A School rundown?

[Irish]

Hello all.  I am new to this site and my family is new to the Navy.  My husband is a DEP Nuke until April, but I am a planner and trying to figure out how the next year + is going to run.  I have read a ton on RTC, but am having difficulty finding a lot of info on A school.  So here are my questions, if anyone can answer them I would be much obliged:  1.  I know RTC is very strict and my husband will have to live there and basically no escape, what are the guidelines at A School regarding liberty, lodging, phones, can he have a car, etc.  2.  Would it be worth it to move my son and I down to Charleston or would be be better off staying the two hours away until he completes all of the phases and see where he ends up?  3.  When will he know where he is going to be stationed that we can move to?  4.  (and this one is slightly off task), why did they tell my husband that we can't get pregnant with a second child until he goes to RTC?  I'm sure I have like 600,000 more questions, but I figure that's intense enough for now, lol.  Thank you to anyone willing to help educate me ; )

[bobbysproudmom]

Welcome to the Nuke World.

Join the Nuke Moms group, here on NFMs...All are welcome to join, don't have to be Mom.

There are alot of discussions you can read that will answer many of your questions.

However, I'm not sure any of us will have an answer for your question #4, seeing as how your husband's attendance should be required for that task. lol 

He will be in Goose Creek a year or so for A-school and Power School. Obviously longer if he stays in Charleston for Prototype.

You probably won't find out where he will be stationed until sometime during proto. 

[Kat (MM Nuke)]

Hi there.  Well, you definately are a planner, but with good reason.  When he goes to Goose Creek, and A school, he may have to live on base for a couple of weeks.  He should be able to get married housing pretty quickly.  My son got there last November.  A friend of his from bootcamp actually got married over Christmas, and his wife moved down there at the end of January, into married housing.  I would think that if he'd already been married, he would have been allowed to move her down sooner.

Depending on which rate he gets, his A school could be 4 months or 6 months long.  after that they go into t-track, which is a hold until they start power school.  T-track can be 2 weeks to 8 weeks long, usually.  It just depends on when they graduate A school as they are filling up the next power school class.  Power school starts every 2 months, so the A school classes that feed into it are usually those who graduated up to about 2 weeks prior to it starting.  My son had about 7 weeks of t-track hold becuse he was one of the first A school classes to graduate after the last power school started.

Power school is 6 months long for everyone.  after that, depending on his rate again, they go into grad hold.  the MMs have the longest grad hold usually.  My son is there now and it could be 4-8 months of grad hold before prototype starts.  Others have had as little as 2 weeks grad hold before their prototype started.  So it all just depends on rate and how the flow of the schools are at the time.  Some go to New York and some stay in Goose Creek for prototype.

I think the minimum you can plan on him being in Goose Creek is a year, and that could be longer depending on his rate, how long A school is, if they send him to NY or if he stays there.  But definately he will be there for A school and power school.

As far as the having another baby thing, well I would think that is because if you delivered during his bootcamp time he would in no way be allowed to leave and be there for the birth, but after that he could be able to.  If it were to happen while he is in school though, if he misses more than a day of class he may get put back into the class behind him because they cover soooo much material every day that it is very difficult to catch up.

 

I hope this helps.

[Irish]

Thanks, that gives me a lot more info that I had!  I just thought the whole pregnancy thing was a weird restriction, so I was curious.  It also sucks because we were hoping to start working on number two, not that I mind the practicing,  but I'd like to spit out another kid soon before my son gets too much deeper in the only child syndrome, lol.

[TN Navy Mom (Stennis Nuke Mom)]

Welcome to the wacky world of Nuke!!  My son arrived in Goose Creek last June and came home to get DDIL the next week.  So, they have been together in Goose Creek since last June (16 months) and he just started Prototype training 3 weeks ago.  If you are on his orders to Goose Creek, the move is paid for by the Navy.  Housing is almost always available there, actually my son was briefed on housing on a Monday, visited his new "home" on Tuesday afternoon, and flew home on Wednesday to pick up his bride.

 

Son tells me that he won't know where his duty station will be until the end of Prototype or even several days later SO that would put him in Goose Creek for close to 2 years and I don't think that he and DIL would want to be apart that long.  Also, he has told me more than once, that if he didn't have her and the dogs to go home to every night, he doesn't know if he could have stood the pressure.  Married sailors who arrive in Goose Creek still have to "phase up" to certain privileges but are considered "Phase Married" rather than "Phase One".

 

Another consideration, he will receive BAH since he is married and the amount is based on where he is stationed which in base housing covers the rent and utilities.  My son and DDIL are in "older" housing, 3 bedrooms 2 baths, screened in patio, which quite honestly is much better than the apartment he lived in while in college.

 

One more thing about moving with him to Goose Creek is that when he finishes A school, he will T-Track which will allow him a lot of free time for you to explore the area as a family, and the same with "Grad Hold" after Power School.  My son's grad hold job allowed him to be home almost every day by 2:00 and sometimes 11:00 or 12:00.

[Irish]

Awesomeness!  Thank you for all of the info.  I will definately be headed down there with him ; )