AE/CF - ET's & FC's members meet and greet.

[CCR]

Introduce yourself, we are getting so big! I can't keep up. As short or long as you'd like. I want to learn everyone's names and find out about your sailors - where they are going, what SHIP they are on, on base or on the seas, and what you hope to get out of this.

[CCR]

I'll start. I'm Carol and my son is Patrick. He PIR'd 4/18 and is presently on the Mustin. Passed indoc, scc, and some ATT modules, he is in A school, and my current info is he will do more mods after A school is over, before he goes on to C school. Do not know where C school will be as of yet. I hope to gain lots of information about his future plans, expectations, what this field will do for him, where his C school will be, where he will be on a ship later, etc. While I wanted to know what this field could do for him in civilian life, I have had indications from him he will be staying with the Navy in for 20 years. A school has been getting easier for him, he was probably glad to find something that finally challenged him, and I think he has.

[Karla W.]

Hi, as you can see I'm Karla. My son is Ryan. He PIR'd on June 27th. He is going for FC. Right now he is on the Franklin and is expecting to move in the next couple of weeks. Joined for the education, not sure what will happen after his first enlistment. He has a 4 year old son here and felt the Navy would help him provide for him. He has had 1 week of SCC and is very anxious to get to A school. At 23 he is a little older and felt this was a necessary step in his life.

[Jackie]

Hi , My name is Jackie. My son is John, he is going to be an ET. He lives on the Wisconsin and is in ATT school. He was made class leader this week.He is 20 years old, He attended college for one year on a football scholarship, but did not like the school and was not sure what he wanted to do. I think that he has finally found something that challenges him also.He seems to be happy now.My husband spent 20 years in the Navy, so we are familiar with a lot of this.

[BRENDA '08]

Hi, I'm Brenda and I am from NC. My son is Jonathan and he currently on the Mustin. He is in A school and from what he has told me he will after A school do some more ATT. He usually calls me about everyday, usually he just lets me know that he has taken a test or something, but other than that he doesn't tell me too much. I ask him sometimes if he just called to hear me breath (ha ha). My wonderful husband retired from the Army so I am use to not knowing everything, but I do know that with the military that it is a hurry up and wait thing. And I also hope that Jonathan will stay in for at least 20 years.

[Millye]

Hi! I'm Millye and am from Palestine, in deep East Texas. My son, Patrick, is a 26 year old Navy corpsman who is currently stationed in Rota, Spain and has been active duty for over 5 years, with about 9 more months to go. He has had two tours in Iraq and is currently stationed with a Marine FAST Co.(Fleet Antiterrorism Support Team), as part of special operations. My daughter, Claire, is 23 and is in her ATT school for ETs. She did her PIR on 5/16/08 and lives on the 1st floor of the Mustin. I am in this group to get more information so I will understand what is going on in their lives as well as to get and give emotional support. We're all on this journey together, so let's enjoy the ride!

[Nancy (aka nwig)]

I'm Nancy, my 21 yr old son is James (only child) and he is currenly an FC3. He PIR'd back in Jan '07, was at the Mustin in GL, graduated A-school in June '07, and then graduated c-school in Dam Neck, VA this past May '08. He's a Sea Sparrow Missile tech on the USS Bataan (LHD-5) homeported in Norfolk, Va. Unless he can get things changed via re-enlistment options , he'll be on this ship for the next 4 1/2 years.

His journey to being able to enlist was a hard-fought 1 year ordeal as he was initially wrongly DQ'd and getting a medical waiver was easier than getting the MEPS doctor to change their Dx. As a result of helping my son in this endeavor, I learned to find, research, & read military & Navy regulations. I ended up being a pretty educated Navy-mom before it was all over with.

My son is not sure if he'll do a full 20 years, but he's pretty sure he'll re-enlist to at least go 8 years. He still has an ultimate career goal of getting his engineering degree and then working with a defense contractor such as Raytheon or Lockheed in the areas of weapons research & development.

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

I'm Mary, Nick turned 21 two days before leaving for boot camp (he planned it that way) and he PIRed on 4/25. He is currently in A school for FC and has a target date of graduation of Nov. 17th. His housing is in the Cole. Nick was a Navy brat and was born in Yokosuka, Japan - he is hoping for orders there one day.

We also have a 19 year old daughter who is starting her second year away at college (almost 4 hours away) so between the two of them - we have "empty" nesters. We are originally from Michigan but have lived in the suburbs of Atlanta for about 15 years now.

Married to a great guy for 23 years now and have known him since we were 15 years old. He is former Navy and spent 10 years as an FC, his last shore duty was an Instructor for one of the FC "C"schools. Due to a back injury, he was not able to stay for retirement. I was a Navy wife for 10 years so I'm fairly comfortable with our son's choice to join the Navy. Dad and son are very entertaining talking "FC" stuff. Dad is very proud of son's choice to "follow" in his foot steps.

[Julie-Kyle's Proud Mom]

Hi,
As you can see, I am Julie and my son's name is Kyle. He is 19 and will be 20 in Sept. He is an FC. He was on the Mustin and just graduated A school on June 20th and is now in Dam Neck, VA in C school. If all goes well he should finish C school this fall (Sept or Oct) and he already has orders for the USS Essex in Sasebo Japan.

His dad was in the Navy in the 70's and was a Boatswains mate. His Dad keeps joking with Kyle that he is way smarter than he is and that he could never make it doing what Kyle is doing now, so I think that makes Kyle feel pretty good. We are both very proud of his accomplishments so far.

So far Kyle has said he has no intention of making the Navy a lifetime career. But we were talking with my husbands first cousint his past weekend. He is 42, went to Annapolis, and retired last fall after 20yrs as a Navy pilot. He said he wasn't planning on making it a career until he was several years in and he got in to actually going places and doing things and he found he really liked it. So I don't expect Kyle to make that kind of decision at this point. He is very young and I figure he has at least 6 years to think it over. I told him a military career is not for everyone but can be a good life for the right type of person. He also was considering college, using the tution assistance, when he gets out. It sounds like many of your sons already have some solid plans. I am looking forward to getting to know everyone and share the journey over the next several years.

[Barbara]

Congrats to Kyle. I bet you are so proud of him!!

[Karyn (Michael's mom)]

Hi, my name is Karyn, Michael's mom. My son is still in boot camp due to PIR 08/08/08, was an ET, had classification this week and changed to FC. He seems happy with it for now, his final goal is Crypto though. I think his A school will be in Great Lakes (I'm sure you can tell me if I'm right ) not sure where C school will be...:-)

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

Hey Karen - A school is definitely in GL. I will posted details on your page.

[Jennifer Tyler]

Hello, I am Jennifer, Proud Navy Mom of Tyler. My son is still in bootcamp and is scheduled to PIR on 08/08/08. Tyler is going to be an FC and is so excited to start his Navy career. He is planning a lengthy Navy career just like his grandfather who was a master chief on nuclear submarines for 25+ years. I am so proud of my son and his dedication and desire to serve his country. I am trying to learn all I can about the Navy and what he will be doing. I understand that Tyler will stay in GL for ATT and A school. I am so glad to have found this group. There seems to be so many here who are knowledgable and have kids that have been successful in this AE/CF classification. Thanks for sharing all your experience and info so I can learn more about what to expect for Tyler! :)
Regards, Jennifer