Gunners Mates

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Comment by Gary T. on April 11, 2010 at 9:26am

Just a post to keep this group near the top. My son Nicholas is 5 weeks away from graduating C-School. Then onto Hawaii. He was going to ship his vehicle over but has now changed his mind. It appears he needs $2800.00 in repairs mostly electronic. I guess he will be shipping the vehicle home. One pricey repair is a module for the transmission. Can't drive the car home without it. Gary T.

Comment by Gary T. on March 14, 2010 at 5:51pm

Paul, glad to help. The fun is just beginning. Wait til P.I.R., you will really love that. Again, I can't say enough about support. Start writing those letters now. When you get the address you will have plenty to send. Great advice in the Boot Camp group. Read back as far as you can and before long you will be a pro and know as much as we do. Just hang in there dad enjoy the ride. Gary T.

Comment by Paul C on March 14, 2010 at 5:05pm

Glen and Gary,
Thanks for the info and the welcoming. This looks like a great site with a great bunch of proud dads trying to follow and support their kids the best we know how. I look forward to the interaction with others and staying informed as well as helping others out as I become better aquainted with things.

You guys both had some informative stuff about GM's and C-school. I don't think Andrew realized there was such a variety of assignments. Hopefully he can place high enough to get a good choice or at least something he wants to do, but for now he has to get through Basic.

Thanks!!

Comment by Gary T. on March 14, 2010 at 4:30pm

Hello and welcome to the group Paul. Glen is correct, not all GM'S go to a C-School after they graduate A-School. Some choose land based assignments such as in armories, some go to mobile security, some to assignments with the seals, CB's, and other units. Some choose small arms only, some choose 5 in guns, some V.L.S. (vertical launch systems). Choice of ASSIGNMENTS is usually made during the sailors final week of A-School and is or was usually done by class standings. The higher a sailor places in his class the more choices he has.

My son wanted to do what Glens son is doing but there were no assignments available. He didn't want to be on an aircraft carrier so he chose a Crusier with a V.L.S. assignment. He will be stationed in Hi and therefore his C-School is in San Diego. If he would have chose a ship on the east coast his school would have been on the east coast.

Please thank your son for his service. These first few weeks will be tough but well worth it. Give him all your support and write often. Please read through past comments in this group and you will have many of your questions answered. If you have any you need help with ask away, if we can't help we should be able to find someone who can. Gary T.

Comment by Glen H. on March 14, 2010 at 7:43am

Paul - welcome to the group!! It's great to have more Dads to share experiences with. Only thing I know about C school is not all GMs go thru it. Our son Danny went in Nov 08 and reported to his first command after A school in Sep 09. He's in MSRON (mobile security forces) as a gunner on a small patrol boat. Very different duty than the "big gray ships". He is overseas now. He was more focused on small-arms, thus no need for specialized electronics C school as I understand it. If he gets different duty in future I'm sure they'll send him for more training. We're thinking about you as you and your son start this journey. We thank him for his service and we urge you to hang tough. The first few weeks are hard, then it gets easier. Know he's serving in the best trained, best equipped, best led Navy on the planet.

Comment by Paul C on March 13, 2010 at 11:52pm

I am new arround here. My son, Andrew, is starting RTC this week and signed up to be Gunner's Mate. He is looking forward to a great experience in the Navy. I see some postings here about C-School is San Diego; is that right after A-School or something they go back to after working for a while...? Thanks.

Comment by Gary T. on February 13, 2010 at 1:00pm

Life after A-School. Nick is now in San Diego. He has finished two weeks of C-School and is maintaining a 100 % average. It is recommended that GM'S have a computer for V.L.S.. They give you study info on disks which make the learning process much easier. They also give the sailors three large books. Nick said the tests are open book which requires knowledge of materials and how to find answers using the books. The base allows much more freedom then Great Lakes with school four days a week and limited duty. Gary T.

Comment by Gary T. on February 2, 2010 at 9:15am

Dean, if Devin drives his car to San Diego go along for the trip. You can't miss seeing the base. Devin will like it and for sure he will have many friends from Great Lakes there. Nick started V.L.S. on Monday, they gave him three large books and a home work assignment. His mind is spinning, probably do to the four months he spent between A-School and shipping to San Diego.

If you do go along for the ride have him check into the NAVY Gateway. It is located in the same building about 30 yards from the BAQ he will check into for his base housing. We got there on Thursday and Nick stated in the lodge with me until I left on Sunday then he checked into base housing.

Best of luck Dean, I will stay in touch. Gary T.

Comment by dean warkenthien on February 2, 2010 at 9:01am

Gary T, sounds like a great trip to SD with your son. I am jealous! We have had our sonDevin home now for two weeks and have enjoyed it alot!! He will be leaving Thursday the 4th Feb for his ship in SD. Hed will attend C school VLS as soon as they can fit him in. They will apparently deploy in Early fall so he hopes to finish by then. If not his sponsor said he might have to catch up to them by flying out. One thing for sure is the plan could change. His LPO sounds nice and will help him get acclimated in SD. He is excited to join his ship and start his career. keep in touch.

Comment by Gary T. on February 1, 2010 at 6:28pm

San Diego C-School, what a place. Not much to report on V.L.S. C-School but the 32nd Street base sure is a show piece. I drove to San Diego with my son, leaving Illinois on 26/Jan/10. Spent the first night in Oklahoma City. Winter weather was moving in from the west so we turned south through Fort Worth Texas then west to El Paso and stopped in Los Crucis NM. The final leg of our journey brought us to San Diego. Warm temperature all the long the southern route. I spent three days at the NAVY Gateway located on base. A higher end room cost $37.00 a night. If you should accompany your sailor to San Diego see about having them make arrangements to stay at the Inn. (Keep in mind your sailor must accompany you while on base)

The base is nothing like I expected. They have several 14 plus story buildings on base for housing sailors. They are allowed beer and visitors. Wow life after Great Lakes. The base is super clean and well located within a ten minute drive of downtown. Plenty to see and do along with nice places to eat. The ship yards are a place to see and a tour of the Midway is a must.

On the darker side there are neighborhoods which should be given a wide birth. The downtown area is great but full of many homeless people sitting around, almost like it was a winter vacation spot.

Airport access is easy as is travel around the city. My first impression is that it is a nice place for our young sailors to be. I will be back! GARY T.

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