AECF - FCs and ETs

Libby...Congrats to your sailor and to you too for making it through BC! You are gonna LOVE PIR!

Wishing your sailor all the best in his upcoming training.

Happy Father's Day to all!  Hope everyone is able to hear from their sailors today ...we're still hoping for that call today.

Hi Libby

My daughter will be an FC at GL, PIR 6/22..can't wait to see my sailor and wish her well on her next chapter with the Navy.  I am sure you are as proud of your son as I am my daughter..Friday can't get here fast enough.

Hello all,  does anyone know any sailors on the USS Mobile Bay CG 53?  My son finishes school in Dahlgren, VA  and reports to San Diego in July.  He is FC Aegis. 

Hi Libby, enjoy PIR! Chicago is great in the summer time! Oh yeah, when you see those big doors roll up and all the sailors march in = AWESOME!!!

navybluemom....What ship is your son attached to? Sorry if you already said, and I forgot...can't keep track sometimes! Chrisitan is on the USS Germantown....home port Sasebo, Japan. But they have been out and about all over. Just spoke to him a few minutes ago.
So thought I'd check to see if they are on the same ship!

navybluemom....for what little time he was there, he said Sasebo was really nice. He got there mid May, was only there a week before the ship got underway. They are still out at sea.
Oh yes, just love those phone calls! I'm impressed at how clear the calls are too. Just a bit of a lag time between each person speaking.
When they get back in port in Sasebo, they will be doing some maintenance on the ship, so yes, he will be sleeping off the ship, but still working, using the galley, etc.
Hope your son is doing well!

Brand new, literally just a couple of hours ago, my son went through MEPS and signed on as an E4 in the AECF.  I really have no idea yet what any of this means, so please be patient with me as I learn.  The whole thing has come as a shock to me since I wasn't told he was doing this until Friday evening and here it is Monday afternoon and he is on.

Howdy... he will be advanced to E-4 only after completion of his A school, but it is guaranteed.  He will be an E-3 after boot camp.  He may be one IN boot camp for pay purposes only, but that is a detail in the contract; they all are treated as E-1 during basic training.  In the meantime, he has a lot to learn and prepare for during DEP (delayed entry).

KylesMom, My son did the same thing, (more or less, but that's another story.lol) Check out this site, it is wonderful, be prepared for some tears, some heavy heart as he leaves, however, the heaviness lifts with each week, especially when the first letter comes. From there, it just gets better adn better...

KylesMom, start saving for PIR!! what a wonderful ceremony, and take a lot of pics.  I never asked if it was allowed, but a camera for him (after BC) will allow him to hold memories and share them with u.  I wish mine had had one (and used it).

Welcome KylesMom, I only had three weeks to prepare. She had talked about the Air Force then went Navy and was gone!

Is your son in DEPs waiting or did he leave for BC already? Be aware of "The Box", the Navy sends you his stuff back in a box (even his dirty underwear) and it looks like your kid disappered.  It made me cry.

Most moms do cry when they get "the Box".  I found it cheering.  My thinking went something like this.  "This is everything he was wearing. I know he's not naked up there in November so they must have given him Navy Clothes.  That means so far, so good".  Stange perspective?  Almost certainly!  But it worked for me!

"The box" helped me by knowing he was on his way!  It kinda of cut ties and old habits for him (some that need to be cut) so he could move forward.

I cry alot, my therapist says it is a good relase of emotions.  Nothing wrong, as long as Chrissy doesn't know. She hates it when I cry.

Reading the stories in this group makes me tear up! It makes me remember all that I went through with "the box", getting letters, the first phone call, graduation, etc.  It takes me back and let me tell you, things have definitely gotten better since then.  A lot has changed in just a short year and I can't wait for the rest of the adventure!  Encouraging people brighten my day :)

My sailor is a few weeks into A school (FC) at Great Lakes and it's a whole new adventure.  Glad we can text and chat.  Helps stay connected a little better.  Boot camp was quite an experience, but letter writing and receiving letters after about the 3-4 week kept up my sailor's spirits and mine.  The first 'real' phone call home, I just let her talk until she got booted off the phone.  Hang in there KylesMom.

My son has a ship date now...I will tell you all I am glad it is not until January 9th...so I have a TON to learn and welcome any and all advice and or tips on how to make this all go easier...please and thank you

My best advice, KylesMom, is:"Let Go and Let God."

"Easier" is such a relative term.  What are your biggest concerns right now?  

I had a short visit with Chrissy yesterday, she stayed at her sister's house, not here this time. She is going back to VA today. Aidan is excited about going to Mama's house.

Chrissy seems to be happy with miltary life, she has matured so much. We are getting along better, she is so independent. I am proud of her. She got her first NAM for all the extra work she did on deployment. 

Where is everybody? Been too quiet here!

Chrissy got back to VA, ok. She has been working and studying. And she has Aidan, been really different for her, she says she enjoys him but it is also stressfull. He is gong back to his Dad's in the Fall.

