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TRYING A VARIETY OF 'A' SCHOOLS BEFORE DECIDING ON A RATE

Posted by STEVE B on July 15, 2012 at 6:17pm in A or C School

IT SEEMS LIKE MOST RECRUITS HERE HAVE A RATE ALREADY CHOSEN. I KNOW MY SON IS STAYING AT GREAT LAKES FOR 'A' SCHOOL BUT ACCORDING TO HIM (AND HIS RECRUITER) HE IS APPARENTLY DOING SOME TYPE OF PROGRAM WHERE HE GETS TO TRY DIFFERENT SCHOOLS FOR 2-3 WEEKS AT A TIME BEFORE DECIDING WHAT HE WANTS TO DO. DOES THAT EVEN SOUND RIGHT? ANYONE ELSE DOING SOMETHING SIMILAR?

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  • Frank Rossetti November 4, 2012 at 6:42pm

    How did this turn out for her?  My son is also in the PACT program and his PIR is 11/9 followed by three weeks at the Great Lakes.  I have heard that most who are in the program are Boatswains mates for two years.  Interested to see if this is true.  My son was hoping to be a MA at some point with the NAvy. 
     
    Michael Le'au said:

    My daughter is presently in the same program, she is in the PACT-S (seaman) and is going to remain at Great Lakes for another 3-4 weeks and tryout one of the 3 jobs.  She also went in "undesignated". They told her during processing that she can choose which one of the three jobs she prefers but I have read too many things on various sites that it really what the Navy needs will be where she will go. When she worte, her RATE counselor, if that's what they are called, said that she can choose one of three places as her duty station, San Diego, Honolulu and one other place that I forgot, but it sounded great at the time but I still see it as where the Navy needs her than what she wants.  Alot of relatives and friends who were in the Navy all say that one should never go in UNDESIGNATED because they will get the most unwanted jobs. My daughter has a good attitude and says that she doesn't care where the Navy puts her, she joined the military to serve so she is happy that she has something to do.  She was in JROTC in HS for 4 years so she already is an E-3 so what ever rate she goes into, can't be all that bad as an E-3, at least she is not starting at the bottom of some chief's list for all the bad jobs that they may have. 

     

    I also asked the same question that you did back in November, but there were not many people who knew what the PACT program was, Rick is the first one that I have seen who has replied to this.

     

    My Recruit's PIR is July 27th and she begins her PACT program on July 30th.

  • STEVE B July 18, 2012 at 8:15pm

    I WAS JUST LOGGING IN TO POST THAT I CALLED HIS RECRUITER TODAY (HE'S BEEN AWESOME TO MY FAMILY IN ALL THIS) AND FOUND THAT MY SON IS, IN FACT, IN THE PACT PROGRAM. I DIDN'T GET THE DETAILS YOU PROVIDED HERE - THANK YOU, SIR. I GUESS THEY HAD THIS PROGRAM (CALLED SEAMAN APPRENTICESHIP) IN THE 80'S. IT WAS SUSPENDED IN THE 90'S AND EARLY 00'S AND REINSTATED (AS YOU SAID) IN '07. IT APPEARS, AS MR. LE'AU REPLIED, THAT INITIALLY, ONE IS ASSIGNED BASED ON "NEEDS OF THE NAVY" BUT I WAS TOLD THAT, BASED ON MY SON'S SCORES, HE SHOULD HAVE QUITE A VARIETY OF OPTIONS FROM WHICH TO CHOOSE DURING THIS TIME. I GUESS I HAD IT HALF RIGHT - WHICH IS A STEP UP FOR ME! THANK YOU, JIM...
     
    NavyDads Co-Admin, Jim said:

    Ok, here's the skinny on PACT. I Googled it and found this information from the Navy. This was done back in 2007.

    Professional Apprenticeship Career Tracks (PACT) is a program designed to enlist Sailors into a monitored general apprenticeship program that provides Apprentice level formal training and on the job training that leads to a viable career field within two years on board their first Permanent Duty Station. Undesignated Seamen will be accessed into the PACT Program commencing FY-08. Apprentice Airmen and Firemen will participate in FY-09.

    PACT will help us break Sailor's careers down in order to help them know where they are headed, said Chief Navy Counselor (AW/SW) Jeff Sabia, of Carl Vinson's command career counselor office. We will be able to keep track of the Sailor's progress and where their career takes them.

    According to the Navy Counselors Association (NCA), one of the main focuses of PACT is emphasizing a two-way commitment between the Sailor and the Navy. By implementing aviation (A-PACT), engineering (E-PACT), and surface (S-PACT) professional apprenticeship career tracks, the NCA has asserted that the Navy will be able to better assist in the personal and professional development of its Sailors. The Career Information Management System (CIMS) will be used to monitor Career Development Boards and Fleet RIDE rating eligibility screening will continue to be mandated to ensure PACT Sailors are placed into career paths they are eligible for.

  • STEVE B July 17, 2012 at 8:44pm

    I PROBABLY SHOULD KNOW THE ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS - AND MAY HAVE ASKED THEM OF MY SON BEFORE HE LEFT - BUT I THOUGHT I HAD THE PLAN ALL FIGURED OUT. ULTIMATELY, I SUPPOSE IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT HE CHOOSES, AS LONG AS HE'S HAPPY WITH IT. HE'S A SHARP KID SO I FIGURE HE'S GOT A HANDLE ON IT. GUESS I'LL FIND OUT MORE ON 10AUG AT HIS PIR....
     
    Rick Liske said:

    Could it be that your son went undesignated rate? Did he go in as a Pact seaman, fireman, or airman undesignated? My son went as an undesignated airman.

