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

Like all the other moms have said, keep it light.  Also, once they get there, they need to be reminded that whatever they acquire has to leave when they leave.  My son found this out the hard way and had a heck of a time at the last minute.  I notice he hasn't done that again!

When they leave after PIR, they are carrying their full seabag, clothes bag, military backpack and their orders.  I couldn't believe how much they had to carry....all in their dress uniform! My son got his phone. Then he had me send him his laptop which I sent via FedEx in a special laptop box. It arrived intact and perfect. Bravo Zulu to the new Sailors!

Happy Monday!  How is everyone doing?  And that doesn't have to include your future or present corpsman!  :)

What is a good gift to give a graduating corpsman.  Any ideas?

I bought him a corpsman challenge coin but would like to get him something else.

Mitchmom, it may depend on where your corpsman is headed and what his job will be (hospital or clinic? ship?  FMF?).  Could be a personalized stethoscope (be prepared for it to get lost or "taken" eventually though), or a Leatherman or Gerber multipurpose tool or a pair of Ripshears.  

Happy 239th Birthday, U.S. Navy!  

Mitchmom, we bought our son a stethescope.  He loved it! 

I got my Corpsman a LIttmann II with his name engraved on it at allheart.com.  That was 2 1/5 years ago and he uses it all the time.

Thanks, Marcy, for posting the Navy birthday pic.:-)

Thanks for the ideas!  He is going to C school in SA til April for pharmacy. I don't know where he will end up after that.

The Littmann II was the one that most of the Corpsmen and nurses I know recommended.  They don't need the cardiac one. My Corpsman LOVES his...says he can hear clearly with it.

Does anyone know how much leave time they will get after A school?

Rea1234:  Our son came home for two weeks after A school.  June 18 - July 3.  It was the first time he had been home since he left for boot camp on January 7.  Our son didn't have to report to Camp LeJeune until July 4.  So bottom line - it would depend on his orders.

Happy to have found this group!  My son just PIR'd on 10/17 and will be in A school in SA, he arrived this past Saturday.  I live in SA too which is even better as we will be able to pick him up during Liberty.  Does anyone know how much time off they receive during Thanksgiving and Christmas?  I'm sure I'll find out eventually from him but we would like to plan a surprise gathering for him with extended family.  Please share details if anyone knows. 

my son came home for xmas spent thanksgiving on base.  The school closed for about 2 weeks.  I dont really know what kind of schedule they will have if the dont take leave.  Sounds like your son wont need to. I cant imagine how nice it is to have him so close!!

I got the Littman and engraved it. I will be going to SA for my son's graduation October 29, class 200 and it will be a really nice gift for him. Thanks for the cool and useful gift idea Moms!

Have a great time, Astrid!  Let us know how it goes, all that good stuff!  :)

Welcome Dwayne!  LOL  

If any one is attending the graduation today, I would love to see your video or pictures please.   I wanted to attend but my sailor said it wasn't a big deal.  My heart is heavy for not going.

Hi Ladies!  I just found out from my son who PIR'd back on 8/29 that he got his orders down in SA and will be going to C school there for a year for Pharmacy Tech.  so excited for him as he had wanted eventually be a pharmacist.

Congratulations debnavysailormom!  That's wonderful that he got his pick.  It's a challenging school and a great specialty.  

Here's our latest graduation, Class 195 on October 23rd :) more at the BMTCP page on Facebook, link is above.

My son is going to Japan After A School in San Antonio. Does any of you have any information about it or how things are in there?

Thanks.

Anna, scroll up to the links provided at the top of the page, you'll see the link at "Graduation Schedules and Updates."

CCP95, that's great!  There is a N4M group to join - "Japan Moms" at http://navyformoms.com/group/japanmoms

Also, this discussion from February 2014 has a lot of positive comments about being stationed in Japan :)  http://navyformoms.com/group/japanmoms/forum/topics/my-son-finally-...

CCP95 - Our son has been in Okinawa (affectionately nicknamed "Okitraz"...LOL!) since May of this year.  He was assigned to the PMT clinic there and has really enjoyed it.  They can see the beach from their barracks and he loves going into town for ramen.  He had an opportunity to travel to the Philippines last month to build a school and teach a small village about health and hygiene for a month.  From Okinawa, many get to travel on small projects to the surrounding areas and other neighboring countries quite a bit.  They can also catch free military flights to Hawaii that leave weekly.  We are meeting our sailor there in December for a family vacation so that he doesn't spend so much time travelling. 

