AECF - FCs and ETs

Smidgee... This is what I have found for C schools.

Virginia;

Naval Station Norfolk, Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex

Maryland;

St Inigoes (IFF)

Georgia

Fort Stewart (SATCOM)

Mississippi

Biloxi AFB (Calibration Tech)

California

Naval Station San Diego

My son has been in Navy 3 years, & is currently on the USS Dewey DDG 105 as an ET.

There are a ton of locations for C schools for ETs.  San Diego is a huge one, as is Virginia.  I went to C school in Ft. Gordon, GA. I also went to other schools once I was in the fleet,  from Mare Island (now closed), to San Diego, and even one in Atsugi, Japan when I was stationed in Yokosuka.  Little four week course on micro-miniature repair.  (2M is way cool).  My husband went to one in Maryland when he was an ET, and also some of the same ones I did in CA, although at different times.  That's why we ended up together, the Navy introduced us to each other when I took over his position!  Whirlwind forbidden romance, but we've been married 30 years now. 

"Anywhere" is a safe bet.   

My daughter never went to C school after graduating ET A school. She was placed on the LCAC which totally made no sense to me. She graduated top few in her class so I don't get it. You never know what the Navys needs will be.

ETs can be a "quad zero", without a C school, and still work on a lot of equipment.  Not everything is specialized or classified.  What probably happened was the ship was out of funding to send her to a C school, so they took her straight out of A school.  Yes, it is unusual.  They may send her later.  

My son is currently at GL completing his requirements, then ATT and then A-School for ET.  Can someone explain the requirements and the ATT portion, please?  TIA

Also how long is school for ET A-School?  We were told 204 days?  Just curious if I am understanding correctly. 

The Navy COOL rating card puts ET A school at 19 weeks, after 11 weeks of ATT prep school.  This does not include hold times, or the holiday stand down.  Takes about a year at Great Lakes, give or take, followed by C school in some other location.

https://www.cool.navy.mil/usn/enlisted/rating_info_cards/et.pdf

ATT is Apprentice Technical Training, an 11 week course to prepare them for A school.  It is a mixed class for any rating concerning electronics of any kind.  That's why ATT classes up quickly, it is for most of the ratings with schools at Great Lakes.

Thank you @Anti M for your help.  It gets so confusing at times.  It makes more sense now. 

I was an ET, and so was my husband.  It has changed a bit, but not so much I can't make some sense of it.

My son finishes ATT next week!!  :)

He's sooo looking forward to A school. Just for the change. I sure hope the FB page posts pics of the "grad". I've seen other group pics, so maybe.

Yes, Every ET attends ATT before A School.

There are also approx 17-20 other rates that require ATT before moving on. Not all rates have the same length of time in ATT, nor do they all require all of the ATT training.

My son has been classed up and will begin ATT schooling tomorrow.  He is so nervous.  I told him study, study and do more studying.  I believe his ATT schooling is 11 weeks. 

My son fresh out of BC, is FC at A school. Any information greatly appreciated. Like how long is A school, thank you in advance. 

Mine too, Butterball!  He is still at GL and is settling in very well.  I really don't understand and am still playing catch up from being off for Friday's graduation so I haven't had time to research.  I'm so happy that he has his phone back!  Just makes me feel a bit better.  If you find out anything, let me know and I'll do the same for you!  Hooyah Navy!

I sure will momofbailey, so far nothing new to report, except he is loving it. Will try to find out if they are in the same ship.

I have a silly question.... what does ATT stand for?  

Thank you barefootie! This is the first I've heard of ATT. Appreciate the link. 

Nothing new to report momofbailey, Vic is just getting into the routine of cleaning. I have found out that the school is about three months behind, so the new sailors clean and phase up and stuff like that there, while they wait. Victor is doing quals and testing in between cleaning to be able to phase up, which gives them more privileges.

Not sure either Jack was the one that told me about the time line. Victor is doing qualifications and testing in order to phase up, while he waits for school to start. Not much time for being bored. Either way, not expecting him home for a visit until March sometime. Besides, Jack could be wrong about the time. There is much to learn while they wait for school to begin. 

My sailor PIR was 7/28/2017, he was only given a days notice that he would begin ATT schooling the next day.  If he wouldn't have been classed at that time it would have been another month before ATT schooling.  So, hang in there Momma's, in my experience there is not much notice of when they will be classed for schooling.  During the month on hold for schooling he did manage to phase and meet needed qualifications and get a few Brava Zulu's for his accomplishments.  

My son seems so happy!  He's also on hold to start actual school but doesn't seem to mind.  He's just so happy to have his XBox, he doesn't care about anything else.  Planning another visit in October because I'm sure by then that I will need more Navy Mom swag!  I spent a small fortune on stuff at graduation but no sales tax made it seem like I was getting a great deal.  LOL!  Sorry to go on and on but I miss the back and forths of our PIR group! 

Be patient moms... it is a long process. My son's PIR was 1/27 and he just finished up A school. He is on hold until March for C school. There is a reason they had to sign a 6 year agreement with the navy. They are in school for awhile with holds. And honestly it depends what they chose to do in A school (for FC's). My son is Aegis so it is a little longer hold.

It is good to see this group being active!  I was out in the desert, so have not been online for a while.

We had long holds at ET school, 30 years ago!  It can happen for a number of reasons, just expect to "hurry up and wait"!  This is going to be true their entire time in the Navy, being a sailor takes both patience and flexibility.  Hang in there!

