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Comment by mom0717 on July 24, 2015 at 11:05am

Thanks so much for your input Forever proud! I am super new to all this and don't really know how things work.Norfolk seems like such a big base..my son will be moving there later this year so I am trying to learn as much as I can:) Congrats for your sailor! Sounds like he is having some great experiences!

Comment by Forever proud on July 23, 2015 at 8:48pm

Hi mom0717. My kid was in Norfolk roughly two weeks before they sent him over. I don't think there is any time frame (this is what they call being on "Navy time")- it depends on things like where the ship is operating and what they are doing. It might have been a longer wait for my son, but his ship decided to come out of the Persian Gulf to poke around in the Mediterranean for awhile, providing a prime opportunity to pick him up. They saved about 300 folks from a sinking boat before heading back to the Gulf for a few more months. Can you tell I'm a Proud Navy Mom?

Comment by mom0717 on July 23, 2015 at 7:01pm

hi Forever proud..I was just wondering how long it took before they flew your son out to meet his ship that was on deployment when he arrived in Norfolk? Do you know if that timeframe is typical for someone arriving in Norfolk and needing to be flown out to meet his ship?

Comment by John and Yvonne on July 21, 2015 at 5:35am

.Kassie and other moms:

I think your sons will do fine. But I wanted to let you know that my husband and I open our home and invite any interested sailors to come over on the weekends. We feed them and play board games on Saturday evenings and on Sunday I cook a sit down meal with home made bread and dessert and we give them a place to hang out. My husband is retired Navy so we have a heart for sailors. :) If any of you are interested, I can pm you our cell number and you can let your sons (or daughters) know about us.

Yvonne and John

Comment by Nancystj on July 19, 2015 at 8:19pm

Actually that shift sounds like what my son will be doing beginning in August. Those are long work days, especially since they have to fend for themselves in terms of buying and preparing food, doing laundry, etc. in their free time.The drive is tough and he hopes to get moved closer but who knows.I'm exhausted just hearing about how long he works! and its so hot there!! Oh well I guess it's going to be tough for awhile. Thanks and good luck to your son.

Comment by BoyWonderMom on July 19, 2015 at 3:06pm

Nancystj, wow that commute is a killer for your guy! Nukes work 12+ hours shifts 7 days a week rotating between days and nights with two days off every seven days. I guess my son is used to that schedule. He's been doing that for a while now since he was in nuclear prototype training. It's very difficult if you have to commute for one hour to go rest in the morning. He should put a request to move closer to the shipyard, even the barracks sound better than that commute.

Comment by Nancystj on July 19, 2015 at 1:51pm

Can I ask what kind of hours your son works? As a MA my son works 14 hour shifts 3 days on 2 off and where they put him to live is an hour commute each way. He's so exhausted. I wonder if other rates have those shifts too? He leaves for work at 3pm and returns home at 7am. On his days off he does his food shopping for the week, laundry, etc. Seems like a lot. Some of his friends in other rates seem to have much better hours. Does this sound typical?

Comment by BoyWonderMom on July 19, 2015 at 1:33pm

Nancystj, my son is with the USS Lincoln. He was living in the barracks in Newport News for two months but now relocated to navy housing about twenty minutes away from the shipyard. He's extremely happy with his acomodations. It's a townhome, only one roommate and wifi. Which he was lacking off living in the barracks. He says the commute is less than 20 minutes and no tunnels! My son is a Nuke.

Comment by Nancystj on July 19, 2015 at 12:54pm

Just wondering if anyone else has a sailor assigned to USS Lincoln? My son is a MA there but since the ship is being overhauled he lives in Portsmouth and commutes. Just wondering if anyone else has this situation and how are their kids handling it.

Comment by Forever proud on July 19, 2015 at 11:28am

Kassie - my son's ship came home in October last year and he lived on the ship for about a month while "aggressively" pursuing other housing (ie sick of the ship). He got PPV, which is kind of awesome as it is sort of a giant modern apartment complex right off base. Each apartment has two bedrooms - each of which is accessible by key card entry only - and the complexes are all male or all female. Your son will need to check with his command about his elegibility, submit the proper paperwork for his request and then show his face in the housing office often enough that they get sick of him and give him something just so they don't have to look at him anymore. Best time to get housing is when a giant ship deploys.
Best of luck to him! And any other questions fire away!

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