What B'sNukeMom said as far as class numbering then the -T is for ET classes the -M is for EM classes and the MM classes are either -A or -B because there are more of them and sometimes there could be 2 MM classes the same week.
My son is an ET, and his class is 1807-T. I believe there is also an 1807-M.....they started class the same week, it's just another section....maybe the MMs and EMs?
My daughter is an MM and her class 1605-A. When she went to T track her class number changed to 1605-T. But that was 2 years ago.
Nancy Jo, I didn't give my boss a choice. I text him and informed him that I would be working from home. Glad I did. My husband started having chest pains. We went to the doctor, xray and now he has to go for heart imaging. They found a murmur but we don't know if it's benign yet. oh what fun...
Tracie I have been meaning to respond to your question since I saw it yesterday. I am usually following Navy4mom comments on my phone and I have not figured out a way to reply from my phone and then when I'm home I forget what I was wanting to reply to.
As far as visiting your son in GC right after BC - my son actually did not fly out from Chicago until very late Saturday evening so got in early Sunday morning to Charleston. At that point he had had very little sleep in the last 48 hours so I think mostly slept and then as other have said there are things they need to tend to. I've also heard of some not flying out of Chicago until Sunday and I don't think your son will have this information until at PIR.
Not sure why your son was thinking that he would have 3 days leave the weekend of February 9th but looking at the calendar the weekend after that is Presidents day weekend. It's very likely that they will have that Monday off - at least no school - not sure about when they are in indoc but I think there is a good chance he would have leave during the day that Monday. If it were me I would go the weekend after - he'll be more rested and should have leave during the day - he'll most likely still need to be in uniform and back at night but at least he could be with you during the day. But ultimately only your sailor will know for sure - but he should know shortly after he gets to GC about Presidents day weekend.
I have been sick for a few days and have not looked at anything. It was so enjoyable to hear everyone's comments. I love the cardboard cutouts. I LOVE IT. I told my daughter. She laughed. I am bringing my sailor along on our trips too:)) I have been pleasantly surprised to receive texts most days from my son. Short, but I will not complain. He told me that they had a 5k run this week with a gazillion sailors. He sent a picture. It looked like a sea of yellow tops and blue shorts. I love wearing red on Fridays. All the ideas and comments I read from everyone, helps me feel close to my son and not alone on this interesting journey:)) THANKS!!
Chipmunk...My sons rating is ET. He said their classes do not start until next week. He seems more upbeat than last week.
ok - non-Nuke question.....I got a gift card for Christmas and I was thinking of getting an Instant Pot - are all you IP ladies still using yours and liking it? Or is it one of those things that's fun to try and then goes on a shelf somewhere because it's a hassle to use it.....
bigsky - we were posting at the same time so I didn't see your comment about the IP right away. I've had mine going on a year and I use it quite often - almost nightly. And sometimes I'm making a couple things in it. The other night I came home and made hard boilded eggs and then turned around and made syracuse salt potatoes to go with my dinner. I've definitely got my monies worth out of it and have no regrets. You just have to play with it - for me it's easy because I don't plan dinners a lot of the time and I can do last minute things in it. And I've actually branched out and tried way more things that I wouldn't normally do before. I say go for it!
Hurray for B! I lost my luggage once at O'Hare and it took 2 wks to get. I had about given up. I'm so glad he got his!
Somebody asked about ELT's a bit ago and I didn't see a response but if you did I apologize. ELT's are MM's that are asked during Prototype to do 3 add'l months of training. To put it simply they measure radioactivity through chemical tests. They test the water that is used in the propulsion system and the area in the reactor plant. That very simplistic but there you have it.
BTW nothing to worry about. People hear radioactivity and kind of start to stress. A lot of you know that nuclear reactors have been part of my family life for many years and we're all fine. No unfortunate effects. Chances are if you are part of this group you know that already but I'm just reinforcing that for you.
Have a great weekend, Sea Sisters! Stay warm and safe.
JayDee, I'm so sorry about your husband! So scary. Prayers that all turns out well.
I don't use my IP very often because it's only me. When I make something it is food for days. But having said that it's is very quick and convenient. The business report on the radio actually said that the IP was like the biggest product for adults this holiday season. People love it. I say, too, go for it.
