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Comment by Michelle on November 24, 2009 at 6:51am

Just wanted to say a late congratulations to the 04's and an early one to the 05's. The 03 graduation was wonderful, and it all went by so fast. I did want to mention something to those heading to Newport, TAKE THE BRIDGE EVERY TIME! We had several trips to the Providence airport, so we decided to drive around the east side of the bay one trip. What looks like a highway on the map wasn't, and we ended up waiting outside during the change of command ceremony (our son said DO NOT enter if not early/on time) and missed seeing him sign his papers as well. We should have peeked in the east doors.
The Navy Lodge was a great place to stay, so convenient and comfortable. We were able to get three rooms for family. After all the airport runs it was nice to be so close to Kyle and the activities. I put some pictures on my page of the 13th. If anyone knows if the official class photos are made available to parents, please post a note. My camera wasn't so great for that.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Comment by Fur&FeathersDVM on November 19, 2009 at 4:54pm

Just a caution about the Perkins loan forgiveness- it only counts if you are doing 12 months consecutive service in a "hostile" area- that does not mean places that are qualified for special pay like flight pay or sea pay or overseas pay. Very very very few navy deployments are 12 months in length- the large majority are 7 months long- and usually the first and last month are spent traveling and making diplomatic port stops that are not hostile areas, and some deployed ships never enter a hostile area. I know several people who looked into it but were all told by detailers/recruiters who work with the loan cancellation that essentially in the navy it is very difficult to get those 12 months consecutive service in a hostile area! Generally unless you are picking up an IA/GSA tour on your shore duty, and even a lot of those filled by the navy end up being stateside and not in a hostile area, it's going to be a fairly hard thing to accomplish, particularly for officers. Unfortunately there is a lot more help out there for enlisted folks when it comes to loan forgiveness. It's definitely something to consider but you are taking a risk by hoping for that! Maybe it is different for different types of officers but all the SWO's and Nukes I know that looked into it were essentially told not to do it. Not saying it's a bad idea, just saying make sure you understand all the details of it!
Another thing to consider- when you hit 30 or more days of active duty, you can defer loan payments if need be, though I don't know the specifics of it!

Comment by Fur&FeathersDVM on November 19, 2009 at 8:01am

Cheryl- which airport is he going to? Chances are, he will be able to find another OCS student who can help him out and give him a ride. If not, if he's flying out of Providence I think the best option is a cab, but if he's flying out of Boston, there is a bus service called Peter Pan bus service that goes from Newport to Boston. Hope this helps :)

Comment by Fur&FeathersDVM on November 18, 2009 at 9:21pm

Sailordawgmom- I agree with navymom- even when I went at the end of October, it was a very sleepy town. Newport is a resort town for sailing and it's out of season! The Red Parrot is fabulous- I also love The Black Pearl and the Newport Blues Cafe (both of those two were a little pricey, but absolutely delicious and my fiance enjoyed every bite after all that chow hall food!). And don't expect to be able to go out late.... it closes down early!

Comment by Fur&FeathersDVM on November 16, 2009 at 12:51am

Mamadoc-
Unforunately, Indocs are not granted any sort of mail privileges... sending or receiving. While I don't know for sure, I would guess that they will not be allowed to send mail- the class won't be able to have any mail privileges until they have the time to elect their class officers and get a mail body, which is usually not until the officer candidate phase. From what the new changes sounded like... it seemed like the first 3 weeks were going to be very tough and demanding with little time to write. They also probably don't have access to paper/pens/stamps! (They are only allowed to take bare essentials with them as Indocs).
I hope I am wrong, but that would be my guess! When my fiance went through OCS, I went for close to 3 weeks without hearing anything- I got a letter at about the two week, 6 day mark- so it is possible to make it through! (When he went through over the summer, they didn't do things like allow emails). Just try to remember that no news is good news, and encourage your son's girlfriend to come on this site for support if she isn't already!!
Best of luck to you and your son :) You are already one week in! I promise the time goes faster than you think! (And my fiance was there for 17 weeks, so if I can say that... ;) )

Comment by BunkerQB on November 12, 2009 at 6:54pm

Tiffany, since your said apartment, the porch must have some drainage hole. Made sure that is not plugged up.

