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Comment by Mary (Chris' mom) on October 25, 2015 at 3:54pm

Irene, so sorry they are undermanned there for now. Unfortunately, the more undermanned the jobs are, the better her chances for commendations, promotions, ribbons, etc but I know you feel for her. In the IS world...no news is good news (so we are told). One of my son's shore assingments was pretty cushy unless they were at alert or practicing war games. At those times it was not uncommon for him to pull 16 hour shifts and indeed at one particular time I remember him doing a 2 week or so stint where he was working 20+ hr shifts getting 4 or 5 hours of sleep and then returning for another 12 -16 hour shift, off 8 and then another 20+ hr shift. Once there were enough folks in the office, things smoothed down again. When he was on ship was harder. He often put in 14 hour days and then the jets on the carrier don't care how many hours you have worked or how much sleep you need...lots of earplugs for that job! Try to not worry about her and hopefully she will soon get a chance to call. Email her and set up Skype if you have Android or Windows, or Facetime if you both have iPhone. It is so comforting to see their faces. Sorry it's the nature of the beast in their line of work but they do find ways to manage.

{{{NMH}}}

Comment by Irene on October 25, 2015 at 10:05am

Does anyone in this group have a sailor at Bahrain? My daughter shipped there in Sept. and they told her it was for 2 years.  She says in her area they are short handed and it looked like she was going to have to work 12 hr days, 7 days a week.  Since I have not heard from her since, I guess they weren't kidding.  I am worried about her.

Comment by Travelgirl67 on October 11, 2015 at 3:31pm

Mary, thank you for the awesome info. It is great to hear the Navy MWR has options for them....honestly, I am glad to hear the discouraging words about the computer and game system as well as the encouraging words about plenty to do when not studying. It beats me just saying to him that he needs to focus on studying and not get distracted by spending too much time gaming. Your words make me want to go just for all the leisure activities. Thank you again for the helpful info.

Comment by Mary (Chris' mom) on October 11, 2015 at 2:54pm

There is free time for computers, gaming, TV, etc. I'm not sure about sending a PS system and games...1) Their space is limited and they are inspected constantly...everything must be in place before they head out for class in the mornings. There are many components to the games (the games, controllers, cords), it can be messy looking...2) There is not a lot of time for taking all the stuff out, playing, and packing it up. There is TV and a small "movie theater" area at the MWR and internet connections or he may choose to split cost of internet in his room with his shipmates. Computers and cell phones are great stress relievers but then so is walking the beach, watching the deer, playing softball and a lot of other activities they make available for them. Every once in a while the MWR plans trips to DC or Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, etc. If he has a weekend off and can get a chit to leave, he can go to the Outer Banks and try hang gliding at Jockey's Ridge. My son and his friends really hung out a lot at Lynnhaven Mall, a couple of arcade/restaurants and the IMAX theater over at Oceania. If he finds himself desperate for gaming I suppose it's not a big issue but he really will have to budget time.

Cynthia, whatever date you have been given so far is the one you can be reasonably certain with. Unfortunately I don't think I got the form letter until around the 7th week, when we got passes to PIR.

There are schools beginning often so if your sailor does not make from BC in time, it might mean not getting to graduate A school in time to get his/her top choice of subspecialty or a "dream" location after C school. The Navy is not going to let them just "fall through the cracks", after they have spent 9 weeks and  paychecks getting them through initial training.

Hope that alleviates some concerns. Best of luck to all our SRs and SNs.

{{NMH}}

Comment by Travelgirl67 on October 10, 2015 at 12:43pm

Mickatee, I am still waiting on the form letter to find out when his PIR date is. And I know it is subject to change due to unforseen incidents. I am sorry to hear about your son, but glad he was able to stay in and will be rejoining regular training soon. I don't really 5 ink it matters which A school class start date he has. That seems to teach the basics that everyone needs. It just seems that when they graduate from that it becomes important. From what I understand, their A school class perfo4mance, available C school classes that will be forming up shortly after graduation (A school) and whatever billers that are available across the fleet will determine what his final rating is and where he will go. We just have to hope they do their best, and get something they will be happy with, even if it isn't their first choice.

Comment by Lisa on October 10, 2015 at 12:42pm

Mickatee, my daughters PIR date 11/13 but it was 11/6.Soi think they wait until there are enough for a class

Comment by Mickatee on October 10, 2015 at 10:28am

Cynthia, what is your SR's PIR date? Ours went in early July and has been stuck in RCU with a broken ankle. He's almost healed and rejoining a division (he only had a few days of actual boot camp before his injury). We had many questions about where it would put him for A school; knowing classes are starting again soon is a "yeah" {even with bearing in mind it may be IS school but a different speciality)

Comment by Travelgirl67 on October 9, 2015 at 9:28pm

Goat,
Thank you for the info...i was just looking for additional ammo to use besides the "I think you need to ensure you spend your time studying rather than having time for games." I know he is an adult now but I still want to encourage him and give him the support to do the best he can and if it means telling him lack of room...having to move everything himself...or whatever else rather than just "you need to spend more time studying. .." then that is ok...

Comment by Lisa on October 9, 2015 at 7:28pm

Thanks for the info Goat(btw love the name) and georgiapeach

Comment by georgiapeach on October 9, 2015 at 7:16pm

Lisa:

My son was in A School over Christmas/New Years. The schools 'stand down' for 2 weeks (no classes). Half the sailors get leave over Christmas; the other half over New Years. They all accrue an amount of leave (maybe 2-1/2 days) per month.

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