I've tried to respond a few times but haven't ever seen it post. Would love to friend members of this site, esp soccermom19 as seems our kids graduate same time, but can't figure that out either. I am not tech savvy.
I had no idea what the numbers meant on the address! My son is an MM, started A school I believe early August of last year. His class number starts with a 17, and ends with an A. Makes perfect sense, now! He's starting power school next week.
Okay, I just got off the phone with my son - This is what he said.
ET is T, EM is A, and MM is M currently, it could have been something different in the past. And yes, he is 1801-T, so he was the first ET group to class up for the 2018 fiscal year. There was also a group of MM's that classed up the same time as his ET group, and they have the same class number. That said, the first EM group of 2018 would also be 1801-A, but that doesn't mean they actually classed up on the same date, and thus their graduation date may not be the same as the other 1801 classes. Keep in mind also that MM's A school is only 3 months so they for sure do not have the same grad dates.
Each rating group, MM, EM, ET study on their own floor of the Rickover. And each floor has several classrooms for the different class numbers of MM, EM or ET. The individual class sizes for each rating is kept around 30 - 31, because they have 32 chairs in a room and this allows place for an extra instructor or roll-ins to sit.
He also told me that Nukes are not allowed to rerate across the Nuke pipeline. That is if someone is training as an ET and thinks they can't handle the academics, then they are not allowed to switch to EM or MM in the Nuke field,, they have to transfer someplace else.
He did tell me that MM and EM in the Nuke rating could switch to regular EM or MM's if they leave the Nuke program, but ETN's can not switch to regular ET because their training is so different. This was slightly different than what my original understanding was. I didn't think any of the Nuke ratings could switch over without completely retraining.
Posting this in the Daily Schedule discussion above as well.
MoMom - so I double checked with my son before I posted this but maybe he has them backwards. You say your MM is ( - A). Maybe one of our current EM moms will respond.
He isn't sure how the numbering goes with Power school, but figures it will change. Congrats on your son starting next week!
I was trying to post and talk to son when others posted so may have to figure it out for sure still.
Nice detailed explanation Chipmunk - thanks for sharing.
Rime - if you want to "friend" someone you can click on their profile picture and that will take you to their page. Then right under their profile picture you'll see "add as a friend". When you click on that it will give you the option to send them a short message or just send the friend request. I went ahead and sent you a friend request so you can see how it works - you'll get a notification on the left side of the page. It will say "Friends (1 request)". You click on that and either accept it or not. Give it a try & let me know if you have any problems.
Texted my son, I asked him to double check with current MM & EM's, especially since MoMom said hers was Class# - A.
JayDee - I am very thankful that you were home to be with your husband, and I will be praying for him and clarity from the tests of what is going on. I had an Echocardiogram done in Nov. (about my 3 or 4th on over almost 15 years now) and for the first time the cardiologist found a tiny hole in my heart that he said has been there since I was born. - But the images are just getting that good. - Not why I had the echo. but it still showed up.
Rime - I will see if I can send you a friend request.
Good evening ladies! I finally had a chance to go through the postings today. My son is an MM. His class number is 1752 B (bravo class. There is also an alpha class). He should have graduated A school today, but snow delayed it for a week.
I think he was originally 1751 B. He was supposed to start classes the week they evacuated for the hurricane. When they finally started they “re-numbered” his class.
Hello! My son had his PIR last week 01/05 and was delayed leaving for GC due to the weather. He finally got there on Wednesday and now he has to wait because all the classes are full. He said it will be two weeks before he starts. He will be an EM. Does anyone have any experience with this happening? Will it actually be two weeks? I am new to this whole thing so any advice or insight you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you :)
Paul....it depends on which rate they get. Mine has red stripes as a mm. ET's were white I believe.
Imtsat....mine was in THU until the 1/5, flew out of o'hare 1/7 due to the weather. He says he is starting classes next week. I wouldn't worry about two weeks of indoc....that is more time for them to settle in and become acclimated to the culture of goose creek.
Our son flew out the morning after PIR and still had a couple of weeks in INDOC before classing up. I think this is a pretty standard time frame for waiting on classes to start. It was good for my son to have that time to settle in and figure out the place before the busy schedule of classes started.
As far as the class numbers go, my MM is in class 1802-A.
