THE STORY OF FORT SILL
FIELD ARTILLERY
OFFICER CANDIDATE SCHOOL

The Army’s officer candidate schools were inaugurated under the authority of a War Department directive dated 26 April 1941. The Field Artillery OCS was established at Fort Sill with the first class of 125 candidates reporting on 10 July 1941, and billeted in tents. The first class graduated 79 on 1 October 1941.That same year, a second class of 125 reported 19 August.

The 13-week course was for warrant officers and enlisted men who had served at least six months’  at the date of enrollment in the course. The course covered gunnery, communications, tactics and other subjects. In mid-1943, it was expanded to 17 weeks to include more instruction on tactics and in Army administration, military law, mess management and other general military subjects.

General R.N. Danford, World War II Chief of Field Artillery, and Brigadier General George R. Allin, Commandant of the Field Artillery School, set early procedures and standards for their OCS candidates. They directed the candidates be worked as hard as possible to weed out those who could not take the pressure. General Danford did not want men in the course who were not officer material.

As originally organized in June 1941, a Commandant of Candidates headed OCS with a staff of three. The first Commandant was Captain Carl H. Jark, who retired as a Lieutenant General. By November 1942, the staff had expanded to 66 officers and the course capacity was 6,600 candidates: 12 classes of 550 candidates each.

With the fall of the Japanese Empire and the cessation of hostilities in August 1945, the need for Field Artillery officers became less critical. On 12 December 1946, the FA OCS was officially closed when class number 179 graduated 21 individuals. Since opening in April 1941, 26,209 Second Lieutenants had graduated and received commissions from the Field Artillery OCS.

The outbreak of hostilities in Korea demanded an immediate response, so the FA OCS reopened on 21 February 1951. The first class since 1946 reported to attend the new 23 week course at Fort Sill. Fifty-seven candidates started with the class and 28 were commissioned. In 1954, several National Guard classes were established for a rigorous 11-week summer course. Then in June 1957, Army Reserve classes began a similar program.

Due to the conflict in Southeast Asia, the 1967 enrollment increased, and within a few months, the FAOCS had six battalions with 42 batteries. The FY 1967 expansion program was highlighted by the construction of 13 new barracks and administrative facilities to support a programmed input of 9600 candidates. In February 1967, a general order re-designated the tactical organization of the Officer Candidate School as the Officer Candidate Brigade, and the title of "Commandant" was changed to "Commanding Officer."

For the next few years, the FA OCS consolidated its program to parallel the decreasing need for lieutenants. On 7 July 1973, after the American withdrawal from Vietnam, the FA OCS officially closed with the graduation of class 4-73, a graduating class of only 26. More than 47,500 Second Lieutenants were commissioned between 1941-1973.