Master at Arms

Comment

Comment by Paul S. on November 24, 2015 at 3:58pm

My son just got the word from his command and then he called me to say, he's one of the newest U.S. Navy's MA2 Petty Officers. I'm just a proud Navy Dad today! He has accomplished so much in just 3 1/2 years in the Navy. Sorry I just had to brag! Congratulations to all of the other MA's who will advance.

Comment by Navy Dads Co-Admin Tom on November 14, 2015 at 9:47am

James...Chances are when the Squadron is at base, he will be assigned to Base Security and will be doing Precinct work....i.e. Roving Patrols, Guard Duty, etc. When the Squadron deploys, he will become a part of Ship's Security.

Comment by Navy Dads Co-Admin Tom on November 14, 2015 at 9:09am

Rita....Look to the right side of this page and find Navy Enlisted Ratings. Click on it and find MA for details of the job. There are many options possible, but all are based on the "needs of the Navy" at the time of her Graduation from A School. In my daughter's 4 years, she began as Expeditionary....served on two ships....traveled the World...and ended up assigned to an F-18 squadron aboard the USS Carl Vinson. There is no need to be stuck behind a desk. Tell her to prepare herself physically, study hard, and push herself in order to have the most options for her future...Best of luck to her!

Comment by James A. Robinson on November 14, 2015 at 8:58am

Hi everyone! My son graduates from MA "A" school on 11/24/15 and is going to Japan where he will be assigned to a squadron.  I would welcome any input you'd care to give on what he might expect,  duties etc.  Thanks!

Comment by Rita Ivey on November 13, 2015 at 12:33pm

Thank you Tracey. I've never heard of the PACT program, but I'm going to look into it. I know she can wait to get the job she wants, but there's still no guarantee that she's going to get it. At least that's what the recruiters told us. And I had read somewhere about them increasing the MAs. That, plus since the new fiscal year just started, should hopefully open it up enough that she can get it.

Everyone is so helpful on here, I love this site already!

Comment by Tracey McCoy on November 13, 2015 at 11:55am

Rita,

The Navy can actually guarantee the job. When your daughter goes to MEPS for her physical she will see a detailer who will advise of the available jobs based on her ASVAB score.  When my daughter was there in September she had a very limited choice and signed up for PACT Seaman, which is an undesignated Seaman. For the PACT program the sailor will not attend "A" School after boot camp, but goes directly to the fleet after a short training program of a few weeks. Once in the fleet they will be assigned to a low level job where they are needed and then have the opportunity to "strike" for a rate they are interested in after one year. There are some benefits to this for people that do not have any idea what they want to do in the Navy, but it is really shooting in the dark of what will happen to them after basic.  The only other rates they had available the day my daughter was at MEPS were machinist mate and electronics technician, which she was not interested in. She then asked her recruiters to put in a job change for MA if one came available. It did earlier this week and she is now slated to go to MA school after boot camp. It is a great idea for your daughter to research the jobs before going to MEPS. So that she can choose wisely of one of her job interests are available. It seems like there is a lot of info on this site for many rates. This site http://usmilitary.about.com/ also has a lot of information. Fact is that she can decide not to take a job if she does not like her options that are available when she goes to MEPS. But, the problem is no one knows what jobs are going to come available on any given day, or at least that what I was told by the detailer at MEPS. So, it can be a frustrating game to play. I believe that MA rate is still fairly available overall as they were increasing the manning of the rate in 2015.  

Comment by James Martin on November 13, 2015 at 11:40am

My son Devin just completed MA A-school 11-3-15 is currently at home on leave. Devin picked Riverine and then later was told it was no longer available "cut backs" so he leaves us 11-17-15 headed to Bahrain. So just know that even if a specialty is picked the sailor may not get it. Even with the "cut backs" Devin is still excited about the MA job.

Comment by Rita Ivey on November 13, 2015 at 11:20am

Thank you David. I know the Navy can't guarantee you the job you want and I'm worried she may not get the one she wants. Just in case, we're trying to find another job she could do instead if MA isn't open.

Comment by David McNeill on November 13, 2015 at 11:06am

When Colin enlisted last year, he also was committed to MA for much the same reasons. It seemed to us that there was no issue with him begin able to get MA. The only variable is when the Navy needs new MAs. So even though he signed enlistement papers in June, he didn't go to basic until December.

Once in "A" school for MA, there are other choices available (potentially) in terms of where to be stationed. There are also sub-specialties available (potentially), such as PRP, Military Working Dogs, Riverines. All these become available per the needs of the Navy at the time the sailors are in A school. There's more on this aspect elsewhere in this thread, but the better they do on their PT and tests, the higher their ranking in school, the more choices they may have.

Comment by Rita Ivey on November 13, 2015 at 10:27am

My daughter is in the process of enlisting and is wanting to become an MA. She wants a job where she's not sitting behind a desk all day doing paperwork or staring at a computer screen. I was wanting to find out more about MA and what they do exactly. And also, how hard was it for anyone else's son or daughter to get MA? She's pretty much stuck on getting MA and doesn't want anything else.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• …
• 164
• Next ›
• Page