Great Lakes A School Q&A

good Morning to one and all from California!

Traysea and Kiley91 Thank you for getting back to me on my liberty question. If anyone in this group is affected by the horrible weather please stay safe. But hope everyone is doing well and have a Wonderful Day!

Sailor's Matt Mom I hope everything goes well for your Son. I will say a prayer and light a candle just for you both.

Just so you know, "fireman" is just the engineering equivalent of "seaman", the paygrade of E-3.  Not a thing in the world to do with fighting fires, other than every sailor is trained to do so in boot camp.   And not his rate/rating.  Welder is not a specific rating, so I am guessing HT or Hull Technician, or maybe DC, Damage Controlman.

Thank you Anti M, I went thru the link LAG suggested and looked for DC also last night and I think that is his rating, my son keeps telling me he is taking engineering classes and that will start with welding next month but not sure how long he will stay in GL. Well, I am so glad all the help I'm having from all of you, I really appreciate.    Thank you!!!!

Hey everyone! My fiancé is in A school at Great Lakes and has to complete all his pqs and get three signatures by this Thursday (It's his 30 day mark). Anyways, he's having trouble getting a signature he needs from his EM1, he can never find him and has no idea what time he comes in each day. I know I probably won't get a straight answer but does anybody know what time he comes in each day or how to find him? If not does anyone have any other advice? He needs to get it all done by Thursday or he'll have his liberty card taken away from him. If anyone has any ideas please let me know, Thank you!

Yes, I have and he says nobody knows. I told him to try to ask around and he says he has but nobody knows which I find strange.

They should have office hours posted.  Maybe the guy is on leave, but there should be someone authorized to sign off for him.  If he can;t find his first class, then he should jump up the chain to the chief.  

After 9 months of holds, ATT and A School it's time to leave this group and A school behind. We're off to C schools :D Good luck everyone!

well time is clicking down and I am wondering if anyone who's SR left on April 22nd with a tentative PIR date of 6-13-14 is still waiting for their "official form letter"?  I am also looking for a group on here for others in a group on here with the same PIR date 6-13-14.  Going crazy looking for it....I have the one on FB but can't seem to find it on here.......help??

http://navyformoms.com/group/pir06132014

see if this gets you where you need to be ladyrocker?  Its under "groups" PIR information - then there are groups by individual PIR dates.  Hope this helps. 

Thank you so much Jogesmom for the info.......I am now in that group.  Hoping to see if others are still waiting for their "official form letter".  ((((NMH))))

He checked with his duty section leader and was able to find out and ended up getting the signature he needed! Thanks everyone for the advice!

Does any one know how long they can be placed on hold for school? my son graduated 5/9/14, stayed in GL for  A school for boatswains mate, school was to start 5/19, not enough to fill class, now 5/27, school is only 4 weeks long once he starts. just trying to figure when he may come home before going to duty station!

is anyone online who has a sailor doing GSE?

Darlene, holds can be indefinite.   Makes any type of planning next to impossible.  

It is usually true.  How much time they can take depends on how much they have on the books, and when they must report to their next command.  Sometimes they have a C school to go to immediately, but if that happens, they usually take leave after that.

Leave is earned at 2.5 days each month, and is paid time off.  Liberty is "normal" time off such as weekends and holidays.

I need to connect with someone whose sailor is GSE

when will they know where their duty station will be? after they get out of school or before?

It depends on the rate... most do get orders in hand a few weeks before they graduate, although some end up on hold after A school, waiting for orders.  Very common with AECF to wait for orders, but that is because of the C schools.

Alao, rates with very short A school may even get their follow on orders while they are still in boot camp.

My son is at A school now,he said he is supposed to start school next tuesday 5/27,supposed to be 31 days,he wont get orders for next duty until he finishes school they told him, Praying he just starts school... so he can move on.

Our sailor is moving on! He has been assigned to the Stennis in Washington State.  We don't know alot of details yet, like do they stay on board the ship or do they live in port.  Such an adventure!!! We are all excited to find out what happens next.  I can hardly wait to see him again.  At Christmas he had changed so much just from a few months in the Navy and now he will be stopping by on his way to Washington.  I was teasing him about something at Christmas and he said "Grandma, I am now a grown ___ man"! lol I suspect he has found out he is not as grown as he thought but he is sure headed there! lol 

It is entirely normal for orders to be delayed.  Not much he can do about it, other than talk to people up his chain of command, see if they can help make a few calls.

Hi everyone. My son will be starting a school on June 12th. Is there anyone else out there who has a Sailor starting around that time?

hello everyone I hope everyone and your Sailor are doing great. So I have a question my Brother just retook his exam to be able to Phase up into Phase 2. now the first time he took it he said there was things on there he had never heard of. So he feels there is some things he should know and is not getting. So he would like to Phase up to Phase 3 as soon as can. Does anyone know if there is a study guide for such test? Please let me know so I can pass that to my little Brother. Thanx in aadvance

My son reports to Great Lakes on June 15th to start A school for IC, does anyone have a Sailor that will be going to IC school around that time?

My son is at A School in GL; just started this week. His rating is QM and he is expecting to be there 9 weeks. That's all I know. Hoping that by sticking around I will learn a few things.  Thanks for being here. I loved the Graduation Ceremony on May 23rd....was blown away!

There is an NFCU on base.  

My Daughter is also starting A school next week not sure of the date but she did say next week, maybe they are starting the same time.

There are a number of A schools at Great Lakes, so you must specify which rating.

Heard from my son,school started on 5/27 for B.M. done 6/23 then home x 14 days ....then to where ever the navy needs him.  he said he has to book his flight and pay for it,does any one know if I can do it for him?

You cannot book the flight, the base travel office(SATO)  takes care of that.  He only pays for the leg of the trip to come home on leave.  Leave it to the Navy.

Thanks

Does he have his orders yet?  They will not let him come home until he has orders in hand, be prepared for him to have a short hold if he needs to wait.  They will not let him wait for orders at home because they will want to check him out of Great Lakes completely.  Don't want you to be surprised or disappointed (or book stuff he will miss).

no i am prepared for that,he said by next week they are supposed to get orders...but i am not counting on it...i figure might be home by july??  does his time for leave start counting after he graduates?  even if he can't come  home because he waiting on orders? not sure if that makes sense??