Thank you. That makes me feel good. He is going to Okinawa and we are from Texas, too!

Marcy and Trish thanks for the information.

CCP95

Hi Ladies!  Wondering if i could get some info... my son was doing all 90's and high 80's on  his EMT exams, but the certification he didn't pass.  They said 1/3 of the class didn't pass.  I heard from his father that they don't give them another chance ot take it.  If they take it I understand they have to pay for it themselves the 2nd time around its very expensive.  From what I have heard he is still in the nursing program which he is studying for now, and that he is still set for Pharmacy technician C school, but i'm a little confused how that can be without the EMT certification.

Deb: I cannot answer your question with any certainty, but, my assumption is that you are possibly referring to the national certification exam. The Navy probably doesn't particularly care if they're nationally certified EMT-B's as that is a civilian certification. Just like the corpsman A school goes through nursing things but doesn't give you a civilian license as a nurse. If this is true and its the national exam that he did not pass, it would make sense that he would need to pay to take it again and it would also make sense that he would be able to continue on in the program provided his grades in the classes were good. 

If anyone has any more information on this, I'd be interested in hearing about it as my soon to be sailor hasn't gone to A school yet.

My son will be graduating PIR Dec 5th and continuing on to A school in Texas. I have heard they don't supply bedding. Does anyone know if it's standard twin or long twin beds?.

I know; they haven't updated the schedule on that page since June 2 and they don't respond to messages.  Frustrating.  I just reached out to my contacts there to see how we can get the updated schedule ASAP.

In this video, Chief Hospital Corpsman Stacey Stallings tells why her experience in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011 was life changing and why she says, "It made me feel a part of something bigger than myself."  Her experience with humanitarian missions in the Navy echoes the sentiments of many other Sailors.  From America's Navy on Youtube.

Got the new graduation dates schedule and will post tonight!  

Well, when I opened the message and started typing up the next grad schedule, the dates were for classes starting next May! Did it anyway and it's posted above.  Awaiting dates for graduations between now and May and will post as soon as I get them.  

Good news from a METC Key Performance Indicators report!  

"Student Pass Rates:  METC has a very successful record of student achievement. Our overall student pass rate by month is 92%. This is attributed to our excellent Instructor-to-Student ratio (I:S). The METC I:S is frequently dictated by accreditation standards for excellence. The METC I:S can be as low as 1:1 in specific live clinical and laboratory situations, and averages 1:20 in the classroom. Our adaptable educational environments utilize classroom, laboratory, simulation, and live clinical settings, as well as one-on-one tutoring and remediation, to provide our students the best possible opportunity for success."

Student Satisfaction:  "The METC Post Assessment Survey (PAS) is used to monitor how well our exams are perceived by our students in terms of clarity, content, instructional preparation, and fairness. 99% of METC students were satisfied with their exams in Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14)."

Congratulations proud mama and your son!

Congratulations MommaBB!  And kudos to your son!  Well done sailor!!!!

FYI from the wonderful people of USO San Antonio & Boudro's on the River Walk:  They are hosting a Thanksgiving Day meal event FREE to all active duty troops, retirees and their families to celebrate the holiday with good friends and fabulous food.  When and where:  Thursday November 27th, 11 am to 3 pm at "Charles Court" located at 205 North Presa between Commerce and Market Street.  Thank you USO and Boudro's!  

With holiday travel coming up, Military Times teamed with Priceline.com to compute basic travel costs from three major military hubs — San Diego, San Antonio and Washington, D.C. — out to five major hometown metro areas, all within about two days' drive.  "Fly or drive?  Holiday travel from three major military hubs" -  http://www.navytimes.com/story/life/2014/11/20/fly-vs-drive-holiday...

Thank you Marcy for the great info for Buodro's for lunch for Thanksgiving.  My brand new Corpsman and his roommate are looking forward to it.  Question.... Is there a shuttle, bus, ect... or do they need to get a few together to split a cab?

Christmas Liberity question.   Do airlines give any sort of discount for Active Duty military?