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

The Joint Service school is very interesting as my Corpsman-to-be tells me! His description as I have stated when describing Ft. Sam Houston is: "Owned by the Air Force, run by the Army, occupied by the Navy and it advertizes for the Marine Corps".  That about covers it.  He did tell me that as he is starting the Nursing part of it, he will be in classes with Airmen.  So far the Army is not in on these classes. 

Txbabydocmom and Seachelle53....My son said that he does not think Marines will ever be a physical presence.  He was referring to the availability of Marine things (clothing etc) in the NEX (or whatever they call it there).  He said that many of the Corpsman want to "go green"....ie...go to FMTB (Field Marine Training Battalion) or FMF (Fleet Marine Force). He is one of those. I reminded him nothing is more good lookin' than a Sailor in dress uniform!!  As a matter of fact, I think he is hoping to get the Camp Lejeune billet.  The Navy just celebrated their first year of HM School there at Ft Sam Houston, I think he said.  Prior to that wasn't it at GLRTC? 

txbabydocmom...this is me liking your post!  So what is a plankowner certificate?

Moms...son got orders to Navel Hospital at Lejeune. Question is all it has it  report date on the orders, no time. Are they allowed to check in at any time before 2359 hours?

Well, ladies, from what I have gathered it is between Ft Sam Houston and Lackland. I hope to find out soon! :) 

My son got to San Antonio yesterday and was told his class won't start for 2 weeks. He likes his room. It was disappointing to only get to see him until &pm PIR night and then 3 hours at the crack of dawn at Airport Saturday.

I warned him about the food- I am going to ask him today how dinner was last night-lol!  I have heard about the wait and that since he is a Reservist he would get first dibs.He is also doing that Marine Corpsman training after A school as well.

Teach by the way my son said food doesn't compare to Navy food either and that the coffee is lousy-lol!

txbabydocmom...that is SO COOL!  Of course, it makes sense when you think of a ship being commissioned "plank" owner.

My son is going doing FMTB after A School, he graduates mid June.  Does anyone know if they automatically go to Fort Lejeune or do some go to Camp Pendleton for their training?  

Mome2jord, it could be either one.

For anyone whose new corpsman could use a stethoscope at their first duty station, allheart.com is having a sale on Littmans; you can have it personalized, too.

Thanks Marcy, I know I have to be patient and wait and see...lol!  I would love for it to be Camp Pendleton, but either one is fine, our son will be a plane ride either way!:)

Ok sorry if this has been asked before, but how soon after they start A School do they find out their graduation date?

Marcy-Corpsman Mom how do you know which stethoscope to order?

Yeah I'm not sure if my son will pick C School or Field Medic ( Forgot what the letters are )

I thought it was great as well! I am flying san diego to san antonio and RT tickets were consitently around 1k, so I am thrilled! 

I have seen a lot of suggestions about hotels, but here are my two concerns: does anyone know which hotels offer shuttle service to and from the airport? Also, any good hotels that are walking distance from food shopping?

Thanks!

I'm going to SA at the end of June to visit my son. I will be staying at The Fairfield which is one block from the Riverwalk and all the shops and not far from base! I'm flying into SA and got a car rental at the airport so I can pick up n drop off there

There's also this Discussion above (hit View All) - Good hotels/motels to stay at in San Antonio - be sure to add your experiences there, too so we have them all in one spot :)

The best is the Foulous House(sp). Hubby and brother in law stayed there when they went before Easter to visit our son. It was 100 bucks with tax, the room was incredible, and so was the service. Totally recommend that place. 

@Katze90210 - I have asked my corpsman to give me his opinion and will share when he gets back to me.  I didn't get my son a stethoscope right away and it's not a necessity; but it does make a good graduation gift and is useful eventually.  Another thought for a graduation gift:  a US Navy Hospital Corpsman license plate holder.  I ordered one from here:  www.militarybest.com and it arrived in a few days with just regular shipping cost.

Thank you Marcy and good point about grad gift. 

My son is not at Ft. Sam any longer, he graduated from A school in December, but I was in San Antonio this past weekend meeting an out of state aunt that I haven't seen in a long time.  My sister and her boyfriend met us there too.  We stayed at the Homewood Suites on the Riverwalk.  It was very nice.  We didn't have a chance to use the kitchen, but they do have a full size refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, and a 2 burner stove along with dishes and utensils.  They have a hot breakfast in the morning.  The day we ate there they had eggs, bacon, cereal, toast, bagels, etc.  I paid $125 with my AARP discount and we could see the Riverwalk right outside our bedroom window.  They also have a rooftop swimming pool and spa, exercise room and business center.  The staff was great. Unfortunately I got sick the morning we were checking out, and they were very nice in letting me take as long as I needed to check out.   It is right on the riverwalk so you have to either pay for valet parking or park in the parking garage across the street.  

