IC- Sailors

Part of the assignment is from their dream list, their scores, and where they are needed in the fleet. That always takes priority

Great to find this group-Just does not seem to be many IC's around-My son is IC3 aboard the USS George Washington, Japan - He was first on the Kitty Hawk and then crossed deck to the GW - he did decom with the KH - has been in Japan for 2 years now - Not many IC's at all on the ship - I am still learning about IC and all they do

Hello Maria - Hang in there for the ups and downs and nervous wanting to know during BC time. Kyle will be fine and the PIR is absolutely awesome when he graduates. This is a small group. My son is on the GW deployed and ported in Japan. You just don't find many IC's around. Ant, my son, really likes the work though and this rating allows him to be all over the ship. Take care and write, write, write him.

Josh went into BC knowing he would be an IC, as far as prior computers, not much other than what most kids know these days. He has been selected for training in broadcast media and will be back in Great Lakes soon for school then on to Washington/Pentagon for his next duty station.

hello everyone....my son just had PIR 3/12 and is at GL awaiting IC school to start. He said he would find out this Friday, but might possibly be put on hold. Any feedback or info on how long the hold might be?

Hello all! My husband is leaving for Basic Training May 18 and he will be an IC. I am very nervous because I don't know what to expect. I did have a question for all you ladies whose husbands have been in a while, are the deployments very long? I have heard anywhere from 6-12 months..??

Hi my son just got an IC rate. Looking for an active board... Anyone out there?

Hi Maine4Me, thank you so much for posting. I am so excited for my son. I hope he gets the oppurtunity to travel to Japan. Congratulations to you and your son. Rey's Mom Rose

So glad to see some current posts here. Had not been some for awhile. Rose and Rick good to hear from some IC parents. My son will have been assigned to Japan f/3yrs this Sept. He is an IC3 on the USS GW aircraft carrier. He was first on the Kitty Hawk carrier, followed her on part of decom and then was crossdecked to GW that replaced the KH. He has had quite an adventure so far and really likes Japan. Will turn 25 this Sun. I am so proud of him, and yes quite a change from the little boy to a man. Not many IC's out there. At one time I heard they were going to phase the rating into Electricians. It seems to be hard to advance very quickly in this rating. Since being in Japan, Anthony has managed to advance 2 rates. It has been quite a roller coaster ride for him but overall, great for him. The aircraft carriers are so big, about 5,000 on the GW, a mini city, so the experiences are different depending on where stationed. So many adventures for them, and Anthony has traveled quite a bit of Japan and different experiences at the differ ports. MWR sets up differ trips they can go on and they also have opportunity to do community type service in different ports. They are finishing the exercises right now w/South Korea. I am so proud of my son and I know you are of yours. From what I understand the assignments on the support boats for the carrier usually are good assignments, smaller group, tighter group: the carriers can be a challenge but have rewards in their own way. When out to sea on manuevers, after awhile it gets tough, but they know how far they can push them. Please keep posting here. I would really like to know about any IC information that you come across or your sons experience. Rose, your son will have a great experience and form ties with other sailors that will last a lifetime. Please keep posting. Leah from Texas

Are ICs generally out at sea? I read somewhere that they were going to merge IC with electricians, has anyone eles heard of this? Should I be worried?

Yes, I understand Tokyo is quite a place to see. I would so like to visit my son Anthony and see Tokyo myself. I know Ant stays busy, especially when they are out to sea. The pics they take when out to sea amaze me. From what Anthony tells me being out to sea can be great and rough at the same time but overall Anthony enjoys it. Just a very different lifestyle than living on land. When my son went to boot camp almost 4 years ago now, that is when I first heard about the possibility of IC being phased into the electrician rate. The job that my son does now on the carrier actually involves a large amount of electrical work. From him, it sounds like he is an electrician for the communication devices: wiring sound systems, wiring for the communication systems for the flight deck, and maintenance on electrical systems that are connected to any communication devices on the carrier. I do know they all work together in the Engineering Department. All I know is that Anthony was assigned to KH and then GW, forward deployed for 3 years of sea duty. In Sept. sea duty is over, he can decide what US coast he wants to go to or he can choose to reup for another sea duty. Re: land and sea rotation, I do not know, I think that depends on if you reup in the Navy, and if reup, how much sea duty you already have. My generally understanding is that IC's do spend more time sea duty, along with some other rates that are more specific to ship type work. If you here of other updates please share

Hello everyone, my son is finishing up A school in GL and just got his verbal orders today. C school in GL for Site TV and then Diego Garcia for 2 years. WOW...he is excited about his upcoming adventure.

