The Basic School

The Basic School

The Basic School Insignia
Active
Country United States
Branch USMC
Type Training
Role Train and educate newly commissioned or appointed United States Marine Corps Officers
Part of Training Command (TECOM)
Garrison/HQ Camp Barrett, Virginia
Commanders
Current
commander
Colonel Julian Dale Alford
Notable
commanders
General James T. Conway

The Basic School (TBS) is where all newly commissioned United States Marine Corps officers are sent to learn the art and science of being an Officer of Marines. TBS currently lasts 26 weeks. During those 26 weeks, the new officers are given extensive classroom, field, and practical application training on subjects ranging from weapons and tactics to leadership and protocol. Whether commissioned from the Naval Academy, NROTC or one of the other Officer Candidate School (OCS) routes, TBS is the first stop for new Marine officers. During TBS, the officers are selected for a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) ranging from Infantry to Military Police to Naval Aviator. Following TBS, the Officer will attend one or more additional schools to be trained in that particular specialty prior to being assigned to a unit in the Fleet Marine Force. The Basic School is located in Quantico, Virginia at Camp Barrett, 22 miles west of Marine Corps Base Quantico. Each year, over 1,700 new officers are trained to lead Marines.

The course has training in the classroom and in the field. Classroom events include platform instruction, tactical decision games (TDGs), sand table exercises (STEXs) and small group discussions. There are various field events, beginning with fireteam and squad level, moving all the way up to platoon reinforced events. The field events consist of realistic blank-fire training and live fire ranges.

Contents

Mission statement

Train and educate newly commissioned or appointed officers in the high standards of professional knowledge, esprit de corps, and leadership in order to prepare them for duty as company grade officers in the operating forces, with particular emphasis on the duties, responsibilities and warfighting skills required of a rifle platoon commander.[1]

Instruction at TBS

The most critical aspect of instruction at The Basic School is the Five Horizontal Themes. They were created to clearly define the expectations of every student officer at TBS. These themes are not only taught to the student officers at The Basic School, but they cross all subordinate units. The purpose for this is consistency, unity of effort and shared vision among all personnel at TBS.

[1]

Phases of Instruction

Field Training Exercises (FEXs)

Warrant Officer Basic Course (WOBC)

Marine warrant officers attend a 17-week training regime similar in scope and instruction to the 26-week course required by second lieutenants, which is shortened due to the prior experience possessed by the newly appointed warrant officers. They are assigned to India Company at Camp Barret.

An enlisted Marine can apply for the warrant officer program after serving at least eight years of enlisted service, and reaching the grade of E-5 (Sergeant) for the administrative warrant officer program or after serving at least sixteen years of enlisted service and reaching the grade of E-7 (Gunnery Sergeant) for the weapons warrant officer program. If the Marine NCO is selected, he or she is given additional leadership and management training during the Warrant Officer Basic Course.[2]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b The Basic School. Headquarters Marine Corps. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/tbs/. Retrieved 2007-09-17. 
  2. ^ General Emphasizes Leadership at Warrant Officer Commissioning 2nd Lt. Patrick Boyce, 8 February 2007. Retrieved 25 January 2011.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.
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