Great Lakes A School Q&A

He will need to give you the address, as it doesn't go by street address or building number, but by school command.

Is there a way to send NEX gift cards?

On the Ship my son is on by the yeomans office there is the addressing information for the ship. He can take a pic of it and txt it to you

Happy day! My son has now started A School.  This is my first post.  I just wanted to thank all the other family members in boot camp group, and now the family members on A School group for all the help and support.  I am sure the next few weeks will be extra stressful, exciting and fun for all our Sailor at the Great Lakes locations.   Thank you to Anti M for the answer on the Sailors address info.  So nice to to get second opinion.  My son told me not to worry about the address, and once he receives the details, he would contact us.

Have a great week!  

Remember our Sailor are doing what they love.  We all are truly blessed!! 

Thank you, bluedragonfly 

My son did pick up sheets, comforter, and a pillow.  

Each barracks may have rules about personal bedding, so make sure your sailor can tell you exactly what is allowed before buying anything.  I had to use navy sheets some places, but usually had my own pillow.  I bought single sheets in C school, percale because they're no iron.  I am still using the pillowcases over 30 years later!!!!

We brought my daughter’s down comforter from home when she called to check in the first day of PIR weekend she asked if it was allowed and they said yes.

Happy Friday!!

Does anyone know how many weeks this next training set is?  On graduation day we heard three weeks, six weeks, and eight weeks.  I am sure it depends on which training group our Sailor is in.  We know the next few weeks are very intense for our Sailor, and we are not reaching out to him, until he reaches out to us first.  It sounds like there are two phases, before he goes for six months of training.  If anyone know where I can locate more information on this, let me know.  Thank you.

BDF

bluedragonfly, What is your Sailors rating, or what is he going to school for? Since there are many A Schools in GL, and they widely differ on length, etc, we would need to know that first before we can give you an approx. time frame

ellen0502, My sailor is in Dive Prep I believe.  His job assignment is Navy Diver, once he passes all training.  I don't know his rating score off hand.  BDF

From what I understand MassX means our sailors may get two weeks off the Holidays

bluedragonfly, Rating is the job, so you gave it to me. :) Dive Prep school in GL is seven weeks. The amount of time he may be there might be longer. It is going to depend on if he has to wait for others before starting this class. I don't know of a second phase before heading to Florida, but there may be.

HoneyLemonTea, what is the MassX you referred to? Home for the holidays would be a welcome surprise, but since he starts A school in Dec, it seems unlikely. If you can tell me where you got this info, I'd be grateful.

Sandy, There is a mass exodus (MassX) from base during the holidays. The TSC base, and many others, go on holiday stand down, leaving just enough personnel at the base to keep it open. There is no school, etc during stand down. Stand down at GL this year is December 20th through January 6th, if I remember correctly.

I don't see that you have joined the PIR group for your recruits graduation, so I can't give you any details on how it will or may be handle for your recruit since I don't know when he graduates. 

At some point he will be given the opportunity to put in a chit for leave during stand down. When and if he is granted leave, and for how long depends on scheduling. My guess is he will be given the opportunity to come home for the holidays, as most of them are.

ellen0502 - thanks for that info! I did try to join the group for PIR Dec. 6. I have a message on my screen saying I haven't been approved yet. I'm thrilled to know he may be able to come home for the holiday!!! So great to have this opportunity to communicate with folks in the know :>

MassX this year, according to my sailor, is December 20 through January 4th and that is what she bought her ticket for. 

HoneyLemonTea, You are correct on your dates. All Sailors will have to return that weekend as regular schedule begins on the 6th.

At what point will new A school sailors learn whether they can leave for the holidays? Ours graduates Dec 6, so if he's just started his school, will he still be able to leave? Will this count against his total vacation/leave time for the year?  I'll start researching flights but I assume we won't know anything for sure until sometime mid-Dec...

Graduating on Dec 6th, he probably won't know until after he moves over to TSC, and puts in his chit for leave. During stand down it doesn't matter if he has just started school, the chit for leave just needs to be approved.

For the second question, yes, it does count to the total leave he has for the year. This is also the only time Sailors are allowed to go into the negative on leave. They do accumulate 2.5 days a month for leave, so it does add up fairly quickly.

