Comment

Comment by OkSuzy on March 29, 2012 at 11:46pm

Yes, he has a delay before his school begins.  He is working in a recruiters office...it was that or use his leave time.  It's great having him home:-)

Comment by M's mom on March 29, 2012 at 9:28pm

OkSuzy:  Congrats to your son!   I'm sure you are very proud.   Is he getting some time off before he has to report to his next duty station?

Comment by OkSuzy on March 29, 2012 at 9:11pm

Congratulations!  My son graduated March 22.  It was GREAT!  We went to Newport a few days early and toured the town as well as the mansions.  We had dinner with him Tuesday evening.  Hi Mom's was Wednesday, and graduation was Thursday.  I think Graduation is usually on Friday.  Anyway enjoy it will be awesome!

Comment by M's mom on March 29, 2012 at 8:02pm

Kathy M: Congratulations to your daughter on her upcoming graduation!  After watching those OCS videos on YouTube, I so admire these young people who can tough it out through all of that--no way would I get through it!  I'm sure you are very proud of her.   That's unbelievable that she doesn't have her orders with only two weeks to go.   My son has a laid-back, go-with-the-flow attitude, which I'm sure will serve him WELL in OCS and the Navy.   I, on the other hand, like to have all of our ducks in a row, and all the reservations, etc. locked in well in advance. That' s why I'm trying to get as much info as possible now, even though my son doesn't start OCS until June.  I guess I'm going to have to learn to relax a little as a Navy Mom!   LOL!   I'm just trying to compare this to his college experience, when we were given piles of freshman orientation info, and pages of FAQ's, etc.  I am so thankful for this website, and for all you veteran moms out there who are taking the time to be reassuring voices of experience.    I promise to "pay it forward" and help other newbies after "WE" survive OCS!  

Comment by rokymtns on March 28, 2012 at 1:50am

Congratulations to you!  I made our reservations at the Navy Lodge as soon as my son's graduation date opened up.  I made our flight reservations at the half-way point with Southwest.  I figured I had nothing to lose if he rolled - I could change the reservation at no cost.  I did not tell my son that I had made our flight reservations until he made candio as I did not want to add any pressure.  He laughed when he found out just how early I made them!  Luckily everything worked out.  My son did not take his car to Newport - he flew home with us and was home about 2 weeks before he drove to Pensacola.  He had about a week to get to Pensacola and took a week of leave.  By the time your son makes candio he should be able to give you a good idea of how much time he will have to get to Pensacola.  Enjoy the ride!

Comment by gonavymom on March 28, 2012 at 12:16am

M's mom:  Congratulations to you and your son.  This is a very exciting time for your family.  We have found it very helpful to learn how to go with the flow because it can feel like a like of hurry up and wait.  My son graduated OCS Jan 2011 then went to Pensacola for flight school.  He flew home to the west coast and was home for several days prior to making the four day drive to Pensacola.  It is true that some grads had to leave right after the ceremony for their next assignment but our experience was that he had about a week to get to Pensacola.  

Comment by M's mom on March 27, 2012 at 10:04pm

Thank you everyone, for the advice on plane tickets. We will be flying out of Indianapolis, and Southwest does fly from there, so that's great.  Our son will  be graduating OCS (we hope!) sometime in Sept., so thankfully, we won't have to deal with Indiana February snowstorms like Sue did!   My son's recruiter told him not to bother driving his vehicle out there, since he will have no use for it while in OCS. He said they would email him a plane ticket confirmation.  We are also considering driving our son's car out to Newport for his graduation, and then we will fly back home.  That way he will have his car to load all his gear into, and drive to Pensacola. (He will go to Flight School after OCS.)  How long do they have after graduation to get to their next assignment?  I have read other posts on here about LO's graduating on a Friday, and then having to report someplace else on Monday!   It is a 24- hour drive (two long days) from Newport to Pensacola, but then he will have his car with him down there, to look at places to stay, etc.  Any Flight School moms out there who can tell me how your LO got to Pensacola after OCS and how long they had to get there?

Comment by navymom9875 on March 26, 2012 at 12:43pm

We also waited on airline reservations until our son gave us the go ahead, which in our case was about a week before he was officially was a candio.  It was very nervewracking - watching the prices of airfare go up but knowing you don't dare make the reservations too soon. Unfortunately for us Southwest wasn't an option.  As others have said, we did make reservations at the Navy Lodge very early because those can easily be changed and it does fill up quickly.  There are plenty of other hotels in the area but we really enjoyed being right on base so we could walk to all the events.

Comment by Tiramisu on March 26, 2012 at 9:16am

I'll ditto what Sue and OkSuzy said regarding the reservations.  (1) We waited until he was a Candio and (2) We made our flight reservations on Southwest because of their cancellation policy.  I'd actually looked into refundable reservations on other airlines, but they were MUCH, MUCH more expensive tickets...so it was Southwest.  And it all worked out fine.  :-)  Good luck to you, M's mom!

 

Comment by OkSuzy on March 26, 2012 at 8:09am

Our LO graduated Thursday Class 08-12.  We made reservations on Southwest Airlines where changes and cancellations are free.  Our daughter who is in college changed her tickets at no cost to a later flight.  Love Southwest Airlines!  Good Luck!

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 153
• 154
• 155
• 156
• 157
• …
• 241
• Next ›
• Page