BOLC

*** Read me first!!!***

I am getting old - I attended BOLC way back in 2016. Several points of reference, such as using MODS, have changed. As always, would reference the HPSP office for future guidance if you find yourself stuck!

Overview (See the dropdown arrow near the "BOLC" link for more)

The Basic Officers Leadership Course - your introduction to the Army. Most HPSP students will spend about 6 weeks (give or take a few days depending on your branch) learning the basics of being an officer and being in the military in general. This counts as active duty service and satisfies an ADT requirement if completed during medical school. This must be completed prior to starting residency. 

For HPSP students, BOLC is broken up into two parts: didactic (classroom lectures) and field training. On arrival at BOLC, you are assigned to a hotel room in an actual hotel on base. You may or may not have a roommate. The first few days will be spent conducting in processing procedures, which includes a lot of paperwork, procuring whatever gear you do not yet own, and endless hours of your comrades asking some of the most absurd questions you can imagine.

For the didactic portion, it's simply endless hours of lectures. If you passed the APFT on the third day of BOLC, you will have PRT at 0500 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. If you failed, you have it daily. On weekdays, you have three meals a day, courtesy of the DFAC (chow hall). On weekends, you have to fend for yourself, but you are given a substantial budget of roughly $60 a day. At nights, you have the privilege of returning to your cozy hotel room. You will have a written mid-term and final exam on lecture material. These are not difficult so much as they simply require you to memorize a decent number of lecture slides. Pretty straight forward.

Between the two parts of BOLC is the fourth of July weekend. We got Monday and Friday off which made for a long and much-needed vacation weekend.

For the field training, you will sleep Monday-Friday in an air-conditioned tent, which is more than I expected. Friday nights, you go back to your hotel room and Monday morning you head back to the camp. You can check out the blog for more on what field training entails.

Sign Up

With MODS no longer being accessible on a non-government computer and with the advent of DCC, the system has changed significantly since I went through it. You should sign up for BOLC through your given contacts from the HPSP office and any other given guidance. My apologies, I am somewhat out of the loop these days on this process.

The portal on MODS to sign up for BOLC (under "Requests," then "ADT" ). It opens up in December each year for the following summer. There are a limited number of spots available in BOLC for each year, so if you don't sign up in time, you won't get to go that year. You are able to complete BOLC at any point during med school, HOWEVER, it is highly recommended that you complete it after your first year of med school. This is because your other ADTs (rotations in Army hospitals), strongly suggest (if not require) you to have completed BOLC prior to completing them. These other ADTs will give you experience in Army hospitals and thereby increase your chances of snagging your residency location of choice.

Getting Orders

Assuming you had no problems signing up for BOLC on MODS, all you can do is wait! You should expect your orders 4-6 weeks prior to BOLC. I received an e-mail with a link to the Human Resources Command website. There, you can see all of your orders you have received as well as any forms you have filled out in the Army (there are a lot!). The actual order will be under the "Documents" header.

Booking Transportation

Immediately after you receive your orders for BOLC, you should book your transportation. Based on your distance from the training site, your travel plans will vary. If you live within a certain distance of the training base (I believe 450 miles - see HPSP handbook for details), the Army will reimburse you to drive to BOLC. 

Most of you will be flying in. Depending on your situation, you may be entitled to a rental car or shuttle service - paid for by the Army. Contact the Army travel agency AFTER you have received your orders and they will book a flight for you - too easy!

Getting Gear

*You should have all of your gear from DCC - these recommendations apply either way!

Shortly after this, you'll want to start buying gear for BOLC. Here, I break down the BOLC shopping list. Be sure to follow the official list you receive when preparing for BOLC.

So where can I find an official list - you may ask. I acquired all of the BOLC information I could need by calling the BOLC headquarters at AMEDD. You can find their contact information here: http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/bolc/. Give them a call and they will e-mail you documents galore. You will have the same information e-mailed to you automatically as BOLC approaches, however, I received that e-mail roughly 3 weeks prior to BOLC, which is NOT enough time to acquire all of your necessary gear if you order it online from the exchange (it takes 1-4 weeks to receive items). Therefore, I would contact AMEDD as soon as you get your orders.

You will see on the official lists that certain colors and types of items are required. Your best bet on finding the proper items is to shop at an Exchange. You may shop at an Exchange in person (if you have a CAC) or online. HOWEVER, I highly recommend you go to an exchange in person at the very least to try on different sizes of clothing. Military sizes are a bit different that normal and you'll want to have everything fitting properly. 

