Sailors becoming Hospital Corpsmen at A School in San Antonio, TX - best rating in the Navy! The Hospital Corps is the Navy's only enlisted Corps and the most decorated in the Navy. Families, friends and loved ones, join in!
My son completed FMTB West 28 Sept 2012 and has been stationed at 29 Palms working in the hospital and then the clinic. His new orders are 3 year forward deployment with a Marine unit to Okinawa. He won't be leaving until end of Sept. He is over the moon. It's something I am still wrapping my head around. He is fortunate that two of his division-mates from RTC have the same orders. They have been together through all of their training and their first duty station.
My son is scheduled to graduate A school on June 18th. When will he get his orders for his next stop? I know he recently completed paperwork for his choices, but when does he find out? Thanks
My 19 year old brother just told me that he wants to join the Marines or Navy to work with the Marines. Lets see if they will take him. He is missing his spleen and had ACL knee surgery last year. Does anyone have experience with waivers? When my husband joined we didn't have to jump thru any of those hoops.
my son needed a vision waiver so not sure about the medical part it took months for them to get the paperwork through and lots of following up you know the navy way lol
Thanks KathyProudCorpsmanmom, I appreciate it. He's doing very well at school, but the competition is fierce. He doesn't like to talk to us about school because it puts too much pressure on him. What little he offers I pounce on and then try to figure out what it means. The latest tidbit was that he picked orders. My stomach is right back at boot camp as I sweat out the remaining weeks of San Antonio training. Thank god I have a daughter who is still trying to decide which college she will attend in the fall. She's driving me nuts, but at least it takes my focus away from Texas.
Froggy, did not our sons get to A school together from BC? If so, how do you know when the graduation date is? My son said sometime in July would be the graduation. Also, does the GPA depend on the class your son/daughter is in, or is it across the board? Ie. all the classes?
Cupcakegirl14 - Yes!! Our sons did go to BC together. Perhaps they are in the same class now too! Our sailor first told us July 2 for graduation; now he says June 18. If you scroll up slowly on this page you will see a chart with group numbers and graduation dates. I'm assuming our sailor is in Group #105. Message me - we can chat in more detail. :) I don't have much info, but I'm willing to share.
They don't get to pick sorry to say my son graduated and the GPA in the class had little to no bearing on where they were sent. Sailors with high 90s did not get C schools and some one with a low 80 got a C school so there is no rhythm or reason.He thinks they use a dart board lol I was in the Navy so been through it as well. It does seem though if they are an unaccompanied sailor(not married) they have a greater change of getting get ship or overseas as its cheaper for the navy to not have to pay to move a whole family.
I guess each class is different. The top GPA in our son's class got to pick first and he picked Spain and the next person picked Italy. Our son got his top choice C school as well. Carafid1 has a good point about single sailors chances of going overseas, they typically try to keep families stateside!
I guess it can depend on the instructors as well maybe some dont care as much as others but in the end as long as they are happy that's all that matters. Yes joeys mom we need to chat robs excited hope Joey is. The things they are gonna see over there are priceless once in a lifetime !!
Well that's interesting.. hmm. Does the left hand not know what the right hand is doing? Crazy! I just told my son to keep doing his best and not compromise himself. We will see what happens. Thanks for the input ladies! :)
Chris mom. My son has been at ft sam Houston for 4 wks. He loves it except fot the food, but there is a huge grocery store and other options available,we visited him this past weekend and saw the new sailors coming in Saturday at the PX ( which is like a mall! It has everything!!!) they were all in awe, so cute I feel so much better after seeing the base it's more like a college campus! The Navy takes great care of them! It's clean and really nice. We brought my son his bike as there is a lot of walking( 2 miles to the gym)
Hello christophersMom! My son has been there since March 1st. He just finished what they call "Corpsmen Killer's" week. I agree with you in that it is so great to be able to talk with your kid/loved one a lot more! It is very informative here! Welcome!!
Christopher's Mom My son is in Fralish hall also 3rd floor! He is thinking surgical tec. And not sure about the othe wish list choices. We live in southeast Tx so it's a 4 1/2 hr drive straight west on I 10 to San Antonio :D try to visit as soon as you can. Really hot July,August and sept!
I thought they were charged per meal, swipe card? I may have that confused w my 19 yr old son who has a full ride scholarship including meals:) woohoo. My son does eat breakfast/lunch at the commissary, because of time factor but not dinner. He hasn't mentioned the Hacienda Tomorrow is mine and My Sailors Birthday! first time apart in 25 years, was a great trip this past weekend to celebrate early!
Wow ChrisMom! Tennis I'm so impressed I took one semester at Lamar U didn't make the cut lol. Too busy dating ha. What is your Son thinking for his wish list? Josh is color blond red green so he is limited in choices!
Karin417...AWFUL for those of us with really really curly hair! I went to Orlando the year Disney World opened (1972) the end of July while on my way to visit my uncle who lived in Puerto Rico. I worked really hard to get my long hair straight. As I got off the plane and walked on the tarmac to the terminal, I could, literally, hear my hair curl. Sigh. Never been a huge fan of heat and humidity!
