GROTON, CT. SUBSCHOOL & "A" SCHOOL MOMS

Hi everyone, my son graduates on Friday and heads to Groton. Thank you all for this post have being a lot of help trying to sort out what’s next.

How can I find out when BESS Graduation is?  Is it always held on a Friday?

KKNOHIO my son just told me BESS graduation is March 30th. Mitt sure about tone yet. 

Not** sure time yet

He graduated boot camp, Jan 19th, not sure if they are in the same grad group

My son graduated from boot camp on February 9 and left February 10 for Groton for BESS.  He said his graduation is scheduled for April 27. 

After BESS graduation, how soon will A school start?  Do they usually have leave in between?

KKNOhio, BESS grad was really nice.  My son's class had 75 sailors.  About 50-60 guests attended.  After BESS depending on rate, some have a couple more classes before they start A school.  My son had ATT and TCNO, then started A school for ETV.  

How long before they are eligible for any kind of leave?  Once A School starts do they have designated breaks?  Trying to get an idea of when he may be able to come home.

Hello again BESS and A school parents!  Just real quick, I wanted to share that my SA graduated recently from BESS with distinction, and I’m proud.  He said he is in a holding pattern, so to speak with independent study until his A school begins.  He likes Groton...he does NOT like the drizzling rain. ( :

I will let SA son know to hold on until May for better weather!

Hi all. My son is nearly finished with boot camp in Chicago and will be headed to Groton for BESS at the end of the month. Just a couple of questions for you veteran moms.

1. Can he have his cell phone and laptop at BESS or should we observe the same rules as boot camp?

2. Is there anything that your recruit wished they’d had to make their time easier/more comfortable?

3. Do the recruits get any liberty between BESS and the start of A school? 

Thanks for the advice!

@TexGal75 my son arrived on Groton about a month ago, I did send him his laptop but send it fed ex just to make sure arrived sooner than the post office. The post office takes few extra days for mail. I also send him clothes the he can use on his time off. I hope this helps and good luck to your sailor!

TexGal75 to answer some of your question 1: yes he can have his phone and laptop. If you go to his graduation from boot camp you can give him his phone the day he flies out. 2: One thing I got my son for boot camp graduation was a gift card to Domions pizza. There is one that delivers to the base. My son got it the first night there.  If you plan on going to boot camp graduation you can go to the airport the next day to spend time with him at that time you could give him his laptop and a few things like a few clothing items I recommend some of his favorite under garments as they like that after boot camp. You can place them in a small bag for him. Don't make it a big bag as they will already have a lot of items they have to take from boot camp. Yes they will be allowed to take an extra bag as we did this for are Sailor just a few months ago. There is no extra charge for the bag. Hope this helps!

1. Thank up for the add. My son leaves in the morning for Connecticut. Im excited for him.(he is looking forward to it)

Hi everyone. I am very new to this and am just learning the ropes. My son is in boot right now with PIR July 13th. Question, what is BESS and do they get liberty after A school is done?

Thanks!

BESS is Basic Enlisted Submarine School, the first phase for enlisted submariners-to-be. It is where they learn the basics of how to be on a submarine without being a danger to themselves and everyone else.
The "A" school path varies a bit between ratings, so we'd need to know what your son is going into.
A bit of terminology: liberty is when they can leave the base, such as weekends and when off-duty. Once he completes initial indoc and some qualifications he will start to get liberty. What you are talking about is Leave, which is the equivalent of vacation or PTO. It is very likely he will get leave between "A" school and reporting to his first command but, like all things, it is Needs of the Navy.

Adding to WearsLargeHats' comments, he may be able to take leave between BESS and A school, but rate and A school timing are critical factors. Leave has to be approved. Approval can be shortly before it begins (request date is irrelevant). Needs of the Navy...suggest you consider change costs and/or cancellation costs when making plans.

