Comment

Comment by Anna on January 31, 2009 at 7:37pm

Mary,
Also the reenlistment bonus would be for current sailors who's enlistment is about to end. If they reenlist and want to change to IS they will get the bonus. By the time our sailors are ready to reenlist that bonus may no longer be available or it could get changed to something else. Right now the IS rate is very open because it is still so new. Also before you can take the test for the next rank promotion you have to be in your current rank for a certain period of time - it's different for each rank.
Anna

Comment by Anna on January 31, 2009 at 7:31pm

Mary,
I'm glad you didn't get sick also. We're planning our trip to Dam Neck the weekend of Feb 27 - Mar 1. The 20th is Chris and Amanda's first anniversary and she's going to stay that whole next week. That's why the rest of us are traveling down there the following weekend. I don't know if that will be too late for your trip to take your Chris his car.
I'll try to answer a couple of your questions for you - if your Chris is an E3 now he will become an ISSN (SeamaN) upon completion of A school. However he will have to take the test for E4 (3rd class Petty Officer) unless he get a automatic promotion for being 1st in his class or something like that. Then he will continue to take the exams and promote up the enlisted ranks as far as he wants to go. You can go from enlisted to Warrant Officer but it takes time. There are a couple routes to take to become an officer. He can submit for the Seaman to Admiral program where the Navy will pay for him to go to college and get a 4 year degree and then puts in for OCS to become an officer. Or if he already has a 4 year degree, he can put in for OCS and become an officer.
When my Chris was in the first time he took the test for E5 (2nd class Petty Officer) and got to put his second chevron on but he got out of the Navy before all the paperwork went through so he got out as a 3rd class. Now when he went back in he actually had to go in as a Seaman because he can't be a Petty Officer until he passes his new A school (IS). Once he finishes A school he will automatically become a petty officer because that was his rank when he got out. He'll need to take the next test to become an E5 as an IS. He said he feels so strange because he has all these medals from the first time he was in and has his 4 year hashmark on his uniform but only E3 stripes. He says he thinks his fellow sailors look at him and thinks he got DEmoted!!!
Anyway - hope that helps you!!!
Anna

Comment by Mary (Chris' mom) on January 31, 2009 at 7:26pm

Now on the other hand Wesley Christopher? We could call him WC Fields!

Comment by Mary (Chris' mom) on January 31, 2009 at 7:25pm

Ooops, If we did that then we would have to have two JCs. Jim Christopher, hmm I'm not real sure that sounds as good as Jared Christopher!

Comment by Mary (Chris' mom) on January 31, 2009 at 7:23pm

LOL, Rene! We could change Jared's name and call him JC!

Comment by Mary (Chris' mom) on January 31, 2009 at 7:06pm

Hi Vikki! Welcome aboard! How long is your son's current assignment? Is he near Ellen's, Jim? It's so good for us "new moms" to have some experienced moms here. Thank you for joining us!

Comment by Mary (Chris' mom) on January 31, 2009 at 6:32pm

Ellen, That's great news! ? It's stuff I don't understand. *scratching head* What are billets? Open posistions? Expanding by 75, does that mean that if 5 are retiring and 20 are separating they actually need 100 MORE than last year? If our guys who signed 6 year contracts and will get a $6,000 sign on bonus, make their 6 years and re-enlist then they get a $60,000 dollar re-enlistment bonus?
Another question is, has Jim been to OCS or said that he would like to apply for OCS? I'm wondering if ISs come out as Petty Officers or Warrant Officers? Or since Petty Officers are noncommissioned officers do they bypass those rates and get an O1 rank? I don't really understand the promotion schedules (as you can tell). I had a hard enough time understanding that Chris had to get through school soon enough, to be eligible for the October promotions. I'm still not real sure if he has to be finished with "A" school like so many months before Oct., or "C" school. Maybe you or Dawn or Kristal could help out?

Comment by Anna on January 30, 2009 at 9:42pm

Mary,
Where in NC do you live? If you don't want to tell me on this page you can send me a private message. We're going to be visiting your state in May (family wedding) and wondered if we would be close to you. We're also planning a quick weekend visit to Dam Neck to visit Chris in Feb. His wife is coming over from CO for their first anniversary, our oldest son and wife are going to travel down from PA, and Catherine is going to fly in from Washington. We will have a quick family reunion and hopefully get to meet the boyfriend.

Comment by Anna on January 30, 2009 at 9:24pm

Mary,
I'll check with someone else to see if they can see the pictures. I don't know that much about how to do things on this website so I may have done them wrong. I'll investigate!!

Comment by Anna on January 30, 2009 at 9:18pm

Mary, that's a shame about the young lady! That can't be a good thing to have happen to someone so young. And I'm sure she's not aware that anything is wrong. Catherine also is dating a sailor that is an AZ and is stationed in Oceana. In fact, talking about a small world - he is attached to the very same squadron that my Chris was attached to when he was an OA!! When her boyfriend told us where he was going we told him we already had the ballcaps and cups from that squadron!! He was a little worried about us until we explained the connection!! Catherine is kind of worried that her brother is so close to where her boyfriend is!!!

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