Direct commission officer

A direct commission officer (DCO) is a United States uniformed officer who has received a commission without the typical prerequisites for achieving a commission, such as a four year service academy, a four year or two year college ROTC program, or one of the officer candidate school or officer training school programs, the latter OCS/OTS programs typically slightly over three months in length.

Civilians who have special skills that are critical to sustaining military operations, supporting troops, health and scientific study may receive what are called "direct commissions." These officers usually occupy leadership positions in the following areas: law, science, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nurse corps, intelligence, supply-logistics-transportation, engineering, public affairs, chaplain corps, oceanography, merchant marine affairs, and others.

The U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Coast Guard have more extensive active and reserve component DCO programs than the other two U.S. armed services.

The U.S. Marine Corps does not offer a DCO program. The Marines, however, do have a substantial population of "Mustang" Officers, who are commissioned officers who have served as enlisted personnel before earning their commissions. The Marines also have a robust Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) and Limited Duty Officer (LDO) program. CWOs can attain the rank of LDO Captain and can not rise higher than Lieutenant Colonel. CWOs and LDOs are utilized as experts within their occupational field only.

The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps exclusively use a DCO program to commission their officers.

Depending on the specialization and duty-status of the officer, "DCOs" as they're called, will attend either Officer Indoctrination School (OIS), Officer Development School (ODS), or Direct Commission Officer School (DCO School) which vary from two weeks duration for certain Reserve DCOs to five weeks duration for Active Duty DCOs.

U.S. Army Active and Reserve Direct Commission Officers

Active United States Army direct commissions are available in the medical, legal and chaplain corps. Each branch will rank the officer candidate upon completion of Basic Officer Leadership Course (BOLC). The United States Army Reserve uses the DCO program to bring specialized skills and backgrounds, and to fill critical shortages in the Army Reserve commissioned officer corps. A majority of the people obtaining direct commissions in the Army Reserve are prior-enlisted personnel. However, there have been instances when qualified civilians were directly commissioned as well. The general requirements for a direct commission in the Army Reserve are: 60 semester hours of college credit; the ability to get and maintain a "secret" clearance; be physically qualified (obtain and pass a medical evaluation); an open slot or "billet" in an Army Reserve unit; three recommendation letters from commissioned field-grade officers; and a recommendation from a direct commissioning board. Once selected, the applicant signs the oath and is sworn in by another commissioned officer. At that point the newly commissioned officer will then need to attend the Basic Officer Leadership Course (BOLC) in their assigned area of concentration (AOC) before becoming fully qualified.

Direct commission officers in the Army Reserve can serve in the same specialities and hold billets as ROTC, OCS, and USMA graduates. Direct commission officers may be promoted to flag officer rank and hold command within their specialty of work.

U.S. Navy Direct Commission Officers

The United States Navy has an extensive DCO program. It is important to distinguish between the Navy's active duty component staff corps school, called Officer Development School (ODS), and the Navy's reserve component Direct Commission Officer School (DCO School).

Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) of 2005 decreed that the Navy Reserve officer DCO School be relocated from Naval Aviation Schools Command at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida to Naval Education and Training Center Newport, Rhode Island effective January 2007. As a result of BRAC and other budgetary-driven actions, the U.S. Navy consolidated many of its schools at NETC, Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island.

The Navy is currently considering merging DCO School, Limited Duty Officer School, and Mustang University into one contiguous officer training program—all located in Newport, Rhode Island. As of January 2007 all Navy Reserve DCO, LDO and CWO Officers attend the same two week course of instruction in Newport. Active duty ODS, a five week course, is also located in Newport, as well as Officer Candidate School (OCS), the 12-week program that college graduates wishing to join the U.S. Navy as active duty officers go through.

The U.S. Navy Reserve Direct Commissioning Program allows university-educated professionals, between ages 19 to 35 (or older, in some cases), the opportunity to be appointed as an officer in the Navy Reserve. Most DCOs hold advanced degrees (MAs, MBAs, JDs, MDs, DOs, PharmDs and Ph.Ds.) and/or significant civilian work experience. In recent years, the number of direct commissions offered by the Navy Reserve has increased due to the need for skilled officers to serve as Individual Augmentees (IAs) in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Direct Commissioning Program serves the expanded needs of the Navy in certain officer skill areas listed below in alphabetical order by category:

Unrestricted Line Officer

Restricted Line Officer (including Special Duty Officer)

Staff Corps Officer

Limited Duty Officer (Various specialties)

Warrant Officer (Various specialties)

Some skill areas may not have openings each year. Each year, skill area recruiting quotas are promulgated for recruiters to fill. Upon completion of their training regimen, DCOs serve on nearly every type of ship in the fleet and at shore establishments around the globe. Navy DCOs are forward deployed and are currently serving on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are an integral part of the Navy's role in the War on Terror.

U.S. Coast Guard Direct Commission Officers

The United States Coast Guard uses the DCO program to bring specialized skills and backgrounds into the Coast Guard commissioned officer corps. The DCO course is conducted by the Officer Candidate School, located at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. Depending on program and background, the course is three, four, or five weeks long. For the five-week program, the first week is an Indoctrination week.

There are seven Direct Commission Officer programs:

Some DCO programs may not have openings each year. While DCOs are expected to fill specific specialty areas, they are not specifically precluded from crossing into other operational or support billets in follow-on assignments.

U.S. Public Health Service (Commissioned Corps) Direct Commission Officers

The PHSCC Direct Commissioning Program allows university-educated professionals, between ages 19 to 45 (or older, in some cases), the opportunity to be appointed as an officer in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Most PHSCC DCOs hold advanced degrees (DDSs, DMDs, MSs, MDs, DOs, PharmDs and Ph.Ds.) and significant civilian work experience, and the minimum in many programs is a master's degree from a duly accredited program. One of the fields requiring only a baccalaureate degree is engineering. The Direct Commissioning Program serves the expanded needs of the PHS in certain officer skill areas listed below:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Commissioned Officer Corps) Direct Commission Officers

The NOAA Corps Direct Commissioning Program allows university-educated professionals, between ages 19 to 35 (or older, in some cases), the opportunity to be appointed as an officer in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps. Many NOAA Corps DCOs hold advanced degrees (MS, MAs and Ph.Ds.) and significant civilian work experience, though the minimum requirement is a baccalaureate degree. The Direct Commissioning Program serves the expanded needs of the NOAA Corps in certain officer skill areas listed below:

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