Officer Development School

This is the Document Release Information
Article Number:	7CAV-R-033
Scope:	Officer Development School (ODS)
Version:	Version 1.0
Effective Date:	30 NOV 18
Last Modified Date:	DDMMMYYYY
Approving Authority:	Regimental Commanding Officer
Point of Contact:	Regimental Chief of Staff

Section 1: Overview

Purpose:
The purpose of this document is to lay out the standards for the selection, training and evaluation of potential officer candidates.

Authority:
The Regimental Chief of Staff is the Officer in Charge of the Officer Development School and is the final authority on grading of officer candidates and commissioning new Second Lieutenants.

Section 2: ODS Selection

Selection begins with an ODS announcement. This is done when the eligibility lists for any of the MOS' are low on numbers. The flow for selection is as follows:

• ODS Announcement - A class announcement is posted.
• PM Sent to BN and Company Staff assigning the number of open slots per company.
• Company Staff confer with Platoon Staffs and send their choices to the Battalion Staff.
• Battalion Staff will submit the group names from all companies to the ODS School
• Confirmation PM sent by ODS Staff to candidates.

Section 3: ODS Training

Training is conducted over a 3-day period, usually consecutive weekends. Training covers the following:

• Day 1 - Duties & Responsibilities:
  • Role of the Platoon Leader
  • Relationship with the Platoon Sergeant
  • Regimental SOPs
  • Duties and Responsibilities of the Platoon Leader
  • Billet Promotion SOPs and Guidelines
  • Training and Training Plans
• Day 2 - Plans and Orders:
  • METT-TC
  • Troop Leading Procedures
  • Operations Orders
• Day 3 - Managing Subordinates:
  • Building Morale and Motivating Troopers
  • The Disciplinary Process
  • Scenario Discussion

Section 4: ODS Evaluation

There are three parts to the ODS evaluation, corresponding to each day of training:

• Test 1: Candidates are required to submit an essay on a subject chosen from a list of topics.
• Test 2: Candidates must complete a plan for the movement and maneuver of a platoon in a mission scenario provided.
• Test 3: Candidates must complete a plan chosen from a list of projects.

Scoring:

• Scoring is standardized and is heavily weighted towards original ideas and their ability to communicate their ideas/plans. Each test is scored out of 100, added together out of 300 and then converted to a percent.

Section 5: ODS Ranking

Successful candidates are placed on an eligibility list, ranked in order of their scores on the evaluations. Scores within 5% are considered a tie. Candidates whose score is considered non-competitive are encouraged to re-attend Day 3 of ODS and re-do the evaluations in order to improve their score.

Section 6: Officer Commissioning

The process for commissioning a new Second Lieutenant begins when an opening for a new officer occurs. The following then occurs:

Eligible Candidates:
As of the writing of this SOP, every candidate on the list is considered eligible.

The list of all eligible officer candidates is submitted to Battalion Staff by the ODS Staff. The intention is to have Battalion and Company Staff provide feedback to the ODS staff on each individual to aid in the decision-making process. When an opening needs to be filled company/battalion staff is to submit a request to the ODS staff/COS to fill the slot.

Decision-Making:
The factors taken into account when deciding upon the successful candidate include but are not limited to the following:

• ODS scores at least six percent ahead of all others take precedent unless the candidate is otherwise unsuitable.
• Performance in a leadership billet over a consistently long period of time.
• Performance in secondary billets over a consistently long period of time.
• Awards for contributions or service to the Regiment.
• Activity levels.
• Number of courses taken and operations attended.
• Prior VCS's and NCS's within a reasonable timeframe.

The ODS Staff review all of the above and then make a decision on who will be the next officer. It is incumbent on the Company Staff to ensure that a fair and balanced appraisal of each candidate is submitted up through Battalion in order to facilitate making a good and fair choice.