HM A School Fort Sam Houston
 

Anyone attending or graduate from there recently. I'm a HM who'll be going off to boot in September. I would love to know what the A school is like.

I'm currently at HM A-school. I'm about 1/2 way done. What would you like to know?

Uhh I guess what it was like for you. Were there a lot of places to go for liberty. Did you find the Emt portion to be as difficult as they say it is?

So far it has been busy here. Study, study, study for EMT. It is definitely as hard as they say. Don't let up for Corpsman Fundamentals. That's the test I'm studying for this weekend. It is a TON of information to learn in a short time. As far as liberty, you'll have phase 1 which is the first 2 weeks. Everywhere you go you have to be in uniform and you have to be in the barracks by 2200. The second 2 weeks is phase 2 and you can wear civies. You have to be in by 2200 on week days and 0000 on the weekends. Phase 3 is civies, home by 2200 on week days and on the weekends you can leave at liberty call on Friday and don't have to be back til 2200 on Sunday. There is a ton to do here. There are a couple huge malls, the River Walk, the Alamo, Sea World, 6 Flags. There's more but that's just the list of stuff I can name off the top of my head. There are tons of places to eat.

Here's your typical Monday, Wednesday, Friday
0430-0530ish : PT
0630 : Muster for Super Fleet, form up with your class, march to chow with all of Corps School
0700-0730 : Muster for Super Fleet to march to the school house with your class and all of Corps School
0800-1200 : Class which usually consists of death by powerpoint or a lab and a few 15 minute breaks in between
1215 : Super Fleet again!!! Yay!!!
1245ish-1320 : Chow
1320 : Super Fleet back to the schoolhouse
1400-1700 : Class
1700 : Super Fleet!!! Head back to the barracks.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty much the same with the exception of PT. You'll have to field day on Thursday so liberty is secure at 1900, you muster for field day at 1915, then you clean from 1930-2030. You'll have duty every 5 days. There are 10? duty sections. I say 10? because there were 10 when I got here and we had duty every 10 days but they just started doubling up on Friday so there are now 5? duty sections. It's been progressively getting more strict since I've gotten here so there's kind of no telling what you're in for. There are 2 classes that literally muster and practice marching in circles every night at 1930 because they can't get right.

If you have any more questions just let me know.

Good luck!

cool im hm too youll be have done with basic when I get there(oct.1) but know we
ll run into each other in texas :) goodluck

Are you still there?

As in am I still at A-School?

yes, just wondering if you could gather up some info on SARC

When I got here they weren't taking anyone into the SARC program. They were only accepting people for SOCP who wanted to go SAR and DMT. My roommate just got out of SOCP recently because she got FMTB orders so I can get updated info from her possibly. You'll have to do a special physical here at A-school and do a PRT before they'll let you join SOCP and that's about all I've got for ya for now.

Thanks for the info.
I appreciate it

Do you know how available FMF or FMTB billets are?

No one can answer this definitively really. It changes for every class. About 1/4 of our males got FMTB and I've only heard of 1 female getting FMTB in the 3 months I have been here. Also, the majority of our males that got FMTB are going to hospitals, not to Division.

Okay, thanks!
Another question, when would someone volunteer for SAR/SARC/DMT? Is it early in A-school or when you pick your duty stations?
Thanks

Also what did you mean by hospitals and not division? Does that mean that they go to FMTB and then to a blue side hospital as opposed to a green side unit?

Exactly

You try out for SOCP as early as you can.

How long did you have to wait to class up? Know anyone with unusually long class up waits?

The longest, that I know of, was 3 weeks. Most people have 1 week of indoc before they class up.

As crowded as the HM community is, do you think they'll squeeze in a few HMs that did really well in school into AAP?

http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-np...s/1430-010.pdf

Let's put it this way, I put that package in and no one had ever seen it before so that was a pain AND I'm pretty sure it got eaten by zombies or something because multiple people had seen it but had no idea where it was routed. There's a Master Chief still trying to track it down but I've checked in at my first command so I'm pretty sure I'm SOL now. Based on that I'm gonna go with no but you can always try. My roommate asked her Chief how to get rank out of there. He flat out said you couldn't. I knew a mortician that got advanced but it was in her contract because they have to give civilian morticians an incentive to enlist since the Navy doesn't have training for that. Honor grad gets a FLOC. That's your pat on the back for your hard work which isn't too bad considering it's a point toward advancement and the good cookie doesn't count for advancement points anymore soooooo...long explanation to say your best bet is to work toward that number one spot and get the FLOC. Try AAP though...the worst that can happen is they can say no...or it can be eaten by zombies and disappear.

