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Comment by Karenlee on October 11, 2013 at 9:45pm

Hi Carolina Mom, glad your son is doing a lot of swimming and he is right he needs to far exceed the pst requirements. I don't post pictures but I think they can not show name or any ranking do not really know for sure. My son surfed when he was in Cali but not much in Rota. Not enough time- they stay pretty busy. The ceremony in Panama City is short and sweet and then they head to Eglin. We did not go but as far as Eglin- yes,yes,yes. We went about 4 days before graduation and stayed a few days after. The following Monday he left for Ft Benning for jump school. My son is on the underwater demo team now and they just got a new underwater robot that they got to use in Iceland a few weeks back. He said it was Way Cool! Just a little FYI they graduate as a basic tech. In 2-3 years they test to become a senior tech which Ben did in July. His rank is now EOD2(EWS) explosive warfare specialist. The Navy has their own rating in EOD. The next step is a master tech but not sure when that happens. Just when I thought I didn't have any more test to fret over I did again in July.
Keep in touch and hope you have a good weekend also. Karenlee

Comment by Karenlee on October 10, 2013 at 8:37pm

Dear Carolina Mom, I am going to give you a run down of how EOD works for my son. He has been in the navy for just over 7 years. After bc he trained to be an AT- avionics tech. He was in the fleet, stationed in San Diego and attached to the Ronald Reagan. He was deployed twice. He had to apply for EOD which he did during a deployment. He worked with the EOD guys that were on his ship. He passed the pt test was given orders to report to GL for dive prep which is the 1st step. If I remember right that lasted one month. There is high fall out rate at this time. He reported there in Dec of 2009. He then went to Panama City FL for dive school. Then it's on to Eglin AFB for the rest of the courses they take. If you google Navy EOD you will find a list of the courses and the different subjects that they cover. It takes about 52 weeks to complete unless they fail a course and are sent back to retake it. My son was sent back twice during the nuclear phase and the second time he had to go in front of the board and they decided if he was worthy of staying in the program. They deemed he was which was great news for him and us. This journey has a lot of ups and downs. They finish up with 6 weeks of diving and then they are done. The navy fixed our sons eyes and I was concerned but they had told him not to have it done before he went in. As far as deployments with EOD go my son has yet to be on one. He is with MU8 which is based out of Spain. He has been to a lot of countries for joint training with other countries. He loves what he does. Just so you know they do not wear "the bomb suit" very often. They have 2 robots that they get trained on and they use them as much as possible. They really don't want to put them in the suit. He will have to wear it during school and if I remember correctly they have to stay in for almost an hour. In FL in the summer that can be one hard task. The suit is cooled somehow but when you are in it sweating things tend to fog up! One good thing about EOD if they are stationed in the states there is only 2 places they will be California or Virginia. My son has been in Spain almost 3 years but should be coming back sometime next year. If they are stationed overseas it is for 2 years unaccompanied and 3 years accompanied. Since your son is going in with an EOD contract I don't know if things are different at bc like maybe extra pt. I would tell him now to swim,swim swim. He will doing a lot of that at dive prep and dive school. In FL they do a lot of bay swims which are timed. You just need to give him encouragement. This will be a journey that will be rewarding for all of you. Your son is gaining a family unlike any other. We are proud to be a part of this community as you will be. It sometimes seems like a long road but when graduation rolls around it is just awesome. The pride you feel at bc graduation you can double or triple that for EOD graduation. Please keep us informed as to how he is doing. If you have any questions please ask. Will keep you and your sailor in prayer as you begin this adventure . Karenlee

Comment by NJNavyMom on October 10, 2013 at 4:34pm

Carolina Mom, we tried to keep our son out of the police force because we thought THAT was too dangerous! What were we thinking!!!   He fooled us and chose BOMBS instead!  Honestly, your post could have been me a while ago. Time goes quickly. Marsha