RTC may have changed their practice since Aug 2017 - but they were issuing all Nukes Firemen stripes no matter their rating, so when ET's got to GC they were having to purchase new stripes and have them changed on all of their dress uniforms.
INDOC - They amount of time a Nuke is INDOC depends on their rate and how quickly there is a spot in the next class for them. Some sailors will "class up" get assigned a class - on the Monday after they arrive in GC from GL. Others have been known to wait almost a month, as my son and others have. Sometimes weather also plays a factor, such as hurricanes or snow storms.
All classes start out with about a week - week and half of "life skills" classes which may be a duplicate for those who were INDOC but the important things are covered for all.
And regarding the A, B, or M after the class number I texted my son to double check again. Since MoMom and Nukelukesmom commented that their MM is #### - A, I will say that is probably the case.
So, even when we do get information from our sailors, they don't always have their information correct. Hopefully, one of the current EM moms will chime in with their sailor's class # and suffix.
We have chatted a lot today, so be sure to read through all the comments.
Chimpmunk - I haven't finished reading all the new posts but I had to chime in when I saw your post about EMs MMs and M and A suffixes. I promise you EMs use the M suffixe and MMs use the A suffix. I am sitting here with the program from my sons A school graduation in front of me - on one side it lists all the sailors in class 1742-A - they are all MMN3s. On the other side it list all the sailors in classess 1732-M, 1732-T, and 1733-T - they are all either EMN3s or ETN3s. (In case anyone thinks this looks odd that 1733 and 1732 graduated at the same time it was due to the hurricane evacuation.)
Boy - I got way behind so I am just responding to things as I get to them - forgive me if someone already covered this. Regarding color of strips - when they are wearing white uniforms ETs have blue strips and if they are wearing their dress blues the ETs have white strips. I can promise you that my son and all of the other ETs we saw at PIR had their blue stripes - they did not need to get them changed when they got to GC - my guess is that that was just a fluke that they ran out of one color of stripes. My guess is they can as easily run out of red stripes. Anyway I have not heard anyone else ever mention here or in any of the facebook groups I'm in that they didn't get the right color of stripes as an ET at bootcamp.
Just read thru all the discussions here... heavens to Betsy y’all it’s all Greek to me!
Reading everything I can to try to make heads or tails outta all this, but have no clue if he’s MM ET EM or anything. He’s still in BC...I don’t think he knows what he is yet.
Also is there a Dr Seus version of all this? my brain is seriously on overload capacity right about now.
ProudOfK- Thanks for your response on the suffixes. I will be sure to correct it in the discussion group above (may be later though). I sort of drilled my son, when I talked to him and even called him back before actually posting so I will have to let him know that he had it backwards.
Regarding the color of the strips, it could be they ran out of the navy blue at RTC - but in Aug '17 they had issued all of the Nukes red stripes for their white dress uniforms and at least one of the ET moms after me said her son had to change his stripes when he got to GC as well. So, it could have just been a fluke situation, and I will quit harping on it. But it was also one of those "challenge / need to be right & correct it" type of things for my son (he gets it from both his father and I), that he had to just stand down with his Recruit Chief, but when he got to GC and they told him to change his stripes (he was also dealing with trying to get shoe polish out of his whites, etc. before taking to uniform shop) and he asked his Chief there, they commented that RTC is constantly giving ETs the wrong stripes, so I figured it was an ongoing type of thing and mostly wanted other moms with sons like mine to save themselves from a confrontation with a recruit chief. It was a big deal for my son, so I guess I have focused on it more. Thanks for sharing that it hasn't always been an issue.
Tracie - A lot of this will make more sense once your son is at GC. It is also why I am trying to put comments up in my discussion above, and sometimes it takes all of us moms working together to figure out things between what our sailors tell us and what others have experienced. Then again everyone experiences something different so our responses can also be different.
If you asked a question and it didn't get answered, be sure to ask again, it might have gotten lost in our chatter.
MoMom- thanks, I thought I was so focused on him leaving for BC I missed something
Chipmunk- the information and chatter here is great it really helps me understand what all I need to understand still and gives me something to focus on instead of how much I miss him. Plus I can just imagine his grin when his mom writes in the proper lingo, that’s about the time he’d pat top of my head and say awww, good try mom.