Great to see the activity. Did not see much at first, but the info is so helpful. Ant, my son has been on GW in Japan for 3 yrs, IC3, now. He will be there for another yr. I just know he goes all over the ship and is involved in some of the electrical work too. I guess since he is own the ship, what he learns is on the job, they do not send the ship IC crew to schools while on active deployment. He is supposed to come back to the states after Japan. It is interesting to know about the different schools and directions they can go in. I just know he has to be familiar with schematics all over the ship. He promoted fairly quickly to the IC3 but from what I understand promotion after that is much more difficult. Please, everyone, keep updating us on what the IC's are doing. Such a small number of them in comparison with other ratings, info seems to be hard to get.

My son is still a SR, but will be in IC A school within 2 weeks...Hoping to learn more about his rate!

I was watching the shows about 9/11, and also watched a panel discussion involving the Federal, Military, and Civilian inividuals in control of those areas of air traffic control communications. It helped to realize the importance of communications and having those lines of communications, not only processes but equipment in streamline working order. One of the gentleman talked about how he just happened to have the military contact numbers memorized and was using a DSN phoneline communication to inform the military of the status, otherwise, no communication was going on directly with the military. Our sailors have an important job on their hands.

My son just went into BC this week. When he graduates, hopefully in November, he will be going into IC. Does anyone know how long the A school lasts and where they go from there?

SailorMom Denna, My son just finished A school yesterday. He will move over to the other side of the base and he will be in indoc for about a week or two, my son was then on hold for about 2 weeks before he started his ATT school which he will do first. That is a self paced school and took my son about a month, he was then on hold again for about 2 weeks waiting to class up. When he did it was suppose to be approx. 39 days (work days) he was in a group of 4 and they had to stay together, and 2 of the 4 were very slow, although it gave my son a chance to study more for the tests, and he ended up being an honor grad.

I hope that helps you out....congrats on your future Sailor

Sounds like he's going to be there in GL for awhile (maybe 6-8 months from BC through A school?) then. I had no idea they had to go through so much training, but it makes sense. For some reason I thought it would be more like on-the-job training.

I would say about six months at the least, and it all depends then on C school. Do you know if your son will be taking a C school, not all of them do and if they do not then they do get to learn on the job at their first assignment. I know Josh can volunteer for other C schools but not sure how often.

I have no idea what schools he'll be in. When he left for BC he showed me his ID card that said IC but he said it wasn't guaranteed. Any idea when they find out for sure?

Some time during BC they will sign their contracts I don't remember when but it was about midway through. I think it all depends on the needs of the Navy, but I think most of the time they get what they go in for unless they don't pass the color blind tests and things that matter to that rate, then they might have to change.

Hi I'm a future sailor, going in as E3 with an IC rating.  I was hoping if anyone could enlighten me on any details of what this rating entails.  I've read the descriptions, I've googled, but I'm really looking for an inside look.

I see some of you have daughters/sons already in A-school.  Have they told you what they learn and how?  or what it's like? is it exciting?  Are they having fun?  what are they learning exactly?  Has anyone shipped off yet?  What's the job like? deployed or not.  lol I know I have a lot of questions and I know most of you are the parents of the sailors themselves so no pressure ^.^
I'm just really excited and hungry to know more.  I ship out on the 21st of Sept.
I just want to be as prepared as possible for what is to come.

Thanks a lot in advance for any advice/insight you can give ^.^

What is the schedule for training for an IC rating. My son starts A school soon, graduating this Friday from basic and will move to the Great Lakes A school. I know he more than likely will also have a C school or two. Just wondering what the road of training goes.