stefanc JUST finished boot camp, so pm him some questions about the "Right here, right nows".
Here's how it typically works after boot camp.
Class up during A school. This can take up to 2 weeks.
Start A school. Dont expect anything unless someone dies.
Then you have your leave period. Its 10 days, unless they still do RAP duty, then it goes to 15 days, but 5 are "free" days.
You get back, you may class up, you may be stuck on "T-Track" for up to 2 months waiting for a class up.
Do power school. If you happen to fall around christmas, you get leave for that. Otherwise, nothing until you finish.
After power school, you get another 10-15 days for leave/transfer time.
At prototype, they get a bit more lenient for leave if you are ahead of the curve. I qualified 2 months before graduation date, so I was able to take a couple weeks after. After prototype, you get about 30 days of leave /transfer.
Unless you ABSOLUTELY need leave, I highly recommend you hold off. Take the ten between A school/power school, and 10 between power and prototype, but I REALLY recommend you dont take the 30 days of leave after prototype. I was in the hole for over a year when I got to my ship, but I also took a crap ton of leave that I shouldnt have. It sucked not being able to go home for christmas...