Son sent to Ship 5 and is coming home

[texasmom]

My son was sent to Ship 5 a few weeks back.  At first they sent him to medical for knee tendonitis and began physical therapy but he remained with his division, where he was immediately an outcast and hassled repeatedly.  At some point he was given the physic eval bubble test where they deemed him depressed and with anxiety then decided to send him to Ship 5 to come home.  He expressed that he wanted to stay, that going home was not what he wanted but that didn't happen.  Now he truely is depressed as he sees his hard work and dream shot right out the window.  I think what upsets me is how can a bubble test and 15 minutes with a physiologist determine anything?  He has gone through legal already, discharge code RE-3 and will be home Thursday.  He plans to go back to school, try to get his job back and hopes someday to reinlist.  This mental discharge seems to be very common and more of an excuse to thin the herd. 

[mchristian17]

OMG Just reading all of this sound so much like what my daughter is going thru. On Aug. 22 she was send to medical because her left knee was swollen and was feeling tingling in her left arm and numbness. She had to wait til the 28th for a follow up  if she didn't want to be discharged which she didn't. She was given pain killers for the pain and put in LLD. She called us for the 1st time on Sept. 2, saying she is much better a little sore but she was gonna stick it thru. Now on 9-5 we received a call that she is on Ship 5 because of the Tendonitis on her knee and also depression and anxiety. Really? She was so disappointed in herself about being sent home. But I did all that I could and told her she did all she could and that what matters. Now its the long wait to when will she be sent home. 

[N4MAR]

My son called tonight to let me know that he found out yesterday that he has "full blown asthma".  So they put him in a separate area from his division. He doesn't know when they will send him home, but it could be at least a month. He's traumatized, since he's wanted to do this since he was 12.  He's planned his whole life around helping people. When he got out of the Navy, he planned to get on a fire department, but that's out of the picture now too.  I really hope they are working with him to figure out what he can do. He was told he can still get a government job, so maybe that means they are helping him focus on something else. 

I feel terrible for him. He's only 18, but acts more mature than a 30 year old. Most moms would be excited that their son was medically discharged, but I'm not because this is what he really wanted. I will continue to support him in whatever he does, but this is going to be tough for him..... (here I go crying again)

[Angie]

They don't help them get ready to get a different job.  They do give them a few counseling classes, but that is it.  Also what they tell them and what can really happen can be two different things.  He can TRY to get a goverment job, but there are 100's of 1000's of other people who are also trying to get those jobs.  Trying to get a goverment job right now is hard as is trying to get any job.  He needs to start trying to figure out what he wants to do, as the Navy doesn't do anything for them...they will separate him and send him home via the cheapest means to the government.

[AZNavymom]

Hugs to you N4MAR. Like your son, my son planned on the Navy since he was 12 as well. He did 4 years of NJROTC through H.S. and went in as an E-3. I am so sad for him. I'm not excited he was separated AT ALL. In his case, it was for ADHD, which he fully reported on his enlistment papers and security clearance 9 months before he went in. He entered bootcamp at 17 and was set home on his 18th birthday. I can totally understand your pain and crying. I will tell you, the first week is the hardest. Though the pain still lingers, it gets a bit easier to deal with each week.

Once they go to ship 5, it takes about a month to get home, sometimes longer. You can send books and magazines and that really helps a lot. Send some calling card as well. You can get free calling cards at callsforrecruits.org.  They email the cards to you, so you have them right away. They are allowed more calls on ship 5 than in bootcamp. Usually it's Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, but that can change at times, too.

We have since found out the rules for ADHD (his original recruiter gave him incorrect info and the current recruiter admits he doesn't know the rules) and he DOES meet the various criteria. We just wish when all that paperwork went thru admin and MEPS, if there was a problem, they would have let us know. They didn't tell my son till his 3rd day of boot camp. Now it's a matter of trying to fight it and trying to re-enlist and I doubt that he will.

I won't say my 18 yr old is mature like a 30 yr old. He's a typical 18 yr old, but he took it all seriously and worked hard to get in as an E-3. It's all he ever wanted. I know this hurts and feel free to post any time. We can all support each other. My son has been home for 3 weeks now. He was in ship 5 for 4 weeks.

