This site is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids.
FIRST TIME HERE?
FOLLOW THESE STEPS TO GET STARTED:
Choose your Username. For the privacy and safety of you and/or your sailor, NO LAST NAMES ARE ALLOWED, even if your last name differs from that of your sailor (please make sure your URL address does not include your last name either). Also, please do not include your email address in your user name. Go to "Settings" above to set your Username. While there, complete your Profile so you can post and share photos and videos of your Sailor and share stories with other moms!
Make sure to read our Community Guidelines and this Navy Operations Security (OPSEC) checklist - loose lips sink ships!
Join groups! Browse for groups for your PIR date, your sailor's occupational specialty, "A" school, assigned ship, homeport city, your own city or state, and a myriad of other interests. Jump in and introduce yourself! Start making friends that can last a lifetime.
Link to Navy Speak - Navy Terms & Acronyms: Navy Speak
All Hands Magazine's full length documentary "Making a Sailor": This video follows four recruits through Boot Camp in the spring of 2018 who were assigned to DIV 229, an integrated division, which had PIR on 05/25/2018.
Boot Camp: Making a Sailor (Full Length Documentary - 2018)
Boot Camp: Behind the Scenes at RTC
...and visit Navy.com - America's Navy and Navy.mil also Navy Live - The Official Blog of the Navy to learn more.
OPSEC - Navy Operations Security
Always keep Navy Operations Security in mind. In the Navy, it's essential to remember that "loose lips sink ships." OPSEC is everyone's responsibility.
DON'T post critical information including future destinations or ports of call; future operations, exercises or missions; deployment or homecoming dates.
DO be smart, use your head, always think OPSEC when using texts, email, phone, and social media, and watch this video: "Importance of Navy OPSEC."
Follow this link for OPSEC Guidelines:
Events
**UPDATE as of 11/10/2022 PIR vaccination is no longer required.
FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR UP TO DATE INFO:
RESUMING LIVE PIR - 8/13/2021
Please note! Changes to this guide happened in October 2017. Tickets are now issued for all guests, and all guests must have a ticket to enter base. A separate parking pass is no longer needed to drive on to base for parking.
Please see changes to attending PIR in the PAGES column. The PAGES are located under the member icons on the right side.
Format Downloads:
- Graduation Info
- PDF – 2.7 MB
- PNG – 2.3 MB
- JPG – 3.4 MB
- Printable PDF – 2.0 MB
Navy Speak
Click here to learn common Navy terms and acronyms! (Hint: When you can speak an entire sentence using only acronyms and one verb, you're truly a Navy mom.)
N4M Merchandise
Shirts, caps, mugs and more can be found at CafePress.
Please note: Profits generated in the production of this merchandise are not being awarded to the Navy or any of its suppliers. Any profit made is retained by CafePress.
Navy.com Para Familias
Visite esta página para explorar en su idioma las oportunidades de educación y carreras para sus hijos en el Navy. Navy.com
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Anyone with Sailors/Soldiers/Marines in War Zones and Combat Areas
Information
For parents and loved ones of deployed and deploying military personnel...Aghanistan/Iraq and any and all war zones. Please introduce yourself on the main comment page.
Members: 116
Latest Activity: Jul 14, 2020
Anderson Hall is in San Antonio, on the campus of Fort Sam Houston...the place where future corpsman will learn their trade.
"Doc" Christopher Anderson served with Marine 1/6.
(He also went to Basic and to FMTB with my son. TDM)
Corpsmen on the job in Afghanistan:
Helpful Links:
It provides access to services and resources at the national, state and local levels to support recovery, rehabilitation and community reintegration.
Absentee Voting Link Get info here on registering to vote and absentee voting.
Navy Individual Augmentee Information "IA"
Ombudsman Registry Find your sailor's unit and contact information
Seabee Info Web site Answers to many questions about deployment, etc even if your sailor is not a Seabee.
Fleet and Family Deployment Navy Facebook
Online Program Helps Military Vote Absentee
Guardian Angels for Soldiers Pets Facebook Page
Dogs on Deployment One-Stop Resource page for military members to turn to for advice and direction to all pet-related needs. They also are looking for fosters for pets whose owners are being deployed.