Hello Ladies! I'm just now catching upon 2 day's worth of commentary (despite the sad snow conditions in Tahoe, I just had to get in some turns yesterday!). So much great information here :) Re: class # - my son is an EM, class #1808-M; he graduated BC 11/3/17, went straight to GC the next day, and I believe classed up 11/13/17; with the Christmas break and what seems to have been an additional week off due to weather issues the first week of January, my calendar suggests he should be on track for A School graduation 5/18/18. Re: stripes - with and EM rate, his stripes were red at BC graduation, and I believe they stay red, but I'm not positive about that.
So, now that TahoeZephyr has responded that her son is an EM with class #1808-M, so I know it is current for the new fiscal year, I am going with what all of the moms said, and I stand corrected and will fix it in the discussion group above. I was talking to my son on the phone while I was in the car (I wasn't driving) and he was either in the lounge or galley, because he kept being distracted by saying hi to people.
And yes MM & EM's are FN (firemen) so they maintain red stripes.
JayDee659- maybe some creative person will make a Dr. Seuss version!! I trust your husband is doing better today.
Good morning All! I just wanted to comment on the experience my son had with stripes. He is an ET and had PIR 9/22. At the time of graduation he had red stripes on his dress whites. He had told us that once he got to GC he was going to have to take them in and have them changed. I did ask him at the time why they weren't correct initially - I can't remember exactly his reply but it had to do with that's the way they wanted it.
Thank you Tom for your input. That makes sense to me.
Hey All, love all the posts. My son is an ET and is class 1749-T. He says that their graduation was March 9th but now most likely will be postponed a week to March 16. Anyone else have a sailor in the class? Anyone else going to their A school graduation? We will, would love to meet any of you who might be going.
Hope everyone has a really amazing day! Got my fingers crossed and my knees bent in prayer for a phone call this weekend to try out all these new words and acronyms.
Hawaiian Islands received an Amber Alert this morning (which turned out to be false), for a ballistic missile threat, and to take cover immediately. Both our sailor at JBPHH and our nephew at UH (on another island) received them. I am sure all the island folks are a bit shook up right now.
ProudOfK
What B'sNukeMom said as far as class numbering then the -T is for ET classes the -M is for EM classes and the MM classes are either -A or -B because there are more of them and sometimes there could be 2 MM classes the same week.
Jan 12, 2018
bigsky21
My son is an ET, and his class is 1807-T. I believe there is also an 1807-M.....they started class the same week, it's just another section....maybe the MMs and EMs?
Jan 12, 2018
JayDee659
My daughter is an MM and her class 1605-A. When she went to T track her class number changed to 1605-T. But that was 2 years ago.
Nancy Jo, I didn't give my boss a choice. I text him and informed him that I would be working from home. Glad I did. My husband started having chest pains. We went to the doctor, xray and now he has to go for heart imaging. They found a murmur but we don't know if it's benign yet. oh what fun...
Jan 12, 2018
bigsky21
I was wondering why MM would be A...makes sense now that I see there are A & B because of the number of students!!
Jan 12, 2018
ProudOfK
Tracie I have been meaning to respond to your question since I saw it yesterday. I am usually following Navy4mom comments on my phone and I have not figured out a way to reply from my phone and then when I'm home I forget what I was wanting to reply to.
As far as visiting your son in GC right after BC - my son actually did not fly out from Chicago until very late Saturday evening so got in early Sunday morning to Charleston. At that point he had had very little sleep in the last 48 hours so I think mostly slept and then as other have said there are things they need to tend to. I've also heard of some not flying out of Chicago until Sunday and I don't think your son will have this information until at PIR.
Not sure why your son was thinking that he would have 3 days leave the weekend of February 9th but looking at the calendar the weekend after that is Presidents day weekend. It's very likely that they will have that Monday off - at least no school - not sure about when they are in indoc but I think there is a good chance he would have leave during the day that Monday. If it were me I would go the weekend after - he'll be more rested and should have leave during the day - he'll most likely still need to be in uniform and back at night but at least he could be with you during the day. But ultimately only your sailor will know for sure - but he should know shortly after he gets to GC about Presidents day weekend.
Jan 12, 2018
proudwinavymom
Hello Everyone!!