Can anybody tell me what airport sailors fly into when traveling to Groton from Great Lakes?  My son will be heading there soon after his PIR, and we're just wondering?  If it isn't appropriate for this question to be answered here, that's fine.  :-)

The Navy will get him there. Most likely Providence (PVD), but maybe Hartford (BDL).

Thank you, WearsLargeHats.  Will the Navy arrange his ground transportation from whichever airport on to Groton? I'm so grateful for any info you have. My SR was fresh out of small-town high school, straight to GL, and I'm being a little "worried momma" thinking about him traveling around the East Coast alone.  Haha!

Don't worry about it. Like I said, they will get him there. My son didn't go there from boot so I don't know the details, but your son will get orders that will include transportation and reporting instructions. I doubt he will be alone. From GL at least, they generally travel in groups.
I get the worried parent thing. When my son graduated sub school, I caught myself worrying about my boy driving all the way from CT to NC on leave, but then I gave myself a dope slap because he was 26, and could deal with an emergency better than I could. It sure is tough to let go.
As a Navy parent, you have the privilege of watching the Navy transform your callow teenager into a strong and capable sailor and eventually, a smart and resilient submariner. But I am sure even the Chief of the Boat has a mother who worries about him.

SunflowerLynn,

Yes, the Navy will provide ground transportation. After a few weeks and he earns full liberty privileges, he will need to travel the East Coast alone...but he'll be able to find some shipmates to show him around. Boston and New York City are a few hours away--encourage him to see the world starting nearby.

Thanks, WearsLargeHats and IL Matt's Mom.  I'm trying not to be a worry-wort.  Funny, I'm a Navy brat, a Navy wife (retired), and the granddaughter of a Navy Seabee, but it's a whole different perspective being a Navy Mom.  I'll be alright though.  I'm actually excited to see how much he will have grown-up just in the 8 short weeks at GL.

And as the daughter of a COB (Halibut, 1970's), I can assure you his mother (my grandma) most certainly did worry about him.  Lol!

My son graduates TCNO this week and says he's graduating A school at the end of October, but he is frequently wrong about these sorts of things :) I can't seem to find any info on how long A school lasts...

Hi everyone! I'm just new here and I just want to ask, are they given sometime off between BESS and A school? If they are, how long/how many days would that be?

Hi Hazel, I wish I knew the answer to your question, too.  My son is approaching the end of boot camp and will be going to Groton for BESS and A School, too.  My guess is they won't know for sure until they receive their orders (sometime in week 7, probably), but I'm thinking they probably won't get time off, or at least not very much!  Hopefully somebody with past experience in this will also respond. 

Hi Everyone, for the new ladies who’s sons or daughters the going to Groton. My son graduated boot camp on February now he just made it to A school. He did had a week off while in Groton before he stared school and now he will be having another week off  before he starts again. 

Good luck to you all and if you guys can visit them in Groton would be great. It gets lonely from time to time for them to show them your support.

My son graduated on a Friday and left for the airport to go to Groton very late Sunday night/Monday morning (around 2 a.m.).  Some families choose to meet their Sailors at the airport at that time to give them their phones, etc.  Other families FedEx those things to Groton.  

My son was the the airport at 3am on the night of Sunday/Monday  and he didn’t left until 8am flight. It was nice to spend time with him while waiting. 

So Funkymom12, if you don't mind my asking, what did your son do on the Saturday after graduation?  Did you get to spend the day with him?

All, 

My son graduated boot camp Friday morning 9:00am, 4th August, left Great Lakes on bus to O'Hare airport 3:30am (03:30) before dawn on Saturday 5th August. He was on a plane to Providence RI (Groton) at 10:00 pm (22:00) Saturday 5th August (22 sailors on same flight).

After PIR on Friday, the sailors leaving Great Lakes are on buses leaving the base at 12:30am (midnight), 3:30am or 5:50am for the airports. Most go to O'Hare. There is a slight possibility of going to Midway Chicago (MDW) or Milwaukee (MKE) airports. These two are not likely used due to Groton's location and flight schedules (direct, but not charter). Closest airports to Groton / New London are Providence (PVD) and Bradley in Hartford, CT (BDL).

