to submit a request to the company CO and prove your awesomeness.
I was placed in the middle tier for all 3 evaluations, thus my scores were 85%
This method has most likely changed, so don’t read into it too much.
Departing Tips
There’s not a whole lot that you can do to prepare for TBS.
PT events are 100% in your hands, so don’t let those points slip away.
Leadership is out of your hands and based on your SPC’s opinion of you. Be confident when you speak and try to get a high visibility responsibility. For the most part, the PT representatives get high leadership scores because they are constantly in the spotlight.
Help out your peers, but be authentic or they’ll see through the fake persona. TBS is incredibly challenging, but it may be the last time you get to fly on an MV-22, shoot the .50 cal, and hang out with those who will become your best friends. So have fun and make the best of it.
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