Prepping for the CTN "A"/"C" school

bbeau · 02-01-2013, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Argonaut17

http://www.learntosubnet.com/

was recommended this to help out in the later weeks. I'm down in Pensacola now in CTN school, which is known as JCAC by the way. Its basically A and C school combined. not including holding, its 25 weeks long, and pretty fast paced.

Like Kreto, I am also interested in learning as much as i can about CTN's. If you have time could you answer some of the questions i have. Such as: What was your ASVAB score(if you don't mind disclosing), what rank are you and will be when you finish A school, and is the CTN rate a 4/5/6 year commitment. I'm just curious because there is little information on this rate. Thank you

KreTo · 02-03-2013, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbeau

Like Kreto, I am also interested in learning as much as i can about CTN's. If you have time could you answer some of the questions i have. Such as: What was your ASVAB score(if you don't mind disclosing), what rank are you and will be when you finish A school, and is the CTN rate a 4/5/6 year commitment. I'm just curious because there is little information on this rate. Thank you

idk if it will help much but I got a 91 on the ASVAB and I am going in as an E-3 (I have a Masters Degree already) and I think that its an auto-promote after 6 months (after you finish A school) due to the nature of the schooling and since I have a Bachelors degree or higher. Every CTN contract is for 6 years.

If you are interested I would suggest looking into that website Argo posted and that OPINTEL friend in Norfolk I was talking about sent me a copy of his CompTIA Network+ study guide... ill link an B&N page for you

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Com...8&cm_mmca2=pla

GOOD LUCK!

FormerDP2 · 02-13-2013, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KreTo

I have a Masters Degree already

In my humble opinion, you should have applied for a commission.

FutureND · 02-13-2013, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FormerDP2

In my humble opinion, you should have applied for a commission.

Maybe the OP doesn't feel that a commission would be right for them. Maybe they tried an didn't get selected. Maybe they would rather be more hands on and not run the chance of getting stuck pushing paper work. There are a ton of reasons why one would not try for a commission.

FormerDP2 · 02-13-2013, 12:33 PM

As one who served on active duty for five years as an enlisted man (the DP rating required one to commit to a one-year extension), I can honestly say that I would have never served as an enlisted man had I held a degree when I joined the Navy (I enlisted a month after I graduated from high school). The life of a commissioned officer is at least an order of magnitude better than that of an enlisted man or woman. The most junior officer lives better than the most senior enlisted man aboard ship. No enlisted rating prepares one to hold a true profession-level position after leaving the Navy. One is prepared to work as a paraprofessional at best (e.g., computer technician versus a true computer design engineer). Officers leave the Navy fully prepared to fill professional-level technical and leadership positions in the private sector.

With that said, giving the Navy several years of one's life in exchange for technical training can be a good deal for kids straight out of high school. It gives bright kids who are not quite ready to attend college time to mature. Enlisted service will teach them humility and the value of hard work.

kforbs126 · 02-13-2013, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FormerDP2

As one who served on active duty for five years as an enlisted man (the DP rating required one to commit to a one-year extension), I can honestly say that I would have never served as an enlisted man had I held a degree when I joined the Navy (I enlisted a month after I graduated from high school). The life of a commissioned officer is at least an order of magnitude better than that of an enlisted man or woman. The most junior officer lives better than the most senior enlisted man aboard ship. No enlisted rating prepares one to hold a true profession-level position after leaving the Navy. One is prepared to work as a paraprofessional at best (e.g., computer technician versus a true computer design engineer). Officers leave the Navy fully prepared to fill professional-level technical and leadership positions in the private sector.

With that said, giving the Navy several years of one's life in exchange for technical training can be a good deal for kids straight out of high school. It gives bright kids who are not quite ready to attend college time to mature. Enlisted service will teach them humility and the value of hard work.

I don't know how long ago you were in the Navy but I do know a lot of enlisted who get out of the Navy and get professional jobs. I know a lot of people who work at Spawar, Navsea, SWRMC. I had a bachelor's before I joined and finished my master's while I've been in. It is very common for enlisted to have bachelor's prior to joining nowadays. While a junior officer may get a state room. They sure as hell work way more than most enlisted, get yelled at way more than enlisted and deal with more crap then we have to deal with. If you are a hands on person it's not a bad thing to be enlisted. I would honestly hire a lot of enlisted over some of these junior officers. They may have gotten a commission but that doesn't make them good leaders or smart.

