AECF - FCs and ETs

My son is in C school now. It’s approximately 10 weeks 

Sorry. C school approximately 12 weeks for my sailor but it all depends on the equipment they are being trained on. Some are longer. I know my sailor has one more school after his C school before his deployment to Japan 

Butterball, there's more than one C school, and I do know the hold times can be quite long.  

Here is the FC COOL sheet, pages 8 ad 9 show the NECS available through C schools.  The trick is, they combine some of them into one system!  Expect 4 to 8 months of school, plus hold times.  

Wikipedia names the systems they might train on.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_controlman

There is no one single answer, sorry.

Ooops, forgot to post the COOL sheet!

https://www.cool.navy.mil/usn/LaDR/fc_e1_e9.pdf

Thank you Anti M and Barefootie for the information. Now my next crazy question is why does it seem everyone has their orders except for my son? It is so aggravating not knowing what is happening. thank you in advance for the information. 

Anti M, got a message that the link was not secure, so I won't be using it, thank you for the heads up though. 

All the  .mil sites come up as unsecure.  They're fine, just older security certificates trip the up to date firewalls .  

There's always someone waiting for orders ...

Oh, okay, will have to check them out this morning, if I get a chance.

Butterball, I know how you feel.  Everyone had there orders except for my son.  He got his orders 1 week before he graduated from A School, then he left 1 week after for his ship.  Now they are sending him to C School somewhere else.  It is crazy at times.

Thank you Bandmom, I do know where he will be for C school, guess I will have to wait along with him for where he reports next.

I'm sure this question has been asked before but here goes. There is A School and C School, but why no "B" school? It has been bugging me :)

Hello everyone. My son is graduating A school next week and still no orders we are going nuts! URG! just had to vent:)

O’smom, it’s so hard not knowing. My husband didn’t get his orders until a couple weeks after he graduated, almost two months after the rest of his class had gotten all their orders. Not saying this is what will happen for him necessarily, but it ended up being that they were trying to make a class out of students from a few different classes behind him for a C School we didn’t even know existed, and it was a really cool opportunity for him. Then, in C School, since it was so long and counted as a permanent duty station, we had to wait for another set of orders. Finally got orders to Bahrain, but they managed to screw up the date of his graduation, so he couldn’t go because he wouldn’t be done with C School. We didn’t know until the hard copy came out, so we’d planned a whole move to Bahrain only to be told we were going to a completely different country just before he graduated and we needed to PCS. I ended up staying in the states for a few months while he got things set up and we waited on paperwork. It’s part of the fun, but definitely stressful. Hang in there! 

I can't answer the why no "B" school question with complete confidence in knowing, but I do remember reading that sometime in the 60's (or 70's) there was some class consolidation done. Some of what was taught in B School was moved to A, and specialty stuff to C.

Again, I read it somewhere a while back. I will see if I can find the article.

The good thing about being an ET is the wide variety of C schools available, and that there's always potential to go to more throughout their enlistment.  Picking up another NEC is very common as they move between commands.  It all depends on needs and funding.  I went to a long C school, then a four week one at my first command, then another long one related to my first NEC before my second command.  Also went to a six month theory school as a "reward" for re-enlisting.  There's no shortage of ETs now, so that would not be quite business as usual, but it isn't impossible.  My husband had even more NECs than I did!  As they update equipment, they must also update sailors' training.

FCs have it far worse as they have fewer and less varied C school options.  They can wait months for a seat.  One year, they were being sent to the fleet as "quad zeros" (no NEC) to wait for their school while cranking on a ship.  Yikes!

Ingrid, I wouldn’t recommend using such specific details. You can still ask your question, just as like what are your gift suggestions for my tiger cruise sponsor? instead. People can piece to together anything. You also have no way to confirm that someone is in fact that sailor’s mother, being the internet, and they may be trying to get as much info as they can out of you before you realize it’s not her. 

Thank you Allison...Didn't really think about that.  My son is not helping me figure out what to get this sailor and I want to bring her something.  Any suggestions?

My husband has only done shore duty, so I’ve never been on one myself. I would say baked goods if they’re allowed would probably be greatly appreciated. When we send care packages, most sailors ask for different candies and snacks, razors, and entertainment like books/movies/puzzle books. I don’t think you can ever go wrong with food unless there’s allergies, but that list is pretty short before you’re denied enlistment. If you have enough time, if he could just come up with where she’s from, maybe you can do a little research and order food stuffs local that area to bring. My inlaws got my husband a plane ticket once too, one that you can use anytime within a year or whatever, and though not military, just a frequent traveller, I have a friend that loves to get airline gift cards as gifts, and I think that’d be a good idea too. My best guess would be baked goods though, I’ve never brought baked goods or home cooked food to anything on base without immeadiately being swarmed by sailors. 