[N4MAR]

Thank you for the input AZNavymom.  I've read so many posts on here that their sons/daughters were treated really bad on ship 5.  Did your son get treated bad?  My son said he thinks food is good and when they separated him from his division, they were really upset that he was leaving, because he was helping them with their book/computer work (since he was on "light duty")  Is there a division # I need to use when sending him letters to ship 5?  Did they give your son clothes to were home?  How did he get home? 

There is so much conflicting information on what is posted on some of these sights.  I just wonder if it's because each person is different, therefore we all take issues differently.

I'll send a prayer your way and to all the people in the Navy because it sure is a rough road. 

[AZNavymom]

I wouldn't say he was treated badly. They will sound miserable the first week, but then it gets much better as they adjust to the routine and make some friends.  Let's remember, it's not like they're treated well in boot camp either LOL. They get berated for being losers who were sent to ship 5 once in a while. But there are some decent officers in charge of ship 5, so it's not like they're miserable all day. They still wear the regular camos and are considered seaman recruits while they are there. The food is actually pretty good! They give them all the basic PT clothes to come home - tshirt, sweatpants and sneakers. The address to write to them is:

SR Last Name, First Name

Ship 5, Male SEPS (or female SEPS)

3610 Illinois St.

Great Lakes, IL 60088

Also, for my son, after Male SEPS, we had to put B-02, but that changes and so if you don't know if  he's B02, then leave that off - we didn't know at first and he still got his letters.

Write every day if you can. He flew home.

[N4MAR]

This is GREAT information!!!  Thank you sooo much.  I'm trying to review some other avenues he was wanting to do when he came home.  He wanted to get on the Columbus City Fire Dept, but his dad told me they probably wouldn't hire him, since he is being discharged.  But I received a reply from someone on here, that as long as his asthma is controlled he should be able to still do it.  I'm going to check it all out and send my son the information.  Maybe he will take all this a little better. 

Glad to here your son is doing good.  My thoughts and prayers are with you all.  Oh yeah, where do you live?  We live 8 hours from Great Lakes, so I didn't know if they would make him take a bus or fly him out.  I would rather go get him, if he has to take the bus.  At least we could talk on the way back, without being interrupted.  (My ex has a bad habit of being very negative)

 

[AZNavymom]

I live all the way in AZ. I don't know about being 8 hrs away  - that might be a bus ride, unfortunately. They go with the cheapest way to get them home.   But they do allow you to pick them up, so it sounds like that might be a good option for you.

I would say my son is doing ok. Not good or bad, but ok.  Not depressed, but he still lacks direction. He did a lot of retail therapy when he first got home - blew A LOT of money in one weekend, which he had never done before. I was sad and tried to discourage him, but to no avail. I think in the long run, both your son and mine will be just fine! The next few months will be a bit difficult, but they'll get through it (and so will we, with a few new gray hairs). If it didn't take 4 weeks to get him out, he could have started community college and I think that would have been good for him. We need to keep these guys busy when they get home! Hopefully my son will get a job soon - things should be picking up this time of year. Feel free to private message me if you want to talk more in details.

[Daisy13 Ship05]

N4MAR My niece SR has been in Ship 04 with an injured shoulder and separated from her division for the past week and called Friday evening to my SIL to say she was being separated and sent home.  They also gave her a label of Anti-Social Disorder.  It looks like we may be on this road together.  My niece has wanted to be in the Navy for several years too.  This is all she has wanted.  Even when some of us doubted her and tried to discourage her at some point she fought for it and convinced us this is what she wanted with all her heart.  Now her dreams have been crushed.  I feel so bad for her.

[AZNavymom]

HI Daisy,

I'm sorry to hear that she's being separated. I'm sure this has been hard on all of you. This wasn't a job for our SRs - it was a commitment to something very important and suddenly it's over.

The first week is the hardest for everyone. It's so raw and confusing. But it does get a bit easier as time goes on and we all seem to adjust. Be sure to write as often as you can. Funny cards help. You can also send magazines and books to her once she is in ship 5.

[AZNavymom]

I know what you mean, akmomma!

[Angie]

The Navy needs well rounded Sailors that fit the criteria they have set.  Having a good ASVAB score is just one piece of the puzzle.