When his chit is approved he will have help on flights etc from someone there on base. All of his transportation is at his expense, but the military will help him arrange it so that he is within time frame for leaving and returning.

SkywaterChicago-my sailor just graduated November 8th and is at a school at GL. I am curious of what you said and was wondering if you could pm your son’s rating? I’m asking pm just in case we can’t publicly share that information. 
i am eager to know if he would be able to come him for Christmas or not.

Tracey,

The Navy pays for a Sailors flight to a new duty station. If your Sailor is coming home between school and his new he pays the difference in amount to and from home. That is the basic.

For your son there are a lot of what's and why's and when's on your Sailors actual travel. He is also still considered a student until he actually reports to his Ultimate Command. How all of his travel is handled is going to depend on his orders, and when he has to report to San Diego. He will need to make all of his travel arrangements after A School through the CPC even those coming home after A School.

skywatcherchicago - thanks for sharing that. I didn't realize he wouldn't start class until after the holidays. I'm not sure he knows he will be able to come home for Christmas, so I'll mention it to him as a "maybe", and encourage him to get details as soon as he is able. Will anyone at RTC be able to answer those questions, or will he have to wait until he actually moves over?

No one on the RTC side can tell them for sure what TSC side will be doing for the holidays other than there is a stand down.  Once they get to TSC, they will be filled in.  Yes, they need to fill out a chit to take leave.  That's thousands of students, so they make them do it all about the same time, en masse. 
The tickets will be expensive, because you simply cannot guess the dates.  I won't even give a best guess anymore, as I have been weirdly incorrect, and I am good at it most of the time.  Never book a morning flight, they have to all be checked out and take the shuttle (they pay for) to the airport.  Noon at the earliest is safe.  And have them return with plenty of time to spare.  Weather in Great Lakes is iffy, just look at the mess today.  They can call in if the flights are cancelled, but you do not want to deal with that.

my SR just started A school at GL on Tuesday. This week was just plain orientation he said. 

Yesterday, he learned (from other SRs) that they will be on hold until January due to the available class. I don't exactly know what he meant.

He's is saying that there will be a mass leave for the holidays and that most instructors will be on leave too that is why they will be on hold until January. 

His school is only for 3 weeks. 

he has orders already before the mentioned date of this year's stand down.

just in case he is on hold, will he be able to take leave as well?

Sorry if I probably repeated same question as skywatcherchicago and astc.

Anyway, by December 20-January 6 my SR will already be in his duty station (if he's not held back). Will he be able to request off for holidays? at least Christmas?

If he is on hold, it means he is waiting for a class to begin.  If it is in January, then he will not be at his duty station, it doesn't work that way. That simply sounds like he was given a projected date as if the training had no hold time; he must finish school before he can transfer.  If he is in student status in Great Lakes, whether on hold or in school, he gets to take leave at Christmas.  However, that means no leave en route to his new command after the holidays.  

Holiday leave in the fleet is not guaranteed.  He should take it if he has the opportunity.  If he does not go on hold, and graduates before the mass exodus, he can take leave on the way (en route).  You'll need to have Christmas early in that case.  

SuzyPWarrior I was told no appliances are allowed in rooms.

Yes. The electrical outlets are monitored closely at inspections. 

No appliances allowed, but you'd be amazed at how crafty sailors can be.  

My son will be heading to GL for A school. Does anyone know if they’re allowed to have personal cars?

Students cannot have personal vehicles on base.

mk959801 - My daughter said they have to put in a vehicle chit. Not sure what prerequisites there are before you can apply for a vehicle chit. We discussed that it would cost her a lot to ship her vehicle from WA To only move it again in less than a year and should likely wait until she reaches her duty station.

Some students are allowed personal vehicles at A School. It all depends on the length of their school. Since parking is limited on base, they may have to park off base and pay a monthly fee.

-Correnza- My son left for quarantine about same time as yours. Once they have their 2 weeks there & all clear they will proceed to RTC for boot camp. Join the Boot Camp group on here too. A lot of information & support from the wonderful ladies.  I know it has been invaluable for me to be a newer member of that group as so many unknowns. Blessings!