Yes, if you do the math he was at ORD for 18+ hours. You can get a gate pass to wait with him at the airports. You can give him any electronics only at the airport. Kudos to the USO volunteers at O'Hare. They did a fabulous job receiving the multiple bus loads of kids, providing info to them and us family, and feeding them.

Once arriving in Groton, he was able to call freely on his cell phone. Internet is not free, but he can access it in a shared group area for limited amount of time per month. He waited for awhile before starting BESS and graduated 13Oct. Once his BESS class formed, his graduation date did not change. We did attend BESS graduation which was much more low key than boot camp PIR.

Once they are at the airport, the restriction is in the number and type of bags they can carry. They don't have a lot of space. An extra carry-on might have to be no-larger-than and/or a particular color (black), and it is something else to keep track of. It is easier to just pass them their cellphone and other small electronics, and send civilian clothes and such by UPS or USPS. He won't need them right away.

@sunflowerlynn, I took him to Chicago and he had to be back before 10pm that night.

Thank you, FunkyMom12. I’m hoping we get to spend that extra day with our sailor, too. We’ll see how it turns out. 

@sunnflowerlynn, 

i hope you do too! Sense I don’t know when I will see him again, I cherish those unique moments with him.

Hello Ladies,

It has been awhile since I last visited NavyForMoms.  I am back with a question and conundrum of sorts for those Mamas with sailors at Groton.

My Sailor is in A school.  He will finish up in September.  He told me his entire A school was recently moved to a different housing (old) building  He said he has been without AC for over 24 hours and that he didn’t sleep at all over the last 24 hours due to the miserable nature of 85 degrees in his room.  (No roommate-which is usually a break I guess.)  And now he has been without electricity for over 24 hours as well.  He told his section leader and filled out the log book for service/maintenance.  He has done very well during A school and now he’s closed to despondent after sweltering heat and humidity AND lack of sleep due to those conditions makes it harder to bear.  So!  We told him to talk to his chain of command  and let them know.  I suggested talking with the chaplain as well just for some support.  He has friends that have offered to let him bunk in their quarters just so he can sleep  He says he will do so tonight  

It’s so bad for him in his room that we ended up getting a hotel room for him over the upcoming weekend so he can get some rest in a cooler environment.  Outrageous $$ but it’s to help him escape from the heat.

We are desert folks by experience but man, NO AC and NO ELECTRICITY and NO SLEEP is never a good mix.  Hydrating and showering in cool water and staying inside cooler buildings are our suggestions  

Anyone have any other ideas?  This just doesn’t seem right.

Oh man.  I’m so sorry for our sailors and the heat. 97 is more than 85 and then humidity. Ugh. I will be happy when my Sailor graduates in about a month and a half.

And still!  I think this is ridiculous.  No electricity AND no AC.

Sailor says he will talk to COC today. Hope he doesn’t get screamed at for it. 

My son said he has a fan. But the humidity is really bad. I ordered him a Dehumidifier for like $45 on Amazon, for the room, hoping itll help a little better. You would think they would have everything working for them... unbelievable 

Proud Mom, a dehumidifier is smart thinking.  Gonna get on that quickly!  Thank you.  

My Sailor went back today to check on his room and the power is out still.  He thinks it was briefly restored while he has been gone but regardless, isn’t lack of electricity a safety issue?

Ah well, we’ve done everything we can think of.  I wish we luck bed closer to base.  I would make sure he had at least a cool place to sleep. 

I say to him that it’s times like these that test our resolve.  It’s hard for me as his Ma to know he’s so miserable.

Is there any Leave after A school but before Groton BESS?

NavyMum, for my son, BESS is before A school. Don’t know if he’ll have any leave between the two. My guess is it will depend on whether they’ve got enough sailors ready to start the A school, or have to wait to get enough to man the class.