A School for Dads

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Comment by Otto Mueller on May 15, 2009 at 7:39pm

Thanks for the info EM. It would work out great for us if our John had two days and left Sunday...but, you're right, probably won't know till grad day What rating was your son?

Comment by E.G. - ND's Creator/Admin on May 15, 2009 at 6:20pm

Otto my son attended A school in P'cola. He graduated Friday and they flew him to P'cola Sunday morning early. It worked out well for us though. We had Friday and Saturday with him and drove home Sunday. I've also heard of some g-n-g's that leave a couple of hours after graduation. I'm not sure if you will know exactly the deal until graduation day.

Comment by Otto Mueller on May 15, 2009 at 3:49pm

Am I to understand from what I've been reading on this site and others that all P-cola bound grads are a "grad-n-go" out of GL? My son is in Div 210 (TG29) and said awhile back he thought he would be a G -n-G but hasn't commented on it lately. He is AS. If anyone knows, please share.

Comment by Dick on May 15, 2009 at 3:28pm

makes you feel good doesn't it. Congratulations to your daughter and her classmates. We are so fortunate to be able to see our sons and daughters step up in this day and time. The sad thing is I feel like this happens all the time but we just never hear about it, so from now on lets shout it out so the positives about our youths can take the stage and eliminate the negatives.

Comment by Dave M on May 13, 2009 at 9:30am

Maybe a little clarification - as we all learn about the training routines . . .or
what the recruiter may not have explained, or may not have even known.
After basic, there are other training programs each sailor goes thru before theyare actually in A school. The courses, time involved, and location depend on the rate the sailor is going for.

SCC is Surface Common Characteristics - a 12 day class that almost everyone has to take. ATT is Apprentice Technical Training and varies in length for each rate. In Charlie's case for STG that is about 9 weeks. (one of the longest ones that I know of except ET)Both are to be completed before A school.

Not all school locations have the SCC and ATT available. So Charlie is staying at Great Lakes until he completes both of these. He will then move on to the A school for STG which is in San Diego. Being that Great Lakes is where every enlisted recruit goes for basic, they have a bit of a backlog of people waiting to classes to be available (He waited three weeks after PIR before he could start the SCC class).

Others will be a 'grad and go' or move to a new station before taking the SCC and ATT. (like the aviation guys go to P'cola). From other sites I
have figured out they also sometimes have to wait to class up.

There was a budget related announcement in April about restricting change of station moves. At the local command level I expect they are still trying to figure out what that means. The word I got was that it did not affect recruits going to an A school, but might impact some who were leaving school for a fleet assignment.

I agree with Dick, its not necessarily about not having enough students in the career path, it may be waiting for several basic training groups to get
enough for a particular specialty or more likely waiting for people to get through the backlog of sailors completing prelimaries.

Also want to put in a plug for the Navy for Moms site. We were on there with several groups from the time our son went active in February to now.
A particularly good side the the one group - Great Lakes A School, set up by Will and Hoppi aka Angie. Will is a petty officer in the training command and Hoppi is command career counselor. They have been
a wonderful source of accurate information. They have over 150 moms in their group, so it is active daily and contnually supplies info to us trying
to figure out what is going on. . . .

We are learning patience and to ask questions, then be positive for our sons and daughters. The military I was in years ago had a lot of 'hurry up and wait' time, I don't think that has gone away now

Looks like we have sailors in a variety of career paths here. Looking forward to sharing more experiences as we go forward.

Comment by Dick on May 13, 2009 at 8:38am

that's not always true. i think most of the you to your a-school base and there you wait to class up. my son was grad and go at great lakes in december, but didn't class up until mid-march. most of the time they do pt, domestic duties and stand watch. once a month he has dog watch where his group has guard duty all weekend. they do this even after they class up.

Comment by George L. Moreno on May 13, 2009 at 12:24am

I just read Dave M's comments about his son. Let see if I got this right. After PIR, Dave's son has to stay in Great Lakes until at least August. The reason is that at this moment there is not enough students in his career field? He has to wait until more sailors graduate from boot camp. What is SCC and ATT? The reason I am asking is because my daughter is in boot camp right now. She is also an STG and will be going to "A" school in San Diego. I guess that means she will have to stay in Great Lakes. Too bad they can't go to San Diego for SCC And ATT.

Comment by steve on May 12, 2009 at 11:05pm

Hia Dave,yes,the cell phone and the laptop.Great to be in touch with our kids after those 2 long months of B.C.I wonder often what my folks life would have been like if they would have had those things in the 70's and them knowing what was happening with me back east.They probably wouldn't have made it! hehehe......
As far as putting in their time,getting a paycheck,and being safe,my son is looking forward to hitting an LZ and getting dirty!Something about being a hillbilly,or something like that.Not sure where he gets that from.I know,i'll just blame it on his mother {:-) I know the one thing James was enjoying before he classed up was going to the gym and lifting iron,but i would imagine with classes and school work, that endevour is on the back burner.
Well i have talked enough for now.You and yours have a good one and we'll talk to you later.
Steve !!!!!!!!!!

It's not a sin to get knocked down;It's a sin to stay down
"Master Chief Boatswains Mate Carl Brashear"

Comment by Dave M on May 12, 2009 at 7:50am

Thanks steve . . .

Our son started SCC last week, no word on ATT yet, scuttlebutt is a
three to six week hold before he can start. Looks like August or even September before he actually starts A school in SD. As some others have noted, he is accruing time, getting a paycheck and is safe. He is also very happy with being in, found the library, and has his laptop and cell phone.
Mother's Day was particularly good with lonnnng phone call.

Comment by steve on May 4, 2009 at 11:29pm

Hi David,welcome to the Navydads site.We all have to start sometime.I hope you find it as helpful here as i have the past few months.
That was the one thing our family learned in the past 4 weeks,that the Navy does move at it's own pace and one has to just be patient.Not easy for our new sailors and not much easier on us parents.So far the journey hasn't been all that bad,just needed to adjust.
Got off of the phone with James this eve and he was told today that he will class up Wednesday,finally.His class was supposed to last 11 weeks,then they told him it would only be 8 weeks,and as of today he was informed that the class would last 9 weeks,so i guess we'll just figure somewhere between 8 and 11.His rate is going to be SW as a Seabee,so sometime after that he will also have to go to some sort of combat training.About 8 weeks long i believe.Don't know if that is in Gulfport also or in Hueneme.
Best of luck to your sailor and tell him it will get there soon enough,and the best to you and your family!
Steve !!!!!!!!

It's not a sin to get knocked down;It's a sin to stay down
"Master Chief Boatswains Mate Carl Brashear"

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