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Comment by M's mom on February 26, 2018 at 1:04am

Anna,

Your son is a lucky man to have such a wonderful Navy wife! Wow, 15 years now; he should surely stick it out for 20! 

My son said officers are either "up or out" meaning, if they are passed over for promotion, they are discharged whether they want to leave or not.  He will be up for promotion to LT Commander in about two years, but this time, he will have to go before a review board.   He is working on his master's degree, which is required.  I told him to just be outstanding in whatever his job is, and go above & beyond when possible.

Comment by Anna on February 24, 2018 at 9:53pm

Thanks M's mom!!  My son's wife is a true blue Navy wife.  She used to try to find work when they would move around but now she takes care of their daughter and takes in children for day care.  She follows our son all over and handles things while he is deployed.  She is lucky in that they make friends easily so they always have people to spend time with while son is away!!!  He's career now, been in since 2003!!!  And she is ok with him staying until retirement!!!  Gotta really hand it to the strong Navy spouses!!!

Comment by M's mom on February 24, 2018 at 9:46am

Anna,

So sorry to hear of your daughter's divorce, but glad to know she is doing so well flying.  Military marriages are hard.  My son's wife has degrees in microbiology and genetics, but so far she has just found menial jobs as she's followed son around the world, but she knew when they got married that his career was going to be primary.  

They have been in Japan for two years now, and absolutely love it there.  She is working at the Arts & Crafts store on the base, (a good fit because she is a serious crafter.)  Son would like to make a career of the Navy, so I just hope that she doesn't give him an ultimatum like, "I've followed you around the world for ten years, now it's time for you to get a stable civilian job, so I can find a job in MY field."   Or worse yet, just leave, like your daughter's ex.  

They will be in Japan until January, and then son thinks he will likely be going to D.C.--actually Suitland, MD-- the HQ of Naval Intel.  They've said they will probably try to start a family once they get back to the States, so D.C. will be MUCH closer than Japan to go see grandbabies!!

Hubby and I visited them in Japan this last July, and had a great time except for the LOOOONG 12-hour plane flights to/from Tokyo.

I was wondering if your son was still at Whidbey!  My son enjoyed Whidbey. He worked with a squadron of Growlers, and then was deployed with them for 11 months on the USS Carl Vinson.  Join the Navy and see the world, they say!

Hope your daughter can get the instructor position she wants so her life will be a little more stable.

Comment by Anna on February 23, 2018 at 11:33pm

M's mom,

Well our plans for this year's travels have hit a major snag!!  We came to Oklahoma to spend Christmas with Jenn and then we were going to go south for the rest of the winter and then begin traveling again in the spring.  Unfortunately, Jenn's husband announced to her, at the end of her last deployment in early December, that he wanted a divorce and moved out on her the week before Christmas!!  What a class guy, but I always felt he was self-centered and way immature!!!!  He filed all the paperwork and the divorce was finalized the end of January!!  Jenn still has a year of deployments (she's on another one now) so we agreed to put trailer in storage and move into her house so we can take care of her house, dogs, and cat!!! After the end of this year she should transfer to a shore assignment and wants to move over to the training squadron, where she started, and become an instructor.  When she does that she won't do this every other month deployment and we'll continue our travels!!!!  So, while she is still adjusting to having the rug pulled out from underneath her, she is still flying, and she just made Mission Commander so she has accomplished all the qualifications she needed, and in record time!!!!!  Thanks for thinking of her!!!

How about your son??  Our intelligence son is hoping to make Chief this year!!  He is stationed at Whidbey Island, WA but they are ready for deployment soon.  Not sure where they are going yet!!!!

Oh and it has been a cold winter in Oklahoma so far.  Had a major ice storm Tuesday and Wednesday and now it's just cold and rain!!!!  No warmth for me right now!!!!!

Comment by M's mom on February 19, 2018 at 10:58pm

PKM,

Yes, sometimes my son will speak in military acronyms and I will have to ask him to spell it out!  You can Google "military abbreviations" and find lists that help translate Navyspeak.

When my son was at intel school, he lived off-base in an apt. in Virginia Beach.  (I think enlisted may have to live on-base?)  His fiancée (now wife) lived with him, so I assume spouses could be there too, but the rules may be different for those who must live on-base.

Comment by PKM on February 19, 2018 at 2:36pm

Thank you M's mom for the info.

All the abbreviations seem like a foreign language and the terms too.  I look forward to having my son tell me that joke upon graduation. 

Anyone know if their spouses can join them at Intl School?

Comment by M's mom on February 18, 2018 at 10:17pm

Hi  Anna!

 Hope you are spending the winter someplace WARM.  It has been a cold & snowy winter here in Indiana.

Where is your son now?    Hope your daughter is still flying.  She graduated OCS about 2 classes behind my son.

Comment by M's mom on February 18, 2018 at 10:08pm

PKM,     The officer's intel school and enlisted school are both at Dam Neck, VA, but are entirely separate schools.  They don't interact in the same classes, etc.  I don't know anything about the curriculum, because we don't ask anything, and our son doesn't tell.   When our son graduated from intelligence school, we teasingly asked him if he now felt more "intelligent," and he said, "A little, but I can't tell you anything, or I'll have to kill you."   They all get a kick out of using that line.  haha

Comment by PKM on February 18, 2018 at 9:39pm

Hi: Is it so very different to be an Intel officer from OCS vs enlisted intel? My son will graduate from OCS with a commission and then he is off to Intel school, that is how I understand it. Are there different schools for Intelligence training?

Comment by M's mom on February 18, 2018 at 8:13pm

PKM,

Most of the Moms in this group have sailors who are enlisted intelligence specialists.  My son is an officer in intelligence.  After graduating OCS in the fall of 2012, he went to intel school at Dam Neck, Virginia, which is an annex of Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach.  I can't remember how many months he was there before he graduated, but they have a ceremony that the families are invited to attend and we did, just as a tropical storm hit VB, so couldn't have any fun on the beach!

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