zinzara · 02-14-2013, 08:02 PM

I'm currently in CTN A School here in Pensacola so I can give some info about what to expect/how to get ready. Yes, it is a rough course. Mostly because of the speed. I have a bit of experience with computers so it hasn't been too bad so far. I'm almost half-way through. They claim the attrition rate for new accessions (straight from boot), is 30%. But in my class, we've lost 10 people already (out of all the services) which is over 50%. Learn subnetting and study up on Network+ certification. But not so much the hardware aspects of it, just the theoretical parts, OSI model, protocols, command line tools, get familiar with Wireshark. Learn about the deep down and dirty parts of Windows. That is a rough part. User management, registry, how the kernel operates and all the processes and boot process, memory use. Learn a little bit of Unix/Linux. At least be familiar with it. Learn number conversions between binary, hex, octal, decimal. and how to do addition and subtraction in each. Programming isn't so bad but it wouldn't hurt to know at least the basics of C and probably Python. We are using C but newer classes might start using Python instead. Anything you learn ahead of time will GREATLY help you once you get here. You'll find that you will have very little free time between school, homework every night/studying, and standing watch. Don't get discouraged though. Keep your head up, and study hard when you get here. People in my class never did anything with computers except check email and they're doing just fine. Just do your best and don't goof off like the ITs. (You'll find out that we make fun of them a lot). You have to give it 100% or you'll probably fail. If you have any more questions regarding CTN or Corry Station, let me know and I'll see if I can help. And on top of the advanced course material, the navy has high standards regarding grades. If you get a 75% on a test, you fail and have to retest. If you "double-tap" (fail the retest) on any of the first five tests you are automatically dropped from the course. If you fail 3 times total, you are setback to the next class. If you fail 4 times you might get dropped but 5 is a definite drop. You also get put on mandatory study which is 2 hours every day after class if you fail a test/quiz. So as you can see, your overall grade doesn't matter too much (as long as it's above 80%), you can be dropped just by failing too many tests. So, that just shows you that you do need to study (and don't cram before a test, actually study every day. you can't just pass the test and expect to never see the material again. each section builds on a previous one. )

KreTo · 02-13-2013, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FormerDP2

In my humble opinion, you should have applied for a commission.

I did apply for commission... with the Air Force... last year after i graduated and was denied over someone who was more qualified... so no hard feelings there. But it wasn't even close and I didn't want to waste another half year to be denied again. I was also told that Civilian to Commissioned Officer rates for the Navy fell somewhere near 13% and even then its a long wait. I can't afford to wait much more than I already am right now.

Besides that, I have no problem with working my ass off and I eventually plan on seeking a Commission. I just want to know the job, have the training, and test the waters (I might not even like the military life)... all in due time... and at least this way I will already have connections and an "in" for when I go for commission...

-Kreto

02-13-2013, 12:33 PM	#5
FormerDP2 Newbie Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	As one who served on active duty for five years as an enlisted man (the DP rating required one to commit to a one-year extension), I can honestly say that I would have never served as an enlisted man had I held a degree when I joined the Navy (I enlisted a month after I graduated from high school). The life of a commissioned officer is at least an order of magnitude better than that of an enlisted man or woman. The most junior officer lives better than the most senior enlisted man aboard ship. No enlisted rating prepares one to hold a true profession-level position after leaving the Navy. One is prepared to work as a paraprofessional at best (e.g., computer technician versus a true computer design engineer). Officers leave the Navy fully prepared to fill professional-level technical and leadership positions in the private sector. With that said, giving the Navy several years of one's life in exchange for technical training can be a good deal for kids straight out of high school. It gives bright kids who are not quite ready to attend college time to mature. Enlisted service will teach them humility and the value of hard work.

02-14-2013, 08:02 PM	#7
zinzara Newbie Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	I'm currently in CTN A School here in Pensacola so I can give some info about what to expect/how to get ready. Yes, it is a rough course. Mostly because of the speed. I have a bit of experience with computers so it hasn't been too bad so far. I'm almost half-way through. They claim the attrition rate for new accessions (straight from boot), is 30%. But in my class, we've lost 10 people already (out of all the services) which is over 50%. Learn subnetting and study up on Network+ certification. But not so much the hardware aspects of it, just the theoretical parts, OSI model, protocols, command line tools, get familiar with Wireshark. Learn about the deep down and dirty parts of Windows. That is a rough part. User management, registry, how the kernel operates and all the processes and boot process, memory use. Learn a little bit of Unix/Linux. At least be familiar with it. Learn number conversions between binary, hex, octal, decimal. and how to do addition and subtraction in each. Programming isn't so bad but it wouldn't hurt to know at least the basics of C and probably Python. We are using C but newer classes might start using Python instead. Anything you learn ahead of time will GREATLY help you once you get here. You'll find that you will have very little free time between school, homework every night/studying, and standing watch. Don't get discouraged though. Keep your head up, and study hard when you get here. People in my class never did anything with computers except check email and they're doing just fine. Just do your best and don't goof off like the ITs. (You'll find out that we make fun of them a lot). You have to give it 100% or you'll probably fail. If you have any more questions regarding CTN or Corry Station, let me know and I'll see if I can help. And on top of the advanced course material, the navy has high standards regarding grades. If you get a 75% on a test, you fail and have to retest. If you "double-tap" (fail the retest) on any of the first five tests you are automatically dropped from the course. If you fail 3 times total, you are setback to the next class. If you fail 4 times you might get dropped but 5 is a definite drop. You also get put on mandatory study which is 2 hours every day after class if you fail a test/quiz. So as you can see, your overall grade doesn't matter too much (as long as it's above 80%), you can be dropped just by failing too many tests. So, that just shows you that you do need to study (and don't cram before a test, actually study every day. you can't just pass the test and expect to never see the material again. each section builds on a previous one. )