Great Lakes A School Q&A

My daughter was told the official days are Dec 20 through Jan 5, we booked exchangeable tickets through American Airlines, because we have learned that things are NEVER set in stone with the Navy.  They also said that 1) they would provide shuttles to the airport but that they would have to take a taxi back to base.  2) Make sure to book your flight after 10am.  3) And because of the holiday allow about 4 hours to get through check-in at the airport.

The CO at Great Lakes releases an official announcement to all hands as to the dates of the stand down.  This has not yet happened, and yes, it is a little early for the official dates to be out.  Refundable/exchangeable tickets are not a bad idea, and yes, tickets are going to go up very soon.  

Good luck everyone, getting the correct info and balancing ticket pricing and availability is very stressful.  Hang in there.

I have a question about flights. My cousin who is career Air Force said that she always tries to fly base to base to save on air fare. Is this true for the Navy?

Thanks, as always, for your help with these questions!

She is talking about Space Available.  Yes, it is nearly free, but takes huge amounts of time, and is a real crap shoot in both space open, and flights going where and when you need them.  I've done it, and it isn't reliable.  Not a good way for sailors with limited days of leave to travel.

http://www.amc.af.mil/amctravel/

Space Available travel is a great program for our Active Duty, Guard, Reserve, Retired and their eligible family members. Please understand, our primary mission is the movement of cargo and space required (duty) passengers on Department of Defense owned or controlled aircraft. Additional considerations can affect the number of seats available are safety, aircraft configuration, maintenance and aircrew size. Once mission requirements are met, available seats will be offered to Space-A passengers awaiting transportation. The Space-A program is a byproduct of the military mission and is not funded in the DOD budget. Travelers must be prepared for the possibly of having to wait several days or even arrange alternate commercial transportation. Lodging and off base transportation is not always available and in some cases can be very expensive. Travel to remote or austere locations is also a possibility with even greater cost for alternate travel. Please ensure that you have the funds available to cover any unforeseen expenses. Please remember, space-available travel is a privilege and AMC cannot guarantee movement to your desired location or on any particular schedule.

You will be eligible for a paid move, and may choose to rent locally or apply for base housing (which is not on base).  Your husband will still need to put in a Live Ashore packet to move in with you, but that's not difficult.  However, he cannot get anything set up for your move until he completes boot camp.  

Here are the contacts for Glakes PPO, and they can fill you in somewhat on how to set up the move.  Most likely.  Call and ask.

http://www.military.com/base-guide/naval-station-great-lakes/contac...

@SailorLove, sorry I don't know how long it takes, but that's because it varies and changes so much.  Think weeks, not days.  

My sailor son just got transferred to the school last Wednesday for FC after he was on hold at THU for like 3 weeks.  I talked to him yesterday and he said he is still on hold at school and said he doing INDOC(he didnt go into detail on that) and then ATT and then A school. He gace me his new address and said he will probably be in the Great Lakes for like a year. Is there any others moms here that there son/daughter going thru this?

My son will be graduating in a few weeks and will stay in GL for A-school.  He is going there for DC.  Has anyone heard if there is a hold or is DC school somewhat on schedule?

Angie, I will tell my daughter about the fee for the shuttle, I imagine it is still cheaper than taking a taxi.  Also they were told it would probably cost around $60 for a taxi on the return trip.  So she is prepared to pay for that.

When will those on hold know the date of their training (my son is MM)?  Is it about a week before they start?  Also - when do you think they will know for sure their leave for the Christmas Holidays? 

My son is in A school for OS. He was on hold for a week but started classes this past Monday. It is suppose to be a 10 week class but he says he will be done early in order to leave by Dec 20th. However, he can't buy tickets to travel until he knows what his orders are since his orders could very well send him to the area he is from to begin with.

Browneyes, I was just  told that the next class for DC may be starting the week of Nov. 11th. hopefully your son will be in that one.

I PMed Sarge to find out an idea of how much my son will need to get back to base from Midway and he said, 

tylersmom. my son is also FC. He went through indoc, then he has I think it is 9 weeks in ATT school. He will finish his ATT next Wednesday. Then FCs go into A school, which lasts for a 31 weeks. When he first enlisted, he was told he would be in Great Lakes for 2 yrs of school but now I think they have changed that so their C school is where the missile system they will be working on is located. So, about two years of school before they will receive orders.

mariecb, my daughter is an IC and she didn't get any advance notice for when her classes would start, they actually told her one morning "your class starts today."   And stand down for Christmas is December 20 thru January 5.  This has not been officially announced but we went ahead and bought exchangeable airline tickets, figure this was cheaper than waiting.  They did tell my daughter not to book her flight before 10 am on the 20th.

