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Comment by M's mom on June 4, 2015 at 11:15pm

Doreen: Welcome!   I don't recall that there is a limit on the number of family members attending OCS graduation, but your candidate will have to submit a list of names of those attending to the Command a few weeks before graduation.  If there are more total names turned in than seats available, I suppose some candidates could be told to trim their lists, but I've never heard of that happening.  It was standing room only at my son's graduation, so get there way early.  To get on the Base, all adults in your car must have a photo ID, and their names must be on the gate guard's guest list, so no last-minute additions!    Since you are just starting the OCS experience,  read back as far as you can on this comment wall and also read all the discussion forum topics above on this page, and we have probably answered many of your questions already.  Good luck to your son!

Comment by M's mom on June 4, 2015 at 10:55pm

GalleyMom:  I'm able to exhale finally, as USS Carl Vinson, with DS aboard, pulled into port this morning in San Diego after 10 months at sea!  DS is now headed back with his plane squadron to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, Washington, near Seattle, where he has been stationed before he was deployed on the Vinson, and where his dear wife awaits. 

They will be headed to Japan sometime in January.  I think he will have a desk job there, hopefully M-F with weekends off.  Better than working 16-hr days, 7 days a week on the ship, except when they had a few days' liberty during port calls.  He has wanted to be on an aircraft carrier since he was a little boy, so this was kind of a dream fulfilled, but I think he's ready to be on land for a while!!  Yes, hopefully hubby and I can visit the kids in Japan after they're settled.

My son got into Intel in a round-about way.  He had been accepted into OCS as a pilot candidate, and passed two Navy physicals, and jumped through all the hoops that entailed.  Then, three weeks into OCS, he had to take a flight physical where they scan every square inch, and they found out that he had a minor physical problem that was not life threatening and he could stay in the Navy, but it DQ'd him for pilot or flight officer.  He was given a list of 12 other areas he could transfer to, and told to rank them in order of preference, but he might get #12, because "the needs of the Navy come first."   He ranked Intel #1, and he got it, which was a relief, because he was afraid he'd be transferred to something he hated.  He does like Intel, so far, so I hope your son can transfer.  At least your son's getting his foot in the door with SWO, but he might actually like that.

Comment by M's mom on June 2, 2015 at 9:46pm

GalleyMom:  I was worried also that my son would never pass the RLP inspection, because his rooms at home and college were always a huge mess, but he rose to the occasion when it counted, and passed first time.  I'm sure your son will do fine.  If your son goes into Intel, he will go to school next at NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach, VA.  My son loved it there, although he got to experience his first hurricane as Sandy brushed by VB.

My son has been deployed since last August (10 mos !) on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.  He was an Intel Officer working with a squadron of fighter jets launching air strikes against the Islamic State crazies in the Persian Gulf.  They have been headed home for several weeks now, and after some much-deserved R&R liberty in Australia and Hawaii, the ship will arrive back in San Diego [OPSEC rules] "sometime in the next several days!"      He has been able to email us every week or so, and call us on the phone when they are in port, like from Bahrain and Australia, but there was no instant communication like texting or immediate answers to email.  Such is Navy life when deployed. 

We have been keeping in touch regularly with our daughter-in-law.  She is SO excited for DS to get back.!  They just celebrated their second anniversary and he has been gone for 10 months of it!  At least they don't have kids yet.  That's got to be so hard on parents (& kids) when one spouse is deployed.   Dear Son is headed to Japan next for 2-3 years, but his wife will go with him there. 

Comment by Tiggermanic on June 2, 2015 at 10:47am

No problem.  We are counting down the days til graduation!  So far none of his class has received their medical.  Its so frustrating waiting but thats the government!.  He has been a pilot for a while.  Its what he got his BS in.  He loves it and really hopes to do it in the Navy. 

Comment by ITgal on May 31, 2015 at 9:15pm

M's Mom - That's so funny, I had the same thought.  My son's DI had a wife and 2 little girls at the Hi Moms reception and I remember thinking those coins could be put to good use.  And that in no way diminishes the DI's appreciation for the gratitude that the new Ensigns are demonstrating (or the Ensigns satisfaction at receiving the salute from their one time 'tormentor').

The Naval Academy does not do a formal line up for first salutes - there are over 1,000 commissioned each year.  In fact, they don't arrive to graduation wearing their Ensign/1st Lt insignia.  After the hat toss, they have to meet up with family members who have their shoulder boards, collar devices, new cover, etc.  Once they've put them on, they're ready for a first salute and they're told if they want that to be someone special they should arrange for the person to be there.  After 4 years at the Academy, they don't have the same type of relationship with a single DI/Chief that the OCS grads do after an intense 12 weeks.  They definitely do the coins - the local Academy parents association actually sells them as a fund raiser, though they can get them where ever they like.

Comment by Okie Cowgirl on May 31, 2015 at 9:13pm

I made that same assumption, and then thought that I was obviously unconcerned over something that maybe I should be outraged over.  I mean, a silver dollar, even if it is old and made of pure silver, is a cheap price to pay for the lessons they should have learned from the DIs. 

Comment by M's mom on May 31, 2015 at 5:16pm

sunnyday:  Well gosh, I ASSUMED that the DI's were selling the silver dollars.  What else would they do with them?   If they have about 30-40 in each OCS class, and they take on a new class every 12 weeks, that's a lot of silver coins to just keep for mementos for the 3-yr tour they have at OCS.  I assumed Drill Instructors had always cashed them in, so I'm not sure why the Navy would suddenly have an issue with this. Maybe they were blatantly selling them on eBay instead of discretely taking them to a coin shop.   If an Ensign chose to give them a coin that was "worth quite a bit of money" instead of a cheaper one, then that was the Ensign's choice.   The price of silver fluctuates, but there are silver coins to be had for $35 or so.   You'd think they could still do the First Salutes ceremony and just give them a token or something, and not scrap the whole thing because some DI's were bragging about how much money they were making.   But, far be it for me to question Navy policy! 

Comment by Okie Cowgirl on May 31, 2015 at 11:39am

I hope it hasn't been.  I'm really looking forward to it.  It is still in the video that OCS has on their website, but then again, if they just discontinued it, they may not have had time to update the video.  Those things are expensive and time consuming to produce. 

Comment by sunnyday on May 31, 2015 at 8:55am

I have heard that the first salute at OCS graduation between the new officer and their drill instructor was discontinued because some were reselling the silver dollars they received.  Some of those silver dollars are worth quite a bit of money, as I understand it.  Keep in mind this is just what I was told by my son. 

Comment by Okie Cowgirl on May 31, 2015 at 12:46am

Anna- Thanks so much for the info.  As soon as I got done reading your post I had to go lurk on your page.  You must be so proud of your kiddos! 

We actually have some solid silver dollars from my husband's grandparents, so I am sure I can dig one of those up for the first salute.  That should be pretty neat. 

As far as my daughter wearing medals instead of ribbons, I don't even know if she has them.  I guess I had better ask, huh?!  At first she was asking if she could wear a nice dress instead of her dress whites (logistics of getting it from Italy to here and keeping it looking nice).  I told her no, of course not.  There would be no reason for a salute if she was not in uniform.  She had a "duh" moment. 

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