Gulfport "A" School Training

Posted by Kevin McHugh Jr. on January 17, 2012 at 4:38pm

Hello,

 

My son has PIR this Friday (1/20/12) and leaves for Gulfport, MS for "A" School on 1/21. Can anyone tell me what the 12 week training consists of. I have been posting weekly updates of Navy Bootcamp for family members across the US and Canada and want to continue with his "A" School. Maybe a website that describes it weekly? I found a few that described the 8 weeks at Great Lakes. Hoping there may be something similar for Gulfport.

 

Thanks, I am new to NavyDads and this is my first post. Go Navy!

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Replies

  • SSG LoGiudice December 17, 2012 at 1:20am
    My daughter is in A School in Gulfport right now. She says they PT at least 3x a week sometimes 5x per week. Long days. 0530 to sometimes last muster around 1900-2100 hours. There is watch, hands-on, classes, and more classes. She is in the first 3 weeks and just started concrete and masonry work, it was great hearing her tell me about all the tools she is using,is. Chop saw, radial arm saw, and circular saw. I hope your some has some experience with these tools because my daughter didn't really show any interest, so didn't get much experience with me. I'm really proud and all the discrete math and algebra is coming in handy. She states she has to memorize the fractions on a tape measure.. I dont even know them, give me a minute and I can write down every fraction on the tape measure, but by memory. They have down time each evening, study sessions, some mandatory. They can't leave the base during phase I, however her class did some volunteer work and all the volunteers got to leave the base. I love hearing about her doing volunteer work, this is going to be so good for her. She has requested Port Hueneme. She won't find out til the end of her class, but we are crossing our fingers.
  • Garret E Fields December 16, 2012 at 12:39am

    My son reported A school as a welder. He reported to Gulfport on 1 Dec 2012. 

  • NavyDads Admin (Paul) November 16, 2012 at 11:00am

    you are exactly right Steve....my bad!  I keep forgetting about the Navy pages......it's been a tough week at work and am not firing on all cylinders this weekend

  • Steve Hilty November 16, 2012 at 10:36am

    Not trying to to push FB, but info on Navy FB's is usually battalion (ship) specific with pictures and current updates on deployments. ND is a great site and is loaded with good info but does not have this "personal" info for families who want to know where their sailors are and what they are doing beyond Boot Camp. It would be a tremendous task to update ND on all deployments going on around the world. We (I), as parents of sailors around the world enjoy any media that allows us access to this information.

  • NavyDads Admin (Paul) November 16, 2012 at 8:22am

    here's an idea....rather than push folks to FB, why not update ND instead....jus saying--- we put a lot of time an effort into this site

  • Steve Hilty November 16, 2012 at 8:16am

    My son has been in the 'Bees for a little over 2 years and likes it. Advancing in rate seems to be stagnant at the moment which is frustrating to many of the sailors. My son is an EA out of Gulfport  and has been to Aghanistan and is now in Spain. He is due back in the states in Spring for a few months then heads out to the Pacific. In pictures that I've seen I believe there are quite a few women in the Seabees. When she gets to Gulfport there are Facebook pages for the different battalions (My sons is in NMCB One) so you can keep up with whats going on and also sign up for the Seabee Courier another source of info out of Gulfport with news of whats going on in the battalions. Good luck to your daughter, she is in one of the best groups in the Navy.

  • SSG LoGiudice November 15, 2012 at 11:40pm
    Hello everyone, I'm a bit late to the party, you know what they say; better late then never. My daughter is a recent graduate of boot camp, she chose to be a BU, I told her she should try and learn the electrician field if the opportunity presents itself. I was an electrician for 5 years and really enjoyed it. What surprised me is that very few women enter as Seabee's. I am happy she entered the trades, as a former Marine--I was looking for a similar MOS, what I found was combat engineer...did anyone else find this to be true. I wish there was some congruency between the various services. They build and destroy structures, bridges and buildings. What amazed me is the amount of humanitarian work they do, I met 6 Seabee's fresh back from deployment in Hawaii...and they shared some of their stories with us. Our kids are in for a great time...they will see some really poverty stricken areas and get to do quite a bit of traveling. I'd like to hear what other people have heard.
  • Kevin McHugh Jr. January 17, 2012 at 5:50pm

    Thank you both - Great information. I should have joined NavyDads sooner.

  • Steve Hilty January 17, 2012 at 5:40pm

    When my son first went to Gulfport the first training he recieved was ECS (Expediditionary Combat Skills) which consists of map reading, weapons training, etc.That seems to run anywhere from 4/6 weeks at that time, a year ago. My son also is a EA and his "A" school was at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO.

  • Kevin McHugh Jr. January 17, 2012 at 5:25pm

    Jim - He is going to Gulfport, MS on Saturday. I am not certain if he will be an Engineering Aid or a Builder. I will find out Friday.

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