My husband has to report to Fort Gordon on April 2, and from what I've been reading it's hell. We were told he'd start classes the week he got there and would be finished by August 2. But I've read where people are stuck waiting for classes to start for months? We were told the army wont move us there because his training isn't longer than 20 wks. But the kids and I were going to move near there so we could see him when he has weekend passes. If he's stuck there for months will they move us there? We were also told that he could have his computer and cell phone, whats up with that?
Ton's of questions here people sorry, but now you all got me wondering. Cant sit here and not ask. Please tell me anything you can about that place and 25u active duty. Thanks Amanda

My son is presently attending AIT at Ft. Gordon. You can find some useful information on the 15th Signal Bde web site here http://www.gordon.army.mil/sigbde15/ . I attended AIT at Ft. Gordon many years ago, and it was actually a good place to be stationed at that time. At present it seems to be very overcrowded especially in the IET units, and this causes some problems at times (I understand from your other post that your husband is just finishing basic, that makes him an IET student). I don’t think that I would count on him getting into a class as soon as he arrives, my son arrived there in October and waited two months to get into a class, he tells me that the wait is longer now, however, he is a 25B not a 25U and the wait might be less in your husband’s MOS, I don’t know. One thing is definite, no one starts class as soon as they arrive, they go on a one week field exercise called FOB that starts on Wednesday after they arrive, so that takes up the first two weeks. They are allowed to have cell phones, but only for use during non-duty hours, they are not allowed to have laptops. I hope this is helpful.

yes that helps a ton, i've read some really odd stuff lately, though and it has me a bit concerned talk about gangs, sexual assualts, etc all on base. Just doesn't seem like the military would let it get as bad as I've heard it is. I was able to call Fort Gordon today and was told my husband might have a three to four month wait before he starts his classes. That's horrible. The boys and I are moving down there through to spend what little time he will be allowed to spend with us. The babies only 18 months and I don't want him to forget his daddy. If it means me giving up friends here to have my family together twice a month, it's better than not seeing him for 6 months.

From what my son tells me, 4 months is the typical wait for 25B classes right now, I am sorry to hear that 25U is no better. The main thing that your husband needs to work on is passing his PT test, that is the primary factor for being advanced from phase 4 to phase 5. As I understand it, his first PT test will be after about 4 weeks. He will not be allowed to go off post when he is phase 4, you may be allowed to visit him on post when he is phase 4, I was in Charlotte, NC on business 3 weeks after my son arrived at Ft. Gordon, I drove down on a Sunday and was able to sign him out for the day. He wasn't allowed to go off post, but we spent the day talking and driving around post finding some of the places that I remembered from when I was there. I am sorry to have to say that, in general, Ft. Gordon looked a lot better in 1972 then it does today, but that was 35 years ago and all of the school buildings and the barracks in "brick city" were only a year or two old then, so time takes a toll. It is kind of a shame that they decided to demolish the old HQ building, I never saw the inside but it always looked well maintained from the outside, it was a big white southern mansion style building with columns in the front, I have some pictures of it with the huge garrison flag flying out front, it looked great. Best of luck to you and your husband.

Ahhh that is a shame. I'm so in love with old building like that. I'm not sure why but they fasinate me. I want a house like that someday. Maybe I'll get lucky and get one in my far away future. My aunt has one like that it's really old but she's taken great care of it. I can spend hours just dreaming about what it would have been like when it was first built. Sorry you hit one of my weak spots. but don't tell anyone I have one of those. Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me this. I really appreciate it.

My husband is a 25U at Ft. Gordon and he got there Jan 3rd. He waited 2 weeks for classes but he is also ARNG. There's some rumor that if you are ARNG the state is paying for you to be there so you are put in class faster. My husband was one of the few people selected for class. There are people who are ARNG that have been @ for 4 months and still not in class. On the flip side some of those guys’ families are living on base with them now. They may rethink you and the family coming once they realize the wait time.

Also I went to visit my husband while he was on a weekend pass. Not sure how your getting there but make sure its refundable. When I got there they were on lock-down for the weekend because of a fight. I was livid but I am 2nd to Uncle Sam for at least the next 6 years. I was able to see him later that day once my husband explained I was in town. Some of the DS are nice and some are different.

Good Luck to you!

