Everyday life of an aecf?!?!?!

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Permalink Reply by Tiffany_O on November 4, 2009 at 10:40am

I know I've been giving you answers, in every forum that I've seen you post about this. Again, I stress patience, because your husband isn't even in basic training and you are about to give yourself a heart attack because you are worrying so much. As an AECF, when in basic training, the Navy will decide whether he will be ET or FC (FC has the longer A school which is 30 wks for my husband, and most of the time they have to wait for schools). I've heard from my husband, any schooling that is longer than 20wks they will move your family up there...after basic he will go to indoctrination, and they have certain phases that they are in that they progress to, in Great Lakes, at least from my husband, he says that on his ship (living quarters) they only have 2 phases. He is phase 2, gets more liberty during the weekend, can wear civilian clothes during liberty, Anti M has a post on what certain priveledges they have while in the diff phases and how long and what qualifications they have to meet in order to progress from each phase. Sailors have duty every 4 days, which on duty they can't leave the ship at all, other than when on meal break. Not sure about when he starts living with you. When wives say they hate the Navy, in my opinion, it's mostly because of the hatred they have for being away from your husband for periods of time. You need to prepare yourself for a lot of 'Hurry up and Wait' which I hope for you is self explanatory. As soon as he gets out of school and gets his permanent duty station, once there, I assume he will be going to sea. I'm not going to tell you how long, but again, you need to prepare yourself mentally because the first time to sea for him definately won't be the last, especially as AECF. Go to Military Onesource, Navy website, be curious, google will become your best friend. I've tried as much as I can to help with all your questions, whether or not you heed the answers, is your decision.

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Permalink Reply by Brandonw409 on November 4, 2009 at 10:34pm

School has changed a lot since I was there! All the married guys went home every night and only had to stay when they had duty. I don't remember them having to wait for phases of liberty and all that. Us single sailors had to but from what I remember the married ones had it made!
Once he finishes his first school, called "A" school, he will move on to his "C" school. There, it will be way more relaxed and he will defiantley be home every night he doesn't have duty. It's like going to college but you have to stay over night every now and again. I was married in "C" school but not "A" school and that's how it was for me. I didn't even stay over night if the watch I had wasn't too late. Again, things could have changed!
And as far as the ship life goes, it's not bad. The ship gets underway randomly and the deploments are scheduled years in advance. As soon as he gets on board they will let him know of all the underway dates so he can be prepared. Also when he gets orders to the ship he can call his sponsor and they can let him know the underway dates before he even checks in. It's not that bad so don't worry! We have the great life as AECF...unless your gear is broken!

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Permalink Reply by Anti M on November 5, 2009 at 12:22pm

LOL, I was an ET, I know about broken gear! And yes, the schools are far stricter with liberty than before. The good news is that once I hit my command in the fleet, our duty rotation was twice a month or so, much less than four days. Four section duty rotation is fairly common, so anything less is a nice bonus!

The married sailors must now put in a "Live Ashore" package requesting permission to live of base with their spouse. He should ask about it immediately after he gets checked into his A school.

Don't sweat the deployments yet. They will happen when they happen. The best you can do is to prepare yourself to be independent and mentally strong. Learn as much as you can, knowledge is power and power is confidence. Besides, discussing ship's movement is an OPSEC violation. I can provide the link if you have not yet learned about OPSEC and the security of our loved ones.


I did hate being apart. I did not hate the Navy for that, it is the nature of the service. All I could control was my own reaction to the situation. I decided to make the best of it, to be patient. Each individual will find their own way, or not.

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Permalink Reply by Amanda(proudnavywife) on November 5, 2009 at 11:18am

I don't think it is bad at all. I moved to the Great Lakes a little early, but next week my husband will be living off base with me. And he will be home every night except for his duty days. Honestly the hardest part for me was boot camp. But that doesn't last forever. He will either be an ET or FC, My husband got to choose in boot camp, but from what I hear not everyone does, but he chose to be a FC. ET school is actually longer by 2 weeks. But all the AECF guys are put on hold for a long time. You'll probably be in the Great Lakes area for about a year. But it's not bad because he will be able to live with you. ETs usually have a couple C schools where as (as far as I've seen) FCs only have one, that last anywhere from 3-9 months. Then ya'll will get stationed. I know it will be hard in the future when my husband gets deployed but it will all work out and be okay. Oh I'm not sure if it will always happen like this but our recruit told my husband he will usually be deployed for 6 months at a time. That will be rough but it wont be until almost 2 years from now. So you have to stop worrying so much. Oh also you can chose to live on base or off base during your husband's A school, but to live on base, there is more of a wait, also if you live off base you will have more money, b/c of left over BAH $. I did a TON of research while my husband was in boot camp, and by the time he got out I knew more about what was going to happen than he did! So please use the internet, there are many resources out there, and like Tiffany said google will be your best friend. Also just read all the forums and discussion groups here, I know the AECF wives club one helped me TREMENDOUSLY!! Anyway, try not to worry so much, it will all be fine and you'll be with your husband more than you think. But for now just focus and enjoy all the time you do get before he leaves.

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Permalink Reply by Melinda Q on November 6, 2009 at 9:45pm

I have what you might consider good news...my son is an ET and just finished A school the end of September. He is scheduled for 3 C schools in Virginia starting in January. He will finish in June and then he has orders for shore duty on Whidbey Island, Washington at Tactical Support Communications Center. They don't ALWAYS get stationed on ships. My oldest son has been in the Navy for over 15 years. He is married and has 4 kids. Once the sailors are on ships there is an extensive support system for the wives and families of the sailors on deployment. The Navy takes good care of their own!

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Permalink Reply by Mary, Proud Mom of Nick on November 13, 2009 at 3:23pm

Hey Josh's wife,
I've been out of town for a few weeks so I'm very behind BUT I was a Navy wife for 10 years - hubby was an FC and now our son is an FC and is stationed in Hawaii. Yes, deployments can suck but there is so many good things that came with Navy life that I would not change a thing and certainly would do it all over again! How often and how long your hubby will be deployed will depend on where he is stationed and other needs of the Navy. Navy life is not for everyone but you truly can have some great experiences, travel, meet wonderful people and make memories and friends that will last a life time.

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Permalink Reply by EmilyFCfiancee on November 16, 2009 at 2:40pm

Hey Josh's Wife,
My fiancee just graduated and is now in A school at Great Lakes for FC school. Here is one good thing to look forward to, seeing them again is like falling in love with them all over again. All I could do was stare at Jake, and how much he had changed. Spending any time with them becomes special, and it makes you cherish every single moment. Don't worry, all you can do is breathe. It helps a lot. And having people to talk to, especially one's who relate to the situation, can help more than anything else, when you're having a bad day, or when you have really good news to share, it's wonderful. Just wait for the day that you get to see his graduation, you will cry. :) Happy tears, cause the really hard part is over. Make a count down, that helped me SO much. I hope this helps a little, it is hard, but you become so much stronger in the long run..

Emily

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