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Comment by philipmom on September 13, 2013 at 7:34pm

Wow!  I continue to learn so much from the Moms on this site.  Thank you again for all of this good information.  

Comment by BarbRags on September 13, 2013 at 5:09pm

As far as A & C School graduations go, my son told me no one came to their A school Graduation.  He said for C school the parents that were driving their kids home came.  But it was a 10 minute thing that they do in the class.  You can go to them if you want, but no one really does and it seems most of them discourage their parents from coming.

Comment by Mary (Chris' mom) on September 13, 2013 at 2:21pm

Thank you Elenasmom. They used to do it at the school and it was fine for families, since the graduation was downstairs in like a conference/seminar/briefing type room and not in the classrooms themselves. But things change, and I know not long after Chris graduated, the school's commander left DN for a new assignment and the new command changed a few things. Since that time there might have even been another change in command and more changes to the school and how it runs. It's a shame in a way for those few families that could not attend PIR to miss another opportunity to see their sailor at an important time in their careers. Oh well, they belong to Uncle Sam and his rules. :-) 

Comment by Rachel on September 13, 2013 at 1:58pm

My daughter recently graduated in may from C school and we did not attend either graduation. My daughter said the ceremony is held at the school so no parents/family were allowed. She also told us they do/did several classes on the same day in a couple hours so everything was short & sweet.

She also had 2 weeks before she had to report to her next duty station so she just paid the reroute cost & came home. The hard part was figuring out where to keep her things while she was home because they have to be moved out the day of graduation.

Comment by Mary (Chris' mom) on September 13, 2013 at 1:44pm

Pam, I used to hear of a few parents going for A school graduation but I never hear of that any more. It also used to be a common practice for families to attend C school graduation but I think they have cut out a lot of the ceremonial part and just basically hand out the certificates now. I could be wrong.

I would say if you are within a few hours drive or your sailor has so much stuff he/she can't bring it by themselves, or if they are going straight to their next permanent duty station, check and see. If it means two or three expensive plane tickets and they are coming home for leave anyway, or they are reserves coming back home to live, it certainly isn't the same as PIR. There may be as few as 9 or 10 graduating with that C school that day or there may be 50 in three different C schools graduating that day. Either way, the "ceremony" is maybe 10 mins and then the instructors or base commander hands out the certificates. Done and over in about 20 mins. When Chris graduated, it was held downstairs in the school building. I have heard of them even giving out the certs in the classroom...no families. You will have to ask your sailor to check when they class up for C school and have a graduation date.

Other moms with students farther along please reply???? Recent grads???

Comment by philipmom on September 13, 2013 at 11:32am

Thank you for all of the good info!  Someone mentioned A & C school graduations.  Are those events usually attended by the family of the sailors?

Comment by Laura on September 13, 2013 at 2:45am

You do a fabulous job Mary! 

This group has to be more careful than any other group out there because of the nature of our sailor's jobs.  OPSEC always.

"Loose lips sink ships" still applies today as it did in the past.  When I chat on the phone, or communicate with family and friends on line, they know never to ask where my sailor is or what he is doing. 

Whenever someone asks what my sailor does in the Navy and where he is located, my answer has always been, "Floating around, rowing a boat".   It catches them off guard and gives me a chance to smile and walk away!

Comment by Mary (Chris' mom) on September 12, 2013 at 1:19pm

Blondie, Chris is still in Japan (Atsugi). Since he took his wife with him (but they were not married in time for her to be on his original orders) he has to be there longer. His contract was initially up Nov '14 but it has been extended now until at least March '15. He will decide in the spring if he wants to try to re-up. At this time he thinks he will, but much of that depends on the things his command allows him to accomplish during this next year.

I try to control the OPSEC but I also know that families want answers and are trying to cope with the clearances, lack of communication, secrecy surrounding their jobs, etc. I try to give enough information to calm their anxieties without putting bullseyes on our military. I really have a tough time some days getting over here to see what's being posted. When Ellen made me and Val co-admins here, she was going back to work full time and was just planning ahead. Valerie's son eventually rerated and Ellen's son is now out and her family has had several major setbacks during the past few years. I felt like I was kind left holding the bag. Anna is great help, and every once in a great while Dyon (whose son is an officer) signs on. We are the only ones left from the "original" group here. If folks don't like the OPSEC in place, then they need to get back to facebook and myspace and see if they can get the same kind of support they find here. I think it will be fine as long as we remember that this page is first and mostly about supporting the moms (and dads, Carl) of sailors who are just beginning or are away from home (the big majority of them).

Thanks to you, Anna, Dyon, Laura and the other moms who try to give reasonable answers and offer support and encouragement. I hope life slows down a bit for ya.

Hugs to all!

 

Comment by Laura on September 12, 2013 at 2:47am

The sailors do find interesting ways to pass the time waiting to class up.  My sailor had a gap between "A" and "C" school.  He played the trumpet for 8 years so what did he do?  He bought a guitar of course. 

His first assignment was to an already deployed aircraft carrier so he never had a stateside room to store extra items.  The hubby and I drove up for his "C" school graduation and ended up packing our car with stuff to take back home with us.  We had to send the guitar home via UPS.  We ran out of room in the car!

For the new moms - Tell your sailors that they are entering a field where the staff doesn't mess around.  You mess up, you are either reassigned or out of the Navy.  Sailors were tossed for under age drinking, and others for being drunk.  Even when they finally get liberty and go to the popular hang out areas off base, they are watched.  If the sailors follow the rules, they will be fine.

 

Comment by Mary (Chris' mom) on September 11, 2013 at 9:14am

Pam, lol...I think that's the first I've heard of one getting a fishing rod! I still bet one of the strangest at DN, is Carl and Irene's son Cam with his bagpipes out on the beach! Though he later played at a sailor's memorial service at sea. My son was busy working that day and was not able to attend (and it was not his squadron) but he heard from others that Cam did a great job. Their ship posted some pics of the service which I copied, and sent to Carl and Irene since Cam had just left the ship to come back stateside. A fishing rod?!...hmmm I wonder if they can fish from the ship during steel beach picnics? lol

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