Originally Posted by calie89
I am actually surprised that these questions haven't been answered during your time at ATT…
Anyways, it really depends on which NEC you choose. After/towards the end of A school you will pick orders. Aegis NECs are in Dahlgren, and non-Aegis are in Damneck/San Diego. As for waiting time, it varies greatly from orders to orders. I picked SPY 1B back in the first week of July, but I didn't leave until Oct. However, there were people who picked with me in July that left in August and all the times in between and even up until Nov. There were even people who picked orders in August who left before I did. It just depends on what you end up picking.
Either way, you will probably be on hold in Great Lakes there for a while, I was on hold for 3 months, but there were plenty of people before me who were on hold for an avg of 6 mo. But, holds life is not bad, its actually really great! As long as you get a decent job, you can enjoy your time and not have to worry about anything for a while. I worked at the Cole, where I lived while on hold, but other people had jobs like CSADD, ship yeoman, working at the school houses, etc.
As for me, I can only speak for Dahlgren, because thats the only place of the 3 that I have been to. Its not too bad here, back to 4 section duty (going from 8 section on the Cole before I left Great Lakes) but unless you are in class or on duty, you re in liberty. You can have a car on base, which is nice, because there is not much to do here very close by. You do have mandatory PT 3x per week, and a mock PRT every month, unless you get an excellent or better on a PRT/mock PRT, and you can request self PT. You also have to wear your NSUs every Friday/dress uniform first Friday of the month. Thats not bad at all, you get used to it. Also, they have classes running here 24h/day. Which means that you can be on one of 3 schedules…8-16, 16-00 or 00-08. That kind of stinks, but as long as you stay on one schedule, you can get used to it. As for the barracks, I only know of the one that my classmates live in (I am married and live in housing) They each have their own private room with a bed, closet, dresser, desk and chair. Then you share a kitchen/bathroom area with one other person. the kitchen area has a fridge and microwave and a stovetop. Also, if you are over 21, you can route a chit up to keep alcohol in your room.
In general, life here in Dahlgren is a lot better than Great Lakes, just have a lot more freedom.
If you have any more specific questions, feel free to ask! Hope it helped!
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