quote:
Originally posted by 9628227:
I am patiently working my way up on the BMA school list, I contacted someone because I noticed they were only taking 10 people on the list per month! The other 30 people were international students and New Boots going. I dont understand at all. I realize they have " Priority" but come on. What about us who have experience, have went to the call, I konw life isnt fair but this is absoulutly not fair in my eyes. Make them go to a station or give us some notice as well. Thank you for listening to me gripe I had to do it somewhere
9628227, since you don’t have a profile I can't contact you through global. You ask a very good question and deserve a good answer. I don’t want to get into the entire process on here because it’s a little off topic for the recruiting forum.
The number of “A” school seats we have in a given year is based on forecasted need. We calculate that need based on losses from the rating, changes to billets, the number of expected graduates from each class, the expected number of strikers, etc.
We then add to that, the number of seats needed for the reserves and internationals. What this means is reserves and international do not take seats away from active duty members. Because of scheduling issues, the majority of the reserve seats are filled in the summer months. This results in fewer active seats in the summer and more in the winter.
Guaranteed “A” schools are used for 2 reasons, as a recruiting incentive and to reduce churn in the Non-rate workforce. If we did not offer guaranteed schools and filled every seat with active duty from the field, the average time at a members first unit would drop significantly. Rapid turn over of junior enlisted members is highly detrimental to the Coast Guard mission. As you know it take some time to become proficient once you report to your first unit, if the average time a Non-rate spent at their first unit dropped significantly, the average Non-rate would never have a chance to become a productive member of the crew.
To complicate things a little for you, BM “A” school is implementing a revised curriculum (that is a significant improvement). In order to do this they needed to temporarily shut down the school. This slowed things down a little, but the pay back will be a much improved “A” school.
We would love to provide “A” school seats to everyone on demand, but the reality is needs of the Coast Guard come first.
If you contact me at work via email, I will be glad to go into further detail.
Be Safe.
