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Comment by Sarah's Human on February 20, 2019 at 12:35pm

Hi Ducky!

I have to say I was a moderator for a group of SEAL candidates. My son PIR'd on April 6, 2018. Having fallen off the SEAL path I still see so much value for us moms to keep in touch, especially those of us who are new and can learn from the more seasoned moms. So excited to have my son on a new path...Nervous but proud....

My son wanted the SO rating until he started working with the mentors. He didn't know much at all about EOD until then. Ii thought the fear of bullets and such was bad when he was all about SO. Then he comes home and tells me, "Mom, I want to go EOD." That's when I realized there was something worse than bullets: bombs! ;-)

His dad and I support him 100% but the fear factor is high for us.

Thanks for starting up! Maybe a thread rather than the comment wall would be easier? Just an idea.

Comment by Sarah's Human on February 20, 2019 at 12:27pm

Hi Eagle--

Alcohol is a problem in all branches and particularly among the younger members. My son-in-law has been stationed in South Korea for two years and as an NCO has had to deal with young servicemen getting into trouble both on base and especially off base. That gets complicated when criminal charges and SOFA come into play.

For example, one Christmas Night he was awakened at one am to retrieve three of his guys from a Korean jail. The drinking age in Korea is 18 and one of the three was only 18. He thought he'd take advantage of the age limit and along with two others ended up trashing a local fast food restaurant, leaping on top of the counter to sing and dance, and resisted arrest when the Korean police were called. All of this is on video from the restaurant's security cameras. My son-in-law says that was the most aggravating event due to the Korean criminal factor but he's had to deal with it many times. In his opinion it's a result of young men (typically men but women too) away from home with a little money to blow and failure to anticipate consequences. Two of the three in the Christmas event faced court martial and were kicked out of the Army. Because the incident was the first on the third young man's record, he was busted rank and has a permanent black mark in his file.

As for the Navy specifically, my son recently turned 21 and faced a lot of pressure to go out and get drunk (not the term used ;-) ) more than once. Because my son has never buckled under social pressure he refused each time and has decided to wait to have his first drink with his dad when he comes home on leave. But my boy isn't the norm. Most young men and women would either be anxious to go out or would go along with the pressure.

When security clearances are added to this mix, I can see some logic to removing someone from a rating when alcohol addiction is a problem. Especially NSW, where complete focus and highly trained problem solving is absolutely necessary for the safety of the entire team. Hopefully it's a temporary removal and upon successful completion of rehab that person would be able to return to the original rating but I can also see why the powers that be would think that allowing anyone with an addiction, rehab or not, on an NSW team is asking for trouble given the stress our kids endure.

I've noticed the difference between NSW and regular military with regards to alcohol use. I know the teams are very close and I can see a team blowing off steam in a bar or something, but any addiction would be handled differently. In the Army case I mentioned above, the one man allowed to stay in service was watched closely for a long time to make sure there was no addiction, including random urinalyses. If there had been, my son-in-law said he'd have been sent back to the States and dealt with there. I've never heard of a case of a NSW and alcoholism but I imagine it's taken far more seriously simply because of the ratings and the risks they take.

Not to say that casual alcohol use isn't common because it is, again most common in younger members but by no means restricted to the young. In Korea many a married serviceman has gotten drunk, awakened with a hooker and ended up with unpleasant consequences both medical and marital. A common joke in 8th Army is that Korea is the fastest way to end up divorced.

My father had a high-level security clearance for his civilian job and his clearance reviews always included alcohol and drug testing to make sure it wasn't an issue. If it had been, the clearance would've been pulled and my dad would've lost his job. I imagine the same applies to NSW clearances.

All of the branches have tried to limit alcohol use for years with marginal success. They keep trying though.

Comment by Eagle on February 20, 2019 at 10:51am

well, ok all, if we are going to wake up, here is what I ask... 
let me preface by saying I do believe the US Navy is a great institution.

What I cannot get past is the alcohol. I know the policies and I know they want to help their members but I hear a lot of stories of people who tried to get help and then despite reported confidentiality were stripped of their jobs when they asked for help.

I sat at a lovely graduation from EOD school and heard a respected navy man speak about his job and he actually spoke about being in a bar with other Navy men and getting into trouble.  It seems as though no one is driving after drinking they look the other way.

Does anyone else notice this?  

Comment by NavyM♥m on February 20, 2019 at 1:01am

Thanks RubberDucky for waking us up! I don't log on here as much as I did when I was a newbie EOD Mom. I get an email notification when someone comments.
After following my son through the EOD pipeline the last 4 years I have more confidence in my son & his teachers/trainers. More confidence for him  = less anxiety for me. When he was home for a visit he sat me down & showed me some of what he's learned. The terms & technology that rolled off his tongue, like second language, astounded me & impressed me so much that I saw first hand that "HE'S GOT THIS!"  They start them out slow & build up to "THE GOOD STUFF". He's been deployed over seas 4 times in the past 2 yrs. He's seen some AMAZING places! The deployment he's on now has been the best one yet, according to him. If he's happy, I'm happy.

Comment by prayermom on February 19, 2019 at 2:02pm

Hi!  I'm not "active" on the site very much anymore either, but also saw some recent activity. My son is also EOD and has been through the all the training mentioned by Karenlee. It is a wonderful mix of being proud and fearful at the same time.  He loves what he is doing and feels like this is what he was meant to do.  Good luck in your journey and I will try to check in more often.  I enjoy the conversations as well.

Comment by RubberDucky on February 19, 2019 at 1:21pm

IceteamMom and Karenlee, Thank you for your responses. Would it be okay for me to send you friend requests so I can PM you directly? Thank you both! Looking forward to this new path.... 

Comment by IceteaMom on February 19, 2019 at 10:41am

Hi. I'm not "active" on the site anymore but I got a notification of a posting from this group. My son is going into his 4th year in the Navy. He's an EOD - based in SAN, currently overseas and heading to Rota in the summer. I'd be happy to answer any questions if I can. Best of luck to your son.

Comment by RubberDucky on February 18, 2019 at 8:39pm

Why no activity here. I would love to get some interaction here. My son just failed out of BUD/S. He did not DOR. He failed out. He has chosen EOD and I have spent the last two years of my life reading, watching and absorbing everything SEAL. Now I need to re-focus my efforts because I want to be able to follow his path, support him and know WTF he is talking about every step of the way. xo, Ducky

Comment by Karenlee on February 18, 2019 at 6:34pm

RubberDucky, I check in once in awhile but not a lot about our EOD guys.

Comment by RubberDucky on February 18, 2019 at 12:05pm

Is anyone active on this group? 

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