FC C School information.

[Gage]

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!

Helps so much!! What's the difference in schooling? Like is it anything as fast as ATT? Or Along the lines of A-School, what about difficulty or things such as that..?

[calie89]

A school is really easy. Never studied outside of class, and ended second in my class. Its mostly common sense stuff for the first month or so, and then just do the lessons and pay attention during lectures, and you should be fine. Just try to use your class time for class instead of socializing, and you should't have to devote much time outside of school to study.

Its did not seem as fast paced as ATT, but that may have been because a lot of the material now had a frame of reference for me, from ATT. But, it is really really boring. Only 4 labs throughout the entire course, and they are each about 3 days long.

C school is so much better, as far as class goes. We basically learn how to use the pubs. And then we apply it with our specific equipment with labs almost daily. But, we do build on what we learned at A school/ATT. You don't have to remember a lot of specifics, but understanding/remembering the concepts is important.

[Gage]

Originally Posted by calie89

A school is really easy. Never studied outside of class, and ended second in my class. Its mostly common sense stuff for the first month or so, and then just do the lessons and pay attention during lectures, and you should be fine. Just try to use your class time for class instead of socializing, and you should't have to devote much time outside of school to study.

Its did not seem as fast paced as ATT, but that may have been because a lot of the material now had a frame of reference for me, from ATT. But, it is really really boring. Only 4 labs throughout the entire course, and they are each about 3 days long.

C school is so much better, as far as class goes. We basically learn how to use the pubs. And then we apply it with our specific equipment with labs almost daily. But, we do build on what we learned at A school/ATT. You don't have to remember a lot of specifics, but understanding/remembering the concepts is important.

I heard RADAR 1 and RADAR 2 were pretty hard?

[calie89]

Not for me or anyone else in my class. No one failed any of the labs. As long as you pay attention during the practices, you will be fine. Don't rely on your partner to know everything, and make an effort to do as many practices as you can. I actually ended up with a fault that I already had in practice on my Radar 1 PT, so the more you do, the higher that chance is!

The labs are the best part of A school as long as you pay attention to what the instructors expect from you, as is true in the rest of A school as well as C school.

[dixon040]

Originally Posted by Gage

I heard RADAR 1 and RADAR 2 were pretty hard?

hows it going. im in C school now as a fcs milspec tech. C school will more laid back but more tecnical. as far as A school. study study study. as you go through school you will learn more about your rate as well as options. you will pick orders based on youe class standings of about 80 people. open learning is avalible so take advantage of it!!!!!!!!!!! stay out of trouble but have fun in great lakes. theres a lot to do there. good luck and remember you pick orders and based one your GPA. you will pick with 3-5 classes. so the best GPA to the worst GPA out of all 3-5 classes