Great Lakes A School Q&A

In this New Handbook speaks on New Liberty phases and civilian clothing and what can be kept in Barracks. it is a must read will answer a lot of your question if Staying in GL for A school.

HI! Thank you for allowing me to be part of this group, my daughter is in division 920, and I keep finding information about a greet and meet event that was held in the past, but nothing about the upcoming PIR on march 22. I was wondering if anyone has any information about it? 

Here are the current PIR groups:   

PIR: March 08, 2019 TG 18 - 9 Divisions (131 - 138 and 918)  

PIR: March 15, 2019 TG 19 - 11 Divisions (139 - 148 and 919)  

PIR: March 22, 2019 TG 20 - 11 Divisions (149 - 158 and 920)  

PIR: March 29, 2019 TG 21 - 9 Divisions (159 - 164, 810, 811, and 922)  

PIR: April 5, 2019 TG 22 - 7 Divisions (165 - 170 and 922)  

PIR: April 12, 2019 TG 23 7 Divisions (171 - 176, 812, and 923)

PIR: April 19, 2019 TG 24 7 Divisions (177 - 182, and 924)

Click on the date of your recruit’s PIR and join the group to connect with others with loved ones training with your recruit. 

@azul ... welcome.  This group is for A schools at Great Lakes, not boot camp.  Do you know where your recruit will be going to A school?

Have you joined the boot camp group also?
http://navyformoms.ning.com/group/bootcampmoms

Son had PIR 29 March and is in Spec Op prep group at Great Lakes. Sent him package of civilian clothes via USPS to address he gave me. The USPS had the package as "delivered to agent" on this past Monday, but he did not receive until late today, Tuesday. I guess that's processing time and I should be happy it arrived?

All mail goes through a mailroom, never directly to the student sailor.  It can take them days to get time off to pick it up!

I’m wondering if anyone knows when a sailor is allowed leave during the holidays? Can they go more than 150 miles away? Any information would be helpful. Looking into tickets if he’s out of school and can come home.  :)

Sailors during the Holiday Stand down during December at GL are allowed to leave base, and travel more than 150 miles.

They do put in a chit for stand down and are notified after that what their leave dates are. I don't remember exactly when they put in their request for leave chits, but I believe it is some time in November.

Usually for Stand Down they will be notified when they can start turning in their Chits, Then they will receive an email stating approved or not (most likely approved) Now if they have duty scheduled anytime while they go on leave from my experience they must make sure that someone can cover their Duty. And Make sure that they have all paperwork with them that gives them approval and they must take back with them when returning on base. They usually will be the ones to buy their tickets for airlines.

During stand down, the duty schedule is covered by the students who do not take leave, or it is modified.  They close some of the barracks entirely.  Finding a replacement is more of a fleet thing than a school thing.  
Make SURE they do not lose or leave their leave papers at home when they return.  They must have them in hand to check in.  
The dates are a little fluid, so pre-buying tickets is a gamble.  Also, never book flights before noon on the first day of leave, everyone has to check out and it takes time.  There is transportation to the airports available.  They can buy their tickets through the travel agency on base.  

What is the closest medical facility? 

It is 1620 Saturday July 6 and the is no medical facility open on Great Lakes Navy training?

The clinic is not open, but there is an ER in the base/VA hospital.  If your sailor is sick on liberty, they can go there.  Or call Tricare nurse line, they can tell them where the nearest urgent care is if it is not an emergency.

https://www.mhsnurseadviceline.com/home

Thank you !

Can Sailors have a car during A school?

I believe they are not allowed to have a car, they may have to keep it off base. There are Phases and I see nothing with having a car.

Sushicat242000 your Son will Love GL A school. I know my Son did.

https://www.thebalancecareers.com ›

Here is the correct link.  That  is not a very good version though.

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/navy-class-a-school-student-polic...

Here is the link from the TSC FB page, much more detail, although it has not really been updated, it is fairly accurate:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/training-support-center-tsc-great-la...

Essentially, in phase one they cannot even drive, in the other phases, they have to park their cars off base.  

"(g) Use of privately owned or rental vehicles is authorized off-base when student is in leave or liberty status. Sailors must complete "Driving for Life" course prior to receiving this privilege. Sailors must provide a valid training certificate with Phase II liberty request. No on-base diriving privileges are authorized for students assigned to TSC-GL, except Fleet Returnees and students with dependents in Great Lakes. Special request chits are required for students who meet this critieria."

I knew you would have the answer Mrs. Anti M. thanks for all you do!

Thank you for your help! Trying to figure out if we should work on selling his car when we see him on liberty.

Sushicat42000 I'm sure when he gets to his duty station he will be able to have his car. My Son's friends have their car. But stationed on Coronado Island SD. Not sure if it is different at every duty station. Mrs. Anti M can explain she is real good!

