I think that he is just glad that he made it through ok, albeit a littler lighter. Maybe his run times will improve now. :)

DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE PROMOTION. THE PROMOTIONS WILL COME VERY FAST IN THIS PIPELINE. HE WILL MORE THAN LIKELY BE AN E6 WITHIN 18 TO 24 MONTHS.

NDD,
You're right. When we trained the 18Xs in SOPC, the instructors and I noticed a big difference in the way they carried themselves on Day 1 of SOPC versus after they completed SFAS. It was noticable in their tone of voice, posture and projected confidence. Very rewarding to see the such a significant and noticable change in such a short time.
JM

We see it in as little as 6 weeks, especially in the way they handle their weapons. It's beautiful to watch.

Back for another update. My son is now approximately halfway through the 18C MOS phase. He had two weeks of language before he started. He does the 18C stuff Monday - Friday and has language class on Saturdays. They are now taking two weeks off from the 18C course and are taking language classes full-time. He is doing well in all the subjects up to this point and is still very excited. Once he finishes the 18C course he will have approximately four months of language school left and then Robin Sage. By that time I hope I am making arrangements to go to his graduation. :)

What's his take on the Language Training intermingled with the other SF specific training?

Is it working, or just a mish-mash of topics thrown at him?

He says that it is good in the sense that he is getting some familiarization with it and he is able to use the Rosetta Stone software to work on pronunciation and recognition. The downside is that it is hard to spend much time outside of the language class working on it due to the workload of the 18C classes. At the end of the current two week language burst they will take the DLPT. I suspect that it is being done as an assessment of how well the new system is working. He certainly doesn't expect to pass it after only 25 or so days of instruction.

Another nice thing that happened about the time he started the 18C course was that he was promoted to E-4.

Here I am with another update. My son completed the 18C course a couple of weeks ago. He has been waiting to hear how they are going to handle the scheduling of the rest of his training. You may remember that he was in the first group to undergo the new pipeline. Well, due to scheduling constraints they are essentially shifting him back to the old pipeline. He has about a three month hold before he goes to the last Robin Sage session of the year. After he successfully completes that they are going to PCS him to Ft. Lewis for six months of language training. I assume, but don't know for sure, that they will then send him back to Ft. Bragg for a few days for graduation. If this schedule holds up it will have taken him approximately two years and nine months since he entered the Army to complete his training. The biggest holdup was getting recycled in SOPC. Normally that wouldn't have been such a big holdup but his class was the last one before they shut down SOPC for the summer so he had to wait until the end of the summer to do it again. So far all is good. He will get there eventually. :)

deployment and communication
 

I'm not sure if this topic has been covered previously, but are there restrictions as far as communicating with folks who are deployed? Can you set up a skype account or does all communication have to go through channels provided by Army? Has anyone had any luck using webcams and something like msn messaging? Any technology that doesn't require oil, is stretching my limitations.

Eldest left recently, youngest leaving in near future. I would like to get a head start on obtaining a system that works effectively, if that's possible.

Thanks.

Leave it to the Army to keep me on my toes. My son is not going to Robin Sage this year. He and a dozen other guys are being moved to Ft. Lewis to attend language school. The movers picked up his belongings today and he and his wife leave tomorrow to drive to Ft. Lewis. He does not have a start date for language school. He is being assigned to HHC, 1st SFG (Abn) and has to report there later this month. I have no idea when he will be sent back to go to Robin Sage.

Wow thats pretty interesting. Thats the first time I've heard that happening but I guess it falls inline with Robin Sage being the final phase of Q-Course now. He'll be arriving when the overcast drizzly days begin. Excellent :)

He implied that it is a very new situation. I think it just happened to be one of those details that they hadn't quite figured out. He and his wife are both pretty excited to be heading out that way. It would be nice if he had some idea when he would start his class but it really doesn't matter. He will be there until he finishes whether it starts in a couple of weeks or in a couple of months. He may be setting a record for longest pipeline for a non-18D, though. He is about to hit the two year mark for TIS and he clearly has at least seven or eight months to go. :)

How is life treating you out there, gtcrispy?

Life is good. I've been able to spend time seeing friends and family because of the downtime. It also didn't rain for about 3months so I defintely took advantage of the nice weather which I missed for 2years.

Ahem...I believe that the fridge is on the ground floor, to your right as you enter your team room door...:D, unless they have moved it to the second floor since I left. I recommend Henry Weinhart.

Haha good call. You are correct. :D