Obligated service: Will commence on the date of graduation from "A" School. Applicant's not having the necessary active duty obligated service requirement for "A" School remaining on their present contract, must reenlist or sign an Agreement to Extend Enlistment to cover the required period prior to departing their unit for school. Members disenrolled from Class "A" School at their own request, for lack of application, or for misconduct will be required to fulfill their full-obligated service requirement. Personnel disenrolled for academic, humanitarian, or for the good of the Coast Guard may, upon the approval of EPM-1 have their obligated service requirement rescinded or reduced to cover the period of schooling received.

Citizenship: Just a reminder that AET, AMT, AST, ET, GM, IS, IT, ME, OS and PA schools require all members to be U.S. Citizens. Make sure that you note this on all your applications for these schools. Also, you cannot have dual citizenship.

NJP and Alcohol Incidents: Members MUST have Satisfactory Conduct and be Recommended for Advancement on their most recent EER to be added to any “A” School list. If the member receives Non-Judicial Punishment (NJP), Courts-Martial or Civil Conviction after they are on the list their name will have to be removed from the “A” School list for a minimum of 6 months. After the 6 month period has ended, the member may reapply for Class “A” School. If a civil conviction occurs, the six month period starts from the date NJP was awarded, or the date of arrest. If the member receives an alcohol incident, unsatisfactory / not recommended for advancement, performance probation or any other temporary deficiency that did not lead to NJP, Courts-Martial or Civil Conviction, then the member will have to be placed on an “ADMIN” hold. This hold can only be removed once the member is recommended for advancement on their next set of semi-annual evaluations. Commands are reminded to contact one of the “A” School Assignment Officers as soon as a member has received NJP, Courts-Martial, Civil Conviction or any other disciplinary action.

Communication with “A” School AO’s: As per the Personnel Manual, non-rated members (includes rated members on the “A” School List) are not permitted to contact the Assignment Officers (AO) to include Non-rate AO and “A” School AO. If the member has a question or concern they are advised to go through their chain of command. If their command cannot answer the question or concern, then the command may contact the AO directly. In most cases, questions and concerns can be addressed at the PO1/CPO level. IAW this policy, epm-2 does accept “A” School requests from non-rated members, including YN strikers. Members that are currently striking YN are allowed to draft the request, but the requests needs to be sent to epm-2 by a Petty Officer (including non-rates with a designator) with “By Direction” authority. Any unauthorized communication will be reported to the command cadre.

WEIGH YOUR MEMBERS BEFORE THEY DEPART FOR TRAINING! IAW ALCOAST 468/09, UNITS ARE REQUIRED TO VERIFY COMPLIANCE WITH WEIGHT / BODY FAT STANDARDS WITHIN 30 DAYS BEFORE A CLASS CONVENING DATE AND UPDATE DIRECT ACCESS WITH THE MEMBER’S PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

IAW Coast Guard Weight and Body Fat Standards Program Manual, COMDTINST M1020.8G, Chapter 3.5, if a member shows up to “A” School overweight or over their body fat they may potentially be “fault” disenrolled which means they will not eligible to be placed on any “A” school list for a minimum of 1 year. Commands are urged to contact one of the “A” school Assignment Officers as soon as possible if their member is on the verge of or not within weight standards. Do not contact the “A” School.

“A” School Orders: Orders are issued by “A” School Assignment Officers (AO’s) approximately ten weeks prior to class convening via direct access airport terminal. If the command does not have access to DA, the unit should contact their SPO for the member’s orders.

Cancellations/Order Changes: Commands are to notify the appropriate “A” School Assignment Officer (preferably via email) with “A” School order cancellations/changes, member status updates, and anything pertaining to the member’s “A” School orders. In the email correspondence, include the member’s name, EMPLID number, “A” School / CLCVN date, and the member’s current status / reason for cancelling orders. Ensure that the Command Cadre is carbon copied on the email. For cancellations, the sooner the command notifies epm-2, the better the chances of filling the seat with the next member on the “A” School List. Every attempt is made to fill all quotas up to one week prior to class convening. Please refer to the Performance, Training and Education Manual COMDTINST M1500.10C Ch. 7.F.16. “No Shows” for notifications required if the member fails to execute orders and the command does not notify epm-2 requesting a cancellation.