So my son graduated from A school. Yay! That was such a tough time for him.  He’s officially an ET. Now he’s down south going to SATCOM school. Graduates end of October. The thing is he has his own room. He’s really homesick. His friend is in the room next door. I try to help. He does get off base with his buddies, but says it’s too hot to go outside. I wish he did have roommates. He’s on an army base, so there’s only about 20 sailors. His birthday is next month. Thinking about flying out to see him.

I have a question...after A school for ET or FC, how long is C school for active duty.

Thanks

Karen, there are a variety of C schools, none of which are the same length!  From a few weeks to several months.  ETs have many, many C school options, and wil sometimes attend more than one.  FCs have longer schools, often six months or more.  Impossible to know what they will be assigned to in advance.  I am so sorry there is not a specific answer anyone can give you.

Thank u

Hello Navy Moms - my son just finished BC in June and then was on hold for a few weeks at GL waiting to begin his A - school - he's been in Ad Tech Training for two weeks now.  How long does ATT last?  He said his official A School will start after that and that is about 10-12 weeks long.  Just trying to plot on my calendar when his next move will be and where he may go after that?  He's an FC.  Any hints/thoughts are appreciated - hoping he can come home for Christmas!

ATT is about nine weeks.  However, there can be a hold between ATT and A school, hard to predict how long that may be.  HIs C school might not start right away, if so, they are usually held at Great Lakes as there is more berthing there.  He'll still be in school for Christmas, A or C won't matter, so chances are high he can take a week or so of leave to come home.  He may even get both after A school leave and Christmas leave ...

Does anyone know the preferred way to send clothes? USPS, Fed Ex, UPS?

Definitely USPS is preferred.  

Remember, nothing is delivered to them directly, so they might have to haul it around.  

Thank you!

Usps will also deliver priority mail boxes to your house if you want to save a trip to the post office. It’s free to get the boxes. They give packages of like 10 at a time or something. You can also pay the shipping for it online, print your label, and have it picked up from your door in some areas. It makes it way less of a hassle trying to get to a post office before they close or standing in long lines on weekends. 

Can anyone explain to me how A school and C school work for a new graduate from boot camp for FC rate?

Your sailor will be transported down the street to TSC Great Lakes after PIR. They’ll go through indoc and then have liberty that weekend to spend time with family. Then, they’ll do ATT, which I think is like 6 weeks. Once they pass that, they’ll do their A School, which is about 6-8 months long, 200 and something days. Anywhere from a month to a week before graduation, they’ll get orders. If it’s a short C School, they’ll get orders for their C School AND their first permanent duty station. If it’s a long C School (as in a few months), they may not get their first duty station until they graduate C School. The entire process takes about 1-2 years just depending on hold times and C School length. That’s the gist of it. Others may be able to offer more detail, and if you google NavyCOOL, you can get the detailed information for each rate. 

https://www.cool.navy.mil/usn/enlisted/fc.htm

ATT is nine weeks, their A school is ... I want to say 19 weeks without looking it up.  FC C schools can be quite long.

There usually is a short hold for ATT, but since many ratings take it, they class up pretty quickly.  While it is self-paced, they also have an instructor on hand and must keep to a class schedule.  After that, they must wait for enough FC students to class up for A school.  This can be weeks or months.  They are kept busy.  Now and then the FC C schools back up, so there is a chance of being on hold after graduation waiting for orders.  

The timing is such you probably can expect them to be able to take holiday leave and be home for Christmas.

hi anti M-   so its 19 weeks including or in addition to att?

HAS ANYONE GOTTEN ANY TYPE OF ORDERS YET??

drmary, yes, the two are counted separately.  There may be hold time between also, and potentially even after, waiting for orders. Hurry up and wait, stay flexible, and be glad they are paid to be somewhere safe and boring.

morning to anyone ready to listen, our son got his orders yesterday, he will be in San Diego for 9 months then off to  Japan. He is very happy and got what he wanted. We are glad for him it is a bittersweet day as his fiancé is not as happy because what she wants it to be married. Even though the official date is next year. there was some drama as he broke it off with her and then called her last night to  talk things through. she was told some things from him that he has been doing, not terrible things mind you but definitely stuff we are not happy about. we aren't even suppose to  know. so I cant talk to him about the behavior. any advice? We try to  encourage him and I thought he sounded happy yesterday but according to her ,he is not happy. I feel like i could have a panic attack and I've never had one before so this is scaring me a lot.

