Comment

Comment by lemonelephant on April 18, 2012 at 4:25pm

Although MA is not overmanned for those with less than 6 years in, it is projected to be overmanned at the 6 to 20 years levels, meaning that the chances of advancement once you hit those levels are smaller and it may be difficult to reenlist.   We saw several who entered around the same time as my Sailor who were told that they could not reenlist, so we felt very blessed when he was told he is able to reenlist.  http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/career/enlistedcareeradmin/Do... shows the overmanned ratings as of last May.  I thought there should be another one since I thought it comes out twice a year, but that is the most recent one I could find.  The list of 31 overmanned ratings does not include MA.

Comment by lemonelephant on April 14, 2012 at 10:56pm

suems2 and hollyP, you may also want to join the group, San Antonio MA's (clickable link), to learn more about what to expect.  Be sure to check out the discussions.  (Click View All.)

Comment by hollyP(03/025) on April 14, 2012 at 10:22pm

I hope school starts right away.... my son was in Pensacola 2 months till they started the class he was going to attend there got started......he was able to get out of that class  after 2 weeks ( he and the math involved didnt agree!)   Hes been cleaning  since then!   I think MAA will be much better for him.

Comment by suems2 on April 13, 2012 at 8:08pm

Tonite, my sailor leaves CT to go to San Antonio.  He finally found a position of MA, after having a really tough time for an ET-NAV.  Seems the testing at the end makes or breaks them; fortunately, he was able to stick around until the MA position became available. Now I believe he will be happier because he wanted to do criminal justice in college.

 

Comment by lemonelephant on April 13, 2012 at 7:05pm

PaulaP, MA A School has been only in San Antionio since the fall of 2008. My MA was originally to go to A School in VA, but while he was at BC, it was changed to San Antonio and then we found out the A School at Dam Neck had closed.  The one in GA had closed prior to that.

Comment by chriscwick on April 13, 2012 at 7:51am

I asked Chris how he felt when he was pinned and you could hear the huge grin on his face in his voice, "Shiney"! Wonder how he'll feel after MWD school?! RUFF!!??

Comment by Colleen (Ship12, DIV126) on April 13, 2012 at 1:21am

Hi Everyone!  My sailor will be here 4/22 =)  He is so excited to be out of BC and  start his MAA training...  

Holly: I'm sure our sailors will train together!  

Comment by PaulaP (Ship11/Div 178) on April 13, 2012 at 12:50am

How is it decided which MA school they will attend? Hoping San Antonio since it's 4 hours from home.

Comment by tracybraun2012 on April 10, 2012 at 7:50am

Hi Holly - My MA daughter just graduated under two weeks ago from San Antonio. It was great to finally be able to email, talk by phone and skype while she was there. I was fortunate enough to go to her pinning ceremony which was much smaller than boot camp graduation but equally as impressive knowing all they went through to get to that point. The OC experience (pepper spray) took place within the second week of her being there. It was not pleasurable but she made it through. She said that the yogurt / milk thing did not work, but that they did scrub like no tomorrow with lots of soap to get relief. One of the important thing for guys to remember is to make sure when they hit the shower was to cover up their lower parts so that area did not get burned when they rinsed the spray off in the shower. (So the guys said after their experience after showering). Their schedules are pretty busy but they do get to eventually earn down time. She too loved her experience there, especially tactics/moch moves. They have sponsors there who are available to answer lots of questions for them. The last week they have lots of tests they need to pass. They have the opportunity to re-test again right away if they do not pass the first one. Tell your MA not to be shy and ask for help if needed on stuff they don't know. They wound up teaching them in the morning and then testing them after lunch. So that final week, tell your MA to get as much rest as possible and pay attention so that week they are on top of their game. Keep in mind that your MA is responsible for paying for their own trip back home after they are done with A school. Unfortunately because they don't know until a day or two before graduation if they have passed - the costs were through the roof. I would have started looking for a refundable ticket in advance had I known as soon as she got out of boot camp. Then if the dates changed it would have been cheaper than trying to book a ticket one day before coming home. I wound up staying on base at the gateway villa which was great. It was inexpensive. The only thing is that its first come first serve with reservations and the military personnel get first opportunity to book there. They open it up to civilians two weeks (to the day) prior to your arrival if you plan on going. The number is 210-671-3622 - select option 3 for reservations. I had myself and my aunt with me and was able to get a family room. It had a living room, kitchen, bath and bedroom for $41.50 a night. Your MA will need to fill out paperwork to sponsor you for a request to come on base. You will need to provide your MA with your name as it appears on your identification, your date of birth and drivers license number. I would highly recommend renting a car. So much cheaper than trying to do the taxi or shuttle thing. The number for the Navy Quarter deck there is 210-671-4771 and they can answer questions you may have about visiting there. I would also bring a GPS with you it will help getting around there on base. One funny thing that happened though is that is that they do wind up closing some of the gates on the base so I wound up driving around for a while when my gps kept trying to bring me to where I needed to go through the same gate, You will find that people are very friendly and helpful though - when this happened we stopped at one of the stores and one of the military guys was nice enough to actually take the time and have us follow him back to our hotel. Hope the info was helpful. Good luck to you and your sailor! 

Comment by lemonelephant on April 9, 2012 at 10:54pm

Welcome hollyP.  You too may want to join San Antonio MA's (clickable link) and check out the Discussions there.  My Sailor will soon be reenlisting for another 4 years and will be in San Antonio for C School in May and June.  I hope your Sailor enjoys it as much as mine has.

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