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

For the newbies - Just wanted to welcome you too.  If you have any questions about general Navy stuff, just ask.  I have been doing this Navy forum stuff for years and can guide you to the area you need.  

Sometimes issues are private, and you don't want them viewed by the world. So just pm me and I can probably help you.  I will give you a non-sugar coated answer, just don't kill the messenger.    Believe me, I have very thick skin and have heard virtually every question possible....Nothing surprises me...

Again, welcome....

jph - There is so many ways people get married.  It is up to you two to decide how to do it.  I've seen many just go the the justice of the peace and get married, then later have a "show" wedding for their family.  This works really well if you don't have $$$. You've just have to figure out what is acceptable to both of you.

http://marriage.about.com/cs/marriagelicenses/p/texas.htm

Hello all...

I am new to this forum. My son just graduated boot camp last Friday. He was flown out yesterday. I do not know if he is sent directly to San Antonio or not. He mentioned that he is required to go through another boot camp with the Marines. Can anyone tell me how this works or where I could find out information. I have not heard from him as of yet and I am just wondering if he is in San Antonio or if they sent him to wherever the Marine boot camp is. He is a Hospital Corpsman. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Hello im new here... Son just graduated Friday and left for Texas early Saterday morning... Have not heard from him sense he left.  What can he and I expect to happen over the next few days?

My son goes to school at UT San Antonio...he's out of the Navy last Febuary after almost 7 years....his last assignment was as an instructor at Camp Bullis teaching combat medical techniques to incoming military medical personnel and evidently anyone they threw in there. First five years as a corpsman with Marines, where he earned his FMF pin deployed to Iraq. He's also worked the Methadone Clinic at Camp Lajuene, and made his mom very happy by procrastinating about reenlisting and being moved over the the Instructors slot instead of going to AStan. He's bought a new home with his VA benefits, attending school on his GI Bill..and has a wonderful young woman in his life. We are still involved with METC however, her brother is training as a combat medic with the Army. There is life after the Navy....

I think the need for FMTB and the availability of C Schools just depends on how many corpsmen they need where...it's the Navy's call. I have a friend whose daughter was an instructor at A school in Great Lakes until it moved to SA, for several years. She had taken FMTB right out of basic, then went to teach. Her current assignment is with the Marines, she's deployed to Astan and has earned her FMF pin a couple of months ago. You just never know where you'll end up.

momof3 - You will soon learn that the phone service at Fort Sam is terrible.  So add that to what txbabydocmom says, this is one more thing why they don't call as often.   

Is there anyone going to graduation on 10/23/12?  My daughter is giving a speech as the honor graduate and I would be forever grateful if there is someone who could record it for me!  After being unemployeed for 10 months I have been offered a job that starts the day before graduation.  Very bittersweet,  I am so thankful that I will be working again but I just hate not being able to go to graduation, I will not even be able to take time off while she is home.

jph - No problem....There is a lot of experience in this group.

Now I need you to help me... Be on the look out for Marty McFly.  He came back yesterday and I bet he's down at Fort Sam....  j/k

Hello everyone!  I just found this group, I have to read at least few comments to catch up.  My SR is schedule PIR is on 10/19/12,  anyone here has SR on the same PIR? 

Tag PhotosNavy Class 190 & Air Force Class 195 Graduation.

Craig..I didnt have my laptop working for awhile, so Im behind to let you know I appreciate your donation to the flower shop and how you handled the entire thing. I know and Im sure the other moms would agree that if the family was aware of the kindness and consideration that was intended for them they would certainly be greatful.

Also, thanks for the Marty McFly...that is great! you bring a fun side to such heavy hearts as moms can have... so many are smiling because of you!

anyone know what the current time is that it takes to phase up in A school?

dianevdp - Thank you.  I appreciate your comments.  

David - This isn't the booklet for Fort Sam, but it will give you an general idea on how the phase's work.  Go to para 31, it may help you.

btw:  Ask your daughter if there is a booklet for their room.  I'd like to know. All the Training Commands are pretty much the same.

NATTC_BEQ_rules.pdf

hi any info on watch duty being different at Jenkins sp? hall? heard it was every 7 days vs 10 where ny HM is right now. 

Anyone have info about a HM with orders to serve w the CBs? Do the Hms go to Seabee training or do they go to FMTB?

I have been in the middle of a lot of work days and such so I have been reading but not posting much.  I want to second everything dianevdb said, Craig. I really appreciated your efforts with the flowers.  Also, in my opinion, humor is critical in dealing with stress.  Anytime you can bring Marty McFly into the mix, it's a good thing. 

I think my future HMDA sailor is in Jenke. I will check. We heard he might move after his graduation on Dec 6th to the other hall.. Fralish. When school resumes, in January, then he will continue w the dental. At this point, is it too early to figure out the rotations?

