Will I be guaranteed to be on base in Norfolk, VA.... etc.... (more qestions in details.) ?

Question

I am leaving for basic on the 3rd and I have a girl friend I love very much and if I get Norfolk Naval Base then I can go and see her every weekend..... how do I go about getting on Norfolk, VA............ My A school is six month's long..... GM rating --- Gunners Mates --- what will my pay rate be if i am a E-3 -- i read that GM are used at E-7- payrates..... how long does it take to advance in pay..... and how does my leave work ... what times do we go to work in the mornings and get off.... and where on base do you stay if your not married.... when she is 18 we plan on getting married i have been with her for 1 year and she is 8 months from being 18 and she wants to live with me down in norfolk but dont know how to go about that or even if i am gettin norfolk that is where my brother is stationed but he is hard headed and don't know what to tell me when I ask these type of questions .... neither can my recruiter...... but I need to know what I can.....

Answer 1

Yep....those are a lot of questions.

Unfortunately NOTHING is guaranteed in the armed forces. You can talk to your recruiter for getting delayed enlistment and try to get guarantees but the military does what is in their best interest.

Depending on the housing/barracks situation, you can sign up for living off base and if there is a shortage, they may let you live off base with them giving you some money based on your rank.

Working hours will be different for everyone depending on your job.

For pay and other information...see the link below.

good luck

Answer 2

no you are given zero guarantees whatsoever where you are stationed.    where you go depends on who needs a GMSN when you graduate A school.   it can take ten years to make E7, depending on how full the rating is.  and people have been known to do a full twenty and never make it past E6.  

you will live in the Barracks during A school.  period. until you are married.. Barracks.,  once you are married, you will either live in town or on base.  on base housing waiting lists can be 2 years or longer.  

you may NOT take leave while in Bootcamp or A school(unless you are still in A school the last 2 weeks of December when all the schools shut down for the Instructors).   leave is accrued at 2.5 days per month.   generally speaking you can take up to 2 weeks at a time, and holidays and weekends count for leave days, but the command can and will determine  if you can take leave when you want.  

work days vary by command.. anything from normal 0730-1600 M-f to nights, shift work and any other configuration you can think of.  duty days can be as often as every third day, or as sparse as every ninth day.  

Kammy is only partially correct about advancement:  the exams are twice yearly.. September and March.  also,the time in Rate number changes once you make Petty Officer.. as high as 5 years before you are eligible to test up.  

Only up to E3 is automatic.  E4, depending on rating can be a 'push button crow" meaning at the end of A school you get it.  I am not sure if GM is one of those ratings.

Answer 3

When you first arrive at a unit you can expect to have very little time to yourself.  Let's face it.  You are the FNG (F---ing New Guy).  This is not meant to be derogatory, it's just the truth.  You will live in the barracks until you are married.

The time that you get off each day is determined by the taskings for that day.

You will probably arrive at 0600 to 0630 for PT (also unit dependent).

Advancing in pay is based on time in service (first increase at 2 years time in service) and your rank.

Very frankly you will not know any of these things until you get to your unit and find out how that unit works.  So both your brother and recruiter are right, no one can answer those questions for you.  You will have to wait until to arrive at the unit.

Answer 4

you will live in the dorms until you are married..she would need to get an apartment or house offbase ...you or her will have to pay for it...you wont get paid for housing until you are married...from e3 to 37 about 10 years at least.im not sure what the current pay is for an e3...

Answer 5

They will not guarantee anywhere you will be based. They will give you this thing called a dream sheet while in basic and you get to list everywhere you want to go. I have not heard of one person actually getting their choice on the dream sheet. If the recruiter isn't willingto put it in your contract, it probably wont happen. I'm not sure about the whole gunner thing, but from my knowledge, if you are an E-3 then you get paid as an E-3. Make sure it is in your contract that you aregoing in as an E-3, my husband told me all of thesepeople that were promised higher ranks that never got them because the recruiter never put it in their contracts. Be careful of that. It takes about 6 months between each rate to advance.....so if you go in as an E-3, 6 months later you will be an E-4 etc etc. The only thing is, once you reach E-4 (3rd class petty officer) you have to take a test AND then lets say 50 people took the E-4 test, but there are only 30 openings, then the 30 people who scroder the hightst on the test will advance. The other 20 have to take the test again in another few months (about 2 to 3 more months) Good Luck getting leave. My husband was in the navy for a few years and asked for leave and never once was it approved, some ships are better then others, it depends on your chief and how nice he is. You can't get an advance in your pay, they will laugh at you if you try to do that. Here is the rule of thumb: If your recruiter isn't willing to put it in your contract, it isn't going to happen.

Good Luck!!