Lab tech was one Josh can't do, I am an RN for 20 years retired now would love for him to get his RN bet he doesn't have chemistry so apparently not an option at this time.. Maybe later
Bahhaahaa
But lots of test strips include red/green. They look the same to him they said he can't be a driver either O2 full =green red=empty! He said that's dumb cause he knows how to read Stop lights. One is top the other bottom all the time
(We hope lol)
Does anyone know if they're able to watch DVD's at the school? My boyfriend mentioned that he was watching a movie a couple times so I was thinking of sending him one for his birthday but I want it to be a surprise
jad0407 - They have a new lounge and cafe building that was just built within the last year that gives them access to video systems, arcade games, pool tables, air hockey, and large tv's to play dvd movies on. Each barracks also has their own lounge area to watch movies on, too. I'm sure he'll love the surprise!
My son bought a used XBox and small TV from someone who was leaving. He watches movies and plays games in his room. I sent him a box of DVD's... I'm sure some of the other people have similar things in their rooms.
Tammy - our son's classmate had heard the same thing before leaving for bootcamp, but they didn't allow it at Fort Sam. Not sure if the instructors have any flexibility with the rules.
I heard the Navy wants them to do it the Navy way, so although his experience will help him, he has to learn it over the right way lol :). bet he does great!
Hey all you San Antonio natives!!!! I need help!! My husband just got to SA & is eager for me to follow along! I need info on housing near the base. Any info and advise anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated!
I was just on base this past weekend. There are signs up saying after April 30th you will have to have a pass. The first gate we went to which is by the barracks would not allow us in with out military id. We went to another gate I believe it was Harry Warsbauch gate. We were able to go in with just drivers license. We had a great time visiting our daughter while we were there but it was a very long drive back to GA in 1 day 1255 miles but it was well worth it....
cupcakegirl14 - our son received his orders right after the EMT portion of his training (like Mom2Bryan), but there were about 5 people in his class that didn't receive orders until one week before graduation. I know at least 3 of those people were married, though, so that might have had something to do with it.
Thanks for letting me know ladies! I look forward to hearing what my son's orders are. Which bring me to a question here..should we not be saying what our Corpsmen's orders are on here? What about OPSEC?
cupcakegirl14-they do advise not to include class numbers, names of military personnel (even our names, actually), shipping and graduation dates on this public forum for everyone's safety. Since the Navy has bases around the world, it's plausible that our kids will get sent to them, but I wouldn't post that my son is leaving on Monday morning at 8:15am on flight 628 headed to Germany. :) Not to sound paranoid, but you never know who's reading these posts. For personal information, I would stick with private messages.
My son had soft orders about a month before graduation and then got his actual orders the week before graduation.
I may have already asked this, but not sure..so here goes! Does anyone have a son or daughter that is in the SAR corpsman program? I am just trying to find out exactly what that job is, would he be doing rescue swimming or just medical stuff? And it seems like classes are all over the place, which I would love more information on.
Hi Kat! OPSEC is Navy shorthand for Operational Security. There is a link above, but here it is - OPSEC - and it is taken extremely seriously.
There is also a link above referring to NECs, and one can follow it to find info about all the HM NECs (Navy Enlisted Classifications).
For newcomers - I've tried to provide a number of links at the top of this page in order to build a library of sorts for finding the info that is often asked for, so please use them as another resource. I've done this because most moms here are new, and often don't have the answers :)
For example, the NEC link will lead you to this - SAR.
DramaSoul
Apr 7, 2014
cupcakegirl14
Thanks Kathy proud corpsmen mom! Dramasoul 8 - how wonderful that your son has division mates going through things together!!
Apr 8, 2014
Trish from Texas
Our son heads for Okinawa this May. Glad to know we're all in this together! :)
Apr 8, 2014
Froggy
My son is scheduled to graduate A school on June 18th. When will he get his orders for his next stop? I know he recently completed paperwork for his choices, but when does he find out? Thanks
Apr 8, 2014
Britt<3Corpsman Wife
Apr 8, 2014
carafid1
my son needed a vision waiver so not sure about the medical part it took months for them to get the paperwork through and lots of following up you know the navy way lol
Apr 8, 2014
Froggy
Thanks KathyProudCorpsmanmom, I appreciate it. He's doing very well at school, but the competition is fierce. He doesn't like to talk to us about school because it puts too much pressure on him. What little he offers I pounce on and then try to figure out what it means. The latest tidbit was that he picked orders. My stomach is right back at boot camp as I sweat out the remaining weeks of San Antonio training. Thank god I have a daughter who is still trying to decide which college she will attend in the fall. She's driving me nuts, but at least it takes my focus away from Texas.
Apr 8, 2014
cupcakegirl14
Froggy, did not our sons get to A school together from BC? If so, how do you know when the graduation date is? My son said sometime in July would be the graduation. Also, does the GPA depend on the class your son/daughter is in, or is it across the board? Ie. all the classes?