Notice to OUTCONUS Members: If a member elects to ship his/her vehicle based off of PCS TEMDUINS orders to “A” school for less than 20 weeks, they must be properly counseled and the following statement on their orders issued by PSC-epm-2. “Member serving OCONUS may ship their POV in accordance with JFTR U5440.D, to their Class “A” school; however they must be counseled on possible excess cost. You are authorized to ship one POV from (insert name of OCONUS unit) to your new PDS following completion of Class “A” training under 20 weeks at (insert training center) in accordance with JFTR U5440.D. Your POV shipment entitlement is from the port/VPC serving your OCONUS unit to the port/VPC serving the PDS that will later be identified upon completion of “A” school. Since the next PDS is not identified at this time, you may be subject to excess cost. Should you receive orders back to your previous PDS, another OCONUS PDS, or to an area where the receiving VPC is different from the VPC where the POV was originally shipped, you will be required to pay excess charges.” The following must be completed following the counseling of the member of this entitlement:
1. Statement from the PCS AO or the designated representative that the member was advised before the PCS authorization/order was issued that the PCS authorization/order would be issued.
2. Written agreement signed by the member to remit the entire cost of transportation if a PCS authorization/order to authorize transportation is not issued later.
3. Written agreement signed by the applicant to pay any additional costs for transshipment of the POV to another port required because the new PDS named in the authorization/order is different than that named in the statement required in par. U5440.D.1.

TYPES OF “A” SCHOOL ORDERS

TDY, PCS/Temduins, and PCS orders: These are the only 3 ways that a member should be ordered to "A" school. Let us explain the differences because there appears to be some confusion out there.

TDY (TAD): This order is used if a member has dependents and needs to return to their permanent duty station after the completion of “A” School. There will be no entitlements for dependents traveling to “A” School with the member just like any other TDY orders. If the member has no reason to return to the permanent unit after “A” School, then the Command can request PCS/Temduins orders. PCS/Temduins orders can cost a married member money out of pocket so member needs to be counseled on entitlements for both types of orders. TDY Orders are highly recommended for members with dependents.

PCS/Temduins: This order is used for members with no dependents. It is also used for members with dependents but have no reason to return to their permanent duty station after completion of “A” School, there will be no entitlements for dependents traveling to “A” School with the member (as stated in TDY explanation).

PCS: This is used for personnel attending ET, IT and HS  “A” Schools. Due to these “A” Schools being longer than 20 weeks, PCS orders are authorized. All personnel will be issued PCS orders no matter if you have dependents or not. If you have dependents, you are authorized allowances to have dependents relocate with you to “A” School. This is the only set of orders where dependents are entitled to allowances to travel with the member to “A” School. Members without dependents are NOT authorized to ship HHG to Training Center; HHG shall be placed in Non-Temporary Storage (NTS). Members without dependents will be living in the barracks.

If you are still confused, please contact us so we can assist you. We'd rather you reach out to us than get a set of orders wrong.

ASVAB Scores/Waivers: If the applicant is highly recommended for Class “A” School Training but does not have the minimum qualifying ASVAB test scores, the Commanding Officer or Officer-in-Charge may waive up to five points of the total of two or more subsets to qualify the applicant. This authority may not be delegated to an Executive Officer or Executive Petty Officer acting as Commanding Officer or Officer-in Charge, respectively. A single qualifying test score and minimum scores, such as the General Science (GS) score, score cannot be waived by the Commanding Officer or Officer-in-Charge.

These procedures and policies were referenced with more detail in the Performance, Training and Education Manual, COMDTINST M1500.10C.

SUBJ: ASVAB WAIVER REQUEST

REF A. PERFORMANCE, TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL MANUAL COMDTINST M1500.1C

1. FN JOHN B. DOE, EMPLID 1234567
2. REQUEST WAIVER OF ONE POINT IN MK
AS PER REF A. MST = VE + AR = 114 W/ A MIN MK OF 56
MEMBER’S VE 55 + AR 54 = 109 W/ MK OF 55. OIC GRANTED 5 POINT WAIVER FOR VE/AR SCORE
3. MST CLASS “A” SCHOOL
4. MEMBER IS AN OUTSTANDING PERFORMER AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR ADVANCEMENT
5. POC: BM1 JOE C. COASTIE, (123) 567-1234.