I'm interested in the SOCP pipeline. Are there any reserve ratings? Also what is the PRT for SOCP look like? Can I get it on top of FMTB? I have FMTB in my contract since I am a reserve.

SOCP is SARC, Search and Rescue, DMT. Those are all considered C-Schools. Reservists are not eligible for C-Schools. You will only be able to go to FMTB and back to your NOSC. If you still want to know about the PST ("the SOCP PRT") it's different for each program so I'd just google it.

It's a lot of studying. school from 0800-1700 and one hour break for chow. you have something called field day on thursday when u clean your room for an hour. youll have watches and duty section (more cleaning). you PT on M/W/F at 0430. make sure you study! 7 test failures and your sent undesignated to the fleet

You go to AOB (Academic Oversight Board) at 6 failures. Sometimes they let you stay in the program sometimes they don't depending how you make your case. The person that I knew that failed out of the program got sent to MA school. It's not a hard and fast rule that you go chip paint after 6 test failures.

Finally here in Ft. Sam

I am trying to go back to Fort Sam. As much as I hated San Antonio. I'm trying to get PMT C School. It's a pain in the ass when you're already in the Fleet, so if you want C School or are thinking about C School, put in for it while you're in A School.

I leave August 11, maybe I'll run into you guys there too

What's Super Fleet?? O.O

For those who haven't been to this school and are looking for info, my dad use to be a director there until his retirement a year ago. Everyone there is there to ensure you are able to perform your duties to the best of your abilities. No one is going to yell at you as long as you aren't slacking off. It is pretty much a college atmosphere in a professional enviornment. The only people that may rub you wrong are the power-thriving civilians, but much like MEPS, you'll have to deal with many of them throughout your military career.

Hey I have a question? Will it be a lot of hands on training? Also what type of stuff should we start studying? Im trying to get a step ahead of the game. Ive heard that the first things are Basic Life Support, EMT and basic/intermediate nursing. Can you give a little more details please? Especially more insight about the classess you take

I haven't gone through A school yet, but one of the videos I watched from someone actually showed the book they use for the first part of A School, which is EMT. They were literally using the updated version of the EMS book they use in EMT classes and that I used when I got my EMT.

Start using things like EMT basics. A (Airway), B (Breathing), C (Circulation). Your BCLS (CPR) would help. Human Anatomy is also a good help, start learning the major organs, where they are, the major bones, etc.

Again, I only say this as a Healthcare worker going into HM. But things like this will help through the EMT, which they say is some of the hardest.

How long is A-school for HM?

HM school in San Antonio is around 3 Months, just dont get rolled back or get into trouble and you will be fine.

Super fleet is when you march with your class division and the rest of the school house.. so in other words everyone marches together to breakfast and then from breakfast to the school house.

How much command driven PT is there? I prefer working out on my own and have had some knee problems recently so I tend to spend more time on the elliptical or bike.

Navy corpsman nec change????
 

Hi, I got HMDA which is dental assistent, I leave for a school shortly but don't start school until December 13, I really am going to try everything possible to go FMF possibly even SARC. Is there any way I can get into that instead of going to dental tech school? I was told by the reclassification lady doing my paperwork to not worry I should be able to request that when I get down there, is this true? Please help.

You can go to FMTB as a DA, I have a friend who I went to A-school with that went to FMTB and is actually trying to switch over to SARC. I don't know about not going dental after you've already shipped out and such but you can definitely still go to FMTB.

From what they have been telling the people in my class you can't stop dental until you've had the NEC for at least 2 years. It may be different if you're coming from the fleet but from what we were told, dental has their own quotas and if your contract says dental you have to go dental.