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Comment by Seahawks12 on March 21, 2025 at 2:01pm

Canuka - Thank you very much for all of the housing and other information.  It is very helpful and we appreciate it!!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Comment by Canuka on March 21, 2025 at 1:34pm

AZ_RACCOON - That’s the spirit!

FYI: The housing situation, looking way forward. The contract your sailor signed says that the Navy will provide her with a bed, one bed; where & type is up to the Navy.

At GC, this is a barracks room for A school and PS. Since there are no berthing facilities at prototype, the Navy provides housing allowance or extra pay to partially cover off-base housing. This is a big exception to normal allowances which don't kick in until the sailor reaches higher ranks or time in rank. At GC, my son rented a new 4 bedroom house in Moncks Corner with 3 others. The total rent was around $2200 a month and they each got $1700 a month so they banked some extra cash.

The fleet situation varies greatly by boat/ship and home port area. The contract bed is obviously on the boat/ship and even then, may be shared (hot racking, especially on subs). While in port, sailors will live full time on the boat/ship unless they qualify for an on-base barracks room (subject to availability) or housing allowance (which varies by rank and city). Otherwise, they have to pay the full cost of an apartment out of their own pocket (many home ports are very high cost of living). 

So the lower ranks, even E-4 nukes, are stuck on the ship/boat full-time. Depending on timing of the vessel's operational movements, this could be months to over a year. Availability of on base rooms depends on the base and the number of ships home at the same time. Here in SD, we have 3 homeported carriers and all three are often here at the same time. It is up to the ship to decide who gets the allocated rooms. I don't know how cramped the Pt. Loma sub base is. Other non-carriers or subs tie up at SD Naval Base which has several bachelor quarter buildings, but many schools and shore based commands in addition to the ships. All these bases are huge and not always convenient to local amenities or public transportation.

The above is only for single sailors. This is all different for sailors with dependents. There are many military housing sites in SD, but some are quite a commute from specific bases.

Bottom line, a personal vehicle is a very good idea. There are storage options while long-term deployed.

I know this is down the road for your sailor but we mom's like to know what is coming for our babies even if they are too busy or don't care right now.

Good luck to all.

Comment by AZ_RACCOON on March 21, 2025 at 12:49pm

You ladies have all been so helpful, thank you so much!! I think the one that my daughter is hoping for the most in MMN, but she understands that you get what you get.

Comment by B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet) on March 21, 2025 at 9:50am

Comment by Chipmunk on March 20, 2025 at 11:06pm

B'sNukeMom - Thanks for posting the shift schedule! I couldn't recall the exact times or names. Those crazy shift schedules stay with them through the fleet and shore duty. I think my DIL has had a worse time of crazy shifts on shore duty than she did in the fleet. (She is not a Nuke). But while on the ship my Nuke son had a hard watch, because they don't have as large a pool of sailors to pull from like some of the other rates do. 

The shift changes are some of the hardest things they have both dealt with, being in the Navy. 

Reserves on the other hand, has been a good option for my son now that he is out. 

Comment by DsMom2020 on March 20, 2025 at 10:36pm

I might add that he paid cash for his new car so it was easy to transport it to his new duty station. IF he had a loan or lease, there would’ve been an approval needed from the lien holder and lot more paperwork to move the car to Hawaii, I don’t know if it would’ve been approved or not.

Comment by DsMom2020 on March 20, 2025 at 10:34pm

Ditto!! My son was in prototype in 2022. His roommates all had cars he did not. Never had a transportation problem. They all worked the same shift. He did apply to be a prototype instructor following graduating the new program. That process started a few months before he was done and there was a deadline to get a car at that point. His application would not be accepted until he had his own transportation. He bought an old car while he was waiting to get a Ford maverick which was hard to find at the time (and $5000 over MSRP if you could find it). He never did get that Ford maverick. Right before he was scheduled to move to his first duty station last year, he did buy a nicer car and sold the beater. The Navy paid to ship his vehicle to his duty station in Hawaii.

Comment by Seahawks12 on March 20, 2025 at 6:15pm

AZ_RACCOON - One more thing none of his friends from BC had cars.  They were all planning to get cars when needed when they got to A school in GC and before Prototype.

Comment by Seahawks12 on March 20, 2025 at 6:08pm

AZ_RACCOON - My son also found out about six weeks into BC.  They had to pick their choices in order of his Nuke Rate they wanted.  MMN, EMN, ETM.  He is now EMN and about to graduate A school.  The final decision is where they need the Sailors.  

When my son arrived to A school after BC he just took Uber with his friends when they needed to go somewhere!  We finally shipped his Jeep to GC from WA state.  

I am still new to all of this.  Everyone here has helped us!! 

Comment by Chipmunk on March 20, 2025 at 5:45pm

AZ_RACCOON - I think my son found out about 6 weeks into BC what his Nuke rate was going to be. 

And You are NOT a terrible mother!! And you are not the first one to get on here and ask about cars and driving and such. I just wish the recruiters would have more of a clue about the Nuke Program and the logistics of the housing. But Canuka is correct, even sailors without a Nuke rate find out when they get to their duty station, such as Norfolk & SD that a personal vehicle is almost a must.

 

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