My daughter called today with good news.  She starts school Monday!!!  She is really excited to finally get started.  Her PIR was 13 Sept.   She has been on hold all this time.  She is so excited but really nervous too.  I am so happy for her.

Hi everyone! I'm new to this page, my son recently moved over to A school. Was on hold for a week, had indoc, then class this past week and is now on hold again. for how long who knows!!  He is a MM. Planning on visiting for Thanksgiving weekend. Anyone know of a good place to eat for Thanksgiving dinner?

ZWB/Kathy - someone just posted that they ate at Lovells this weekend and it was over priced and the food was not good at all. It was posted on a Navy FB page.  Thought I would just give you a heads up.

does anyone know if the a school in great lakes gets liberty for Christmas if so how much time?

There is a Christmas stand down and the students are encouraged to take leave (earned, paid time off).  It is two weeks, and they usually take just under that.  Unofficial dates floating around are Dec 20 to Jan 5, but that's not 100% just yet.  Don't book flights yet!  Have them back a day early, and no flights before noon on the 20th.

Liberty is just normal time off and they can't travel more than 350 miles.  Must return nightly unless they're in phase three, and then that's only limited overnights on weekends.

Just checking in, our SR son missed 9/6 PIR due to not passing the run.  He has been waiting for his A school to start. It sure seems like a long wait.  Welcome to hurry up and wait. 

elsmom, Your sailor will not have time after PIR, and will not be allowed to leave the RTC before moving. Your sailor will probably be ready to leave for liberty on Friday sometime between 3-5pm.

My son is a GSE who went through PIR 10/4 and is waiting for his A school to start.  Has anyone heard any news as to when they may start?  If they don't start soon, he's afraid they won't start until after the holidays.

No, although he will have to lock everything up.  They do close some of the barracks completely, but as I understand it, everything goes into the lockers.  Unless there has been a change, but it doesn't sound likely.

Browneyes, Last year at stand down my son had to bring just about everything he had home, but he also graduated A School the day before stand down, so it may be different for those returning to GL for school. He was given a locker and he was able to stow some of his uniforms, but his storage space was very limited. 

My son was told he had to bring everything home too. 

This is what happened last year, but remember things change.

All sailors who could go home put in their chit for leave (they are encouraged to do so). The chit also gives them permission to travel further than the 300 miles from base for stand down. I just asked my son (literally) when he put in his chit and he said the first week of November. So I would guess those just graduating BC now, the chit would be almost immediate.

Those sailors remaining in GL for stand down, had to move everything to the holding ship (I think it is the Cole). Those leaving for stand down had to stow absolutely everything they weren't needing for the entire stand down in their closet or carry it with them. There were some ships that had to be completely emptied, for whatever reason, and those sailors were given a locker, they stowed what they could and had to carry the rest. When they returned to GL, if the stand down wasn't over, they stayed in the holding ship until the ships were reopened. There was absolutely no access to anything left on their ship during stand down.

When stand down started last year the sailors had muster at 3am and buses started heading to the airports (O'Hare and Midway) at 5am. They were briefed on what was expected of them while on leave, and what would happen when they returned.

My son graduated A School the day before stand down started (they pushed them through so they didn't have a week of school when they returned), and in the last two weeks of school he and his classmates moved 2-4 times depending on C School orders and hold times. They moved ships, changed floors, moved across the hall, moved to the THU etc. My son moved the day before stand down to a locker, and was given a bed in the THU for the night. The locker only held his dress whitesx2, his NWU x 4, his peanut butters x 2, and two of his outer garments, the rest he had to carry home. He joked when he came home that he was homeless and living out of a locker, but he was given a room when he returned (he knew he would).

Browneyes - My son's friend that just PIR'd this weekend heard that DC school would start the week of Nov. 11th. now he is being told it could be a couple of months. He was just put in a room with 3 other guys and at least one of them has been there since August.  Sorry was hoping for better news...

Browneyes, Your sailor will have the time and date he can leave and when he must be back. He will also have the resources and should have the funds to make travel arrangements on his own. :)