AECF - FCs and ETs

Sounds like he's a fine sailor if he understands even waiting is playing a part. 

Wow, the symphony sounds amazing.  Chicago all decorated up for Christmas should be a lovely sight.

our son just graduated from BC  and said he is going to be starting the schooling for ET , first is  ATT and he said it is very  difficult. Anyone here have a son or daughter that completed the first portion of this after graduation?

To Jack's Momma:

My son is due to graduate ET A school early January-re: ATT school- The thing I've seen from them on that is "go to the extra tutoring/study sessions"!! Get buddies that do that, stick with them.

Hello Jack's Momma,

ATT and ET are both very hard.  They need to study, study ,study.  My son is getting close to the graduation mark, but still keeps his nose to the grindstone.  I don't hear a lot from him, mainly because he is so focused.  There are a lot of study groups that should help him.  Stay positive, and don't get upset if you don't hear from him everyday.  He will do great.  Congrats to you and your new sailor.

Bandmom and ScoutToNavyMom, thank you  he will be here Friday for liberty during the holidays I will be sure to tell him to  study his butt off and not worry about communicating with us so  much.

I went through ET school a long time ago, while portions of it have changed, I know the program is one of the tough ones.  Even the best students go to the extra study sessions on some of the harder material.  

My son is currently in "A" school for ET.  He did very well in ATT school, but it was hard.  ATT school is harder than A school according to my son.  He should be finished A school in March then off to C school...don't know where he will go yet he's hoping to find out when he gets back from Christmas. 

ATT is a lot of basics in a short time.  A school has a slower pace as they study individual topics in depth.  C school will be very hands on, almost easy, but only because they have studied the basics so hard initially!

a  great deal of good  information, our son will be home tomorrow and I will be sure to pass this on to him, he told us he as firefighting school first. Sam's Mom does C school happen away from GL ? My son seemed to think he would be moved someplace else for  C school.

Yes C school is somewhere else. He thinks he'll get his orders after the break.

The variety of places C schools are located is astonishing.  Also, some ratings such as ETs can go to multiple C schools throughout their careers.

Hello Anti M,

My Sailor is a Naval Reserve Active Duty, there are 3 of them in his A School Class.  He is going to be an ET.  None of the reservists have received orders yet, he tells me that he may GL, virtually doing nothing.  He is currently in the Honor Guard.  Would he still be allowed to be in the Honor Guard?  That is something that he dearly loves.  

We Face Timed with our son last night and he told us he is on hold for a month. He said it is for them to  get classes scheduled? He wasn't concerned, I just didn't think it would  take that long. I now make the assumption that all dates get pushed back since the hold is in place? Any input  is appreciated, just trying  wrap  my mind around it all.

@Bandmom, I would think they'd allow him to continue with Honor Guard, as long as he is fulfilling all his other obligations.  he can put in a special request chit and get a firm answer.

@Jack's Momma ... going on hold to wait to "class up" is a common experience.  I was on long holds, and I went to ET A school 30 years ago!!!  They simply need to get enough potential ETs to form a class.  Some will have a longer wait than others.  Yes, every date will be pushed back quite a while.  The wait for the first part, ATT, is shorter, but for actual ET school, a month is not unusual whatsoever.  If you're trying to figure out his grad date, don't bother until he has begun attending classes.  A school is very much a time to just go with the flow, and be glad they're being paid and housed in a safe place.  It is frustrating for planners, but it is outside their control.

Jack’s momma, I’ll add that someone who came after him may class up before him, or he could class up before people who came before he did/have been waiting longer, and of course people who got there at the same time may go before or after he does. Don’t really know why this happens, sometimes they’ll fill a waiting class and sometimes if a whole “set” comes in, they’ll push them all at once and skip over a group. The point is, it’s truly unpredictable, even if his friends start classing up or the group right before him, or if there’s rumors of a month or two long wait, like AntiM said, you’ll just have to wait until he starts. The same thing will happen over and over again in the Navy.  It gets pretty frustrating, not being able to plan anything, not being able to even make an educated guess lol, but you get really good at throwing things together last minute and just living in the moment. My parents have warmed up to it finally, they say they like the excuse of coming to see us (since we can’t always plan ahead to see them)  to try traveling to places they might not have thought of, or making a trip out of it to finally see places they always wanted to nearby.

 @Anti M and Allison I am so grateful he is in a warm building and we can get to him if need be. he is taking it all in stride, he is  engaged and I don't have the  heart to tell her and unless our son told her it won't come from me or my husband. He told us  yesterday that there is  another sailor there that has been waiting for 8 months, different rate, but I just can't imagine that. Thanks again for all the information, I used to be a planner but realize I just can't do that anymore. This is a new adventure for all of us as our older children went the college route and not  military.

