Concerned mom

[Dawn Hoover]

My son when he joined the Navy was supposed to have been in Subs. He went to Groten for 2 months for A school. After 2 months the medically unable to do subs. That was back in July of 2016. He was , at that point sent to Norfolk where they deemed him undesignated. He is still at that same point. I worry that he can't learn a trade. He has remained at a standstill for almost a year and is becoming disillusioned about what was told to him.

[LynB]

I feel your pain. My son had a similar experience when after over a year of waiting to be sent to OCS he failed the final run (had the flu). They washed him out as an officer and made him undesignated. He sat around for another year before being called to Great Lakes for boot camp. At boot camp he was one of two people selected as crew for the USS Constitution after special interviews...but, because he had had to sit around for essentially two years there wasn't enough time left on his enlistment to allow him to go to the Constitution!

He ended up in San Diego with the Seabees. They taught him to drive boats, which he liked. He finished his enlistment, went to Cal Maritime Academy on the GI Bill, graduated with honors, and is now a licensed third mate earning an excellent living on tankers in the Gulf when he is not on active duty as an E6 through the Navy Reserves. He is pursuing a commission with the reserves.

At the time it seemed like the worst thing that could have happened but in retrospect it made him more determined. He has worked incredibly hard to advance his career ever since - before he had been able to sail through life pretty easily. We say the navy kicked him in the teeth but he clawed his way back and is flourishing. Don't lose hope yet!