Is Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS) Hard?

Ever considered going warrant? Is the main thing stopping you from putting your packet in is the horror stories about Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS)? I’m here to dispel any rumors you may have heard about WOCS and put your mind at ease!

I didn’t believe the stories that WOCS was doing a reboot of the way they do things. I figured it was just a way for our warrant officer strength manager to entice new recruits for the warrant officer corps. And after a decade of service, I certainly did NOT want to go back to “basic training”!

Let’s talk about the road leading up to WOCS, how I prepared, what to expect, and the motivation you need to finally put your predetermination packet together.

The Train Up

There really was no better motivation to get in tip-top shape than knowing I did not want to struggle with the physical portion of WOCS. I can confidently say that my workout routine truly did prepare me for WOCS and the physical exertion part was not something I had to worry about during my time there.

I didn’t do anything “extra” to prepare. I had been advised to start doing two-a-days (e.g. one hiit workout and one strength training workout) and lots of running. As a dual military Army Mama, I think I only did a handful of two-a-days—I just did NOT have the time. So that is not the advice I’m going to share, because it was not applicable for my success.

I trained 5 days a week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were my strength training days. Tuesdays were my run days. Thursdays were my ruck days. I did this training routine for at least four months leading up to WOCS.

Running

Most, if not all, my run days were done outside, and I made sure they were on hilly terrain. In my neighborhood, there is basically nothing but hilly paths. I started out at just doing two miles and then worked my way up over the course of time, adding .25 miles every couple weeks. I never ran more than four miles, but I did make sure that my time was at least a 9:30 pace. My two-mile run time for most ACFTs is around 17 minutes for reference.

Having a consistent running plan really helped my endurance for the company runs we did at WOCS. And if you’ve ever done a company run, you know the slinky effect is KILLER. I never fell behind in our company runs.

Rucking

If you don’t know how to set your ruck up, then ask someone who is VERY well-versed in doing just that. I thought I had my ruck set really well, but when I was surprised at how much better someone else was able to set it up for me when I got to WOCS.

At the time I attended WOCS (FY 2024), the ruck weight had to be 30% of your body weight. I felt like I was able to glide when my ruck was properly set for my frame.

I used the same paths for my ruck days that I used when I did my run days. I worked my way up in weight every couple of weeks and used bumper plates in my ruck when I was training. If I had known how to properly set my ruck, then I probably would have had an easier time training for this event leading up to WOCS—I seriously can’t stress this enough.

It’s also important to train with a rubber ducky rifle. I’m sure people driving by in my neighborhood were wondering what the heck I was doing every Thursday morning with my ruck and rubber ducky.

Ruck days also helped me identify any hot spots I had on my feet. And yes, I tried all the tips and tricks for breaking in boots along with the double sock method and whatnot. Unfortunately, my feet are just prone to blisters. By the time I got to WOCS, I already knew which parts of my foot I needed to add moleskin to; and I was unscathed after each ruck march.

A lot of my ruck days were done alone, but towards the end I asked my husband to pace me just so I knew I could make time. If left to my own devices, I probably would’ve just been a slug for each ruck, but I personally needed that reassurance that I was actually making progress.

Surprisingly, I never rucked more than four miles during my train-up. Like I said, if you know how to set up your ruck, find your hotspots (if you have any), and incorporate rucking into your routine then you should be more than fine. I believe these were the reasons I didn’t struggle with those events.

Weight Training

I am in love with Kim Armstrong’s training plans from GoingDoingLiving. I feel they are the most effective for total body fitness and there are a wide range of plans to choose from. Leading up to WOCS, I was doing her Landmine + Bar training plan. I just subbed out the conditioning days for my run and ruck days.

Land Nav

Fortunately, my state has a couple land navigation courses and I was able to practice plotting and finding points. I practiced land nav at least once a week for a month leading up to WOCS.

Warrant Officer Definition, Soldier’s Creed, and Army Song

You will need to have the warrant officer definition, Soldier’s Creed, and the Army Song memorized prior to your arrival at WOCS. It just makes things easier for when you need to sound it off from memory. I listened to a YouTube video on a loop during my commute to memorize the Warrant Officer definition and the Soldier’s Creed.

Packing List

Try to get items for your packing list in advance so that you’re not forced to get them at the shopette when you arrive at WOCS. It’s helpful to reach out to other warrants to see what their dress uniforms look like so that you know what you’re looking for.

I showed up to WOCS thinking I had everything I needed and found out that the undershirts for my AGSUs were not the right ones.

Major Events at WOCS

Land Nav and the 10k ruck are probably the most intimidating events before you get to WOCS due to their individual failure rates.

Land Nav Tips

You’ll need at least 3 out of 4 points within 3 hours to pass land nav at WOCS.