I hope she understands that she must be entirely flexible on wedding dates.  The Navy will decide, and there's a decent chance it will be a courthouse wedding in order to get the marriage in his record before the detailer issues orders.  If you have any questions along those lines, Allison or I can fill you in on just how it all works, and what the consequences are of the various timings of when to wed.

Anti M She seems to  believe they will marry  in 18 months because they think this is when his A school  will be complete, Since he is on hold for  a month or longer no  telling when the A school completion will happen. They are 18 and 19  and in such a rush. I may ask  you  for  help the closer we get  

It must be pretty overwhelming for you!  The military seems to accelerate marriage, for financial reasons, to be sure orders are "accompanied", or so the sailor can move out of the barracks.  About a third of military marriages fail, either the deployments are too much, or the new spouse is alone in a new place with no support, or both simply mature away from each other.  If they are wise, they'll agree on a long engagement, see what a six to nine month deployment feels like, and be sure she gets her own education started.  

Sorry for rambling!  

@Anti M I wish I could have you speak to her , she will not start her own career because her family has advised her to "let the Navy  pay for it" I  cannot stand that mentality. she only identifies as his fiancée and it is very discouraging to me. I told them both they are not  ready to be married and we believe in marriage is for a lifetime no quitting when it gets hard.

That's so sad.  The Navy will not pay for her education!  Sure, there are a few scholarships for military spouses, but not much.  If they are thinking she can use his GI Bill, that is only after he has served for ten years!  

It takes a strong person to be a Navy spouse, there are many times the spouse has to do it all, take care of the bills and finances, the house, a job, and if there are kids, everything for them. It is HARD.  And the Navy won't let him run home if a pipe breaks, not even staying by her side for pregnancy and birth.  A potential Navy wife has to be smart, informed, and capable.  Even staying at home is a full time job.  If she can't run a household by herself, or cannot learn fast, she has no business being a Navy wife. 

While I encourage couples to go for it, I also warn them it won't be the pretty picture they envision.  A surprising amount of hometown girlfriends lose their sailors to other female sailors at A school ... so there's that to get through too.  

Hang in there, things can change in a flash.

@Anti M thank you for the insight, I had no idea about the education piece and I  will  try  my  best to  give them the heads up on that..  

My Sailor just received his first set of orders!!  He graduates from A School on the 9th and leaves for San Diego on the 27th.  He is so excited and we are so proud.

Congratulations!  San Diego is wonderful.  I'm guessing he's headed for a ship at 32nd Street base.  You don't have to say, but that's the "usual" set of SD orders for AECF who begin with sea duty.  

Anti M, I am not sure.  He actually called me about 2 minutes after he had received his orders.  I don't think that he even new for sure! LOL.  All I know is that he really wanted to be on a destroyer, so he is excited.  Hoping he will get 1 week of leave so that he can bring his car home.

Hello Anti M,  I talked to my son last night.  He sure didn't know if he was out of the 32nd Street Base.  Is busy trying to get all of his paperwork done.  Catching the mistakes that have been made since he reported last April.  They keep telling him it will take 2 weeks to correct, he tells them he doesn't have two weeks.  

He doesn't want us to come down for his A School Graduation, so we are staying home, but wants us there for his "Frocking", so we will be there for that.  things seem to be happening fast all of a sudden.

Once he gets a good look at his official orders, he will be able to figure out where to go.  The paperwork thing is frustrating, all he can do is keep at it.

Yeah, A school grad is not a huge deal.  Frocking can be, if the command does a nice job of it.

Anti M, he said something about one of "pinning" him.  We are both doing are best to be there.

Yes, when they advance to E-4, they get new insignia, and it is pinned on their collars.  It is a nice little ceremony.

Hi Ladies, 

Has anyone here been to an FC C school graduation??? If so, can you please tell me a bit about it?!?

Thanks :-)

Sorry Ima, my FC is just starting A School, can you give me any information on how long it is? Thank you in advance.

Haven’t been to an FC C School Ceremony specifically, but I think it’s safe to say it will be even smaller and less formal than A School if you went to that. I think if he’s in a big class it might feel like an actual graduation, but like my husband’s C School class had 5 people including him, they just wore their NSUs, not even dress blues like A School, and got a certificate, a handshake, and some kind (scripted) words during the morning muster/briefing. It was almost exactly like when he got pinned except he got a “diploma” rather than a certificate of appointment 

Allison is correct, C school graduation is little to nothing.  I went to several C schools over the years, because ETs do that, and not once do I recall anything other than getting our certificates and half a day off.  At most.  One time my buddies dragged me to a strip club for our graduation lunch  ... so there's that.  

Hello all,
My husband is graduating boot camp next week and he informed me that he is going to be an ET! I'm so proud of him and all his hard work.
I was wondering if any of you could tell me how the schooling was for your sailor and even lifestyle. I know nothing about it and am hoping to learn from your experiences.
Thank you!

