Trouble in A school - underage drinking

[Proud Navy Mom (Susan)]

First, let me say that I am not sharing this story to scare any Moms. I am sharing it in hopes that all of you Moms of younger sailors will talk to your kids, and that others will not have to learn the hard way. My son was only 18 when he graduated from bc and went on to A school. He had always been good at making smart decisions, and had never been in any trouble. He had been in A school for about 7 months and was looking forward to graduating and moving on. He and a group of his buddies went to a party one weekend, and were caught drinking. They knew that they were in some trouble, but thought that they would just get a slap on the wrist. What actually happened was anything but. (at least to him. I can't say what happened to anyone else involved) Many disciplinary actions were taken, but the worst for him was that he had to leave A school, and became undesignated. He is now in the security division on the ship that he is stationed on, but will not be eligable to go back to school for 24 months from the date of the incident. And as they are getting ready for deployment, he will have been in for 3 years before he can even apply again. It has been a very hard lesson for him to learn!
One thing that really didn't occur to me is that the A school experience can be very much like going off to college for the first time. He had never been away from home before, and was now out in the real world, meeting lots of new people, and perhaps being in situations that he had never been in before.
We have stood by him and supported him every step of the way, and pray that he will still get the opportunity to do the things that he had dreamed of doing in the Navy.
So, I guess the moral of this story is - Moms, talk to your kids and make sure that they know that the Navy does not take these things lightly. And a great big "thank you" to all of those who serve for this great country!

[LizaJane]

That would be a hard lesson to learn.
My son is in A school now and is 18....
In the beginning I was a little upset that he never ventured off base...
He enjoys staying in and playing video games or being on the computer.
I told him a couple of weeks ago that now I'm almost glad he doesn't get out....
I'm afraid he'd get into trouble....peer pressure and all...not saying that anyone can
make him do anything he doesn't want, but the temptations arent't there if he's not there....
Yep, we talked about all the things that could go wrong......

I agree with you....talk to your underage sailors.....
I hope your son does get to go back to school....Best of luck to him....

[Anti M]

I turned 22 in bootcamp, so I personally avoided underage drinking ... but I did drink a lot on weekends. When we had parties, we didn't even think about the fact some of our buddies were underage. They were sailors at a private party, we never realized we were endangering their, and our, careers. So talk to your sailors who are of age too, so that they look out for their buddies.

I did a lot of stupid stuff when I was younger. Luckily, I never paid the Stupid Tax, although I easily could have.

[Dianne]

My son just turned 19 and is in A school. It's very scary because his roommate is 23. The only good part about that is, that my son gets to see how supid his roommate is when he comes back drunk on Friday and Saturday nights. I hope and pray that he will be strong, but peer pressure is a hard thing to deal with. Since he's been in A school, we've discussed this issue many times, because I have read this happens a lot...oh and getting tattooed. Susan I'm sorry your son had to go through this, it's really a tough lesson to learn.

[Anti M]

Well, at least I didn't get a tattoo until I turned 40!

[Dianne]

Hey, I got my first one at 44!!! LOL

[Proud Navy Mom (Susan)]

Thank you all for your kind words and support. And Anti M, you hit it right on the nail head. I'm sure that none of them had any idea how their entire future in the Navy could be affected by this. In the civilian world, their parents would have been called and that would pretty much have been the end of it. But the fact is that he broke his contract with the Navy, and now they can pretty much do with him what they will. He was also ET (or I guess I should say close to it) and now shares an apartment with a group of his buddies when they are not underway. They are all ET, and I'm sure it's hard on him to see them all doing everyday what he had wanted to do. He was initially at least thinking about making the Navy his career, but now is not at all sure, because it is proving to be so difficult to get back on track. Hope he can make things right...

[Anti M]

He may not be able to go back to school, can he "strike" for ET? Like on the job training while he waits for eligibility to try A school again. I looked, but couldn't find current info on that. We had an ET striker, she'd been dropped from A school, but was still an ETSN without a clearance. Anyone who's active duty now know how it goes these days?

[Hoppi aka Angie]

http://www.npc.navy.mil/NR/rdonlyres/BB03E8C1-FA42-42C9-A8DC-544D23...

ET is "A" school required.

Above is a hyperlink to the REGA message which shows what rates a Sailor can "Strike" to take the test. If it says "A school required" have to go to "A" school.

Oh-by the way I am Active duty and a NC. I am the person these types of Sailor see on the ship to be able to get a rate.

[Hoppi aka Angie]

an ET with out a clearance now a days is no longer an ET. They will be forced into another rate or go SN.

[Anti M]

Yeah, I thought so. It was strange, even then.

[Tammy C]

It was very courageous of you to share this with the rest of us moms. Now that I talk to my son almost every day I have realized how much A school is a lot like being in college only he has a lot more money at his disposal than I ever did in college so it does give you that much more to worry about. I wish you son the best of luck.

[Jackie]

Thank you for sharing this story , Hopefully it will save some other sailor from doing the same.