HM (Hospital Corps) "A" School in San Antonio

hello everyone, 

finally we have a conversation last night with our son John since he arrived to SA Saturday night.    We were surprised too as dadyellow mentioned that he will not start his class until 5 weeks from now.   He did say he is cleaning and working out everyday.   Since he would like to try to get into working w/marines, he told us that he is getting up at 5am and run4-5miles.  He signed up with a group that is working out daily to see if they can pass the physical training to be part of the marines unit special forces.  i do not know much about this group, if anyone knows. please if you could let us know.  Is that is the same as field medical?

 i just did not think it was going to take that long for him to begin class.   i guess all the classes are filled up so no space until 5wks.   He has a roommate but has not be able to meet him yet or have not seen him at the time he is there...strange.   He seems alone in his room most of the time.    

Any advise or more information, please let us know.

thanks

So my husband graduates bootcamp 1/27 so what kind of thing should I bring for him to be able to have internet? Also, is it really 5 weeks until he will start school?

A 5 week wait is about right. My daughter arrived Mid October started classes right before Thanksgiving. Things move along very quickly.

She picks orders on Friday!  I'm on pins & needles!

They do have a decent library.  My son has been there since the beginning of December and he has managed to find it.  The people that went with him will be starting classes next Wednesday the 18th.  My son started the 14th of December because he is in the Reserves, so they have to start quickly

Kathy, be sure to let us know how much time you guys get when you find out. My daughter graduates A school on the 24th so I'm really curious to know how much time she'll get to spend at home before having to go to her post. :)

And congratulations to your son on his achievements!!!

Wlbradford - my daughter also graduates that day.  She told me that she would NOT come home and could depart for Japan as early as the next day.  Maybe she is choosing this since she visited during Christmas week & we said our goodbyes at the airport.  Hope you do get to visit with your daughter.

Is anyone familiar with FTSHM designation? (full time support hospital Corpsman) My son has this designation. And we were wondering what Job choices he will have after schooling. Will he be limited to FTSHM jobs or can he Choose FMF or other jobs.?

Williekeke, I believe it's 14-16 weeks but don't quote me on that.

Cookingmom, mine is actually getting to come home for about a week before, so I'm going to count my blessings! I'm sorry yours isn't getting another home visit before going to Japan!

When my son was in bc and i sent him letters, we had to put SR by their name. Now that they are in SA and about to start classes, does anyone know what their designation is?

Good question Ana4jas! I hadn't thought of that. Is there a specific way to write their name when sending letters/packages to the dorm vs. UPS?

LeysaNavymom (from yesterday's post)...my son started the physical testing for special forces before he started classes there (SARC) but decided not to pursue it once he found ot that if he went that direction and later washed out of their program, then he would lose his primary rating as corpsman and would have to go to whatever they had available.  He opted to stick with corpsman for now and will look into it later if it works out. 

He arrived in SA on Oct. 28 and didn't start classes until Dec. 13.  I had sent his Nook with him, so he could at least read; he also worked out a lot. 

He's studying like crazy but his test scores haven't been as high as he would like them to be...he said some of the ones that go out every weekend rather than study are scoring higher than him.  He's midway in his class, which is acceptable, but he's a perfectionist and is frustrated with the scores.  He's very smart and knows the material, so I'm not sure what he's doing wrong.  Is it possible to overthink the answers?  I told him to go with his first instinct and not think it to death.  Any advice? 

It breaks my heart.  My prayers are going out to the family and the other recruits in his unit.  God bless them all!

As to how to address your recruit at a school our Sailor said to use SA for Sailor Apprentice, Last name, First name. Our prayers for the family and recruit of the tragidy at GL. txfuturebabydocmom..thanks for your input.

I would like to visit my son for graduation.  Does anyone know of a hotel they would recommend to stay at?

@proudmom-I did not care too much for the hotel where we stayed when we went to my son's graduation, but I heard of someone who stayed at the Powless House on base.  I did not even know about it, or I would have tried to stay there.  If you are interested here is the link with the phone number....http://www.fortsamhoustonmwr.com/vsm/page.asp?pid=115

DRod's Mom - Kyle is in that class too...but of course they were at BC together :)  Are you going to graduation?

my prayers to the family of this young sailor.  i cannot imagine their pain at this moment.   God bless them all.

proudmom... In regards to the hotel I live 15 min south of Great Lakes.  

You can check the Hampton Hotel or any of these are good too very nice area.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g36819-Vernon_Hills_Illinois-Hote...

http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=DG...

jacketfan24...thank you for you inputs.  i will check with him, though I thought he said that if he does not make it, then he will continue corpsman...but I will ask him again.   in regards to your son test scores, could he ask for help with someone in his class that is scoring higher in the test?  we told our son to study hard.   he did not like to study in high school, well will see this time around.  He usually score well on test during high school but he did not like to do the homework. i am sure he will not be able to do the same here or else...he will not have many job options...i would think.    Maybe to study in a group or one on one be good for him...my thoughts.  

thanks

LeysaNavymom...he did say that if he didn't pass the testing, he would stay in the corpsman program, but if he passsed the test and accepted  into their program, then washed out, then he wouldn't keep his original rating.  I guess it would  actually change to SARC if he made it that far, so it makes sense that the original rating wouldn't be   available anymore. 

As for the studying, he graduated high school with a high GPA, and has been studying constantly.  I still think he is just overthinking the answers...keep it simple!  He will be fine, but I'm a mom, so I worry. 