I think that unless the issues are life threatening or destructive, it’s best to stay out of the direct conflict between them and out of his personal business. Of course every parent-child relationship is different, but I know with my parents, outside of those two things, it wouldn’t be worth the damage to our relationship and trust both with my husband and with my parents for them to get involved. I’m not a parent yet, and I’m sure it’s really hard to stay out of, but from an adult child’s perspective, he’s an adult and trying to parent him while he’s exploring his freedom to make his own choices and choose his own path just isn’t going to go over well. But again, if he’s making choices that are self destructive like drugs or alchol, or it’s something life threatening like severe depression/self harm, then I think that’s different because you’re protecting your adult child’s life, not trying to control who he is or what he does. Otherwise, if he’s just unhappy maybe with the navy and wants to get out, maybe he blew off a couple watches and pt, or he’s unhappy with his fiancée and they’re having problems or infidelity or whatever, I think all of that, again, from a child’s perspective, though it’s not okay, it’s just not worth getting too involved. That being said, I think it would be okay to guide him if/when he asks for help, and it’s okay to express dissappointment or disapproval if he shares things with you. I just personally feel as an adult child that if my parents chose to be confrontational about my personal issues or tried to get involved in them, I would be very upset. I hope this helps in some way :)

I can’t offer much on how to cope because I’m not a parent, but I think I’d want someone to tell my mom that she did raise me right, and so although I might mess up sometimes, she doesn’t need to worry, and I’ll always go to her if I start to reach a point where I don’t think I can handle things, emotionally or physically. 

Thanks Allison, it is very hard to  parent adult children , we have 2 other children and we are all very close. The fact that he is not sharing is very hard for me and I will try to  be patient waiting for him to talk to his siblings or his dad or I. He is underage and has been offered alcohol, not everyone thinks that's a bad thing we occasionally indulge but he was raised to know that underage drinking is not cool. the fiancé,/girlfriend shares too much and that is frustrating for me.

thank you anti m

are there any mom's who have an FC who has left Great lakes?  where are the places they usually end up? 

Jack's Momma ... you are in a hard spot because he's an adult now, and the Navy very much expects him to be one.  Underage drinking will get him sent to Captain's Mast, as well as anyone who provides him with alcohol, or who is around and does not stop him.  

As for a fiance, if he is having doubts now that he is a sailor, and is that young, they need to wait.  Trust me, he is trying out his freedoms, learning more about himself than he ever has before, and she might not have a place in all that right now.  I saw it dozens of times.  Hometown sweethearts do not always make it through the first duty station, especially long distance, and especially Japan.  If they cannot survive a long distance relationship over a year or two, the marriage won't hold in the long run.  Usually I don't discourage a military marriage, but this is setting off alarm bells for me.  They need a nice long engagement, and to finish growing up.

LOL, yes, I said he was an adult, but most "adult sailors" don't finish growing until they've been deployed a couple times ... even then we were all big kids some days.

DrMary ... most FCs will go to a ship first after C school, as their rotation begins with sea duty.  Which ships will be determined by which C school and system they train on.  Any Navy port with surface ships is a possibility.  Could be Norfolk, WA, San Diego, Hawaii, Japan, and any of the other homeports.  You can rule out any air base or submarine base.  First term sailors can fill out a dream sheet, but they're sent according to needs of the Navy.

Anti - thanks that was super helpful as was your earlier comment about “maturing” after a couple of deployments

Anti M and Heather,

Thank you I have not been back on here because my son ended his 2 year relationship with her and i am heart broken for both of them. I cried for 2 days and to  some that might seem ridiculous but she has been like our child for 2 years, her family is not the best and she wants to be part of our family. I have gotten better the last couple days. he has agreed to keep in contact with her and i pray they can mend only if to be friends again. they moved pretty fast getting engaged and we tried to tell them but to  no avail now we are here and its terrible. They both need to mature and when he is gone first to  Cali then to Japan he may grow up really quick. As far as the behaviors we didn't even ask him but he knows he can be masted. He will have to own it if that happens. thank you for your kind words.

morning ladies.. when the lads are on "hold" do they spend a lot of time just hanging out or are they given anything productive to do besides their assigned guard duty?  my son is enjoying his new independence and doesn't share much detail and i'm not pushing- but i'm darn curious!