I have been sick for a few days and have not looked at anything. It was so enjoyable to hear everyone's comments. I love the cardboard cutouts. I LOVE IT. I told my daughter. She laughed. I am bringing my sailor along on our trips too:)) I have been pleasantly surprised to receive texts most days from my son. Short, but I will not complain. He told me that they had a 5k run this week with a gazillion sailors. He sent a picture. It looked like a sea of yellow tops and blue shorts. I love wearing red on Fridays. All the ideas and comments I read from everyone, helps me feel close to my son and not alone on this interesting journey:)) THANKS!!
Chipmunk...My sons rating is ET. He said their classes do not start until next week. He seems more upbeat than last week.
Jan 12, 2018
bigsky21
ok - non-Nuke question.....I got a gift card for Christmas and I was thinking of getting an Instant Pot - are all you IP ladies still using yours and liking it? Or is it one of those things that's fun to try and then goes on a shelf somewhere because it's a hassle to use it.....
Jan 12, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Yes, this sounds right for the class #'s. B's class I think was an A. And he was an MM.
Oh JayDee - I'm so glad you were home to take your hubby in. That's scary. I hope everything turns out ok.....keep us posted.
proudwinavymom - I hope you are feeling better. Is it this nasty flu that's going around?
Jan 12, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
bigsky - we were posting at the same time so I didn't see your comment about the IP right away. I've had mine going on a year and I use it quite often - almost nightly. And sometimes I'm making a couple things in it. The other night I came home and made hard boilded eggs and then turned around and made syracuse salt potatoes to go with my dinner. I've definitely got my monies worth out of it and have no regrets. You just have to play with it - for me it's easy because I don't plan dinners a lot of the time and I can do last minute things in it. And I've actually branched out and tried way more things that I wouldn't normally do before. I say go for it!
Jan 12, 2018
JayDee659
Bigsky I like my Instant Pot more and more and use it still! Great for fast meals!
Jan 12, 2018
NancyJo (NNPTC)
Hurray for B! I lost my luggage once at O'Hare and it took 2 wks to get. I had about given up. I'm so glad he got his!
Somebody asked about ELT's a bit ago and I didn't see a response but if you did I apologize. ELT's are MM's that are asked during Prototype to do 3 add'l months of training. To put it simply they measure radioactivity through chemical tests. They test the water that is used in the propulsion system and the area in the reactor plant. That very simplistic but there you have it.
BTW nothing to worry about. People hear radioactivity and kind of start to stress. A lot of you know that nuclear reactors have been part of my family life for many years and we're all fine. No unfortunate effects. Chances are if you are part of this group you know that already but I'm just reinforcing that for you.
Have a great weekend, Sea Sisters! Stay warm and safe.
Jan 12, 2018
NancyJo (NNPTC)
JayDee, I'm so sorry about your husband! So scary. Prayers that all turns out well.
I don't use my IP very often because it's only me. When I make something it is food for days. But having said that it's is very quick and convenient. The business report on the radio actually said that the IP was like the biggest product for adults this holiday season. People love it. I say, too, go for it.
Jan 12, 2018
bigsky21
Thanks all, I think I’m going to give the IP a try!!
JayDee, that’s scary, hoping all the tests come back good!
Jan 12, 2018
Rime
I've tried to respond a few times but haven't ever seen it post. Would love to friend members of this site, esp soccermom19 as seems our kids graduate same time, but can't figure that out either. I am not tech savvy.
JayDee, hope your husband is okay!
Jan 12, 2018
MoMom
I had no idea what the numbers meant on the address! My son is an MM, started A school I believe early August of last year. His class number starts with a 17, and ends with an A. Makes perfect sense, now! He's starting power school next week.
Jan 12, 2018
Chipmunk
Okay, I just got off the phone with my son - This is what he said.
ET is T, EM is A, and MM is M currently, it could have been something different in the past. And yes, he is 1801-T, so he was the first ET group to class up for the 2018 fiscal year. There was also a group of MM's that classed up the same time as his ET group, and they have the same class number. That said, the first EM group of 2018 would also be 1801-A, but that doesn't mean they actually classed up on the same date, and thus their graduation date may not be the same as the other 1801 classes. Keep in mind also that MM's A school is only 3 months so they for sure do not have the same grad dates.