Congrats & have fun Kathy!  I'm visiting in 2 weeks for a long weekend!  I can't wait. Daughter picked orders today & she's heading to Bethesda. She's very excited!!

I stayed at the Sam Houston House on base. I really liked it. It's almost like a bed and breakfast. My daughter's boyfriend stayed at Bldg 592 on base and really didn't care for it. He said it was not very clean. The SH House is around $110 per night. It's located on the other side of the base by the officer housing and in a quiet area.

Congratulations Kathy,  I know you are proud.  Sounds likehe worked hard.  You have a great mini vacation in Ft Sam Houston.  Looks like they have been having good weather. My son said it was so nice out today he had to roll up his sleeves.

Congratulations Kathy!  Have a great time in San Antonio with your son!

@jacketfan - PM me for some insight about the tests.

Hello to all .... so my son got to SA last saturday . We now know that all that arrived that day will not start school for approx.  5 weeks. Does anyone know how long this HM school is? I have seen anywhere from 12 - 16 weeks?? Then is there an actual graduation ceremony that we should attend??

Thank you Kathy and congrats to you and your son !!! Enjoy the grad and safe travels. Let us know how it all goes :):):)

Netter or Kaplan are good ones...personally, we got the Netter 1st and 2nd Edition cards...they have some differences in each so we went with both.

I think we got the Kaplan set - it's probably worthwhile, for the sake of consistency, if the book and flash cards match.  Best of luck to you sailor!

Kathy, Congratulations to your son!   Thank you for the info.

Its been a little over a week since John arrived to SA and he still have not giving us his mailing address.   I guess we will find out sooner or later.

Our sailor has already completed A school there but he had mentioned that they have a new curriculum so the clinicals may be there now. Also I wanted to share a link with you all, it is Basic Medical Technician Corpsman Program on FB . They post the pictures from each graduation -- which warmed this mom's heart after a friend was kind enough to share it with me since we were not able to attend . Best wishes to you all and your sailors .

My daughter is not be stationed on a ship, so I would assume her sponsor isn't on one as well. ?? I don't know how these things work. She said she emailed her last week and hasn't heard anything back at all. She is going to Bremerton. Thanks :)

Just curious... I've seen talk of "sponsors" several times. What are sponsors? What do they do? Who gets them? It seems that they aren't "required" to do much... judging by what I've read.

My daughter will be stationed in Kings Bay, Georgia; she also got some very helpful info. from her sponsor, but I believe she did not get an immediate response from her first E-mail.

restingnHIM: Thank you for the FB link...I can't attend my daughters graduation, and it would be great to see some pictures!

thanks for the link to the facebook page for corpsman!  We won't be able to go for graduation because my husband is still in school, so this will be great when the time comes! 

Has anyone's sailor begun their 13th week?  I know this is a recent change to the course and I'm presuming that is the week after the graduation ceremony.  We're getting the preliminary graduation date (030A) so I'm starting to make travel plans. Any insight will be helpful - thanks in advance!

Thanks Rhonda!  Will you be going to graduation?

Can someone tell me if our sailors have access to some kind of financial counselor or adviser or SOMEONE who can help them figure out their finances? You would think there wouldn't be much to it, but when a check disappears from an account within 24 hours of being deposited and Navy Federal blocks internet access to the account, it makes it a little difficult to figure out wth is going on! I can't believe all the distractions in A-School! If my sailor graduates it will be a miracle! Thanks for any info anyone can give me.

I believe the site is Basic Medical Technician Corpsman Program on facebook, but no grad pictures have been posted since Jan. 11.  Maybe they will get posted today or in the next couple of days.

@ Bellachella... he has been on the phone with them a few times (I'm not on the account) and hasn't gotten much info except that he's overdrawn a lot and his account will remain frozen, including his online access, until the next check deposits. This doesn't make any sense to me. It seems that he should have a right to review his transactions so he can figure out where all his money went in ONE day! I was hoping there would be someone there at school who could get Navy Fed to be reasonable. What a mess!

Rhonda... Thank you! You've given me a great question to ask him! I really had no idea about the credit but that would begin to make some sense if that's the case. I also had no idea there was a branch on base. I will suggest he get his behind over there. Although classes all day long make taking care of business difficult. Ugh!

Bellachella... thanks... that's what I've been saying. "You have a right to see your transactions. It's YOUR account." It is so difficult having him so far away, trying to learn how to deal with this stuff. I feel terrible!

I don't know his exact problems with his checking account, but I can speak from personal experience with our Sailor. He was frequently overdrawn, including with the 500 dollar overdraft protection. His account was never frozen. The only time his account was frozen was at his request after discovering someone in NC was using his debit card to the tune of 600 bucks. That was a major headache, as the the nearest NFCU is off base, and closed during the week at 5pm ( i believe that is the time), and their classes went until that time. Some of that fiasco could not be handled over the phone, because forms needed to be filled out for fraud. My husband suggested to him to ask his instructor prior to class starting one morning if he would be allowed to leave class early in the afternoon to handle the problem, and for him to explain what was going on. The instructor was more than accommodating, and allowed him to leave. NFCE also offers several types of financial counseling. 

My son has been in SA since Dec 3.  He also told me that the Credit Union is off base and he still has not been able to go and deposit some checks that he received as gifts when he left GL.    Does anyone know if there are any plans to open up an Navy Credit Union office on base?   Is the overdraft protection the same as the line of credit that Rhonda mentioned?  I better warn him as he also tends to not keep track of how much money he has.