He may need a car after A school/C school.  Might be best to store it for now, insure it as low miles.  If he goes to a ship, he'll need to park it somewhere secure when he deploys, but thousands of sailors do that.  I wouldn't rush the decision.  When he does decide to buy a car, the FFSC has advice on how to do so locally, the car dealers near bases are very aggressive and over-sell to young naive sailors, and even older not so naive sailors...

My son took his with him. He said he was allowed.

We dropped my Son off Sunday afternoon when his liberty was nearly done for the weekend. He was nervous but excited for A school to start. Several more seasoned sailors stopped him gave him advice about things he was doing incorrectly. Your a sailor now not a recruit a couple of them said in a very caring way. It was so nice to know they are looking out for each other.

Laptops are allowed, so is gaming consoles and TVs! It is not as restrictive as boot camp. 

Lol ya I don’t know how much studying gets done when they have toys! My son learned his first week and immediately went and bought a game device from the nex. 

My son said it very relaxed compared to boot camp and more like a dorm room environment. That being said he has never been to college so I don’t know what his idea of college dorms is. But they do have a lot of freedom. My son’s very first weekend as an adult all on his own he went and got a tattoo, those are allowed too...

Hi Ladies in their Barracks its 4 guys to a room, at least it was back in 2017. each has a desk underneath. They do have Phases that they go thru. But my son also bought an x box and tv and some games  but had to get permission to be able to leave out. When they reach the phases they also will be able to go off base but will need 2 buddies to go. They have to go in 3's. A school is so relaxed.

I spoke with my son last night and they have 4 guys per room. They have to put away electronics during the day so they put them in their closets. My son said he was going to pick up his computer monitor when he comes home for liberty next time so they can have an extra screen. He picked up a "switch" console and another sailor has a ps4. Im guessing they can cram alot of stuff into an area when they are motivated :)

Some of the barracks allow their stuff to be out if they have a chit, some do not.  Because so many of them go to ships when they get orders, there are usually good deals on TVs from sailors heading out.  

Guidelines?  As long as they are keeping their GPA up and making musters and room inspections, then they are adults and must make good decisions.  A school is where they are given just enough freedom to screw it up, so that poor behavior and regrettable decision making can be corrected before they hit the fleet.  

Are they able to lock there electronics up in a locker or closet when they aren't using them?  I just worry.....

Hi Ladies when my son was done with A school he donated to the next person his tv and other things he had and made sure they do the same before the head out as well, God willing it is still happening. But when they are sent to their Duty station they must send a lot of their belongings home, and because it is costly you can either pick it up or he will send home or donate it. so they do not want to have to much at the end. some may be able to go home after A school some may not. Once my Son left A school went directly to Duty station two weeks later he was sent to meet up with his Carrier which was out at sea on deployment. so it differs. Just be ready!

Jez No the carrier has computers and you will be able to email him and sometimes messenger thru your phone and his. That is how me and my son communicated. Just make sure he gets you signed up with the Ombudsman for which ever ship he will be on. A .lot of the other ships are Silent but the carrier is one who you will have communication

Each of the Sailors will have an email address for whichever ship/sub they will be on, but  a lot of the times they need to have a signal to be able to respond, make sure you get that email address from them, or sometimes when they port they may contact you as well.

The WhatsApp is a good app to use when they are deployed.  I'm sure there are others out there but this is what my son & I used:

WhatsApp

If he's living on the ship then yes, communication can be spotty.  He might have to go somewhere else to get service.  If he's on deployment then that's when you want to use something like WhatsApp.  They do have computers available for emails while deployed but often they just don't have time to use them!  And yes, they often have to wait until the ship is in port and then all the emails come through.

While the ship is in their homeport, coverage may be spotty, and there will be areas where he won't be allowed to use his phone. Otherwise, expect more communication than at A school, but less than a civilian would have.

When the ship is deployed, cell phones will not work; no towers at sea.   No texting.  They will have a .mil email address, and can use shared computers.  The shared computers may have long lines and limited use. Another tip is to send plain text emails if you can. Now and then the ones who work in an office have better access.  At times, they can buy time on a satellite phone, but that's expensive and there may be lines.  

When deployed, and visiting a liberty port, expect some wifi based communication.  An app to place calls via wifi is the best bet.  

And yes, sometimes they go River City.  That is restricted communications, when all is shut off for security reasons.  Sometimes they need to run silent, and signals can be picked up and traced.  Unannounced, and doesn't mean an emergency, just something we aren't going to be told about in the moment.  

Thank You Mrs. Anti M.

Does anyone know what cell service works best? My daughter says she only get 2 bars. Thanks and have a wonderful week.

Is this inside her barracks?  The buildings themselves block signals the way they're built.  

Thank you Anti M

My son just started “A” school after graduating from Boot Camp this past weekend.  I know what building he will be living in, but don’t know how to address mail to him.    Anybody know how to address their mail?