To go or not to go

[michelleco(ship14/div046)]

So I am currently faced with the dilemma whether to go to Great Lakes or not being as I will not be able to attend PIR due to the four person limit. I miss my boyfriend beyond belief but I do not know whether it would be better to wait until he is in A school to visit or whether to go to Great Lakes anyway. How much time would I get with him if I were to go see him at Great Lakes? Does anyone know how long Aviation Mechanic school is on average? Decisions...decisions.... 

[meagan5220]

On the RTC page if you follow the link on that same post a little bit farther down it says this too, so it looks like they will not have a stand by list after January 1st:

 

Graduation Day Schedule
6:30 am: RTC gate opens to guests.
7:00 am: Ceremonial drill hall doors open to guests.
8:45 am: All guests must be seated.
9:00 am: Pass-In-Review commences.
9:20 am: Divisions arrive.
10:30 am: Pass-In-Review concludes.
This policy will also be enforced for all graduations beginning January 1st, 2013. Thanks to all for your continued support of Recruit Training Command, the Navy's only boot camp!

[meagan5220]

My husband is an AM. the school is pretty short. My sailor got to Pcola Feb 15th and was graduated by May 1st. Its about 8 weeks. 40 school days. They class up pretty fast bc the classes fill up fast. They get orders pretty quickly too. I would say you might get more time to visit him in A school, not all of the guys fly out saturday for pcola my husband didnt leave til the next tuesday but its a risk you take bc he could leave early saturday morning. like 1 am early. In the end its ultimately what you feel comfortable with and what you can afford.

[Anti M]

No problem, best to verify all information because things change so fast with the Navy, and all the old information stays on the internet forever.

[alleyoop90 (Ship 14/Div 45)]

Omg.. im currently in the same exact dilemma you are :( I was just looking up flights and hotels to see if it was worth the money knowing we wont get a lot of time with him. The non refundable tickets from where I am (Florida) are going for about 300 round trip by southwest while the refunable ones are going for about $1,000 round trip! Lets just say me being a college student I just dont have that type of extra cash just laying around lol. Ive been bummed all day seeing ppl saying they have booked their trips for PIR and im stuck because I have no idea what to do. I REALLY want to see him, but is it worth 500 dollars to see him for 8 hours when soon he will have the whole weekend (in phase 3)?

From what Ive been told they wont know exactly when they ship out for A school until 1 or 2 days before graduation. But more than likely he will fly out saturday, and even if his flight is saturday evening he still has to go as a group with everyone in the morning and sit in the airport until its his flight time.

So more than likely you will only have from the time the ceremony is over on friday until that evening to really spend with him.

To me it almost sounds ridiculous to spend 500 to 600 dollars to see him AFTER graduation for about 8 hours. But at the same time...I already miss him a lot!

[michelleco(ship14/div046)]

I think from what I have heard from everyone I may have to skip out on Great Lakes and hope that time goes by quickly so that I can visit him at A school. My only other option would be if his parents decide to drive to Great Lakes and in that case we would not have to worry about weather conditions. Thank you so much for the feedback everyone. All of you are very helpful and I am very glad to have others who can either relate or aid me in this journey.

[Samantha]

My husband graduates on nov 30th also and he is gong to aviation structural mechanic school in Pensacola FL. He said he just found out it is five weeks so hopefully they class up quickly. He also told me has privileges when he gets there, we were not expecting that and honestly I have no idea how he gets them right away. He did say he is now and E-3 he was promoted from and E-1 so maybe that is why I have no clue. Hopefully you can see him soon. I know how you feel about wanting to see him.

[meagan5220]

Its actually 8 weeks unless they recently shortened it. My husband was told it was 5 weeks too. bc its 40 days. But its actually 40 days of class work, so they only count the week days. But they do class up quickly in AM. My husband was there for three weeks and then started his school and was done 8 weeks later :) he got there feb 15th started about march 11th and we got orders april 24th. He graduated May 1st. They all get the same privelages when they get there. Its not based on rank as far as I know its based on what phase they are in. Each phase has to be earned. 

[Samantha]

Wow Thanks for the info that makes more since. I love how they tell you something to get you excited only to let you know that it is only half true lol. Thats ok though. If you don't mind me asking did you move up there with him while he was in A-school. I know the navy wont pay for us to move because it is not long enough but I still was wondering only because we have a 1 year old and a 8 year old. Plus we really miss him. But I guess I wondering if you think it is worth the move or should we just be patient and wait. We live in FL now but its about 7 hours away from Pensacola. 

[meagan5220]

you are welcome! Yeah we were really excited too, then we were like what? lol but I guess in the end it wasnt too horribly long. I know other schools are wayyy longer. And the AMs did seem to class up really fast. Pretty much everyone he got there from BC with graduated in the same class he did from A school. I did not move up there. Mostly because I was in my last semester of college and we just really didnt have the money. I did go for spring break. I understand missing him but I think it might be hard for the 8 year old school wise, unless yall homeschool, to pick up and move. And say he classes up really fast and is out of there in three months, then he (sorry I keep saying he if he is in fact a she lol) might have to pick up and move again to another school. While moving once in a school year can be tricky but isnt the worst thing two times could be really hard. I think it would be best to wait but thats just me. They literally find out day of that they are starting classes. My husband found out an hour before he had to be there. So its not like they get a date when they get there. So its not really something you can plan. I mean based on his graduation date there is a good possibility he will get holiday stand down for christmas or around that time so he can come home then and celebrate. And once yall get orders it is much easier to move to the next duty station from home imo. But 7 hours isnt a horribly long drive so maybe yall could even go visit. :) Just given that he wont be there for a long time I dont think the added stress and hassle it could cause would be something you would want to add to what will be a already stressful first PCS.

[meagan5220]

My husband also said there were people that got there the same time he did for AM school and ended up there for 6-8 months. but he said most people got through it quickly.

[Anti M]

Having been a Navy brat, I agree with Meagan, if your child is in a public school, don't make a move until summer or when the orders come in. I went to three schools for second grade, really awful (14 schools total and I took the GED my junior year to avoid summer school for missing quarter credits from moving around).

[Samantha]

Thanks guys your right he is in public school so that wouldn't be very fair but I can dream :) thanks for the info