Attrition in OCS Dropped Dramatically as the US Began Losing the War in Vietnam

It sounds mean when I say it, but I love attrition. Attrition is essentially the process of losing people across an experience. As we know from our studies in Leadership Laboratory and the Hold the Standard™  Summit, it’s simple: 

The best teams in the world have (either implicit or explicit) rites of passage associated with joining their ranks. 

At DEUCE, we’ve been putting people through the ringer in our in-house Coach’s Prep course, which develops coaches worldwide. Frankly, most people quit and we think that’s healthy. On the other hand, the folks who don’t quit and ultimately meet the standards to make it through are the beautiful, capable, motivated men and women that make DEUCE a training experience “like no place on Earth.”

This all came rushing back to me as I slogged through Colonel David Hackworth’s autobiography, About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior, where he recounts the realities of the Vietnam War, which he controversially began to denounce. 

Office Candidate School (OCS) is a famous military right of passage for Marine Officers. Hackworth recounts his disgust for the falling attrition rates that he viewed as important for the quality of warfighters they were producing as the Vietnam War dragged on. For example, in 1966 attrition rates for OCS were ~50% meaning about half of the candidates didn’t make it through. Just one year later those rates fell to 5%. This comical quote jumps out to make the punchline of the situation: 

“The standards of OCS haven’t been lowered – it’s just that the students aren’t required to meet them anymore.” 

When evaluating the health of any high performance system, you’ll notice high standards and high attrition. If either are declining, take notice.