Hi Vicky, you are right, not much going on here. Glad Chrissy is doing well and enjoing her time with Aidan.  My Sailor is about half way through C school in SD.  I do not talk to him much.:(  He stays very busy.  He told me he was #1 in the class.  Very proud of him. He thinks it will be about another month before he gets any info on where he will go next.  I wish I knew more about how that works.  I hoped to visit him in SD but that did not work. Too expensive.  The next three to four months will be a challenge for me.  He is supposed to be home sometime in Nov....  I do hope all of you moms are doing well and enjoying your summer.   

How orders work in general:  your sailor puts in a dream sheet, selecting desired orders.  They can ask for a general area (east coast/west coast) right down to specific bases.  Of course, they must choose bases where there are jobs for them to fill.  A sub sailor would not ask for an airbase, and a surface sailor probably wouldn't go to Groton.

Your sailor in C school is earning an NEC, a  numeric designator which is specific to a specific billet (job opening).  Paygrade also matters, as some jobs need junior sailors, while others require more senority.  Jobs of critical importance will be filled first, desires of the sailors or not.  Always by NEC.

Then the detailer (who issues the orders) looks over the orders and open billets from commands and lines them up with the dream sheets.  Like recruiters, there are orders on a computer and more than one detailer going over them.  Orders can appear and vanish.   The detailers work within rates and related rates.

Coming out of school, new sailors are often not offered a choice of orders.  They're told where to go.  The detailers do try to say yes to the dream sheet, but it is not always possible.  Otherwise we'd all have served in Hawaii.  Later, for that second set of orders, they do get to talk to a detailer.   Now and then they do visit C schools, but that may be old info.

Then the detailer (who issues the orders) looks over the orders and open billets from commands and lines them up with the dream sheets. ..... and available warm bodies with the correct qualifications.

Thanks for taking the time to explain all of that Anti M!! So much for us moms to absorb. So this is where the dream sheet comes into the picture. I recall reading about it when he was in BC.  He said something about the top of the class gets first pick??!  Hopefully that is correct info.  Gives him a reason to try and stay there.  

First pick used to be common practice (I had first pick as an ET).  The detailer would set up a pool of orders for the class, trying to fit in the dreams, then the sailors would pick by class standing.  HOWEVER, that is not so usual now.  More likely they simply get handed a set of orders.  

My dad went to Malta, I would love to go there.  We still travel and try to go places we've never been.  This October we will go to Cancun for Day of the Dead.  The navy has made me a wanderer for life.

BR549, I do envy you in your visit to SD. Can't wait to hear about it. We tried very hard to make it work for us.

Day of the Dead Anti M?  Sounds interesting. Anything like the event you attend in the desert? I loved checking out that website!!  Have a great day.

Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico, the day after Halloween, when they decorate the graves of their ancestors and pay homage to loved ones passed on.  Lots of skeletons and so on, it is a cross between a religious celebration and a festival.   Many sugar skulls and little skeleton figures.  

http://www.dayofthedead.com/content/cancun-celebrates-day-dead

That Dream sheet is a bunch of BS. The Real Truth of How Orders Work:

Yuor Kid Goes Where the Navy Needs Them. Period.

The dream sheet matters more for the second command, although orders are always up in the air.  I was sent to Diego Garcia as an E-6, not exactly my choice.  The main reason they have to fill it out in school is because it has to be on file, even if it does get passed over.

Who's in Malta?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is my homeland!   Well, my dad was born there but his family came to the USA when he was just a baby so we were born in the US.  I hope they get a chance to do some fishing and eat good pasta!!!  A friend of mine just went in March and had a great time.

Hey all, hope you are well.  I never get here enough anymore with my travel schedule but think of you often.  For those that have sent me messages, I'm alive and well...well most days!!!

Our FC is still with his command in Pearl Harbor --- and they are busy participating in the RIMPAC exercises that are going on.

Dream Sheet --- yeah ...it is where the Navy needs them and those needs are getting smaller each year BUT if they have a dream sheet on file and the Navy JUST happens to need someone with that NEC and they are in the right place at the right time...   Stars do align on occassion!!!

For anyone that lives in GA, we will be getting together for lunch in August. See the events section for details or holler at me!

Concernedad...never heard of that.  I'd wait to see if Chief Angie answers this for you. Are you talking about A school or C school?
Our sailor graduated C school with honors....after C school they usually get leave and soon thereafter join their ship out in the fleet. Not a long wait...different than the long wait to start C school after graduating from A school.
Might not be a "one answer fits all" type thing.

I'd never heard of going out faster if you did better, that could be new.  Or they could have the list of names by class rank instead of alphabetically?  I do know that if there is a "hot" set of orders (billet is gapped and they need a qualified warm body ASAP), then whoever comes up first is sent there, whether from the fleet or from school.  Could be mere coincidence.  Best student leaving first has not previously been policy, but that doesn't mean it isn't now.  

