Quote:
Originally Posted by SethRT
Is there any info on the A school? I've heard it's a lot of memorizing and that a lot of the material is classified. Is it common for people to fail academically, do you have any tips for doing well in the classroom?
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Yes, AWO/R A School is challenging... you're taught oceanography, diesel and nuclear submarine parameters, gram analysis, and radar parameters. Parameters are nothing but numbers that you have to memorize... my final exam was almost 50 radar types, all with 4-6 number and letter combinations, as well as an associated weapon, which has an associated name and range; all regurgitated from memory. We were given 15min prior to the test to "data dump" anything from memory... I filled 3 11x17" whiteboards with words and numbers from memory! And, as you've heard, all information except oceanography is Secret and cannot be studied outside class... and night school is only available for 2 hours after class gets out at 1400.
It's basically akin to having a firehouse of knowledge fired at your face to see if you've got the aptitude to handle what's to come at FRS and in your squadron. Yes, people do struggle and sometimes fail... we had 14/17 students in a class fail and roll back into the class behind them because they failed the final exam. Some do end up getting dropped and reclassified... mostly because they just lose interest... but some people simply don't have the aptitude to do this job. Unfortunately for some, the ASVAB requirements for Aircrew are set to the lowest series rating, so you do occasionally get students who don't actually qualify to be an Anti-Submarine Warfare Operator, but are fully qualified to be a Non-Tactical Helicopter crewman... sadly, there's no real factoring in scores when it comes to series rating assignment.
Bottom line, however, is that you can fail a test twice before you go before an Academic Review Board and possibly rolled back into the class behind you... if you're trying, the instructors will help you.