The kid is off to A School with a bit of a delay. He completed his Airman Program and was scheduled for Dec. A School. He rolled his ankle in early Oct., had to battle through testing with a bad wheel but made it through. His superiors want him at 100% before they send him to EC, so he will be joining the class in Feb. Nothing better than a little more time in AK.<!-- Edit -->

Last Edited : 10/26/2009 10:06:42 PM GMT

Pakzone08.
Think of it as a good thing. He be 100% when he goes.
He wouldn't risk any further injury because he's not healed 100%.
Feb in E-City is still cold, but each day gets better.
Your sons determination will mean a lot the instructors at EC.

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Yes, wouldn't want to be anything less than 100% moving into A School. I got the feeling talking to him they liked his determination in Sitka also.

JK et al,

Just got great news from my son who is in his 16th week of the 18 week AST A-school. They had their final swim test today, a multiple survivor rescue, and he passed. Yeah, what a relief and God gets all the glory.

In two weeks we are off to see the latest group of AST (7 in all) get their crows.

Wow what a great Christmas present !!!

Richard

Woot!!!!

Thats great! i remember my multi scenario a lot of fun. Its stressful though I was last out of 17 guys one of the biggest groups graduated in the Navy, I was class leader and we had to go last on everything so the anticipation almost killed me lol. So now i have to do it all over again cant wait though.

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"The only easy day was yesterday"

Totally AWESOME!!!

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Congratulations to your son, a great accomplishment. My son starts A school in Feb. Praying for the same results.

Richard
Congratulations to you and your son.

Sorry I haven't sent you the 75-09 DVD yet.
My youngest son needs to make a better copy.

Remember this graduations is a one time shot.
We had 2 graduates and the front was empty but you have 7 with their families.
It's also informal, get there early, get the best seats up front.
Don't be afraid to take pictures and video, it's allowed.

Afterward, let your son show you around, it's very interesting to see.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and yours.

And a MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

JK

p.s. Richard, do not kiss JOBOO on the lips.

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Wow what a whirlwind couple of days, where to begin.

First we went to Elizabeth City for class 77-10's graduation from AST A-School. The graduation ceremony was GREAT. The AST class (seven graduates) shared their graduation with an AMT class (16 graduates), it took about an hour to recognize all of the graduates. My son, Kevin, was the honor graduate of class 77-10. The instructors said that it is rare to graduate a class of this size (7), normally they only graduate class sizes between 2 and 5.

My son said it was the hardest and most rewarding experience he has ever done/accomplished. The men who go through that intensive mental and physical training are to be commended. Attached are two photos, one is the entire class in their dry suits the day of their first jump from the helo, and the second one is my son's first jump. Pretty awesome!

Our second adventure was the graduation of our son-in-law from Cape May class Quebec 182. God worked a couple of small miracles getting us to the east coast and twice in the span of 9 days. We just missed the record snow storm on Friday (12/18/2009) and on our way back for the boot camp graduation we didn't experience any delays in our airline reservations. Our son-in-law graduated with the Leadership award and the physical fitness award.

One of the Coast Guard's newest AST3 was able to present one of the newest non-rates his certificate and to boot the non-rate rendered the PO3 a salute. (The non-rate is trying to go OCS, so the roles may be reversed if he is successful).

Thanks for all your prayers and words of encouragement.

Merry Christmas
Richard<!-- Edit -->

Last Edited : 12/24/2009 4:54:23 PM GMT

Woops....only allowed to attach one picture at a time. Second picture attached.

Richard
Congratulations and Merry Christmas.
I was wundering when we'd hear from you.
You and Kevin must be proud.
I'm glad everything went well with your trip.

Write you later.

p.s. My son went surfing at Fossil Beach on Kodiak on Christmas Eve day, a tradition in our house, (surfing that is), with two other AST's. Water tempt. was 38 degrees.

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Coastie Dad & Mom and Sunny

Congrats to the graduates!

Sunny, has your son had any rescues or any interesting experiences?