My son will graduate A school for FC in 3 weeks. Anyone ever attend that graduation? Any any recent grads from A achool? How long has the wait been before C school is starting? I would love for my son to get SD since we live in Cali but if he has his way he will be Aegis & be in VA.

That's a new one in the rumor mill.  Be interesting to see if it happens, and for how many FCs, before they turn all the ones behind them who haven't begin A school  into ETs instead, and cut way back on AECF recruiting.   With the budget under scrutiny, I have to wonder if they were going to expand the C schools and it go put on hold?

But eventually they have to go to C school or all that training is somewhat wasted. Quad zeroes can't work directly on a lot of the systems.  

33 weeks for ET and a little less for that for FC (27?).  However, that is only the A school seat time.  There's so much more to Great Lakes than that.  First you'd go to indoc, which introduces you to base policy, liberty phases and duty days (all A schools have this).  Then you go through ATT (apprentice technical training) which is the building blocks of electronics.  Then you wait to class up, for enough student sailors to finish ATT also.  While on hold, you'll be assigned daily work, stuff like cleaning or maybe office work.  Then you go through A school.  Then you get (or wait for ) orders, usually to a C school for specific gear or entire system.  Then you get to go to the fleet.  

Almost every rate will have hold times during training.  

I was an ET, although quite a while ago.  I was trained on crypto communications, a system which is now mostly outdated now. ETs do communications, or radar, or maybe computers... and they can go to multiple C schools throughout their career.  FCs train on weapons systems.  

Once you get past phase one liberty, which only takes a couple weeks, you can go off base within 300 miles.  Visitors are okay.  No offbase overnights until phase three, and then only weekends (but not Sunday night).  So by the time you're in ATT, you can go to the mall or into town as long as you're back on time.

Have your fiance join one of the girlfriends groups here, she'll need the support and the information.  Your recruiter will tell you differently, but if you two are anywhere near ready to marry, do it before you leave.  It will save you an incredible number of headaches later.

I've answered the "when to marry" question an awful lot....  I'm in the "sooner is easier" boat, whereas others will tell you to concentrate on your training.  Both points of view are valid and depend a whole lot on the maturity of the couple.  

On graduation weekend it is 50 miles, but you'll be so hammered from boot camp, all you'll want to do is hang out in a hotel and do stuff like take a shower by yourself.

Does anyone have a sailor going to A school at Great Lakes for AECF ? My daughter has her PIR on Aug 10th and will go immediately to get a settled for school. What exactly do they do and how much time does it take to get thru this school ? I heard something like 33 weeks plus C school ?

Oh, 33 weeks is just ET A school.  First she goes through indoc, then ATT which is prep school for electronics, then waits to class up for A school.  Then she can start her 33 weeks.  She should get her C school orders toward the end of A school, but some have had to wait on hold for orders for that, as the C schools are quite full.  Expect at least a year at Glakes.  Is she an ET or FC?

My husband is currently in ET A school right now.  He graduated BC on 2/3 and went to indoc which took about a week.  He was on hold for a week and started ATT school which lasted about 2 months.  He was on hold for one more week before starting A school and he is set to graduate the beginning of October.  From what we are hearing, he will be on hold after that and his orders probably won't be coming in until January.  So yes, about a year here in GL.  But really everyone's experiences can be so different depending on hold times and how long it takes for orders to come in.  It looks like his C school will either be in San Diego or Norfolk but we don't really have a lot of information on that yet.  But so far my husband has stayed top of his class so YAY for first pick!  Hopefully we will be heading back home to San Diego next year!!  :)

My son is a FC and graduated from B/C 8/19/2011 and just got orders for C school and will be leaving GL in September.  Did not get any of his choices on his dream sheet. We live in Ca. and he received orders for Va.

Do any of the veteran mom's know what day will begin the holiday stand down? Will Friday the 21st of Dec be the last working/school (a school) day before leave? and if so when can they start their travels home? we were planning something for the 21st but now are not sure if he will be able to be here by then. we thought he would be done with a school and have leave on the 14th of dec but apparently a school was delayed so we don't think he will have a break until the holiday stand down.

Janice, I live in CA and my daughter is in VA. She wasn't happy about it at first, but she likes it there now. She likes Viriginia Beach.

I have not been able to go there to visit her, can't afford it. But she comes out here often enough and her son is there visitng now.

For the holiday stand down, I usually look at the calendar for January.  They come back the first working day after New Year's Day which doe snot fall on a weekend.  (huh?)

Stand down is usually two weeks.  They can't combine a weekend of liberty with their leave ... so I'm betting they're checking out the 19th of December.  Pure speculation, but based on experience.  Angie might have an inside line on the dates which have not been announced yet.

Also, it takes several hours to get all the A school students checked out, never book them a flight before noon.  Get them back to base a day early. 

A reminder to the families who think a cruise is a great holiday idea:  Mexico is still off limits to sailors.  This came up last year, so I thought I'd throw it out there again.