Hello Danita, Welcome.  My son graduated from Boot Cam on June 2,  He was lucky and didn't have a hold, with the two weeks off for Christmas he will be graduating A school as an E.T. Feb. 9.  Hope this helps.

Hi Danita, my son graduated boot camp in July last year. ETs stay in Great Lakes for ATT school and A school. You'll be able to spend graduating weekend with him which is great!  ATT school is about 10 weeks and hard. Like Smidgee stated below it is like college and the extra study sessions and staying focused is so important during this time. My son just got his orders and is so excited!  Good luck to you and your husband!

Goodmorning all!

My husband is in BC but after will be going to a school for ACEF hopefully an ET. I have been told by his recruiters and the documents that he will be in school for 119 weeks. I have double checked a billion times, but everyone ive asked on social media has told me that its a typo and not that long. So i asked the recruiters again and they said the timeline is right. 

Any insight?

My son had an estimate of how long his A school would be (FC) and then had to completely re-calculate his estimated end date because the "weeks" they told him didn't include weekends or something. It was too odd for him to even be able to explain it, but the take away is that you'll just have to wait until he's actually in the program to know for sure. They may be adding the weeks of ATT and A school together?

Also, bless their hearts, the recruiters are under terrible pressure, and my son says with a smirk that you can't believe anything they tell you unless you get it in writing. 

Use this Navycool pdf to estimate "seat time" at ET A school.

https://www.cool.navy.mil/usn/enlisted/rating_info_cards/et.pdf

11 weeks of ATT plus 19 weeks of ET A school.  This does not include their initial indoc classes on finance, EO, sexual harassment, etc.  Does not include hold times.  So 30+ weeks, plus whatever C school they go to afterward.  C school is not at Great Lakes.  For an ET, it can be pretty much anywhere.   Seven to nine months at Great Lakes is normal, up to a year.  C schools can easily run six months or more, but some are quite short. For an FC, C school is longer, and there are fewer of them.  

The confusing estimate is when they give number of days, because those do not include weekends and holidays.  

Yeah, mostly just go with the flow, definitely not easier for a spouse who needs to coordinate school, work, moving, and maybe kids.  Yikes.  

Thank you ladies!
All of that helped a lot. Especially knowing that the 204 days that he told me would not include weekends and holidays! We have a family to think about and I am so torn on if I should move to be closer when our next baby is born.

I talked with my son yesterday, he is in his second week of A school as a FC. He said that school is 18 weeks long. Hope this helps.

Moving to Great Lakes is very common for AECF spouses. Depends on how much family support you feel you need, and if you are willing to change doctors.

Mom2aT just keep in mind that even though he signed as ET, he really signed for AECF, so it may change to FC in bootcamp. My husband signed for FC, but in bootcamp found out he was ET. He was disappointed at first, but now he really loves being an ET. 

My best advice to him would be to remember that bootcamp is not the Navy. He’s going to feel a lot of stress and pressure, he’s going to be yelled at because they have to yell at him, so he has to try to take their advice, but don’t take any of the extra fluff they say personally, they truly do say it to everyone. The way they treat sailors is about breaking them down as civilians and building them back up as good sailors, everything is exaggerated. A lot of people I met when I got sent to seps  that weren’t also there for medical reasons had quit because they didn’t think this life was for them, they couldn’t handle the way they were being treated. It’s really important for him to remind himself that bootcamp is not the Navy, it WILL get better, even a couple weeks before he graduates. Also, seps sucks, and there’s very few reasons they’ll send you home quickly, even legitimate medical reasons, so you might as well push through because unless you get sepped in the first week or two, you’re going to be there until your division graduates anyway. 

My best advice to family is after they graduate, they’re going to be different, but they’ll come back around. It’s hard to adjust from being a recruit and nothing but a recruit 24/7 and then get thrown right back into the world where you’re a sailor, but you’re also a person again. The balance is hard to figure out again, so give them time, don’t stress if everything is okay with them because their personality has changed or worry if they’re pulling away, just be supportive and remember they’re adjusting back to having freedom and an identity separate of the Navy. 

My son too! (Frocking) I won't be able to be there...hoping to see some pics on FB. Do you get to be there barefootie?

My Sailor called and said frocking was moved to Tuesday, Feb. 20  His A School Graduation was also moved until Tomorrow from last Friday.

Hi Anti M, thanks for the update about C School graduation...I was fretting over trying to make it!!!  I'm sure my son would like to go to lunch afterwards at the same place you went!!! Hahahahaha OY!!!

we have a family text chat going since our son left for the Navy, he updates us  on events of the day, yesterday he let us know he passed the weeks testing. So glad to  know he is getting it, he said it is a lot of information at one time. Still more weeks of  ATT to go but encouraged by his success so  far.

Jack's Momma, that is great news.  Glad to hear he is coming along so well.