Comment by Fur&FeathersDVM on November 10, 2009 at 10:39pm

Cheryl- It depends on the chief running H. The first time my fiance was in H, we didn't hear ANYTHING. I found out through a letter. No phone call for two weeks. However, with the current chief, they are allowed to call every day while in H, unless something happens are they are busy during phone times. It is also determined by whether there are indocs and how many are in H. If there are indocs, it cuts the number of phones in half (they don't want the indocs seeing the members of H, so they can't use the phones near their quarters). When my fiance was in H he was allowed to call on Sundays- it was just later in the evening after the regiment had used the phones.... however this may have changed as the regiment is larger now and it sounds like the number of people in H are greater. My fiance did say that the chief who runs H now told him (while he was up in Newport for SWOS) they are limiting their phone time at bit more in H these days in order to encourage them to spend more time prepping for RLP, getting back in physical shape, etc. They are allowed to call home because when they are in H, they need that extra support! They also can usually get to a computer and email regularly. If my fiance wasn't able to call, he made sure to email. Now if he is in quarantine- that may change things. My fiance was never quarantined, and I know they are doing a special "med down" section of H these days, so the rules may be different. maybe someone who has experience with quarantine could offer a better perspective? That was just my experience with H :)

Comment by Fur&FeathersDVM on November 10, 2009 at 5:21pm

Marajade- what you're doing is WONDERFUL and I know it means so much to everyone- just wanted to make sure no one is getting into trouble for it! Just to clarify- it doesn't matter the designator, if their nametape is showing, it shouldn't be posted on a public forum. Things like facebook are a little difference because they're more protected. SEALs are not supposed to have their pictures posted online in uniform at all, whereas a normal designator can have it posted with no name tape. But I'm glad you'll continue to paparazzi- the girls in my class and I had a TON of fun "stalking" the base and snapping pics for people ;). It's just scary what people can do with a tiny bit of info gleamed off the internet!

Comment by Fur&FeathersDVM on November 10, 2009 at 11:44am

It's up to $25,000 for the loan and you can get it up to year after commissioning. I know my fiance got a navy fed account before leaving and then opened up a USAA one to do the loan and get insurance through there- their insurance rates are pretty low too!

Comment by Fur&FeathersDVM on November 10, 2009 at 11:39am

Marajade... just as a fair warning- while all the pictures are super nice and I know everyone loves to see them... you can see nametags in some of those pictures, which violates PERSEC (even if the candidate has given their permission for their pic to be posted), so I am not sure how they got approved. Especially if any of those guys are seals, they are absolutely not allowed to have pictures/videos of them posted online. I have some pics from graduation that I can't post online cause it has the SEALS in them. If a DI/staff member of OCS were to see it, they could get in trouble. The staff at OCS told me it's okay to post like a general picture of a whole class if you can't read nametags (and keep in mind... this includes if you can zoom in and read the nametag) and if you are 100% sure that there are no seals in the class. Many classes do have seals (I know ours did) so you have to be super careful about posting pictures of classes! Also... videos of classes are kinda also prohibited- I know I was told I couldn't post the video I had of my fiance's class getting ready for rifle drill because it wasn't a video made by a candidate at ocs. Not trying to be a killjoy- but it's done for the safety of our sailors. It may not seem like it's huge deal when they are at OCS, but especially for the seals, it is a big deal. I just don't want someone at OCS seeing those pics and getting your LO in trouble for it! I will have to find the link to it- but there is a powerpoint from a security briefing online for families that discusses the case of how one little detail that someone let slip, combined with the picture of someone wearing a nametag, led to the death of 238 soldiers. Like I said... I am not trying to ruin anyone's fun... but PERSEC is important and while it can seem silly... it's not a game. I think the pictures are a wonderful idea, but you just have to be careful about that sort of thing!

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