Each rating group, MM, EM, ET study on their own floor of the Rickover. And each floor has several classrooms for the different class numbers of MM, EM or ET. The individual class sizes for each rating is kept around 30 - 31, because they have 32 chairs in a room and this allows place for an extra instructor or roll-ins to sit.
He also told me that Nukes are not allowed to rerate across the Nuke pipeline. That is if someone is training as an ET and thinks they can't handle the academics, then they are not allowed to switch to EM or MM in the Nuke field,, they have to transfer someplace else.
He did tell me that MM and EM in the Nuke rating could switch to regular EM or MM's if they leave the Nuke program, but ETN's can not switch to regular ET because their training is so different. This was slightly different than what my original understanding was. I didn't think any of the Nuke ratings could switch over without completely retraining.
Posting this in the Daily Schedule discussion above as well.
Jan 12, 2018
Chipmunk
MoMom - so I double checked with my son before I posted this but maybe he has them backwards. You say your MM is ( - A). Maybe one of our current EM moms will respond.
He isn't sure how the numbering goes with Power school, but figures it will change. Congrats on your son starting next week!
I was trying to post and talk to son when others posted so may have to figure it out for sure still.
Jan 12, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Nice detailed explanation Chipmunk - thanks for sharing.
Rime - if you want to "friend" someone you can click on their profile picture and that will take you to their page. Then right under their profile picture you'll see "add as a friend". When you click on that it will give you the option to send them a short message or just send the friend request. I went ahead and sent you a friend request so you can see how it works - you'll get a notification on the left side of the page. It will say "Friends (1 request)". You click on that and either accept it or not. Give it a try & let me know if you have any problems.
Jan 12, 2018
Chipmunk
Texted my son, I asked him to double check with current MM & EM's, especially since MoMom said hers was Class# - A.
JayDee - I am very thankful that you were home to be with your husband, and I will be praying for him and clarity from the tests of what is going on. I had an Echocardiogram done in Nov. (about my 3 or 4th on over almost 15 years now) and for the first time the cardiologist found a tiny hole in my heart that he said has been there since I was born. - But the images are just getting that good. - Not why I had the echo. but it still showed up.
Rime - I will see if I can send you a friend request.
Jan 12, 2018
MoMom
Well, you know I won't get anything from my son, but when he sent me his address in A school, it was 1744_A.
I do know he's nervous about school. I can't wait until he's through this part.
Jan 12, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Have a good weekend everyone!
Jan 12, 2018
3B'smom
Good evening ladies! I finally had a chance to go through the postings today. My son is an MM. His class number is 1752 B (bravo class. There is also an alpha class). He should have graduated A school today, but snow delayed it for a week.
I think he was originally 1751 B. He was supposed to start classes the week they evacuated for the hurricane. When they finally started they “re-numbered” his class.
JayDee - hope your hubby is ok.
Jan 12, 2018
soccermom19
3B'smom - So my nuke is 1752-T but not graduating soon. Is that because of the rating? They go for a different amount of time?
JayDee - Divine providence was with you for staying home. Hope hubby is ok. Will send prayers your way.
Chipmunk - way to go figuring out the numbering system. Really makes sense now.
Jan 12, 2018
lmtsat
Jan 12, 2018
MoMom
My son was not delayed, and still waited about two weeks before he classed up. Some wait longer, I guess waiting for classes to fill?
soccermom, I believe school is a few weeks shorter for MM’s.
Jan 12, 2018
Paul
Jan 12, 2018
MoMom
Out of boot camp, I believe the nukes are all red.
Jan 12, 2018
Mammagoose
Paul....it depends on which rate they get. Mine has red stripes as a mm. ET's were white I believe.
Imtsat....mine was in THU until the 1/5, flew out of o'hare 1/7 due to the weather. He says he is starting classes next week. I wouldn't worry about two weeks of indoc....that is more time for them to settle in and become acclimated to the culture of goose creek.
Jan 12, 2018
3B'smom
Paul - at PIR they all have red stripes. One of the rates (ET? Is that right Chipmunk?) has to change their stripes once they get to GC.
Soccermom - I believe MM’s have 14 weeks of class and the other rates have 24.
Jan 12, 2018
Tracie
ProudOfK: thank you for response. I’ve decided while it would be totally awesome for me to be there it probably not the best thing for him.
