Two Mercer Law Students Selected for Officer Candidate School with the Marine Corps

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MACON – Mercer Law second-year student Bret Dunn and first-year student Connor McCloskey were recently selected for the highly competitive Marine Corps Officer Candidate School (OCS).

Dunn and McCloskey will attend the 10-week Marine OCS training program during the summer in Quantico, Virginia. The program aims to educate and train officer candidates to lead with moral, mental and physical fortitude that are necessary for commission as a Marine Corps Officer.

At the end of the OCS, both Dunn and McCloskey will be second lieutenants in the Marine Corps and will be placed on inactive duty until law school graduation. When they graduate from Mercer Law School, they will be assigned to active-duty positions and will formally begin their careers as Judge Advocates (JAG) in the Marine Corps.

Both of McCloskey’s parents are retired service members, and he said he is looking forward to them pinning him with his lieutenant’s gold bars at OCS graduation.

“I am no stranger to the discipline and high standards that OCS will demand. I believe that commissioning as a JAG officer is a very noble way of serving my country,” said McCloskey, who earned his undergraduate degree from The Citadel.

The Marine Corps’ core values are honor, courage and commitment, and Dunn said he is eager to serve his country in the future as a Marine JAG officer.

“My dream is to live the Marine Corps legend and fully embrace the Corps’ values,” said Dunn.

Both students will have strenuous summers ahead but are looking forward to the distinct honor of OCS graduation and returning to Mercer Law School. Both McCloskey and Dunn attribute their acceptance into OCS to Mercer Law School.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better support system,” McCloskey said. Dunn added that he is thrilled that Mercer Law is “helping me realize my dream of becoming a U.S. Marine Corps Officer.”