No rescues, but lots of training. He had about 12 jumps one day and ripped his dry suit in the Helo. The cold water numbed his legs and he had to stop. There are about 18 ASTs in Kodiak and they rotate. It may take a while when you get a real rescue. He said it takes about 6 months to get qualified as a full fledged AST. Wings over your ribbons will signify that.
He's having the time of his life. They climbed the Pyramid and snowboarded down most of the way, Typical NE conditions, packed ice/snow. He's doing a lot of hiking up and down mountains to keep in shape. They went surfing on Fossil Beach in 38 degree water. He didn't say how the waves were on Christmas Eve. He still has to see his first live bear. He told us the Christmas party was a blast. Right now he's babysitting an Alaskan Malamute in his CG friends house while they are away in the lower 48 visiting. All the personel are great and pull together. He said Kodiak is beautiful, even in winter.

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Coastie Dad & Mom and Sunny

I had just started working out based on the airman syllabus and rolled my ankle...bummer!

I am going to try to take the PT 'in-test' again on Monday, and see how it goes. I have yet to put my name on the AST 'A' school list...still on the edge between AMT and AST. I am a mech/gearhead, but I also want to be on the other end of the hoist wire...so I'm having trouble deciding which route to take. I know the AMT will be easier, but I'm afraid if I go that route I'll be forever envious of the guy I am hoisting out of the water.

Tell your son I'm looking for an old worn out set of fins and a beat up mask if he runs into any...would be helpful in my workouts prior to the airman program.

USCG do you want to work for a living or workout for a living?? that is the real question.

USCG
Pray about it. Follow your heart. AMT or AST, it must be a good fit for you.
Do your best in which ever you choose.
It's hard to give your 100% when in your mind you say coulda done this or schoulda done that.
Work onto the LORD first.

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AST3 Coastie. Dad & Mom and Sunny

Southern...I wouldn't mind getting paid to stay in shape.

Sunny, good point.

On a side note - the AMT list was closed today until further notice. Too many applicants, not enough billets. So, AST it is!

cool well i just got my name on the list last week im 103 we will probably be in the same ast class if it all works out. hit me up

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"The only easy day was yesterday"

He's on his way!! My son left at 12:40 AM today for AST "A" School in E-City. He got to hang out at home for a week before leaving for School. He completed his Airman Program in Sitka AK. Made some lifetime friends in the barracks and really liked all his instructors.
For those of you on the list, he graduated BC March 21st 2008 and he is starting A School Feb. 16th 2010. He did have a 2 month delay due to injury's while in his Airman program. He is 100% and ready to take it on.

Best of luck! Keep us posted on how he is doing! :)

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pakzone08,

Congratulations on your son's advancement, the next eighteen weeks will be challenging and rewarding. Your son will be tested the very first day and learn a lot and grow a lot. Remember to keep him in prayer everyday.

Richard

Thank You Macie and Proud Pop, yes I have been praying for him for a while. I think about him everyday and what he is going through (very proud myself). His Grandma prays for him as well and I do believe hers are worth more (LOL).
Macie I will do my best to keep updated, if he calls or texts.I know he will be busy and exhausted but hopefully he will call on the weekends. If he doesn't call I figure no news is good news. If I only receive 1 call I hope its the one he tells me he made it.<!-- Edit -->

Last Edited : 2/13/2010 9:37:25 PM GMT

Pak,

That is the most important call! It's nice to hear all the other stuff but the "I did it, I'm graduating" call is the only one that matters! We'll all be waiting for that post in about 17 or 18 weeks! :) :)

Macie

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pakzone, congrats to him!

I'm anxious to hear how it goes. I'm in a cast right now and cant train, fish, hunt, or work for that matter. The desk job I've been doing lately is giving me cabin fever like crazy! So, it's good to hear stories like this to keep me motivated.

Best of luck to your son!

USCGforMe, I'll do my best to keep you motivated!!


Sunny, I'm hopeful that he will call on the weekends at least. It took him 4 weeks to call when he was in the Airman Program. He is one that will put the blinders on and just continue to move forward. But once he calls he doesn't stop talking, so we'll see what happens.

Got a call Thurs. night at 9:30 (pacific time), wasn't expecting that. Asked him why he was calling at that time he said they were training until 9 pm. He said he was doing well, working hard. There are 10 in his class including 1 female, he said she was kickin' ass.
He has some classmates that needed to go back to elementary school to learn how to count to 5. Doing warm-ups in the pool, they were doing 250 yds. of over/unders which is 5 laps. A couple of guys only did 4. So that earned them all another 250 yds.
He is staying positive, taking one day at a time.

Our son is #22 on AST A list. How long should he expect before he is sent to the Airman program?