Comment by Liberty on October 10, 2013 at 12:48pm

Thank you Cheryl and Brandon's mom. I am actually feeling a little better now after your posts. His recruiter keeps saying that the Navy EOD group is the best trained in the world. I do believe that, but I always respond "But it is BOMBS"!! He really wanted to be a SEAL. This horrified me, of course, because I know that those are the guys who go in for the REALLY dangerous missions. But now I am wishing he was doing that...although I would assume that they come in contact with an awful lot of bombs too. I have been praying about it. I have always been a worrier. Really, it is almost funny that he is doing this because I am the LAST mom on earth who needs a son in the military! I didn't let him get his license until he was almost eighteen!! I was thinking that he was in college and in three more years I could stop worrying so much and then BAM- "I am sick of college and I want to join the Navy and be a SEAL"!! Say what??? His eyesight was not good enough for SEAL. Then a few weeks ago I had a "DUH" moment and called to ask the eye docs if they ever make an exception to the 21 year old rule for Lasik...yes they do. Called his recruiter and he told me that he had to have any surgery SIX MONTHS before Boot Camp. If I had thought of asking a while back we could have done that and he could have gotten a SEAL contract.This is a silly rule since now the Navy will have to pay to have his eyes fixed eventually...when we were willing to do it now. They said that the first time he has six months between deployments that he can have it done. I have a feeling that the poor kid will be wearing glasses a LONG time! I am really not sure why that SEALS more safe to me- I know that it most likely is not. Then there is the whole "He will never live in our town again" thing...and "He will probably miss his sister's graduation and other important events.He will one day get married and I will have grandchildren who may live halfway across the world! It is all just a lot to process. Now the good things...He is very excited about joining the Navy. He is doing so well on his PST's..His recruiter calls him a "Star Recruit"...that they are so excited to have him. That he is going to be great...that kind of thing. Mostly, I think he is loving doing something that we didn't want him to do! Haha! He has always loved history and is very politically aware and civic minded. If you could take out the danger it would be perfect! Haha.He NEVER, EVER said a word about joining the Military! Anyway, there is not a thing I can do about it at this point. I act like I think ti is all cool! I am his biggest cheerleader..have a chart in the kitchen of his PST scores and I make a big deal about them every time. He brought home an EOD poster and I had it framed for his apartment (He lives about ten minutes away). I have been buying silver charms to make a Navy charm bracelet...Have bought him some cool old Navy photos on Ebay that I will frame when he is settled in his first place- which I guess will be YEARS from now. He told me that his friend joined the Air force and I said "Air force???What?? The Navy is the place to be"...Basically I am just trying to play along and sound cool! Haha! So, thanks again for your posts! They helped!!

Comment by NJNavyMom on October 10, 2013 at 10:25am

Cheryl, I couldn't have said it better. My son just graduated from EOD and I needed a Xanax to get me through the graduation. That was before I found out about NAVYFORMOMS. Now I feel like I have people "out there" who know what I'm going through.

Carolina Mom, we seem to have the same background!

Marsha

Comment by NJNavyMom on October 8, 2013 at 4:48pm

Just watched It's A Long Road! Great song and video!

Comment by NJNavyMom on October 8, 2013 at 3:56pm

Hi Q's mom! Sorry, I don't remember your name. I'm so happy you told me about this site! Thanks!!!

 

Comment by QMGsmom on October 7, 2013 at 10:17pm

Hello Marsha, Im glad you found us finally!!! its a great group. Addy62, I did not meet you but obviously ours sons know each other. I do recognize your picture and I loved the shot. Someone calls him giblet because his name is hard to pronounce. Id love to see the pics you have from graduation. I cant post anything, Q has asked me not to.

Comment by QMGsmom on October 7, 2013 at 10:15pm

JackFlash, the best piece of advice I can give is to understand that no matter how  tough he says it is and no matter how many set backs he has, being that mom that wants to make it all better you just can't. You have to let that go and just be as supportive as you can to anything he needs. Our group had it rough because they closed the galley and the guys had to pretty much fend for themselves for food. They had a small frig and micro in their rooms, but it got old quick and eating out ($$$$) was the only choice. Send him care packages, anything to let him take a break mentally from the grind.

Good Luck to your son!!!

Comment by Karenlee on October 7, 2013 at 7:56pm

What a great song. If you google Navy EOD there should be a link on the different classes they will be taking and how long each section runs. I don't remember the order but I know the middle courses are the harder ones.

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