So glad to have all y’all to go to with this stuff. Can be overwhelming at times... ok most of the time
Jan 12, 2018
Nukelukesmom
Our son flew out the morning after PIR and still had a couple of weeks in INDOC before classing up. I think this is a pretty standard time frame for waiting on classes to start. It was good for my son to have that time to settle in and figure out the place before the busy schedule of classes started.
As far as the class numbers go, my MM is in class 1802-A.
Jan 12, 2018
Chipmunk
Regarding stripes - Yes, at PIR all Nukes have Red stripes which is a designation for Firemen. But the ET's are actually Seaman so, on dress whites they should be wearing navy blue (black) stripes and on their dress blues, white stripes - http://www.navy.mil/navydata/nav_legacy.asp?id=261 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaman_apprentice
RTC may have changed their practice since Aug 2017 - but they were issuing all Nukes Firemen stripes no matter their rating, so when ET's got to GC they were having to purchase new stripes and have them changed on all of their dress uniforms.
INDOC - They amount of time a Nuke is INDOC depends on their rate and how quickly there is a spot in the next class for them. Some sailors will "class up" get assigned a class - on the Monday after they arrive in GC from GL. Others have been known to wait almost a month, as my son and others have. Sometimes weather also plays a factor, such as hurricanes or snow storms.
All classes start out with about a week - week and half of "life skills" classes which may be a duplicate for those who were INDOC but the important things are covered for all.
And regarding the A, B, or M after the class number I texted my son to double check again. Since MoMom and Nukelukesmom commented that their MM is #### - A, I will say that is probably the case.
Jan 12, 2018
Chipmunk
So, even when we do get information from our sailors, they don't always have their information correct. Hopefully, one of the current EM moms will chime in with their sailor's class # and suffix.
We have chatted a lot today, so be sure to read through all the comments.
Jan 12, 2018
ProudOfK
Chimpmunk - I haven't finished reading all the new posts but I had to chime in when I saw your post about EMs MMs and M and A suffixes. I promise you EMs use the M suffixe and MMs use the A suffix. I am sitting here with the program from my sons A school graduation in front of me - on one side it lists all the sailors in class 1742-A - they are all MMN3s. On the other side it list all the sailors in classess 1732-M, 1732-T, and 1733-T - they are all either EMN3s or ETN3s. (In case anyone thinks this looks odd that 1733 and 1732 graduated at the same time it was due to the hurricane evacuation.)
Jan 13, 2018
ProudOfK
Boy - I got way behind so I am just responding to things as I get to them - forgive me if someone already covered this. Regarding color of strips - when they are wearing white uniforms ETs have blue strips and if they are wearing their dress blues the ETs have white strips. I can promise you that my son and all of the other ETs we saw at PIR had their blue stripes - they did not need to get them changed when they got to GC - my guess is that that was just a fluke that they ran out of one color of stripes. My guess is they can as easily run out of red stripes. Anyway I have not heard anyone else ever mention here or in any of the facebook groups I'm in that they didn't get the right color of stripes as an ET at bootcamp.
Jan 13, 2018
Tracie
Just read thru all the discussions here... heavens to Betsy y’all it’s all Greek to me!
Reading everything I can to try to make heads or tails outta all this, but have no clue if he’s MM ET EM or anything. He’s still in BC...I don’t think he knows what he is yet.
Also is there a Dr Seus version of all this? my brain is seriously on overload capacity right about now.
Jan 13, 2018
Chipmunk
ProudOfK- Thanks for your response on the suffixes. I will be sure to correct it in the discussion group above (may be later though). I sort of drilled my son, when I talked to him and even called him back before actually posting so I will have to let him know that he had it backwards.
Regarding the color of the strips, it could be they ran out of the navy blue at RTC - but in Aug '17 they had issued all of the Nukes red stripes for their white dress uniforms and at least one of the ET moms after me said her son had to change his stripes when he got to GC as well. So, it could have just been a fluke situation, and I will quit harping on it. But it was also one of those "challenge / need to be right & correct it" type of things for my son (he gets it from both his father and I), that he had to just stand down with his Recruit Chief, but when he got to GC and they told him to change his stripes (he was also dealing with trying to get shoe polish out of his whites, etc. before taking to uniform shop) and he asked his Chief there, they commented that RTC is constantly giving ETs the wrong stripes, so I figured it was an ongoing type of thing and mostly wanted other moms with sons like mine to save themselves from a confrontation with a recruit chief. It was a big deal for my son, so I guess I have focused on it more. Thanks for sharing that it hasn't always been an issue.