Hi Cali's mama ... I am a GL mom too. My son graduated BC in October, and he will be at GL until at least Thanksgiving (depending on holds).  There is not much activity on this board. One place I found helpful is:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/USNGLAS/

It is a moderated Great Lakes Aschool board so there is no sniping. There is a ton of information there. The guy who runs it, Tommy, knows so much. There is a whole tutorial with different "chapters" about everything you need to know about GL. And there are always helpful people there willing to share their experiences.

Hi Mom's! 

Wondering if anyone has tips about Sailors getting leave/liberty at Christmas. I'm looking for info/suggestions about them making travel plans. Any particular airline? Should he wear his uniform while traveling?

Thanks in advance for any helpful hints. 

Jules usually for christmas they have stand down, they will be told when  they can start making arrangements, I wouldnt worry about buying and planning. They will buy their own ticket since they will know when they can leave. If they have duty they can try and switch with someone. When my Son was there in A school they got bussed to the airport and would wait for their flight. I tried to buy and plan but I was told not to as they know their schedule and they are given the time they can leave and no earlier than what is given. That was 4 yrs ago I'm sure things have changed. Mrs. Anti M could respond a bit better.

 Do NOT try to guess their dates.  It never is when you think, and with covid, holiday stand down policies are going to be very last minute.  Let your sailor buy their own ticket, you can pitch in later.  Let your sailor know, so they can set aside a bit for travel. Yes, that's more expensive, but a lot less than trying to get the flights changed.

Whatever the dates are, get them back one day early.  The weather is iffy and even if they were legitimately delayed, they will get a scolding.  If they are at fault, they get disciplined.

No, they will not travel in uniform for security purposes.  The official threat level is quite high so they must not draw attention to themselves.  Don't do stuff like banners in the front yard.  Not cool for PerSec.  They may bring their dress blues for photos or to wear to church.

Thanks so much Phoenixmom & Anti M -- I'm just going with the flow (which is against my nature). :) Was just wondering if their were better airlines for him to make a reservation with? I've heard some have better discounts/advantages than others. Trust me, I've already learned not to plan too much ahead. :) Thank you!

Hi, my son is currently at a school in Great Lakes.  He will get a 2 week leave of absence before shipping out to Japan.  How will he get home?  Does the navy fly them home?  He said he was told they give him details the day before he leaves.  Does the navy make all their travel arrangements or do they?  Thank you!

TXNavymom he will make his arrangements and pay for his flight. they will let them know when they can make those arrangements. he also will get a sponsor to go over everything before he gets to Japan. They are usually in charge of getting from airport to duty station, This may have changed, as so much has. Congrats to your Sailor.

Thank you Phoenixmom!  This is going not be challenging for my son but I know very good for him.  

Phoenixmom, to clarify, you said he would make his arrangements…will he. Make those with somebody?  Does the navy set up a flight for him and then he pays for it?  Or does he have to make his own flight arrangements on his own?  He’ll be graduating in 4 days and they said he’ll leave in 5 but he doesn’t know when he’ll get his plane ticket or if he needs to go ahead and do that?  Thank you for your help!

Here is a link from Great Lakes regarding their Updated Liberty Rules during PIR weekend, effective August, 2022. (Thank you Amy for sharing this with me.)  I'll post it in a few different places.

Updated Liberty Rules for GL - August 2022

Any insight into finding the mailing address?  Long story short, our sailor started A school today but we need to mail him something and he doesn’t have a mailing address to give us yet. Should we just wait until he gets one from someone or is there a way for me to find one?

we’re mailing him something very important, time is of the essence.  Thank you!

Each school has a separate mailing address, and there are several at Great Lakes. Try looking it up by his rating/job.

@calinavymom is your son in holding on the bootcamp side, or the training side? If he is on the training side, he is just waiting for the next class to start. My daughter has on hold for a about a month when she graduated earlier last year. She was an OS. They put into the barracks and she went through indoc. She already had full liberty on weekends before she even started her classes, and met friends and everything. I went to visit her a few times while she was there, and met some of her friends. I learned that a lot of students in A School in Great Lakes are there for at least a month or two before they start their classes. She stood watch in her barracks, had cleaning duty, etc. It was boring for sure. But I told her to look at it like she is receiving a paycheck, and she could focus on getting adjusted to Navy life. Tell him to hang in there. Do not get frustrated with the timing, it will all work out.