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Direct Commissioned Officer Training

By USAF Officer Training School, Air University, Maxwell AFB, AL / Published December 12, 2019

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 Training Programs

There are two training programs offered for direct-commissioned officers. Both programs are military training environments designed to see you successfully operate under pressure.  You will need to check your orders to determine which program you are scheduled to attend.  Select the appropriate link from the accordion menu (right-side of page)  to read about the specific training program you're scheduled to attend.  

Commissioned Officer Training Program (COT)  

This 5-week course is designed for all medical professionals from all Air Force components (Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve, Health Professional Scholarship Program, and Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences).

Reserve Commissioned Officer Training Program (RCOT)  

This 2-week course is specifically designed for hard-to-recruit Air Reserve Component (ARC) direct commissioned health professions officers.
 
 Commanders Keys to Success

1. Come Physically Fit
 
  • You will be tested for fitness within your first two weeks at COT.  If you fail, you will be subject to disenrollment.
  • Being physically fit when you arrive will help you in all aspects of your training.
  • Check out the links for the AF Fitness Standards and plan to exceed them before you come to COT.  Your goal should be to score greater than a 90.
  • Additional PT information can be found on the Air Force Fitness Program website.  Students inbound to COT should NOT consider PT related advice from students who attended COT pre-summer 2015 as current or accurate

2. Be Prepared Mentally as well as Physically

  • This is a challenging military training environment which will put you in high pressure situations.  
  • It is mentally and physically demanding from the first through the last training day.  Treat this as five weeks of "finals week." 
  • This is not an easy course despite what you may have been told.  This is not the same course it was in years past. 

3. Know the OTSMAN

  • This is the definitive rule book that governs all of your daily training.  Memorize it if you can.  At the very least, read it several times before you arrive!  Knowledge of chapters 1. and 3. will be particularly helpful the first few days of training but you need to be well versed in the entire manual.  You will be tested on this knowledge within your first week of training.

 4. Read everything in this site!

  • Knowledge is power, and all the information you need to come prepared can be found within this site.
  • The information in this site is an attempt to answer all of your questions, and help ensure that you are mentally prepared for training.
  • If you choose NOT to read and digest this material, then you are planning to fail!