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Officer candidate
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====U.S. Army==== In the [[United States Army]], officer candidates attend either the Federal [[Officer Candidate School (U.S. Army)|Officer Candidate School]] (OCS) at [[Fort Benning]], Georgia, or [[Officer Candidate School (United States Army)#Army National Guard|Army National Guard Regional Training Institutes]] (RTIs). RTIs follow the same curriculum and requirements as OCS and commission graduates who receive federal recognition into the Army National Guard. Soldiers who attend OCS are usually prior service enlisted personnel, though civilians with college degrees can enlist and go directly to OCS after basic training.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.com/enlist/officer-candidate-school.html |work=Army.com |title=Officer Candidate School |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404015551/http://www.army.com/enlist/officer-candidate-school.html |archive-date=2007-04-04}}</ref> Additionally, Warrant Officer Candidates attend the Warrant Officer Candidate school and are also officer candidates. With regard to rank, a U.S. Army officer candidate exists in a gray area. AR 600β20, Army Command Policy, places their rank as outranking all enlisted members of the service and rank directly below all officers. They are not yet officers. They are enlisted soldiers who lose all rank status when reporting to the course. Regardless of pay grade, traditionally, but technically incorrect, candidates are outranked by any course cadre or permanent party enlisted soldiers they may encounter. Although their status does not correspond to a position of authority within the standard U.S. Army ranks, candidates serve in leadership training roles at the platoon or company level. They are addressed as "candidate" by the OCS cadre. During the first few weeks of indoctrination, candidates are treated much the same as a new [[Army recruit|recruit]]. In the final weeks of training, OCS platoons may achieve "senior" status and senior officer candidates may be addressed as "Sir" or "Ma'am" by more junior candidates, but never by other enlisted ranks. The [[U.S. uniformed services pay grades|pay grade]] for a U.S. Army officer candidate is [[E-5 (rank)|E-5]] (Federal OCS), or [[E-6 (rank)|E-6]] (state OCS) on the enlisted pay scale, unless the candidate previously achieved a higher enlisted rank.<ref>[http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r350_51.pdf Army Regulation 350-51 ''United States Army Officer Candidate School'']. June 11, 2001. Chapter 5-2. Retrieved February 9, 2011.</ref> For example, an [[E-7 (rank)|E-7]] who becomes a candidate would continue to receive [[E-7 (rank)|E-7]] pay. The OCS uniform is stripped of the rank patch which is replaced by the letters "OCS." Upon commissioning, a candidate becomes a [[second lieutenant]].
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