AECF - FCs and ETs

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.

Yes, if the A school graduation would fall within the stand down dates, they either push the instruction so the students finish before the holiday, or they hold it over until after.  

thank you Anti M...if you get any updates regarding stand down I am all ears (or eyes in this case ;). Also you said get them back a day early so in this case should they get back to base on New Years Day?

It would be prudent.  Traveling the day they have to check in, in winter to Great Lakes... think about it.  And yeah, weather delays can be counted against them.  

Good to hear he is having the surgery.  The fine docs at Yokosuka save my life twice, so I think well of the place.  

He can be re-rated to a "lower" job.  Technically, all rates are equal.  Yeah, I know.  They will look at his ASVAB scores and other qualifiers such as hearing and vision.  He has a clearance, so that will help.  Then they look at what is open and needs bodies.  He may be sent to an A school, which would be nice.  Don't expect him to stay with his ship.  

They will not reduce his paygrade, so if he is a petty officer, he'd stay an FC until he was re-rated.  (is that what you were asking?)

To Anti M...I am not sure . I don't think she knows which she will be. At least if she does she hasn't told her Dad or myself. How long does it usually take to class up ?

Ibkmom, classing up varies so much,  Maybe one of the other moms who had a recent student go through can share their experience.

BR, good question on the length.  The contract has been broken, so that can change.  How it changes depends on what they do with him.

Better a desk job than chipping paint.  ETs do need normal hearing, we use tones in some systems.

I had my hearing damaged as an ET, a lne capacitor blew up next to my head.  Slight tear which healed, but I was sick to my stomach for weeks and had bad balance.  Of course they wanted me to keep working the night it happened, it was an emergency repair.  I refused because I was seeing double.  The other tech who came in raised hell about working late, but I tore his happy butt to pieces for not wanting to do his job.  He dodged a lot of the on call midnight crap.  Should have been his head exploding, grrr.  

"line capacitor"  (on a power line, they smooth out the interference and "dirt" on the electricity/power source)

well, my daughter finally got her C school orders.  leaving great lakes on 8/7 and has to report to dahlgren on 8/10.  4 1/2 hours from home, i'm a happy mom!

My daughter got her C school orders. She is FC and her orders are for FCS 400 COTS (or something like that). Anyone have more info on what this is? She will be going to Dahlgren for C school at the end of September. She already knows the base and ship she will be assigned to when she graduates C school in March.

I guess it is fcs 400hz cots - still wondering what that is

FCS is Fire Control System.  cots is commercial off the shelf.   I'm thinking radar.  Is there a four digit NEC code on her orders?

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/navynecs/a/fcm.htm

Her NEC is 1148.

1148 is an Aegis.  I'm surprised it isn't on the about.com.  Must be a newer configuration.  

NECs can vary as new systems/updates are made.

Performs Preventative and Corrective Maintenance (PM/CM) on the MK-99 AEGIS Fire Control System (FCS), MK84 400Hz Power Distribution System (PDS), and the Air Cooled Solid State Frequency Power Generation System on Baseline 7.1 and higher AEGIS units (CG and DDG).

Hello all.  My son signed up yesterday to be an AECF - he's leaving for boot camp in March.  I know quite a bit about the Navy, since my son-in-law is a nuke on a sub in Guam, but not a thing about surface or other rates (as a nuke on a sub, my son-in-law doesn't really get much of a chance to interact with anyone but the galley guys on the boat).  Can someone give me just a bit of an idea - which I know is different for everyone, of course - of what he might be doing after school?

Depends if he's an ET or an FC.  He'll find out in boot camp.  My hubby and I were ETs. Both are sea-going rates. FCs work on ship weapons systems, ETs work more with radar or communications.  ETs have more choices for shore duty.  I'd say expect a surface ship right away.

He will go to a C school after A school, although some FCs have been reporting to their ship first.

Thanks, Anti M!  I haven't done much research on this yet, since he went in expecting to be in mass communications, based on his high school experience, but when presented with both options yesterday, decided this was a better long-term opportunity. 

Hello all! I rarely post but follow always. My son is now FC3, honor grad from C-school last Friday in SD. He will have a 2 month hold, do a Bravo school for CIWS and then report to his ship in Norfolk. So by the time he reports it will be 2 years from the time he left for boot. His sister is at McGuire AFB in NJ, (SIL is in AF), so they will be able to see each other when he is available. She is over the moon & I am just happy to have them both on the same coast.

My best advice to all the new moms is just go with the flow ;-)

Deb, congrats to your honor grad Sailor!!  Mine is in SD and will finish C school in Nov.  Is Bravo school something they all have to take?  We live in Va. and how nice it would be to have R on the east coast.  Do you recall when your FC found out he was going to Norfolk?  Just curious about when orders are given in C school.

Hey ssbeach, does the ss stand for Surfside?

R'sproudmom...had to call Logan to clarify before answering your question...1Bravo school, his ship has the 1Bravo mount for the CIWS, so it depends on the ship as to whether they do it before going to their ship. He got his orders about 2 weeks before graduation which was about 7 weeks after they thought they would get them.

I am in Michigan so the east coast is more convenient for me.  He had the choice between Hawaii, Japan & Norfolk. The ship in Hawaii is decomissioning, he has been to Japan & didn't want to leave his car at home & his sister is important to him.

Deb, thank you for calling him!  Two weeks before graduation!!! Wow, was thinking and apparently you were too, that they would get them sooner.

Since he was an honor student, did he actually get to choose where he wanted to go?  R is top of his class and hoping to stay there. Hope that means something when it comes time for orders. 

R's,

Yes he did and that's the way it worked for this class.

my daughter arrived today from great lakes, unloaded her stuff into a storage room and leaves for dahlgren tomorrow.  so happy that she's close to home!

Hi R'sproudmom - yes, it does stand for Surfside Beach.  When I first started here a couple of years ago I had my hand slapped for using my first name (julie) in my username, so I changed it.  Are you in SC, or do you vacation here?

Morning ssbeach. I live in VA. We vacation in Myrtle every year.  My children have visited chuch camp in Garden City many times.  So I know where you are.  

Duhhuh, one day is too short of a visit.  At least she is relatively close.  Gives you a nice weekend get away to visit her.

GoldnG8r - He will be on the Monterey, we were in the same PIR, different ship though ;-)

Hi, R'sproudmom.  What a coincidence - my closing yesterday was with a client whose three sons all went to the church camp in Garden City when they were younger and taught there, too.  Until a couple of months ago when I met them, I didn't even know there was a church camp there :).  

Janice, Deb, Lisette: my son is also a FC & just graduated A school this past Fri (8/10/12). How long did yours have to wait for C school to start? My son told me he was putting his dream sheet in last Thurs for Aegis, FCS, & Tomohawk.

magsmom:He has said nothing about being told about that. When did your dtr graduate A school?

duhhuh & vickyrun: are your dtrs FC or ET?

gmansmom,

my daughter is FC.  she graduated A school the first week of april and got her orders a few weeks ago (last week of july).

she's doing aegis in dahlgren, reported this past friday

gmansmom - Logan graduated A school the Thur before Labor Day last year, he reported to C-school (CIWS) Feb 6. He was hoping for Aegis but is loving what he's doing so far.

My daughter is an FC3, Aegis weapons in Norfolfk VA.