Jan 13, 2018
MoMom
Tracie, they get their rating in boot camp. Not sure when most of them do, but my son didn't get his until about a week before PIR.
Jan 13, 2018
Chipmunk
Tracie - A lot of this will make more sense once your son is at GC. It is also why I am trying to put comments up in my discussion above, and sometimes it takes all of us moms working together to figure out things between what our sailors tell us and what others have experienced. Then again everyone experiences something different so our responses can also be different.
If you asked a question and it didn't get answered, be sure to ask again, it might have gotten lost in our chatter.
Jan 13, 2018
Tracie
MoMom- thanks, I thought I was so focused on him leaving for BC I missed something
Chipmunk- the information and chatter here is great it really helps me understand what all I need to understand still and gives me something to focus on instead of how much I miss him. Plus I can just imagine his grin when his mom writes in the proper lingo, that’s about the time he’d pat top of my head and say awww, good try mom.
Jan 13, 2018
TahoeZephyr
Hello Ladies! I'm just now catching upon 2 day's worth of commentary (despite the sad snow conditions in Tahoe, I just had to get in some turns yesterday!). So much great information here :) Re: class # - my son is an EM, class #1808-M; he graduated BC 11/3/17, went straight to GC the next day, and I believe classed up 11/13/17; with the Christmas break and what seems to have been an additional week off due to weather issues the first week of January, my calendar suggests he should be on track for A School graduation 5/18/18. Re: stripes - with and EM rate, his stripes were red at BC graduation, and I believe they stay red, but I'm not positive about that.
Jan 13, 2018
JayDee659
Tracie, I love it! The Dr. Seusss version is just what we need!
Jan 13, 2018
Chipmunk
Tracie - LOL!! on your last comment to me.
So, now that TahoeZephyr has responded that her son is an EM with class #1808-M, so I know it is current for the new fiscal year, I am going with what all of the moms said, and I stand corrected and will fix it in the discussion group above. I was talking to my son on the phone while I was in the car (I wasn't driving) and he was either in the lounge or galley, because he kept being distracted by saying hi to people.
And yes MM & EM's are FN (firemen) so they maintain red stripes.
JayDee659- maybe some creative person will make a Dr. Seuss version!! I trust your husband is doing better today.
Jan 13, 2018
Chipmunk
Tom - thanks for your 2 cents! It came in while I was posting so had missed it.
Jan 13, 2018
KayCee
Good morning All! I just wanted to comment on the experience my son had with stripes. He is an ET and had PIR 9/22. At the time of graduation he had red stripes on his dress whites. He had told us that once he got to GC he was going to have to take them in and have them changed. I did ask him at the time why they weren't correct initially - I can't remember exactly his reply but it had to do with that's the way they wanted it.
Thank you Tom for your input. That makes sense to me.
Jan 13, 2018
proudNukemom
Hey All, love all the posts. My son is an ET and is class 1749-T. He says that their graduation was March 9th but now most likely will be postponed a week to March 16. Anyone else have a sailor in the class? Anyone else going to their A school graduation? We will, would love to meet any of you who might be going.
Jan 13, 2018
Tracie
Tom, thanks so much! Really helpful.
Hope everyone has a really amazing day! Got my fingers crossed and my knees bent in prayer for a phone call this weekend to try out all these new words and acronyms.
Jan 13, 2018
soccermom19
Hope everyone is having a great Saturday. Any mom out there with an ET in class 1752-T? If so, let's connect.
Jan 13, 2018
Buzzbeck
Hawaiian Islands received an Amber Alert this morning (which turned out to be false), for a ballistic missile threat, and to take cover immediately. Both our sailor at JBPHH and our nephew at UH (on another island) received them. I am sure all the island folks are a bit shook up right now.
Jan 13, 2018
AZNuKeGma
ProudNukemom. My grandson is class 1707 an EM on track to graduate Mar 9th
Jan 13, 2018