Family Opinions About Moving...Grr.

[Meridith_21]

So, my husband starts BC next month then heads to Pensacola for A-school. After A school I plan on moving to wherever his PCS orders are. My family is convinced that he will be sent to a ship right away and question my decision to go ahead and move to wherever our duty station is. Their argument is that I would be alone and have to do alot of stuff by myself and that I would not know "anyone". I am actually excited to move to a new place and get established in the place we will call home for the next few years. My family thinks I should stay with my current job while he is possibly "out on deployment". Any advice regarding this?

[Anti M]

If the paperwork was done correctly by the recruiter, he will be an E-3.  As for speaking to a detailer...that is not the way it is usually done when getting first orders out of A school.  However, not completely impossible either.  He does get to fill out a "dream sheet" in A school, where he can list preferred ships/commands/areas.  The detailer might be able to fulfill the request, if an open billet which needs to be filled is available.   It can and does happen, but there is no guarantee.

I would concentrate on researching what area you two would prefer, rather than trying to nail down a ship's potential future activity based on past deployment patterns.  Ship movement and speculation about future movement is covered under OPSEC, so that info is hard to come by reliably, and may not be useful at all.  However, learning about bases and the happiness of families in the area may be something you'd want to know.  

Often PCS orders come down to west coast vs. east coast, or overseas vs. CONUS.  Or be completely random because he was the next warm body for a hot billet.

Good luck, you're entering the "this is the norm, but with some exceptions" phase, and hurry up and wait. I hope it isn't too frustrating!  

[Meridith_21]

That seems about right. It is just frustrating when you get bad information :(

[Jenn_NicksWifey]

My hubby also went in with a bachelor's.  He graduated BC as an E-3 and when he finished A-School, he got Top Grad.  He did not talk to a detailer, but he got pretty much what he asked for in terms of orders.  Tell yours to really push it to get Top Grad, too.  Totally worth the extra time studying and stuff.  Top Grad gives you an Early Promote letter and is *supposed* to give you a better chance of getting where you want, but I don't put much faith in that.  He did request San Diego and a small ship.  He was hoping for a frigate.  He got San Diego and Assault Craft Unit 1, which are LCUs and only qualify as ships by 3 feet. lol, can't get much smaller.  Now he's on a RHIB, which is only 33ft long.  The Early Promote worked out really well.  He finished A School in Oct and was capped E-4 by April.  He was able to take the 2nd class test in Oct and just got frocked E-5 this past December.  (Sorry if this sounds like a brag, I'm really proud of him, if you can't tell!  :)

But, yes he should be an E-3 and whether he will get to pick is highly debatable, in my (very limited) experience.

[Meridith_21]

That is awesome, no need to be ashamed of bragging! Top Grad would be a great thing to achieve, I will make sure he sets that as a goal. We have also "been told" that since he will already be an E-3 that he should be able to take the E-4 test after he was in for 6 months, which for him would be at the tail end of his A-School. Is this true? What is your husband's rate? Are the promotion opportunities different within rates, or does it just come down to who does well on the tests?

[Anti M]

Each rate has a different manning level, so it is a percentage of those who pass the exam, plus other points they have earned, plus time in service. He can pass the test, but not advance.  That gives points for next cycle.  There are quotas which change all the time.

Yes, six months as E-3 before they can try to advance.

[Meridith_21]

OK great, his rate is currently undermanned for all levels, so hopefully that continues!

[Anti M]

Excellent!

[Jenn_NicksWifey]

He's an EN.  I *believe* you can take the test for E-4 after you've been at the command for 6 months.  (hubby clarifies that you can take it a few months earlier, but you have to have been a *whatever your rate is* for 6 months at the time you get frocked, which is when they let you wear the new rank.)  If he gets Top Grad, he doesn't take the test, you just get E-4 and they have 4-10 months to cap you to E-4.  

The oppurtunities are all different between the rates.  Basically, if there are 40 spots, the top 40 will get promoted, regardless of how many people take the test.  There is a point system to increase your score based on lots of things like medals earned, degrees, evaluations, etc.   Some rates have better opportunities than others.  You can usually find statistics online near the testing dates.  

[Anti M]

No, it is six months TIR (time in rate) to advance to E-4.  Whatever day they show him as advancing to E-3 is when the count begins.  Otherwise sailors who were transferring from command to command as E-3s would be at a disadvantage when it came time to take the exam.  It also gets complicated when they have a long A school, or "push button" auto-advance crows are involved.   

http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/navypromotions/a/navypromotion_2.htm

 The trick is the command ordering the exam in a timely fashion.  Each exam is designated for particular sailors, by name and service number (used to be SSN).  I know when I got out, they canceled my chief's exam... but they actually cancelled my husband's, not mine, because were were both ET1 and he came first alphabetically!  He jumped up and down on test day and they made the correction, let him take my exam.   So if a new sailor is fresh out of A school, he may hit the command too late to take the exam that cycle because he needs to get his PO course finished first and get everything signed off, and get the exam ordered.  He could be at the command six months before having the opportunity to participate in the next exam cycle.

[Meridith_21]

Ouch. Ok we will make sure to look out for that stuff.

[Meridith_21]

Great info, thanks Jenn!

[meagan5220]

I think I might have seen somewhere that you were from OK? Or did I misread a comment? lol I am from Oklahoma and I personally would stay there a few months if I got a chance just because I miss it lol.

But overall its sort of the luck of the draw if they get deployed right away. I know people who got to their first duty station and then within days got flown out to the ship. My husband had about 6 months between graduating a school and deployment. One of his buddies didn't go on even a two day work up until over a year and a half of being at his first duty station. I mean if you have a decent paying job, and he is going to get flown out right away if you want to stay, it would save money of course. You could always get your stuff moved out there by the navy and then put it in storage for a few months until you move out there. If only to save a little money. As far as jobs, it sort of depends where he gets orders to, that extra money saved up might be a blessing when yall move if you cant get a job quickly. (Like here in VA the job market is atrocious. I have known people with 15 years of experience and master's degrees that take months and months to get a job.)

If they are worried about you having to do stuff on your own, tell them that will be how it is constantly with the Navy. Whether they are deployed or not, I end up doing 85% of stuff I would say by myself. In all honesty, there are a lot of maybes and what ifs, that's a good bit down the road if he isn't even in BC and gone through his schools yet. So its hard to say what would or wouldn't be a good idea ya know? When my husband went in we sort of planned, if he got deployed right away I would possibly stay where I was, just because the job market in my career field is actually decent in Oklahoma, and I could get a year of experience under my belt before moving and I already had a place to live. But if he wasn't getting deployed within like a couple months then I would go with him and get set up. Not really because I was worried about being alone or in a new place, just it would have been an opportunity for me to get experience after graduating college and save a good chunk of money as well. We knew we would be needing to buy a car after deployment so that's what we were focusing on saving for at that point.

Its easy to make friends quickly if you are active and especially if you start working. I understand they are concerned that you will sort of just be dropped there all alone to fend for yourself but there are tons of resources, and I am like you, I like to dive right in. :)