****Red Cross and Help for the Military, Emergency Notificaton Link to the Red Cross Military Assistance page, on the left is a list of links to important sites, including the phone numbers if you need to notify your deployed loved one of a family emergency. This note: Beginning June 13, 2011, at 8:00 a.m. EDT, all military members and their
families can use one number- 877-272-7337 (U.S. Toll Free) to send an urgent
message to a service member. The change means that all military members and
their families can use this single number to initiate an emergency communication, regardless of where they live.
Coaching Into Care works with family members or friends who become aware of their Veteran’s post-deployment difficulties—and supports their efforts to find help for the Veteran.
This is a national clinical service providing information and help to Veterans and the loved ones who are concerned about them.
Defense Center of Excellence information and help for TBI and PTS for active military, vets and their families.
After Deployment... This web site is VERY useful to service members, family and loved ones after the return of a loved one from deployment.
VAWatchdog.org Very useful links for our vets and their families.
Secondary PTSD Resource Link For families and loved ones of a soldier/sailor/Marine/airman with PTSD.
Facebook Support for OPSEC An online resource for OPSEC regs and questions concerning safety in social media web sites.
Graphic Novel Helps Corpsmen Cope with Combat-related Stress
Links to those sending packages to our deployed sailors/soldiers/marines/airmen:
Molly's Adopt A Sailor Group Join the group, or just read for ideas on what to send to your deployed kid.
Jacob's Program Another group of volunteers sending packages to our deployed folks.
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To all who drop by! WELCOME! please post below so we can get to know you. If you send a message around to 'all members' , we CANNOT respond. So, please introduce yourself below, and remember to not share dates or specfic movements by any military unit on the board! Thank you!! and again WELCOME!!
Discussion Forum
Son in Spin Boldak
Started by rysony. Last reply by rysony Mar 14, 2012. 40 Replies 0 Likes
Care Packages - lists of items, how to order priority boxes and how to fill out customs forms
Started by Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom. Last reply by millon4 Oct 2, 2012. 29 Replies 1 Like
Sailors in Afghanistan with boots on the ground
Started by Ruth, Gun's Mom. Last reply by TexasDocMom Sep 18, 2010. 18 Replies 0 Likes
RSS
Comment Wall
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Comment by TexasDocMom on March 5, 2012 at 11:11pm
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ktssong, here is when you have to learn to let go a little...you can't keep track of him all the time, you just can't. He's a military professional, he has a job to do that you know little about and that's how it's supposed to be. No, you won't know where he is most of the time and he won't be able to tell you. He'll tell you more when he gets home, but he can't share information with his family about military movements or action. If he does tell you something, you can't tell anyone else. You can speak in generalities here, but you cannot share what he says. OPSEC is important, some links above to info about it.
Outside the wire means they are out of their safe pocket, be it a base, camp wherever. On patrol, on a project, in the villages around, someplace. I don't know if I'd call it "nervous" but they are on high alert when they are out of the wire, as it should be. Packages will wait until they come back..
MRE meals ready to eat : " a self-contained, individual field ration in lightweight packaging " All I've heard about them is some are better than others, and it usually beats going hungry. It's also the reason I'm sure that I made soft tacos every single morning for 3 weeks when my son came home from Iraq and chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy every night.
Now, I hope I haven't said anything to upset you, or make you worry more because you are sounding better! It's a new world for moms, handing control of our children off to them, and without asking us anything about it! Ma Navy is in charge, I grew up like that, and you get used to it.
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Comment by ktssong on March 5, 2012 at 10:19pm
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TDM I can't agree with you more, we are moms and we can't help it, we want to know. I still laugh at what I told my son when we rode with the recruiter the first time to another city for his testing overnight. I said when you get there tell me what hotel you are at. I told him I will always find where he was last seen and come find him if he is ever missing. I keep track of him all the time. He's almost 24 and we laugh about it but he seems to find great relief in telling me too because he knows mom has to know. All my friends laugh at that cartoon for this group that shows moms parachuting in...haha. We do what we need to do. Anyway... I have some questions too because I can't tell if my son is trying to protect me "mom" or just isn't able to say so maybe if I ask someone can tell me how this works...
