Changing Ratings in DEP

Our son was in DEP - the Delayed Entry Program for the Navy. The first time he went to MEPS, he signed a contract to be a Construction Electrician (CE) with the Seabees. I had never heard of the Seabees, so I started to research. I read everything I could get my hands on about them, watched the John Wayne movie, The Fighting Seabees. I bought Seabee t-shirts and stuck a Seabee poster up in his room. I got really excited that he was going to be a part of the closeknit group of the Construction Battallion.

And then about two months before his ship date, my son got a call from his recruiter. I could tell from my son's tone of voice that something serious was afoot. Sure enough, an opening had come available in the AECF program. Most Navy recruits contract to become a specific rating, as my son had done in signing on to be a EC. The Advanced Electronics and Computer Field is different. Recruits sign up for this training program, and after boot camp, the Navy decides whether or not the Sailor will be an ET (Electronics Technician) or an FC (Fire Controlman). The AECF schools are pretty demanding academically, and they require a six year enlistment.

My son was almost immediately convinced that this would be his new path, but he also wanted our opinion - and approval. I was a bit disappointed that we wouldn't be Seabee parents, but was more than happy to read about all the training our son would receive. We were a bit concerned about the rigorous study, but our recruiter, who had worked with our son for months, was encouraging. The recruiter told how he had been a lousy student in high school, but had totally changed in the Navy. And the recruiter was an FC.

That fact probably sealed the deal for our son. He really wanted to be an FC, although his recruiter cautioned that this decision would be made by the Navy. It was our first exposure to the term, "The needs of the Navy." (It wouldn't be our last.)

So documents were faxed back and forth, and our son switched to the AECF. The uncertainty of the Navy was becoming a reality to us.

And we sailed on toward Thanksgiving - and Christmas...what was Christmas going to be without this son of ours opening his gifts on Christmas morning...