After completing basic training, military personnel will move on to either Advanced Individual Training (AIT) or Officer Candidate School (OCS) to advance in their military career. The specific path taken will depend on the individuals career goals and the requirements of their branch of service. Here is what typically happens after basic training:

• Graduation: Every recruit who successfully completes basic training will be invited to a graduation ceremony. Each military branch has its own way of conducting its graduation, but it is a meaningful occasion to showcase the transformation into a soldier, marine, sailor, airman, or guardian.

• Advanced Individual Training (AIT): This is where military personnel will learn the skills needed to perform a specific job in their branch of service. AIT schools provide in-depth and hands-on job training to ensure that personnel are ready to take on their Army jobs. The length of AIT will depend on the specific MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) of the individual, and it can take anywhere from four to 52 weeks to complete. After successfully completing AIT, personnel will be given a short break before joining their unit and officially beginning work.

• Officer Candidate School (OCS): This is a rigorous program to determine an individuals mental, physical, and emotional potential as a leader. The Army is the only branch of the military that requires potential officers planning to attend OCS to first enlist and attend basic combat training. OCS has two phases: Phase One, where individuals learn basic leadership skills and the physical and mental challenges required of a commissioned officer, and Phase Two, where individuals put their leadership skills to the test with an intense 18-day training mission. At graduation, individuals will be given a formal commission as a U.S. Army officer and assigned to the rank of second lieutenant, the first of the commissioned ranks.

• Out-processing procedures: After completing basic training, personnel will begin out-processing procedures, which involve gathering all of their personal items from their bunks and checking out of their specific unit. Depending on the specific MOS, AIT school might be on the same military base where they completed basic training or could be located at a different military installation. Soldiers are not given the opportunity to go home after basic training as most AIT school check-ins are required the day after basic training graduation.

In summary, after basic training, military personnel will move on to either AIT or OCS to advance in their military career. After completing AIT or OCS, personnel will be assigned to their duty station where they will be working and living for the next few years.