Thanks, Jana! That's exactly what I am looking for. I was going to try to save money and not rent a car, but it's just not worth it.

I am wondering- how is the graduation ceremony compared to Great Lakes?

Anyone know if there are military discounts for any of the car rental places?

I have USAA and most car rentals give discounts to people who have USAA

OK, one more super lame question: what the heck is the official address where the graduation is? I'd like to map it from a few hotels but I can't find it. When did I become so useless?!

Hey all, just wanted to show you what the outside of the barracks looks like at Fort Sam Houston.  I drove over there yesterdays and was shocked at how much the sailors have to do there.  They have a lot of facilities to use.  The barracks are said to be really nice on the insides.  The sailors I talk to (about 7) all said it was a really nice place.  This is dome 2.

Craig thanks for sharing

At my son's graduation, there were just a handful of parents/spectators there.  We were free to walk around and take pictures during the ceremony.  It was nice, but not quite as moving as Boot Camp graduation.  I'm not sure what the address is for the official graduation ceremony.  At my son's graduation, there was some special guest coming, so they had it at a different place than usual.  I had a difficult time finding any address to map out directions from there.  I ended up calling the base the morning of the graduation and asking for directions.  I don't think my son even knew where the graduation was going to be until the day before, or at least that's what he told me.  I hope this helps.

Hello! Ok so I was asking about FMF/FMTB stuff before and now I know SOMETHNG so I thought I'd share. My husband got his orders for the FMF/FMTB/RECON stuff less then 4 weeks before graduation. He is headed to Camp Pendleton the morning after graduation and he will be there on hold, in scool and then something else for 7 months, then he heads to FL then NC. My husband's friend has all the same places to go to but he has orders to do them all at different times... anyway that isn't going to be the same for everyone I just wanted to say that is an option of what could happen.

My son is going to FMTB at Camp Pendleton and then to 29 Palms.  Not sure whether he goes directly or has leave.  I am just glad he's on the West Coast! We will be in the same time zone and it will be a shorter and cheaper flight for him to come home or me to visit.

Today my son's class chose their orders and he had a choice of Lejeune or 29 Palms.  Although all the guys from the South thought he should take Lejeune, he really wanted to be in the 1st Marine Division and that's on the West Coast. He knows it will be hard but he's counting on that! A couple of his buddies are also going (one from his Div at GLRTC) so he is happy about that.

Thanks, Craig for the photos.  My son said their rooms are like college dorm rooms with 2 Sailors to a room. It even has a mini-fridge and microwave.  Not quite like BC!

My son sent me a couple of pictures of the inside of his dorm room...anyone interested in seeing it? If so, I'll post it if it's not against any rules.

Shineystuff, I would love to see it!

mome2jord

What do you mean about "itinerary" with you?

shiny - I would love to see the pictures....

shineystuff I would like to see room as well,ty!

I have just found out that my SR is def going to San Antonio for A school. Now I need to know if it is Ft Sam Houston or Lackland. How would I find this out? The job is Dental Tech

MommasHeart....just your flight itinerary if you rent a car by bidding your price through Priceline.  For whatever reason some of the car rental companies want to see that you have a flight home....guess they don't want us to stay in their state too long...haha!

mommasheart, the Navy's HM A-school is in San Antonio at Ft Sam Houston.  If your sailor is going to be a dental tech, they will go to the corp school after A-school and it is also at Fr. Sam Houston.  METC is the facilitie and here is a link to their site with lots of good info...

http://www.metc.mil/  hope this helps

We rented a car in San Antonio at hotwire.com.  The rental was only $12 per day.  If you try to use a debit card (instead of a credit card), you must show that you have round trip tickets.  I found that weird, so I used a credit card instead.  I just didn't have to look for my return tickets.

All,

Just curious what internet service does your sailor use in Fort Sam Houston?  I tried Clear, but they do not provide service at my daughter address.  What is the internet company that your sailor use?

Re: internet service...my Sailor has just been using his smartphone as a wifi hotspot instead of paying for service. That seems to be working okay for now.

Here is a picture of the inside of my Sailors dorm room. Each person has their own bed, desk, nightstand and lamp. The fridge is a good size for two and they have a microwave.

Here is a shot of the bathroom....