I'm currently a soldier at Ft. Gordon in the 25S SATCOM school. Let me tell you, this place is run like crap. The barracks are so overcrowded the DS's cant keep tabs on everybody. Often nothing gets done unless you are constantly asking. There are'nt "gangs" here that I know about, but sexual assults happen whenever soldiers go out drinking on the weekend and people get so drunk they make stupid decisions. It took me a month to get classed, and that was one of the shortest waits. Luckily, I have the fortune to live off post with my family now, but it took a few months. I had that in my orders because my MOS is almost 30 wks long, but you might try to get an off post packet approved because of the extreme wait time. It wouldn't be till he was 5+ though. What unit is your husband in. I'm in D/447.

All I know so far is that he's going into 25U. His training is 17wks once it starts.
I've made up my mind that I'm not going to stay here while he's down there if there's the chance we could see him on the weekends. Hell everyother weekend would be wonderful. The boys are really doing ok without him, but if me giving up everything I have here to be with him is going to make the boys happier and T.J. then I'm going to do. I just switched my classes around so I can take them strictly online so that makes me feel better. I was worried about having to switch to a different college and really don't want to lose any of the credits i've earned
T.J. wants us to move down there in May. He's supose to report to Fort Gordon on March 29 after graduation. And so far I've been told that he's looking at a three to four month wait before his classes start
What's a 25S do? Off post packet? What and how? LOL Thanks everyone for taking the time to give me you information, it makes me feel alot better.

ok, ft gordon. been there, done that. have a t-shirt. then burnt it.

ft gordon can suck, yes, but only if you dont know how to work the system. been away from there for about a year, and i've heard it has got crowded. when i was there, i got stuck there for 6 months due to my wisdom teeth being pulled. ft gordon is where you want that done. good drugs.

if you are not in school, 'tac detail' is where you'll be. gay ****, so i didnt do it. i showed up for the formations, then as they right faced, i steped back and went to god fathers, the library, iet center, or just found a nice tree and read a book.

im a 25b, school 'last' about 19 weeks. it's a lie. whenever they say 19 weeks, it's just so they can't get off post housing or such. it's how tradoc works. they strive to give the best *** ****ing to the soldiers that they can. excuse the language.

now, please, i beg you, it's to save yourself time, money, wasted effort, and heart ache, DONT MOVE THERE! this is what happens if you do. you get some crappy apt that's close to post since you dont know the area well, ran by a lady that has 15+ cats, but doesnt allow pets. the apt will be surrounded by cheap car dealerships that WILL ripped off you or any dumbass new soldier with a $1000 bucks in their pocket. you notice alot of people coming in and out of the apt complex and find out there was a meth lab there. hate the fact that your apt has only one bedroom with a tiny bath room, one sink, one light, no cable, tiny closet, and bugs everywhere. this is just the living conditions.

you will get no extra money, in fact you will loose money. where ever you are from, ft gordon's BAS is lower. when the army finds out that you moved near ft gordon, which will be after your husband pcs's out of gordon, they will do the math, and if the cost is lower than what they were paying you, they take it all out in one check, or more if they have to. which means, NO PAY DUE. no money. AER loans, payday loans, and the such will be you main source of income since the army found out about you moving to ft gordon with out orders.

i know this since i've seen it happen, and went to the same place as the guy who did this. i lent hime money for diapers more than once. he is a great guy, just jumped and did something he shouldnt have.

now if you want to do it, prepare for everything that will happen. off post packets happen about never, so you will only see him on weekends. maybe. you will go nuts from boredom.

but gordon isnt all that bad. the REAL army is alot better, but at time can suck worse than gordon. just stick in there, stay where you're at since you are already established there. it is harder to get bored at home.

stay in there

It's not hell. It's just full of incompetent govt workers and cadre that don't give a damn. If you're expecting things to be done on time or properly, you're going to be very disappointed. Almost everything is disorganized. You can't get a straight answer about anything or you just get lied to.

- Get copies of everything and follow you paperwork.
- Make sure you get CLEAR answers. If someone can't give you a straight answer, it's probably because they're idiots. Find someone competent.
- Write down names of personnel that tell you things so you have an azimuth back to them when you find out you got told a bunch of BS.
- Take care of yourself. No one else here is interested in doing that part of their job.

I don't mean to scare anyone off but unlike many of the NCO's on this post, I think it's important to take care of soldiers and keep them informed. By far, the civilian workers here are the worst. It's all about money for them.

I'd be alright staying here at home. But I know that'd break his heart and piss him off to say the least if I tell him I don't want to move. I'm kinda screwed there. I do want to be with him but don't want to make things worse on all of us by doing so. I've heard about off post packets, but do you know that noone at Fort Gordon when I called knew what I was talking about. LOL. Thought that was just great. Ok homeworks calling thanks everyone. I DON'T LIKE BUGS......

