Six Illinois Army National Guard Soldiers complete accelerated officer candidate program

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Six Illinois National Guard Soldiers, all graduates of the South Dakota Army National Guard’s Accelerated Officer Candidate School stand with senior leaders from the Illinois National Guard .

• Officer Candidate Garrett Nevious of Marion, Ill., assaults a bunker during training at South Dakota Army National Guard’s Accelerated Officer Candidate School in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
• Officer Candidate Dustin Anderson of Preemption, Ill. patrols during training at the South Dakota Army National Guard’s Accelerated Officer Candidate School in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
• Illinois Army National Guard 1st Lt. Josh Olds of Danville, Ill., leads officer candidates through the woods of the Black Hills in South Dakota.

SPRINGFIELD, IL (07/28/2013)(readMedia)-- Six Illinois National Guard Soldiers graduated the South Dakota Army National Guard's Accelerated Officer Candidate School July 26 at Mount Rushmore, S.D.

"The Accelerated Officer Candidate School is a high paced, intense officer training course, which takes enlisted Soldiers and shapes them into the commissioned leaders of tomorrow's National Guard," said Col. Tom Weiss of Sherman, the commander of the 129th Regiment, Regional Training Institute (RTI) in Springfield, Ill. "Each of these Soldiers have proved themselves ready to be part of the next generation of leaders in the Illinois Army National Guard."

Officer Candidates Dustin Anderson of Preemption, Robert Boney of Columbia, Amanda Bruni of Troy Jonathan Logemann of Chicago, Jonathan Miller of Chicago and Garrett Nevious of Marion were selected to attend the accelerated class in South Dakota through the Illinois National Guard's Pre-Officer Candidate School program at the 129th Regiment, Regional Training Institute (RTI) in Springfield, Ill.

The graduates were among 52 officer candidates from nearly 20 states and the U.S. territory of Guam hoping to earn a commission in the Army National Guard Officer Corps.

The six graduates will be among the 34 Illinois Army National Guard officer candidates from this year's accelerated and traditional OCS classes to become second lieutenants at the 129th RTI's officer commissioning ceremony to be held Aug. 25 at the Springfield High School in Springfield, Ill.

The accelerated OCS program is an eight-week fulltime training program where as the traditional OCS program is a one-weekend-a-month for 18 months program plus two, two-week long training sessions.

The Illinois National Guard's OCS program has commissioned nearly 140 officers since 2010.

U.S. Army National Guard photo by Maj. Brad Leighton, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs/ Officer Candidate Garrett Nevious of Marion, Ill., assaults a bunker during training at South Dakota Army National Guard's Accelerated Officer Candidate School in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Nevious is among the six Illinois Army National Guard Soldiers to graduate July 26 at the Mount Rushmore monument in South Dakota.

U.S. Army National Guard photo by Maj. Brad Leighton, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs/ Officer Candidate Dustin Anderson of Preemption, Ill. patrols during training at the South Dakota Army National Guard's Accelerated Officer Candidate School in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Anderson is among the six Illinois Army National Guard Soldiers to graduate July 26 at the Mount Rushmore monument in South Dakota

U.S. Army National Guard photo by Maj. Brad Leighton, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs / Illinois Army National Guard 1st Lt. Josh Olds of Danville, Ill., leads officer candidates through the woods of the Black Hills in South Dakota. Olds served as a platoon trainer at the South Dakota Army National Guard's Accelerated Officer Candidate School in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Six Illinois National Guard Soldiers, all graduates of the South Dakota Army National Guard's Accelerated Officer Candidate School stand with senior leaders form the Illinois National Guard July 26 at Mount Rushmore, S.D.