Hi JMR,

The wait depends on a lot of things.  My son was told he would have to 3 weeks, but he started in 2.  Then was told he would have to wait 1 month for A school, he started in 5 weeks.  It is a game of when and where there is an opening.  All I know is that he figures he will be in Great Lakes for another year or 2.  It is nice when he can have over night liberty though.  We have been able to spend some time with him.

mommamia93,  They do have their phones, but they are so busy that it may take a while to hear from them.  I usually get a phone call on Saturday or Sunday, depeding  on duty.  Once in a while the call will come during the week,  They have to leave their phones in their rooms while in class, and can't talk while walking outside.  Be patient, the call will come.

Hi Moms just got back from PIR. It was so good to see my son. He lost 25 lbs and has grown up. He seems very happy. We text everyday it makes it easier to be apart. I cant wait until Dec. he gets leave for Christmas. Yay

Aidersmom,  What is Aegis?  I'm just curious.  My son is currently on hold for ATT, pre FC A school.  LOL...all these acronyms!

Aegis is a type of gun the FC shoot - my sailor just went thru all the names but don't ask me there names

AEGIS is missiles, there are a few other systems also.  The FCs maintain and operate the systems which fire them.  I don't know the nicknames for each system, but there are only so many.  Look at page 6 and 7 of this link to see what and where they might train on:

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

Also, here is a link about AEGIS:

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

Had a nice phone call with my son this weekend.  He has been made "TSC  Color Guard Captain".  He is so happy.  He will be able to come home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.  He is loving the Navy, and very excited for the future.

Anti M, every time I click on the cool.navy.mil links, I get a warning message about it being an unsafe site. Does this happen to you or to anyone else out there???

I do get the warning, but the sites are safe.  I hit advanced and tell my laptop to proceed.  Very common with military sites.

Thanks Anti M!!!

Hi All- My son is currently in DEPS. He was sworn in on 11/20/17. I am just trying to figure out where is A School will be. His contract says that he enlisted for Advanced Electronics Field- Advanced Electronics Computer Field (AEF/AECF 6 YO) Program, Active Duty Date 5/23/18. He keeps saying that he will go to A school in Virginia Beach. Everything that I have come across looks like his A school is at Great Lakes. Does anyone have any thoughts on this. Is there just one school for this school? I have not seen anything about Virginia Beach, so is that even an option?

Hi @Kimberleyyea...My son just completed boot camp 11/22 and as AECF, will be training as an ET. Great Lakes was the only location ever mentioned for his schooling and is where he is now waiting to begin classes. Now when that will be and how long is another question. ;-) He had been told Jan 9th to start classes, but he had a meeting today and was told to pick up books tomorrow and class could start tomorrow or on Monday...

My son is currently in bc he is also AECF. A school is in Great lakes.

Hi @Proud mamma and @PerriK! That was actually my first comment on this great site, so thank you so much for the quick responses! I did just come across something that said that C school for CF (which that is his plan) is located in Virginia or San Diego, so he was not too far off with his statement. He was on information overload when he came home from MEPS and with the job offers! With that and the Acronyms, it gets a little overwhelming trying to figure all this out. :) Prayers and best wishes to your sons and to you!

@Kimberleyyea thank you and you're welcome. 

@Kimberleyyea, The AECF group breaks down into ET, or electronics technician, and FC, or fire control. My son has just finished A school for AECF and will be an FC. There are multiple locations for C school that will depend on which system they're learning. Mine just got his orders and found out that his C school will be in Hawaii! He got really lucky and ended up on the system that he was most interested in.

DEPS is a great program that gives people plenty of time to research what to expect at different points. I really recommend that you read here and on the Navy Dads site about boot camp, because it can be a big shock to go from civilian life into military life without time to process what the expectations are. It helped my son so much that he had read up on how his first day would go. At home, it helped my husband and I, too, because we knew the timeline and what to expect. The box, the letter, sending mail, getting the rare phone call. It will make everyone's experience less stressful if the family does the homework.

@PerriK, congrats to your son on completing boot camp! We've learned that surprises are the norm in the military, so I guess eventually we won't be surprised by the sudden changes like that, right?

I don't know if they do it for aecf but rarely, you'll also be contracted for a specific c school. When I enlisted, they gave me my a school and my exact c school. My husband did aecf though, and he didn't even know if he'd be et/fc, so he definitely didn't know his c school. AECF definitely begins in Great Lakes though in Illinois, just down the road from where he'll go to bootcamp. 

I hate to suggest it…but it is possible someone persuaded him to take that rate by promising him he'll get to do something specific for his specialty, which is trained in Virginia Beach, but unless it's written in his contract, the only thing guaranteed for him right now is bootcamp, A School at Great Lakes, and 6yrs of Active Duty. The good news is it's a great rate to be, my husband has a lot of opportunity and loves his job. He did his C school in Fort Gordon, GA  

AECF no longer guarantees either a specific rating or C school anymore.  It is all strictly needs of the Navy.  Some recruiters talk up the possibility of picking your C school orders out of A school, which MIGHT happen for those at the top of their class, if there is a seat open which the Navy needs filled. The best case scenario is presented, and it can sound mighty fine. The devil in in the details, and potential recruits don't have the ability to "hear" what is not said.   

I was an ET before AECF, but I try to keep up with the changes.