AECF - FCs and ETs

Welcome!  FYI, Navy uses "NEC" and rating, not MOS.  Some others may be confused by the Army acronym.  

Overall, either FC or ET will be at Great Lakes for about a year.  There will be hold times waiting to class up, and often they will be on hold waiting for orders. They almost all go to lengthy C schools after, not in Great Lakes.  Expect nearly two years of training before they hit the fleet.

The C schools do depend on which rate he is assigned.  Et C schools are all over, lots near San Diego, but can be found in places like Ft. Gordon, GA (one of the ones I attended).  FCs have fewer choices, depends on which weapons system they are assigned.  I know there's a list for FCs buried in the discussions.   ETs tend to do communications or radar systems, those are quite varied.  FCs do weapons systems. No way to predict where they will end up this early in the process!

Bilingual, huh?  Good skill!

LAG, the FC site you have posted is telling me that it is unsafe for my computer to open... is it OK to push through it? or do I need to try something different to see the information on this site?

I was an ET, is a very versatile rate.  Anything from communications systems, to crypto, to radar, to computers, even calibrating test equipment.    Sometimes we were called "Everything Techs".  I went to a long initial C school, but picked up several more during my nine years.  I was secure communications, Top Secret stuff.  So was my husband, but he also held NECs for radar.  We both were certified 2M techs, micro-miniature repair.   

I don't know what the current teaching style at ET A school is like, but when I went through, it was instructor led, with hands on troubleshooting modules. With the advances in electronics, I know the troubleshooting is less detailed than what I did, as we repaired down to the component, and now there is more swapping out boards and modules (which will make more sense to your sailor than to you, possibly).

The two ratings were completely separate when I was an ET; although I took an FC test as part of a pilot program when they looked at combining them.  There has always been a rivalry, think about football teams and their fans.  Both are important, and AECF in general is looked on as a good education.  Not as prestigious as nuke, but nearly so.

A note about some of the military sites, they'll tell you they are unsafe, but that is not so.  Just slightly outdated programs which make our personal security programs nervous.  

Well, I separated from the Navy in Japan, and became a dependent wife.  The government jobs I was eligible for closed to me because they didn't want to hire a dependent.  And I may have been discriminated against because I was female, but I can't prove that. I turned to teaching, by the time we returned to the US, my electronic knowledge was a bit out of date.  I was offered a job in LA, but did not want to move there.   I could have found work in electronics, but chose to pursue education instead.  Had I separated in the US, I would have had better career choices.  My husband is a retired ET, and his good jobs fell through (one for the South Pole because of a weird health thing, the other to government cuts the DAY he was supposed to begin).  He drives a truck now and loves it.'

The thing is, the Navy provides more than just the training in a specific rate.  Leadership, organizational skills, critical thinking, decision making, attention to detail, finance, study skills, and much more.  The confidence alone is astonishing.  Even being a petty officer is worth college credits.  So yes, I used my knowledge, even if it was not electronics specific.

My son was in PIR 9/19/14 and has been on hold for the past week +.  He just found out that he is starting ATT school tomorrow.  Yay!!...I think:-)  He will be an FC.  He has been worried about night school because he isn't a "night owl".  Does anyone know anything about how they assign day vs night school?

Don't forget the holiday stand down at the end of the year! That's two weeks of no instruction.

Lisa, I heard half get the first week, and the other the second week, to go home, and no on Thanksgiving.

My son has PIR on 10/17, is there a normal hold time or is it just random before they start ATT? What do they do during hold?

Lisa, funny that you thought my SR gave me the info ;) He doesn't seem to keep informed, or share the info with us, if he does have it, although he is still in boot, he could write a bit more in his letters home. ;) I got this info from another Mom on N4M's :) So glad this site is here!

Thanks for the info on the process after PIR. I agree about the boys cleaning,  it makes me laugh when he talks about bathroom duty, or the fact that he now knows how to make a bed, I teased him a lot before be left, that he was finally going to be able to make a bed properly ;)

I am not keeping my hopes up about him doing it while he is home :)

Speaking from experience, they won't bring it home. 

Thanksgiving is a federal holiday, they have ot off unless they have duty.  Friday is usually a day of special liberty.  The 300 miles is in effect that weekend unless they take leave.  The big decision is whether they will have enough leave (saved or to borrow) to take turkey day AND the stand down.    The one week at a time for Christmas/NY is more of a fleet thing.

Thanks for the info on Christmas, that makes me happy! One of the admins over in our PIR group had said that about the week on week off  for Holiday Standown. I won't complain about more time with him ;)

My SR is in boot camp and will stay in the GL for A and C school. Do I need to bring him clothes on PIR day?

Yes, all the C schools are at other locations.  Hasn't changed.

I was an ET, Electronics Technician.  I worked on secure voice communications, but could have trained for radar systems, computers, satellite communications systems, even test equipment. I also trained on micro-miniature repair (specialized soldering) and had a C school in advanced electronic engineering.  ET is very versatile, we get called "Everything Techs".  My husband was also an ET, he did work both communications and radar systems.  ETs tend to go to more than one C school, and not always right after A school.  I went to at least four C schools in my nine years.  

FC is Fire Controlman.  Not fire as in flames, but as in firing weapons.  They work on the weapon control systems and fire missile.  All those air strikes right now?  Yep, Navy FCs at work.  Rather specialized.  Their C school determines their system, which determines what type of ship they will be on, and their choice of duty stations.

It is purely needs of the Navy, although your SR can express his preference to the classifier in boot camp.  AECF can be either rating, it is in the contract.  

Excited that son arrived at RTC last night; called from Ohare 2x then again with the "i'm here, etc. 20 sec call at 11:26 est.

What does the 2 in FC2 mean? what is a realistic time for FC school?

Second Class Petty Officer, paygrade of E-5.  

FC school takes roughly a year.

My ET1 is still in Japan, but has orders for San Diego.