Wife of a US Navy Sailor, PIR on May 3, Div 176 ship 14

[Mia the US Navy wife]

Hello everyone this is me, Marika again.  However, this time, i am no longer wife of a US Navy to be, but a new US Navy Sailor.  His graduation was on May 3, it was a very moving and beautiful Ceremony.  Nonetheless, now i have another question to all of you, who know, or whose son, daughter, husband or wife, moved on to a Corpsman Hospital Medical A School in San Antonio, TX.  I asked my husband and he told me, about 10 people were going with him to A school.  Has anyone went to the O'Hare Airport with their Sailor?  I was told they were leaving the GL, IL about 2:30 am.  I had no clue at what time they were leaving Chicago, IL to San Antonio, TX.  My Sailor, left his orders on base and did not know any details, except leaving at 2:30 am for the airport.  I would like to hear from anyone, who followed their Sailors to O'Hare airport at that time to go with them through the Security check.  Does anyone know why their A school will last 18 weeks, instead of 14 weeks as i read before on the site?  Does anyone know anything about this time change?  Is this something new and why?  I would really appreciate any response to my message, from those whose Sailors graduated with my husband on May 3 or anyone else who knows something about it.  Thank you very kindly and really appreciate the further discussions about this subject matter, HM A School in San Antonio, TX.  Take care all, in Solidarity, Marika.

[lemonelephant]

You may want to ask the questions within HM (Hospital Corpsman) A School in San Antonio. I hope you hear from him soon since he is probably at Fort Sam. https://www.cool.navy.mil/enlisted/rating_info_cards/hm.pdf indicates that "A" School is about 19 weeks. The actual time at Fort Sam can be longer if he is on hold waiting to class up.

[Mia the US Navy wife]

I am unable to access this link, can you help please?  What does it explain about the A school being for 19 weeks?  Take care and be well, In Solidarity, m.

[lemonelephant]

It just says:

Approximate Training Time 19 Weeks

It does not indicate why.

If you cannot open a navy.mil site such as that, click on Tools within your browser and then Internet Options, then click on the Advanced tab, then under Security, be sure that Use TLS 1.0 is checked and then click Apply.  You can also try opening the site in a different browser.

[Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom]

I've contacted Navy COOL about correcting that info!  Hospital Corps A school is in fact 14 weeks.  You're right about it taking time to "class up" sometimes, but they should correct it to reflect the actual time of the course from start to graduation.  Thank you lemonelephant for guiding her to our A school group.  Here's a good Navy.mil article about HM 'A' school that includes mention of the 14-week duration - http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmetc/Pages/news36.aspx

[lemonelephant]

Thanks.

Navy COOL indicates 9 weeks for MA and the actual time for "A" School is 7 weeks. Do you think that they indicate 19 weeks for HM and 9 weeks for MA because they are adding in the average time in holding ahead of actually classing up?

[Mia the US Navy wife]

Dear lenonelephant,

Would you be so kind and clarify the following acronyms:  COOL and MA?  Thank you, In Solidarity, marika.

[lemonelephant]

Navy COOL is Credentialing Opportunities On-Line; https://www.cool.navy.mil/ is an official Navy site. MA is the abbreviation for the Master at Arms rating.

[Mia the US Navy wife]

Thank you very much lemonelephant.  So in this situation it would be about right, 16 weeks of total school and 2 weeks in holding to class up.  I guess, this time he was right on the button.  Anyway, there are still so many discrepancies.  Supposedly, they've been receiving the BHA right in the BC, which he never told me.  I am staying with my brother, i moved because of him going to BC.  I would definitely use this allowance to either live here or closer to him in San Antonio, while he is in A School.  However, he said this is not an option, because he has to study hard and concentrate.  He feels as i would be a distraction, rather than a support system.  I am very, very sad and distraught!!!  I really do not know what to make out of it???  Do you think if i call to that COOL office they may tell me when he starts the class and the class # as well as the graduation date, although, i doubted he will notify me to attend.  Please keep me posted if you know anything.  By the way, do you have someone there in San Antonio, A School?  Take care and be well, In Solidarity, m.  

[lemonelephant]

The holding time can vary, but from checking on HM (Hospital Corpsman) A School in San Antonio, it looks like 2 weeks is about average now--it has been up to 6 weeks in the past, but perhaps the powers that be have noticed that and moved the ship dates to BC to reduce that.

When Will the Recruits be Paid? and Information for Spouses will give you more info on the pay and BAH--yes, it does start from the time he entered BC, but is not always received in the first pay period, but may be. No, calling COOL will not let you know anything about your Sailor. You may be able to check with his recruiter to see if the beginning date for "A" School is in the computer, some have been able to ge that and others have not.

I will not know anything about the HM classes since I don't have any inside info for that--I have a little info on all of the ratings and I maintain a spread sheet about them in order to answer general questions and steer people to groups that can give them more info.  There may be someone in HM (Hospital Corpsman) A School in San Antonio who can help you.

"A" School graduations are small and often only a handful of guests are present if that many, but I encourage you to attend if you can.  I wasn't able to attend my Sailor's "A" School graduation, but I was able to attend his "C" School graduation and they are very similar--lasting about 30 minutes and the Sailors left soon after for leave. 

I have a Sailor of over 4 1/2 years. He had "A" School for MA at Lackland AFB near San Antonio in 2008 and "C" School there last summer.

[Mia the US Navy wife]

I just tried to go to that page and did not allow me, i do not know why?  Do you have a phone # that i could call?  Thank you, m.

[lemonelephant]

If you get the message about the security of the page, go ahead to the page.

This helps me when I can't go to a navy.mil site, click on Tools within your browser and then Internet Options, then click on the Advanced tab, then under Security, be sure that Use TLS 1.0 is checked and then click Apply. Then try again. You can also try using a different browser such as Mozilla Firefox.

[Mia the US Navy wife]

Dear Marcy,

Thank you for this info.  Who is Navy COOL?  So if the school is 14 weeks, let's say he has to wait for 2 weeks to class up, it still amounts to 16 not 18 or 19 weeks?  Maybe they were told incorrectly.  I have no way of knowing, since he called me only once.  He called on Monday, around 10:00pm to tell me he arrived and was very tired, because with all the layovers it took a day and half to get to A school in San Antonio.  I don't know.  Please be patient with me and try to inform me anything you find out.  I know i will not get too much contact with him either.   He said, he won't be buying a phone, just use the calling card.  He also said not expect too many phone calls because he will be very focused studying.  I don't know what to say????  Take care, In Solidarity, marika.