Paulo"smom - I never got my Im a sailor phone call. And I was seriously going a little nuts about it. Had myself convinced Navy officers were going to come to my door because something bad happened. We went to PIR and I still hadnt heard from him, then I couldnt find him in the group when they marched in for a few minutes. Thanksfully he was in the front row! Not really clear on why I never got a call. Didnt want to make a big deal about it or make him feel bad. I came to the conclusion he didnt think it was that big of a deal (seriously!!!) or he didnt have any money/calling card left (he is not great with money) or he called a girl instead. Or he was being lazy (not shocking lol). So hang in there! Tomorrow will be amazing!!!!!

sailor started classes yesterday.

My son told me that their NMTI told them all to not even think about putting in a request for Christmas until December.  Makes me really nervous.  He said some didn't listen and asked for Thanksgiving and are getting denied because they were all told to wait until November for that.  So I don't know.  I guess we have to wait until December.  Just seems so far away and so close, hope we can get a good price on a ticket.

My daughter started class on Sept. 19 and one week to the day later we lost her brother to a drug overdose and she had to take compassion leave for 3 days...She says she feels she's been watched very closely since she got back...I would assume because of what happened...And while she's not suicidal by any means it has been nice for me to know that people are looking out for her during this tough time, so as her mother I don't consider that a bad thing.

My son sent me that photo last night.  Nice photo.  He said they have had to do suicide prevention training as well because of the suicides.  

Thanks for posting the photo, txbaby....

txbabydoc thank you for the picture. My brother commited suicide while my son was at bc. Found out day of PIR, had the suicide meeting. It was very hard for him.

txbabydocmom - I really like that photo.  Thanks for posting it.   I take it the yellow is the middle is the sailors in their PT gear?

I did hear about the other one, but have kept that one to myself after the last go around.  I just hope the Navy continues to discuss this subject.  Most people think it goes away by not talking about it.  It doesn't....   Suicide prevention is an "All Hands" effort

Here is the Commanding Officer’s suicide prevention and response toolbox:

http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/support/suicide_prevention/Do...

Jules - Prayers to your son.  The reason they are looking at your daughter is because a person is more likely to complete suicide if a family member has taken their own life or has a history of psychiatric illness.

What I find strange is people can accept and can understand people in wheelchair having a disability,  yet these same people can't understand people with mental problems because they can't visually see it.....even though both are the same....

Again, prayers your son..

Woo-hoo, my daughter is almost done with her internship for surgical assistant.  She has seen more in 6 month when she left for the service than most do in a lifetime.  

In the 6 weeks of her internship:

- she has delivered 7 babies

- she has had someone die on her.  I ask how she dealt with that.  She said "Dad, the guy was 70 year old.  It's part of the circle of life, we all know eventually we will pass on"

- she has assisted in amputating a leg from a diabetic person.  I ask how she handle that.  She said "Dad, our family has a history of diabetes.  I already know what happens.  As far as the amputation, she said "it was so cool.  In minutes they had the leg off.  Their saw was extremely sharp.  The hardest part as cauterization of all the various blood vessels.  Dad you should have seen how amazing it was"

One thing she was counseled for was she let out a small scream.  The doctor told her never, ever, do that again.  You need to maintain your composure even if something freaks you out.  What happen?

Well a patient came in with a ear problem.  Days before she went to the urgent care off base because a cricket went into the patient ear.  The urgent care flush the cricket out, but the pain continued.  So they look into the ear and found the civilian doctor didn't flush the entire cricket out.  They pulled it out and it's antenna's were still moving.  This is when she let out the small scream.  Thus resulting in a verbal counseling.  

What is it with women and bugs or mice?  Why do you guys always freak?  j/k

Craig, is okay to say BRAVO ZULU to your Air Force daughter?  I think what she is doing is soooo cool! Sigh...if I were a few years younger....

And...when my kids had a pet white rat, I would regularly get freaked out when I would find him out of his rodent condo. 

Good morning! My son is a new sailor (as of last night!) at the HM A School there in San Antonio, TX. I was wondering if any of you have any advice to pass along to myself and my sailor during his early days that will be beneficial? Thank you so much! Have a beautiful day :)

What day of the week are the graduation typically on?

Maybe one of the veterans can answer this- If you don't get approved leave for xmas what do sailors do when they stay if school is closed

This worries me about my son not getting a leave for Christmas.  He was told on his first day at A School that  they would be coming home for Christmas.  Now I'm reading that he may not.  I'm confused.  Why would he say that and it be something different.

