What can a person study prior to WOBC when they are reclassifying to 255A and have no relevant experience?

Sec+ for sure as it is DoD requirement. As a Alpha I would think anything server and VM related. the thing is IT has a very wide range of topics. I would suggest talking to a 255A and then try to find your niche and become an a SME in that area and continue to grow from that subject. Regardless if you are a 255N or 255A or 255S the chain expect you to be well verse in all thing signal

Sir,
As a signal soldier who has worked for and with many 255As, you are starting on a very technical journey. It is great that you are trying to get a head start on it. If you haven't worked in the IT fields before, you can acquire a lot of resources to study in advance. To this effect, I would recommend Safari Online Books, which you can sign up with your DoD .mil account for free. Use it to read up on the major pieces of IT that include CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, and the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) books. You'll also find videos on Youtube to assist with learning many of these concepts. The more you know of the fundamentals of networking, the better you'll do when you get to school.

At a minimum, check books out of the library for Cisco for your CCNA, and look at the community college nearest you for the Cisco courses. Despite the fact that anything beyond the border router is 255N territory, as 255As we will be expected to know.

System administration is a must. Get study materials on both Windows and Linux. The 'For Dummies' series of books are good ones to use as reference material. Active Directory is key.

You should at least have a passing knowledge of both SQL Server and Oracle: how to install each, and how to set up databases.

So according to one of the brief that I received below is what you should be expecting to learn. Even though this might have already changed, it gives you a pretty good idea of what to start studying. When it comes Server 2008, I would skip that and move to 2012 since I that most units in the Army have started transitioning away from 2008. And as long as you understand the concepts in Server 2012, the knowledge should apply for 2008. If you can afford it or if your unit can pay for it, I would look for computer-based training (CBT). The quality of instruction is great compared to a lot of colleges that I know. My unit pays for CBT Nuggets which is about $83/month. I know it is very expensive but the quality of training is amazing especially for the networking portion. Additionally, they have all the IT training that I listed below. I think they even offer a week trial. Another vendor is Pluralsight but I do not have much experience with it, however, it is lot cheaper (about $30/month). Using the vendor that my unit paid for us, I am currently certified in CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network, CompTIA Security+, CCNA Routing and Switching and CCNA Security. Hope this helps and good luck!

Phase I: CCNA1, CCNA 2,CCNA 3,CCNA 4, Streaming Services (Multicast)
Phase II: IP Telephony (VoIP), Firewalls/Wireless Security, COMEX, Server 2008, Server Services, Scripting, Authentication, Directory Services, Install E-Mail Server, Database Servers, Management, Servers, Collaboration Servers, Adobe Connect
Phase III: MDMP, Network Application, Virtualization, BCCS Integration, SASMO Operations, Systems, Integration, CISSP, IA Measures, DIACAP, COMSEC Operations, JNN/WIN-T Networks, Tactical Radio, Network Planning, DTOC, CAPSTONE

Also get your unit to grant you access to safari on line, all the it books you need are there and video courses as well, if they cant figure it out it is a dod tie in

CCNA, MCSE, NET+, security+, A+, and PMP all can be found on skillsoft, study for certification

send me a PM. I am 255N currently in WOBC but I can't point you in the right direction to get ready for school.