Platoon Leaders Class

Platoon Leaders Class (PLC) is the United States Marine Corps alternative method for the training and evaluation of its Marine officer candidates. All training and evaluation are conducted at the Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. PLC is open to young men and women at any accredited four-year college or university. PLC is a Marine officer commissioning program in which candidates receive training in the summers and usually have no commitment during the school year. Information and application is done through Marine Officer Selection Officers or OSO's. OSO's are located in every state. OSO information can be found at www.marineofficer.com. [1]

PLC Juniors/Seniors is one of two programs available to Marine officer candidates. The Junior/Senior program is available to college freshman and sophomores. Freshman attend the PLC Junior course the summer before their sophomore year. These candidates then attend the PLC Senior course the summer before their senior year in college. Sophomores can attend the PLC Junior course the summer before their junior year in school and the PLC Senior course the following summer.

PLC Juniors is an indoctrination into the Marine corps and is a six-week training, evaluation and motivation course for those interested in becoming a commissioned officer. Physical training, small unit leadership and basic infantry tactics are addressed. Academics are taught in classroom settings.

PLC Seniors is a six-week advanced course of indoctrination and contains similar physical training, small unit leadership, infantry tactics and academics but at a faster rate and with more instructor-induced stress. Candidates in the PLC Senior course are evaluated closely, as this is the final screening before the candidate becomes eligible for commissioning.

PLC Combined is a ten-week program for those interested in completing officer screening during a single summer after completing their junior year in college. PLC Combined starts out like PLC Junior and progresses like that of a PLC Senior course. Physical training, small unit leadership, basic infantry tactics, and academics are covered.

PLC Summary Those interested in attending the Platoon Leaders Class should be physically prepared, as training is extremely demanding. Candidates in a PLC Senior course run/hike on average 250 miles or more during a six-week increment. Academics are on topics such as Marine Corps history, leadership, close-order drill, weapons handling, marksmanship and general military subjects such as land navigation, Uniform Code of Military Justice, interior guard, moral and ethical leadership and basic combat. Candidates are assigned to a platoon and are trained by an extremely professional staff. A platoon staff consists of a platoon commander (captain), a platoon sergeant (gunnery sergeant) and usually 2 sergeant instructors (staff sergeants). Academics are usually conducted by captains, and field classes are usually conducted by sergeants, staff sergeants or gunnery sergeants.

Further Training Officer candidates who complete PLC training and who obtain their college degrees are then commissioned as second lieutenants and sent to the Basic School at Quantico for six months of officer training.