Regarding mail in SA, I think that was a great idea to get a Box.  The lines are really long and they don't always get out of classes in time to get to the post office.  There were several letters returned because my son didn't know they were there and didn't get to the post office to pick them up.  It isn't like boot camp where mail is handed out.

Glo Mom....a couple of things to remember about the Navy....'hurry up and wait' and nothing is etched in stone. Things are fluid and the only constant is change.  As the real veteran moms have pointed out, it is all about what Ma Navy wants!!  As soon as I accepted those things, I have been less stressed.  I don't know if my son will be home for the holidays (he is now at his duty station) and we have had to come to grips with that. 

So, Wednesday graduation...hmm, well that maybe a tough one to work out for my husband. How many graduations do they have a month? My son's graduation should be in January when they return from Christmas break.

No guarantees in the military, that's for sure. We just plain lucked out that my son was home every Christmas. It was pure accidental timing, starting with when he enlisted. A couple of times he returned to the USA right at the end of November from deployments, that worked for a Christmas leave those years. He really didn't use his leave except at Christmas the other years, it was the only time he came home except for one leave when his Iraq deployment was postponed for a month, so he decided to drive his car home and stayed a few days. 

Just a reminder to watch how much information we share on public social media boards like this one. One response by the Navy has been to limit how much information our deployed troops can share with those at home due to too much information getting out and about online. It's the old "Loose Lips Sink Ships" theory.The other concern most admins have is that connections can be made between our kids and those at home. We had a mom share this story the other day on our Deployed board....and this is why we do not share names, specific locations, arrival and departure dates, etc online with anyone. We also need to remember that when our sailors share something with us, they are talking to mom or dad and not an online group filled with people we may like but we do not really know very well.

She wrote: "When our oldest was deployed a couple of years ago, (on a Sub), someone tried to extort $ from my parents (living alone @ the time, in their 80's) over the phone. It was a scam for the deployed. My parents actually believed the caller b/c the caller identified himself as our son using our sons name & knew "their" names as well. He said he got himself in trouble & was in the brigg overseas, needed $ to get out & would call back on how to send it.He Begged my parents "NOT" to say a word to us. My parents "sat" on that info for a couple of days before they informed me b/c they actually thought it was true. Now mind you, our son never got in any trouble throughout his whole life. (A Goody 2 Shoes). I informed our ombudsman who assured me they were well under the sea. My husband had to contact an officer in charge of those issues. About a week "Prior" to this call, our son's sub pulled into a port & he made a phone call to them using the Skype method. At that time we lived in NJ & several months later, sure enough on the news, there had been a big sting operation in the Phila area that caught several scam artists doing this. So, that's why I sounded so "Protective" with giving out address info."

Always watch your back and the back of your sailor. That's the priority!

Glo - The Navy revolves around Christmas and Holiday Routine.  The least of my worries would be if he coming home for Christmas while he is in "A" school.  It's kind-of a sacred holiday that they really never mess with.  The school house closes and they truly are just "Fire & Security" sailors at that time.  He will be home (in my opinion).  

Even in the fleet, they try to get those that want to go home on Christmas leave out of there.  

my son graduates A school January 8th and he is coming home for Thanksgiving which was approved early October , he said he was most likely staying in San Antonio for Xmas and hoping to do extra clinical work at Ft Sam Hospital in rehab. He has gotten close to a Marine at Ft Sam whom was wounded in Afg. and lost a limb. He feels compelled to give back and stay over the holiday. As much as I would love for him to come home , I am pretty proud that he wants to stay and learn and work with the wounded warriors. 

Thanks Craig,  It's hard being in this new roll of Navy Mom.  I'm getting use to it, but some of it is hard to get use too.  Less than 4 months ago, I was a full time mom to this 18 year old teenager, now he is 19 and an independent man.  

Thank you TexDocMom. I  am becoming more and more frustrated with the public asking of "where is your son" on facebook. What he does on his facebook page is his business as he knows the rules. But on my page, I won't answer that question. Everyone (for the most part) I'm sure are well meaning, but it's the people I don't know, who might see it that worry me. So I usually take down the question. The nice man at the post office asked me today where my son is and I just said overseas. He pressed me for a more specific answer and I said he's currently deployed overseas. He was looking right at the address on the box I was sending. You can't tell from the FPO and I'm sure he wasn't a bad person but there is all that info on the box. Just throwing in my two cents again to say I agree with TexasDocMom... be careful.  Don't PM people you don't know very well. Do your research. Make sure they have kid(s) in military, believe it or not there are those who lie. Watch out for those who want to cozy up to you and give you advice and help constantly. 

That being said I have met wonderful moms on this site, on facebook sites for the Navy and other military sites and made some great new friends. Do Your Homework. Creep on Their Facebook Pages. Those who have nothing to hide (other than protecting their sailors) won't mind.