  • STEVE B July 17, 2012 at 8:33pm

    THANK YOU, SIR. I MIGHT HAVE ASKED MORE QUESTIONS OF MY SON BEFORE HE LEFT, BUT I THOUGHT I HAD A PRETTY GOOD GRASP ON WHAT THE PLAN WAS. HE GOT HIGH ASVAB SCORES (HE GOT THE BRAINS. HIS BROTHER GOT THE BRAWN) SO I GUESS HE HAD A PRETTY DECENT SELECTION OF JOBS. HE'S HIS OWN MAN NOW, SO I GUESS IF HE WANTS TO SIGN UP TO CLEAN LATRINES FOR 4 YEARS THEN THAT'S UP TO HIM. I TRIED TO GET HIM TO GET INTO AVIATION, AS I DID IN THE NATIONAL GUARD, BUT IT WASN'T ON THE TOP OF HIS LIST, I GUESS. AS MUCH AS I TRY TO FIGHT IT, I ADMIT IT IS DIFFICULT NOT TO TRY TO LIVE VICARIOUSLY THROUGH YOUR SON(S). 
     
    Michael Le'au said:

    My daughter is presently in the same program, she is in the PACT-S (seaman) and is going to remain at Great Lakes for another 3-4 weeks and tryout one of the 3 jobs.  She also went in "undesignated". They told her during processing that she can choose which one of the three jobs she prefers but I have read too many things on various sites that it really what the Navy needs will be where she will go. When she worte, her RATE counselor, if that's what they are called, said that she can choose one of three places as her duty station, San Diego, Honolulu and one other place that I forgot, but it sounded great at the time but I still see it as where the Navy needs her than what she wants.  Alot of relatives and friends who were in the Navy all say that one should never go in UNDESIGNATED because they will get the most unwanted jobs. My daughter has a good attitude and says that she doesn't care where the Navy puts her, she joined the military to serve so she is happy that she has something to do.  She was in JROTC in HS for 4 years so she already is an E-3 so what ever rate she goes into, can't be all that bad as an E-3, at least she is not starting at the bottom of some chief's list for all the bad jobs that they may have. 

     

    I also asked the same question that you did back in November, but there were not many people who knew what the PACT program was, Rick is the first one that I have seen who has replied to this.

     

    My Recruit's PIR is July 27th and she begins her PACT program on July 30th.

  • Michael Le'au July 17, 2012 at 3:03pm

    My daughter is presently in the same program, she is in the PACT-S (seaman) and is going to remain at Great Lakes for another 3-4 weeks and tryout one of the 3 jobs.  She also went in "undesignated". They told her during processing that she can choose which one of the three jobs she prefers but I have read too many things on various sites that it really what the Navy needs will be where she will go. When she worte, her RATE counselor, if that's what they are called, said that she can choose one of three places as her duty station, San Diego, Honolulu and one other place that I forgot, but it sounded great at the time but I still see it as where the Navy needs her than what she wants.  Alot of relatives and friends who were in the Navy all say that one should never go in UNDESIGNATED because they will get the most unwanted jobs. My daughter has a good attitude and says that she doesn't care where the Navy puts her, she joined the military to serve so she is happy that she has something to do.  She was in JROTC in HS for 4 years so she already is an E-3 so what ever rate she goes into, can't be all that bad as an E-3, at least she is not starting at the bottom of some chief's list for all the bad jobs that they may have. 

     

    I also asked the same question that you did back in November, but there were not many people who knew what the PACT program was, Rick is the first one that I have seen who has replied to this.

     

    My Recruit's PIR is July 27th and she begins her PACT program on July 30th.

  • Rick Liske - Proud Navy Dad July 17, 2012 at 11:39am

    Could it be that your son went undesignated rate? Did he go in as a Pact seaman, fireman, or airman undesignated? My son went as an undesignated airman.

  • STEVE B July 15, 2012 at 11:19pm

    PAUL, I SEE FROM YOUR BIO THAT YOU'RE FROM THE SIERRAS. I'M IN PLACERVILLE. 
     
    NavyDads Admin (Paul) said:

    have never heard of such a program....

  • STEVE B July 15, 2012 at 11:00pm

    OK, THEN. I GUESS I HAVE TO STUDY UP ON THIS. MY WIFE DOESN'T THINK IT'S QUITE AS I EXPLAINED IT, BUT SHE AGREED OUR SON HAD NOT BEEN REQUIRED TO SELECT A JOB BEFORE BOOT CAMP. I'LL HAVE TO TALK TO HIS RECRUITER (I'M NOT BLAMING ANYTHING ON HIM, BY THE WAY. HE'S BEEN GREAT TO US) AND SEE WHAT I'M MISSING. OUR SON'S RECRUITER SAID "THEY" WOULD BE "FIGHTING OVER HIM" WHEN HE GRADUATES BOOT CAMP. I TOOK THAT TO MEAN THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE VARIOUS TRAINING PROGRAMS/SCHOOLS "RECRUITING" (NO PUN INTENDED) GRADUATES. THEN AGAIN, MAYBE I'LL JUST LEAVE THE RECRUITER ALONE. MY SON'S A MAN NOW - I'M SURE HE'S GOT IT ALL FIGURED OUT. EVERY TIME I GO LOOKING FOR ANSWERS (TO ANYTHING) I END UP FINDING MORE QUESTIONS... STORY OF MY LIFE. THANK YOU, MEN.

  • NavyDads Admin (Paul) July 15, 2012 at 6:24pm

    have never heard of such a program....

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