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now, please, i beg you, it's to save yourself time, money, wasted effort, and heart ache, DONT MOVE THERE! this is what happens if you do. you get some crappy apt that's close to post since you dont know the area well, ran by a lady that has 15+ cats, but doesnt allow pets. the apt will be surrounded by cheap car dealerships that WILL ripped off you or any dumbass new soldier with a $1000 bucks in their pocket. you notice alot of people coming in and out of the apt complex and find out there was a meth lab there. hate the fact that your apt has only one bedroom with a tiny bath room, one sink, one light, no cable, tiny closet, and bugs everywhere. this is just the living conditions.

you will get no extra money, in fact you will loose money. where ever you are from, ft gordon's BAS is lower. when the army finds out that you moved near ft gordon, which will be after your husband pcs's out of gordon, they will do the math, and if the cost is lower than what they were paying you, they take it all out in one check, or more if they have to. which means, NO PAY DUE. no money. AER loans, payday loans, and the such will be you main source of income since the army found out about you moving to ft gordon with out orders.

This is not necessarily true. I have a good apt. and plenty of money. The BAH is more than enough to cover my expenses ($890) and I have two kids. Plus I get almost $300 in BAS for food. Although I'm an E-4 so I make a little more than a private. Also, we were paid $2000 for our move. When I get out of class, I go back to the company and sign out and am back home by 1700 every day (no evening formations for us). Off post packets are usually for 25-S's, but I do know some Bravos that have them. I would have absolutely lost my mind there without living off post. I have heard that 369 is less kind to the off post personnell, but all 25-B's were recently moved to Bravo company, 447. From my experiences, I recommend it. I'm here at my apt. right now, with my family.

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What's a 25S do?

Oh, a 25-S is a Satellite Communications Systems Maintainer/Operator. On the TACSAT side, we set up a small dish wired to a shelter on a truck or a HUMVEE and keep the signal up from the dish, to the satellite to the distant end and back, among other things. The strategic guys work stateside at the BIG fixed sites. I'll be going with the 7th SF support group and will be using completely different equipment I'll learn when I get to my unit at Bragg.

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ok, ft gordon. been there, done that. have a t-shirt. then burnt it.

ft gordon can suck, yes, but only if you dont know how to work the system. been away from there for about a year, and i've heard it has got crowded. when i was there, i got stuck there for 6 months due to my wisdom teeth being pulled. ft gordon is where you want that done. good drugs.

if you are not in school, 'tac detail' is where you'll be. gay ****, so i didnt do it. i showed up for the formations, then as they right faced, i steped back and went to god fathers, the library, iet center, or just found a nice tree and read a book.

im a 25b, school 'last' about 19 weeks. it's a lie. whenever they say 19 weeks, it's just so they can't get off post housing or such. it's how tradoc works. they strive to give the best *** ****ing to the soldiers that they can. excuse the language.

Sounds like you are a stellar Soldier, skipping out of details and off doing your own thing during duty hours.

Also your profile states you are a CW2, but you claim in your post to be a 25B. How does that work exactly? I also looked on AKO, and there are no warrants with the name Robert Snyder. The requirments to be a warrant specific 4-6 years of related experience, so it would be hard for you to be a Signal warrant if you only went to 25B school a year ago.

What do I know I am just a LT, maybe they field promoted you to CW2 since you are so amazing you have two CABs (when only one has ever been authorized) and you must be the only Signal Soldier in the Army with not just one, but two combat jumps. That is really impressive since your ribbons indicate you have never been to Iraq or Afghanistan, you must have been in some war too secret to even mention.

You better hope that I don't end up as your PL, because if there is one thing I can't stand and I never stood for in my 11 years enlisted it is a liar.

fort gordon sucks, its boring and georgia's hot.. well not as hot as iraq but the hottest i had ever felt at the time. i was there about 2 years ago, funny.. time goes by so fast. theres a big running track called barton(sp) field in the middle of post, along with a PX, a crappy movie theater, and a bowling alley(great place to drink).

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....and a bowling alley(great place to drink).

When I was there attending AIT, all on post bars and clubs were off limits. I can only imagine how much money local Augusta area motels made just so we could drink on the weekends....

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Is Fort Gordon really hell?

yeah it can be... if your a 10 year old little girl

Fort Gordon isn't even near being hardcore. It's home of the Chairborne and always has been.

What it lacks in hardcore it makes up for with mind numbing stupidity. That is what I think most people mean by "hell".

