School Days

I thought it'd be useful to write down what it's like at Apprentice Technical Training School. It'd quickly describe the last month or so... and the few weeks to follow.

My first reaction about my schedule is that it makes no sense... at my barracks or at school.

I wake up between 0500 and 0530, dress in my working (digital camo) uniform, muster in the lounge at 0600... leave for school at 0645, arrive before 0700. Right there I've been up for more than an hour to do what takes less than 15 minutes. :)

We wait for our instructor, Mr. Shockley, outside our room. He has a meeting before class every morning, and has to check out the Oscilloscope test probes from the equipment room downstairs. Our class leader tells us to fall in, and we find our station (desk), hang our parkas on the backs of our chairs, and log in as we take off watches, rings & ID tags and then roll up sleeves or take the blouse off altogether. We're called to attention to say the Sailor's Creed before getting to work.

So at 0710 the lesson is ready to begin.

Most people out of the 20+ students in my class are either Electronics Techs, Fire Controlmen, Interior Communications Techs, Gunner's Mates or Minemen. The only other Sonar Tech completed her course yesterday. And we're all at different places in our lessons, having started at different times. My course has all four sections of modules: (math review didn't count) Direct Current, Alternating Current, Analog Circuits, Digital Circuits and then finally Advanced Electronics. The number of mods in each section is much less for me though, than say an ET. So I will complete my course sooner than they will complete theirs. They say my course should take 37 days... but that's rather optimistic!

They have a schedule for each module that is supposed to be kept up with... but it's nearly impossible! We have mandatory 15-20 minute breaks at 0800 and 0945 and a super long lunch from 1115 to 1230. Before we moved from upstairs (first room 321, then room 325... third deck, where I had a window seat looking over Lake Michigan) we had even another break: 0810, 1010, and after lunch (1145-1300). What's terrible is that school is over at 1430 M, W & Th, meaning by 2:30 in the afternoon our day is over. Friday is a bit better because we can keep working until 1500, and Tuesday is best where we stay until 1600.

My course (and my entire class) is self-paced. We work at computers arranged in a ring around the room and click through lessons, take 10-question quizzes after each lesson, and a 25-question block test (BT) after each group of lessons. There's even a post test (PT) with 85 questions for a section after all the groups are completed. Up until today we've been able to use the notes we write out during quizzes, but now we can't use them for anything but studying. :)

Along with these multiple choice tests, there are also Performance Tests, where to practice taking readings on circuit cards (attached to a trainer that controls signals) using test equipment (from a multimeter or oscilloscope) and typing in what is measured on the computer. Answers have to be exact in order to pass... and these are pass/fail.

The chiefs and petty officers that run the school are a little crazy sometimes. For a while they wouldn't let us leave until all the oscilloscope probes had been accounted for... And before that we used to be able to leave whenever our instructors let us out, but after a few weeks of that they'd send us back to standing in front of our class until all classes were done... and then there'd be a traffic jam getting down the ladderwells and out the door. Oh, well... I guess. :)

And then the rooms have to be cleaned every day... so two lucky Sailors in each class get to sweep and swab each day. That's been really frustrating for me, being a couple days behind in the first place. But ever since getting back from Christmas stand-down I've been decidedly less worried about being behind. The Lord will work it out and I will do my best. And putting it in the Lord's hands helped quite a bit.

I'm sitting at a 93% average... and hopefully I will keep that up or do better.

Jp