If he has found out he is "going outside the wire" for a project but he can't say where or when, after they are gone from the main camp will we know where they are? When I hear "outside the wire" is it more dangerous? Do the guys themselves typically get more nervous about "outside the wire" too? I read one of the moms say that you son wants food sent because he doesn't like the food {MRE} what is MRE? And finally if I send a box with food to the same address on the base where he's at til "outside of wire" will it get to him once he is "outside the wire"? Okay....can you tell someone is feeling a little better? I did go to church for first time in over a month this weekend. I've been to my day job 4 times now and went out to eat for my birthday several times this weekend but I'm still feeling a little weak. But much better. Also, good news...my son got his guitar that I was worried about getting to him. He was so happy.
Any information teaching this mom on first deployment the in's and outs of this inside and outside wire stuff would be appreciated....thanks. He seems to be learning as he goes too. We all are. Which I'm glad we are all learning together. It keeps me occupied. Love and prayers to all you moms and all our kids.
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I think Malamama's son just knows her really, really well...don't they all?
TNM...hope those storms just passed you by the last few days...and so glad your son is home with you!!
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Comment by Much Trouble on March 2, 2012 at 10:50am
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MalaMama...WOW! When did that crazy kid become a wise man??? LOL I'm so glad you are hearing from him and learning how to relax. You are right...the worry doesn't go away but it is nice to be able to put it on the back burner for a while. Actually, my worse time after the first "plunging heart" and "rocks in the stomach" episode when he left, was when my son was getting ready to come home. The shorter the time got, the more I got worked up that something BAD was going to happen. Of course, it didn't, but I was a basket case by the time I came on here and told everyone how "crazy" I was. Since then, I've heard others say the same thing...so it may not happen to you, but if it does, don't be surprised.
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Mama bear, the "sand box " is Afghanistan. It used to mean Iraq, but now with this one active war zone, it's Afghanistan. If you look above this posting box, you'll see a list of discussions where one of the discussions is about packages. Above the Discussions section is a list of links to various subjects, including some groups at the bottom that send a lot of packages and will have some ideas for you.
Some of those deploying just do not give us the information we need, do they? they think they are protecting us, but we are moms and we want to know!
I know it's frightening, please come here often, so you can remember that you are not alone.
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Comment by mama bear on March 1, 2012 at 12:39pm
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what is the sand box and how do you keep strong and stop the constant fear in your mind, my daughter fail to tell let alone to show any guide to me before she deployed on her 1st deployment. also I read somewhere on this site that there is a list of what you can and can not send in your care packages to your loved one. But now I can't find it, Do any of you know the answers to my questions?
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what is the sand box and how do you keep strong and stop the constant fear in your mind, my daughter fail to tell let alone to show any guide to me before she deployed on her 1st deployment. also I read somewhere on this site that there is a list of what you can and can not send in your care packages to your loved one. But now I can't find it, Do any of you know the answers to my questions?
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“To all who fought in Iraq, we thank you for your service,” he said. “You’ve earned our nation’s everlasting gratitude. We are indebted to you for your willingness to fight [and] your willingness to sacrifice for your country.
“We are [also] indebted to your families and your loved ones for the sacrifices that they made so that their loved ones could help defend this nation,” Panetta said.
“As your commander in chief, I could not be more proud of you,” Obama said. “As an American, as a husband and father of two daughters, I could not be more grateful for your example [of] the kind of country we can be, [and] for what we can achieve when we stick together.”
Obama paid tribute to “courageous” troops who served despite the likelihood of being sent into harm’s way and to fallen service members and their families.
“You taught us about sacrifice -- a love of country so deep, so profound, you’re willing to give your life for it,” he said. “Tonight, we pay solemn tribute to all who did.”
Obama recalled five service members who were the first casualties of the Iraq War, and the last U.S. casualty there, who was killed Nov. 14.
“Separated by nearly nine years, they are bound for all time among the nearly 4,500 American patriots who gave all that they had to give,” the president said. “To their families, including the Gold Star families here tonight, know that we will never forget their sacrifice, and that your loved ones live on in the soul of our nation, now and forever.”
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Cleaning out the office, found my son's "singles Deployment guide..." when your son/daughter is deploying they all get one of these, and it answers a bunch of questions...now mine is 3 years old, so I'll keep it but the info may not be up to date. When your child starts talking deployment, ask to see this guide.
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