DON'T WAIT UNTIL RIGHT BEFORE YOU LEAVE OR UNTIL YOU GET TO BOLC TO BUY YOUR GEAR. I started buying uniform equipment more than a month before I was scheduled to depart and several necessary items were out of stock in my size.

Altering Gear

There is a tailor on site who can sew on all of your ranks and name tapes relatively inexpensively. The official packing list will tell you to get either sew-on or velcro patches of your Name Tapes, US Army patch and rank patch. I would get a few of each; they don't cost too much and you can be a real pal and lend some to other people who will have failed to get their stuff in advance.

You don't NEED to get anything sewn-on, technically. However, I HIGHLY recommend you get your rank sewn on to your patrol cap. If you do not, you must use the rank pins, which have backings that will stab you in the forehead for hours at a time. To achieve this you should purchase 2 caps (I know the list only says one). This is so you can wear one while the other is being sewn - this will take a few days. Also, it will be beneficial to have a spare cap in your backpack in case you walk out without one.

I thought it was illegal to get a US uniform tailored, however, they perform this service in on-base tailor shops all the time, so...

Form 3924

This is a form that you will fill out at the completion of every active duty training or tour that you complete. 

This is pretty straight forward and you will receive instruction about this at BOLC. Since that instruction is not always the clearest, see this link for instruction on how to complete this form.

Form 1351-2 (Travel voucher)

This form will get you reimbursed for expenses incurred during training, which includes weekend meals and transport to and from the airport (among others). You REALLY want to fill this form out correctly and promptly, as I received over $1000 in reimbursement from weekend meals, alone. This you will also complete after you finish BOLC.

Because I am so cool, see this link for instruction on how to complete this form.

BOLC Survival Guide

For most of you, this will be your first experience in the military. Here, I list off a few quick tips that will make your first two weeks at BOLC flow much more smoothly

1. Have the following 4 items on your person at all times: 

   1. CAC ID

   2. Meal card

   3. Copy of your orders 

   4. Hotel room key

2. Do everything in your power to have your CAC prior to attending BOLC

   1. Your quality of life will be significantly better

   2. It may be tricky for some people who joined late or had paper processing issues or do not live near a RAPIDS station, but do what you can.

3. Get your name tapes and all patches prior to attending BOLC

   1. This one is easy. You can order your name tapes and patches (US flag, US Army, Rank patches) online at the Exchange website. It is really simple and really cheap and will make you look a LOT better early on.

4. Do not DREAM of walking outdoors in your ACU without your patrol cap

   1. Don't do it!

5. Do not walk on the grass unless ordered to do so

6. Saluting

   1. You will out-rank most people you will walk by on the base. 

   2. A quick way to remember who you should salute and who should salute you is: If the other person's rank has a chevron in it, THEY should salute YOU first. In most other scenarios, you should salute the other person first.

7. Someone is always watching you. 

   1. We had numerous instances where one of our commanding officers will announce to the group "I got a call from so-and-so who said they saw BOLC students doing X, Z and Y." 

   2. Always be on your best behavior (i.e. act like an officer) at all times in public.

8. No multi-tasking in public

   1. The Army likes you to be focused on one thing at a time; on your "mission," if you will.

   2. If you are walking to get food, you are walking to get food - no eating, drinking, talking on the phone or anything like that while walking around.

9. No headphones/ear buds

   1. This rule may vary by your leadership

   2. The hard rule is no headphones while being outside and walking or even running on the track

   3. You can probably get away with headphones on the treadmill in your hotel, but I wouldn't risk it.

10. Limit your "dumb" questions

    1. They may tell you that there are no stupid questions, however, your comrades will disagree.

    2. Be smart; if your question on if you can or can not do something contains a qualifier, odds are you cannot do that thing

       1. For instance: after we were told no headphones/earbuds, someone asked "can we have just one earbud in?" What do you think the commander's response was?

11. Do not casually leave your hands in your ACU trouser pockets.

    1. The only time your hands should be in your pockets is to take out or replace an item in your trousers.

12. For all you men out there: get an electric razor

    1. You need to be clean shaven EVERY DAY. You will tear up your face if you try using a blade razor every morning.

13. If you are a vegetarian, be prepared to eat a LOT of beans

    1. While it is possible to stick with a vegetarian diet here, it is difficult; you will often end up eating the same thing a few times a week

    2. You can pick up protein bars from the commissary