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Navy For Moms

This site is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids.

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Link to Navy Speak - Navy Terms & Acronyms: Navy Speak

All Hands Magazine's full length documentary "Making a Sailor": This video follows four recruits through Boot Camp in the spring of 2018 who were assigned to DIV 229, an integrated division, which had PIR on 05/25/2018.

Boot Camp: Making a Sailor (Full Length Documentary - 2018)

Boot Camp: Behind the Scenes at RTC

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OPSEC - Navy Operations Security

Always keep Navy Operations Security in mind. In the Navy, it's essential to remember that "loose lips sink ships." OPSEC is everyone's responsibility.

DON'T post critical information including future destinations or ports of call; future operations, exercises or missions; deployment or homecoming dates.

DO be smart, use your head, always think OPSEC when using texts, email, phone, and social media, and watch this video: "Importance of Navy OPSEC."

Follow this link for OPSEC Guidelines:

OPSEC GUIDELINES

Events

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**UPDATE as of 11/10/2022 PIR vaccination is no longer required.

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RTC Graduation

RESUMING LIVE PIR - 8/13/2021

Please note! Changes to this guide happened in October 2017. Tickets are now issued for all guests, and all guests must have a ticket to enter base. A separate parking pass is no longer needed to drive on to base for parking.

Please see changes to attending PIR in the PAGES column. The PAGES are located under the member icons on the right side.

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Graduation Info
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PNG – 2.3 MB
JPG – 3.4 MB
Printable PDF – 2.0 MB

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GROTON, CT. SUBSCHOOL & "A" SCHOOL MOMS

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hi My Son is currently in Groton, Ct. for Submarine School then "A" School.

Members: 865
Latest Activity: Aug 13

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Comment by Viola on October 11, 2018 at 11:04am: CarlaB & WearsLargeHats--

Thank you ladies for the information. It helps so much to understand. My SR is not the best at filling in the blanks, lol.

Comment by WearsLargeHats on October 11, 2018 at 10:46am: Viola, SECF is a family of technical ratings: ETR, ETV, FT, STS. (Communicates, Navigates, Targets, Tracks.) Your son will be placed in one of those based on needs of the Navy, aptitude, and preference. I am not sure when that happens, but the training doesn't separate until after the first 2 phases: BESS and ATT.

With certain credits or for certain rating tracks, sailors can leave boot with an E3 paygrade, Seaman rate. In 6 months they are eligible to advance to E4, which is PO3. Some ratings have "pushbutton" advancement on completing A school, but I am not sure about SECF. Others have accelerated advancement.

The term Petty Officer again goes back to the age of sail, to refer to specialists or experienced sailors who, traditionally, can be given more responsibility.

Comment by CarlaB on October 11, 2018 at 10:38am: Hi Viola

SECF's will find out their final rate when they get to Groton. My son was SECF and he is an FT - Fire control technician, which is weapons control.

I am by no means an expert, but I don't think he can be a petty officer in 6 months. My son also was an E3 upon enlisting, and he just told me last night that it will likely be next September when he can take the advancement test. He said they have to be 6 months out of school and in their final position before they can try for advancement.

Comment by Viola on October 11, 2018 at 10:25am: WearsLargeHats--

Thank you that helps--so helpful. I believe that is what my SR would like to do. He say if he was about to chose one of the 3 areas under SECF umbrella, he wanted to be a Sonar Technician and he currently has an E3 rating at boot camp.

Comment by WearsLargeHats on October 11, 2018 at 10:17am: "Rate" is the Navy's term for rank. "Rating" is an occupational specialty. Very confusing, but the terminology goes back to the age of sail. Then there is paygrade, which is used to set pay levels and rank equivalence across services, and between NATO countries.

My son is STS3(SS), which means he is a 3rd class Petty Officer (E4 paygrade), Sonar Technician, qualified on submarines.

Comment by Viola on October 11, 2018 at 10:03am: Hi all,

I was wondering what "rate" is? How do I know my son's rating? He will be in school for SECF. His PIR date was set back to November 16. In a recent letter he said he would have the ranking of Petty Officer in 6 months--not even sure what that means, lol.

Thank you!

Viola

Comment by Proud Mom on October 10, 2018 at 9:57am: GRADUATION 10-25 GROTON

I was wondering if anyone is going to graduation Oct 25. I'm not going to be able to make it and was wondering if possible someone can take pictures or video. That would be awesome and GREATLY appreciated.. if not I completely understand. Thank you

Comment by amyaa on October 6, 2018 at 5:34pm: Jdkdmom, do I understand that your son just had PIR on 10/5 and is now heading to Groton? If so, so is my son.

Comment by WearsLargeHats on October 6, 2018 at 10:08am: AFAIK, the Navy doesn't have barracks in the sense of "racks" in a big common room. Even in the fleet, the unaccompanied accommodations aka the BEQ are dorm-like. My son's in Hawaii was like a 2 bedroom efficiency with a small kitchen, pretty nice. Of course, aboard the sub is another thing. He also was on an accomodation barge for a few days in Guam, but I never got a report on that.

Unmarried enlisted sailors are usually required to reside in the BEQ until they are E5 or E4 with 4 years of service, at which point they are encouraged or required to find housing off-base.