Apr 9, 2014
Froggy
Cupcakegirl14 - Yes!! Our sons did go to BC together. Perhaps they are in the same class now too! Our sailor first told us July 2 for graduation; now he says June 18. If you scroll up slowly on this page you will see a chart with group numbers and graduation dates. I'm assuming our sailor is in Group #105. Message me - we can chat in more detail. :) I don't have much info, but I'm willing to share.
Apr 9, 2014
Trish from Texas
Apr 9, 2014
carafid1
They don't get to pick sorry to say my son graduated and the GPA in the class had little to no bearing on where they were sent. Sailors with high 90s did not get C schools and some one with a low 80 got a C school so there is no rhythm or reason.He thinks they use a dart board lol I was in the Navy so been through it as well. It does seem though if they are an unaccompanied sailor(not married) they have a greater change of getting get ship or overseas as its cheaper for the navy to not have to pay to move a whole family.
Apr 9, 2014
Trish from Texas
Apr 9, 2014
carafid1
Apr 9, 2014
cupcakegirl14
Well that's interesting.. hmm. Does the left hand not know what the right hand is doing? Crazy! I just told my son to keep doing his best and not compromise himself. We will see what happens. Thanks for the input ladies! :)
Apr 10, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 15, 2014
cupcakegirl14
Hello christophersMom! My son has been there since March 1st. He just finished what they call "Corpsmen Killer's" week. I agree with you in that it is so great to be able to talk with your kid/loved one a lot more! It is very informative here! Welcome!!
Apr 16, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 16, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 16, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 16, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 16, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 16, 2014
DramaSoul
Karin417...AWFUL for those of us with really really curly hair! I went to Orlando the year Disney World opened (1972) the end of July while on my way to visit my uncle who lived in Puerto Rico. I worked really hard to get my long hair straight. As I got off the plane and walked on the tarmac to the terminal, I could, literally, hear my hair curl. Sigh. Never been a huge fan of heat and humidity!
Apr 16, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 16, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 16, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 16, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
But lots of test strips include red/green. They look the same to him they said he can't be a driver either O2 full =green red=empty! He said that's dumb cause he knows how to read Stop lights. One is top the other bottom all the time
(We hope lol)
Apr 16, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 16, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 16, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 16, 2014
doubleAA'smom
I'm in Indy too, Rhonda, so I'm happy to help out. I'll go do it right now!
Apr 17, 2014
jad0407
Apr 17, 2014
Trish from Texas
Apr 17, 2014
cupcakegirl14
My son bought a used XBox and small TV from someone who was leaving. He watches movies and plays games in his room. I sent him a box of DVD's... I'm sure some of the other people have similar things in their rooms.
Apr 18, 2014
Selah
Apr 21, 2014
Trish from Texas
Apr 21, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 21, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 21, 2014
Trish from Texas
Apr 21, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 21, 2014
NewNavywife
Apr 22, 2014
Kaiti's mom
I was just on base this past weekend. There are signs up saying after April 30th you will have to have a pass. The first gate we went to which is by the barracks would not allow us in with out military id. We went to another gate I believe it was Harry Warsbauch gate. We were able to go in with just drivers license. We had a great time visiting our daughter while we were there but it was a very long drive back to GA in 1 day 1255 miles but it was well worth it....
Apr 22, 2014
cupcakegirl14
Does anyone know about when in the training you know what their orders will be? Do they come somewhere near the end or a few weeks before?
Apr 23, 2014
Trish from Texas
cupcakegirl14 - our son received his orders right after the EMT portion of his training (like Mom2Bryan), but there were about 5 people in his class that didn't receive orders until one week before graduation. I know at least 3 of those people were married, though, so that might have had something to do with it.
Apr 23, 2014
BougieRae
Apr 23, 2014
Karin417-14/DIV104
Apr 23, 2014
beachwalker
Echo3........what a great assignment for your son! It should be an experience of a lifetime.
Apr 24, 2014
cupcakegirl14
Thanks for letting me know ladies! I look forward to hearing what my son's orders are. Which bring me to a question here..should we not be saying what our Corpsmen's orders are on here? What about OPSEC?
Apr 25, 2014
Trish from Texas
Apr 25, 2014
Kat72
What is OPSEC?
My son had soft orders about a month before graduation and then got his actual orders the week before graduation.
I may have already asked this, but not sure..so here goes! Does anyone have a son or daughter that is in the SAR corpsman program? I am just trying to find out exactly what that job is, would he be doing rescue swimming or just medical stuff? And it seems like classes are all over the place, which I would love more information on.
Sorry if I had already asked the question!
Apr 25, 2014
Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom
Hi Kat! OPSEC is Navy shorthand for Operational Security. There is a link above, but here it is - OPSEC - and it is taken extremely seriously.
There is also a link above referring to NECs, and one can follow it to find info about all the HM NECs (Navy Enlisted Classifications).
For newcomers - I've tried to provide a number of links at the top of this page in order to build a library of sorts for finding the info that is often asked for, so please use them as another resource. I've done this because most moms here are new, and often don't have the answers :)
For example, the NEC link will lead you to this - SAR.
Apr 25, 2014