Even though I practiced land navigation ad nauseum, I still failed my first go. Everyone from New Mexico warned me that terrain association was going to be my saving grace, but I honestly didn’t even know what that meant! I knew how to plot points quickly and accurately. I knew how to shoot an azimuth. I knew how to build a route. But I did NOT know how to terrain associate.

Since the area I trained in was mostly desert (hello, high desert area of New Mexico), my maps didn’t really have a lot of terrain to associate. I was killing it when I was practicing but man was I disoriented when I got to the land nav course at WOCS due to all the vegetation!

I highly recommend to practice reading a military map and knowing what the colors and images actually mean. Stokermatic’s YouTube Land Nav playlist actually helped me read a map well and I binged them after I failed land nav. If you can get a map for an area with high vegetation and just practice walking around with your compass and using the map to identify the terrain around you then you’ll have an easier time than I did.

Also getting comfortable with using cardinal directions instead of saying “left”, “right”, “up”, “down” when using your compass to move around that area.

Lastly, make sure you stick to your pace count for moving over uneven terrain. You’re not going to be walking over even surfaces. In fact, you’ll probably be running almost the whole time like I did in order to meet the three-hour time hack.

5k/10k Ruck Marches

The 5k ruck is not graded, but it will give you a good idea of where you stand before you embark on the 10k ruck. When I went to WOCS (FY 2024), the standard for the 5k was under 53 minutes and the 10k was under 106 minutes.

The ruck marches were honestly my favorite events at WOCS. 1^st WOCS brings in a bunch of people from retired warrants to those still in the service to join the class on their ruck marches. The comradery is real with these events and the vibes were unmatched.

Figure out how to set your ruck properly and you should be good if you stuck to a good training plan leading up to WOCS.

Even if you didn’t train properly (which I do NOT advise), walking back and forth to class with your camelback and assault pack sandwiched on your back is like a mini-ruck march every day. I’m pretty sure they do this on purpose to build up your strength for the ruck marches.

Something that helped me during my rucks is jogging from point-to-point and joining groups of people to keep me motivated. It wasn’t hard to keep up the motivation, because the TAC team did a really good job of delivering good vibes during these events.

4 Mile Run

We had insane weather when I went to WOCS and this event ended up being cut due to having to reschedule it multiple times. But don’t worry, there will be plenty of opportunities to run while you’re at WOCS. The score for this event goes towards your overall grade point average and your ability to pin senior on the first opportunity. The math is simple with this, the faster you run equals the higher your score.

One precaution I would give when it comes to the runs at WOCS is the humidity. I came from a high elevation area (6,000 ft above sea level) and usually it gives me an advantage; however, the humidity really sucks the life out of your lungs making the high elevation advantage useless.

ACFT

Failing the initial ACFT is the quickest way to get recycled. Stick to a good training plan and you shouldn’t have to worry about this event. If you score high on your ACFT then you can put yourself in the running for the Iron WOC award.

Daily Battle Rhythm at WOCS

The most stressful part for WOCS was the feeling of impending doom, sleep deprivation, and time hacks. Those three things really created a recipe for disaster and a lot of confusion.

Attention to detail is important at WOCS, but you’re prone to make mistakes when you’re running on a few hours of sleep. Time is precious and you really do have to figure out how to prioritize things while you’re there.

I was the S1 primary officer for my class and fortunately I had a great team to help with the admin workload, but we all still had classwork deadlines that needed to be met as well. It already feels like it’s late by the time your head hits the pillow and then you need to wake up at 0300 for all the major events. Most of us were zombies by the time class hit. Obviously, this is the quickest way to ignite stress in anyone and it worked well.

Time in class will eat up most of your day. If you aren’t familiar with reading Operation Orders, writing essays, and United States history then now is a good time to brush up on those three things. There were more subjects within the curriculum, but you’ll find value in having those fundamentals.

Another potential stressor at WOCS is being able to work as a team. It’s not always going to be perfect, but if your class can come together then it will be much easier to accomplish group goals. I didn’t experience too many issues with my class and had a generally positive experience with my classmates.

I’m normally an anxious person, so it was interesting to see other people in a much more dysregulated state of mind.

The TAC officers aren’t as scary as the stories make them out to be. If you mess up (and you probably will slip up at some point) then you’ll be held accountable. That is where the feeling of impending doom comes from. The sleep deprivation coupled with the time hacks will guarantee that you’re not at the top of your game and that’s expected.

Is WOCS Hard?

Long story short: WOCS is challenging, but not in the way that you might think. I had it in my head that I was going to get smoked left and right, but they really are trying to get away from that stereotype and make it into a true officer producing course. There are still some bugs that they are working through, but it did NOT feel like I had travelled back in time to basic training.

They have their WOCisms that will throw you off and you can’t really prepare for those things until you’re immersed in that environment.