You spend every day here shaking your head in disgust and aggravation. There's a lot of jaws yapping about moral values and NCO creed but very few examples. The cadre are screaming at students about doing the right thing, meanwhile they're setting few examples.

I've been to Gordon three times, ALL for MOS training. This is the worst I've seen it. It's an unbelievable wave of incompetence here. The lying, selfishness, disregard for soldier care, lack of respect, and egotism is at an all time high. In a nutshell....BAD LEADERSHIP. Fort Gordon has BAD LEADERSHIP. At least the AIT portion of it. I can't say much about the actual perm party units here.

Why? I dunno. Maybe the deployments and new army bull has driven all the good NCO's away. It might just be that we're left with the bottom of the barrel. Lot's of career chasers that had rank thrown at them too quickly.

As a Signal NCO, I must say this place is shameful. Not hard, just ate the **** up. Few of the cadre & staff want to admit it or do anything about it. They just want to maintain the status quo and hide the problems. I've seen better leadership from the MOST students here. Although their hands are tied. If a high speed student NCO tries to make any waves, he/she is quickly silenced.

It's too hard describe in words. You have to be here and experience it for yourself.

I gotta go to sleep. We have to be at formation tomorrow at 0400 to stand around until the cadre gets their act together......which will take until ~ 0530-0600 as usual. It takes about 45-60 minutes to do accountability. the rest of the army can do it in 5 minutes but Fort Gordon just can't get the hang of it.

This is exactly what I have said in other posts. Of course when I said that the current leadership at Ft. Gordon had serious problems, Teknowil took a shot at me about what did I know about leadership. My posts are anonymous because I am not stupid, bad leadership doesn’t take criticism well, it retaliates, and I am not interested in my son taking heat for what I post. I served, I was an SSG in a signal MOS during Vietnam, I went through AIT at Gordon. I have visited my son a couple of times in the 6 months he has been in AIT at Gordon, I have observed the behavior of the DSs at Gordon now, and I talk to my son frequently, and everything in SigNCOs post is dead on! My son doesn’t complain about it being hard at Gordon, he complains about how disorganized it is, about unequal enforcement of regulations, about being lied to by NCOs, and about a 1SGT that is constantly bragging about how he is going to be one of the youngest CSMs in the Army (egotism? NO S**T), and yes, my son’s impression is that not one of the NCOs gives a rat’s *** about the troops. What I find absolutely tragic about this situation is that, unlike SigNCO, my son and the other IET soldiers don’t have the experience necessary to understand that this is a local problem at Gordon caused by INCOMPETENT LEADERSHIP. Because they have only seen BCT and this cluster **** being passed off as a military installation they have developed the opinion that this is what the entire Army is like, and it’s is damned difficult to convince him otherwise. My son finished BCT with a good attitude, he was looking forward to serving, now all he talks about is what a stupid mistake he made, and it’s not because it’s too hard, he admits that BCT was more difficult and physically challenging than AIT, but he says he whishes things were the way they were in BCT, at least there things were reasonably organized, regulations were enforced equally, and the leadership looked like they were in control of the situation. I try to tell him that it won’t be like this after he finishes AIT and gets the hell out of Gordon, but he doesn’t believe me any more, he says that the Army may have been a worthwhile organization when I was in but that was years ago and it’s different now – he says that now the officers and NCOs only care about themselves and the troops can rot for all they care – just so long as they get to be “one of the youngest CSMs in the Army” And one more thing – I was at Gordon for AIT 30+ years ago, and I was looking forward to seeing it again when I dropped my son off after BCT – the first thing that struck me last October was how SHABBY the place looked compared to what I remembered, so I got out some old pictures when I got home to see if it was just my memory being wrong – it wasn’t my memory, Gordon looked way better then. I spent many years as a DOD employee and I have seen facilities that were closed down by the BRAC and in “caretaker” status that look better than Gordon does today – and that is a reflection of the quality of the leadership too!

13750145,

Ya reprisal seems to be the name of the game lately. No one wants to admit to the facts and deal with them. There are SOME good examples of leadership here. Unfortunately, they are few, and they're constantly suppressed by the ****bag majority.

I'm sorry for the treatment of your son. It is not right. There is no excuse for it. "All soldiers are entitled to outstanding leadership" - NCO Creed.

Tell your son to hang in there. I know this place can really suck the life out of his motivation. He just has to bite the bullet, refuse to let it get to him, and move onto the real Army. I've gone through this (Fort Gordon) multiple times and survived, so I'm sure he can make it through. Above all, let this be a learning experience for him. No matter what he has for leadership, he can always learn something from it; either what to emulate or what not to emulate.