nukenavymamabear - Thank you for accepting my friend request. I apologize for my delay, I have been traveling for several days and then trying to play catch up at home. 

I encourage you to reach out to JNMnavymomOH and ask to be her friend. - This discussion of mine might be helpful - Private Messages - Creating & Sending + OPSEC - I also explain how to send friend requests. 

I will send you a private message. 

Hello!! Welcome to the Nuke Pipeline.  So many questions and I will try to answer them all to the best of my ability.  In the beginning I found this site to be a bit overwhelming honestly.  So much information being exchanged and so many different groups to join.  PIR was wonderful.  I didn't recognize my son in the crowd and I felt so horrible, like a mom should know her own child.  But he was so skinny and had become a man instead of the young adult I left at the hotel. 

A school time is going to depend on his rate (job)  If he is MM (machinist mate) it will be 3 months once he classes up.  If he is EM (electician mate) or ET (electrician technician) I believe it is 6 months.  After A school graduation, he would then be on T-track (could be a few weeks) and wait for his new class for Power School which lasts about 6 months.  After his final test he will have to move off base into an apartment and then his final class (Prototype) will start.  This is also about 6 months in length,  He will get a break in December and probably be able to come home for a visit.  Depending on where you live those flights are expensive.  There are phases in A-school that have to be completed in order for some privileges to be given; leaving base, wearing civilian clothing, having a vehicle; that sort of thing.  If he is able to, have him get and pay for a PO box at the mini NEX.  It is much easier to mail and get packages there.  If he is a gamer, he is going to want his own router and internet.  My son is MM and he spent a total of 19 months in Goose Creek from the time he arrived until the time he was released from his command and able to come home.  If he is going Sub and he is actually assigned to a sub, he would then go to Sub school and I don't know how long that is.  My son is Surface and will be joining a Carrier going to Japan for 4.5 years.  They get to fill out a dream sheet of where they want to go and what kind of ship they want to be on.  None of that is a guarantee as it is dependent on the needs of the Navy. Your son will get his assignment approx 4-6 weeks before Prototype graduation.  He can also apply to become a Junior Instructor, if it is available, which would keep him in Charleston for about 2 more years. There are also other things that become available to apply for while they are going thru the pipeline.  If you can go to all of the graduations, I would.  A-school is very short, but I loved it.  Power school is much bigger and a bit more formal, but seeing all the different classes was cool.  If you can only attend 1, then Prototype is the absolute one to go to.  It is onboard the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point, which is a retired carrier that is open for tours.  

I read a lot of the posts, but I don't post as often.  I get inside my head and my emotions and step away from a lot of things.  My Nuke is my only child, so I am still learning to let go and let him be.  If you have any other questions or wanna chat, please add me as a friend and message me any time!  I hope these were able to answer a few of your questions and give some advice. 

Good Morning! I received your request to join the Christian Navy Moms group. I am the moderator for that closed group. I am sending you a friend request, so I can send you a personal message first. Please reply to my comment here, when you accept the friend request, so I know you have. This site only notifies us when someone sends us a friend request, but not when our request has been accepted. 

I hope you were able to have a wonderful time at PIR!

Please join us in our Nuke moms group - here's the link:

Nuke moms