Ship 13 (USS Marvin Shields) Division 101 and 102 (Brother Divisions)

[ellen0502]

Welcome to the Division Discussion for Divisions 101 and 102

These two divisions are brother divisions and will be training together from the beginning through BS21 their final test. Your SRs, soon to be SAILORS, are becoming friends, and some of them may be heading to A School together.

Get to know each other, your SRs are!

Please still use the Main Wall of the PIR Group to post questions, and concerns, we “veteran” moms don’t always get to into the discussion area as often as we would like.

Every single question that is asked is important Every single concern is genuine Every single member is important to us We don't want to accidentally overlook any of them or you.

Hang in there!!!

[Anchors-A-Way☆Class 1429 M]

I got a letter from my SR today.  Well a 'note'.  It started with "Mom, this letter is going to be short, because I spent all my time filling out your surveys!"  LOL  HooYah!  I sent him a survey from this website and I made one up as well.  Got some good information from reading them.  Who is best friends in RTC are, and I asked him if he had bonded with shipmates, he said 'yes', the next question was "NAMES!  I WANT NAMES!"  So he listed about 20 of them.  I have to go back and read them again, as I had tears in my eyes!  I am so amazed at what this experience has brought to him.  I was afraid he was going to 'fly under the radar' and 'just get through,' but instead, he has finally learned what pride and accomplishment and teamwork are.  He is truly proud of himself for the first time in his life!  Amazing!

I have been missing him horribly!  Haven't heard his voice in two weeks and three days - which is much more than we have left until PIR, I need to keep telling myself that.

I went in and talked to his recruiter after work today.  It did me a lot of good.  It was actually very comforting being in a room with blue camouflage :)  We had a good talk and he is very proud of him too.

Okay.  Time to go unwind - write a letter or two ;)

<3

L

[NHBBALL MOM]

Morning Ladies
Thought This Was A Nice Way To Start Your Weekend

[NHBBALL MOM]

 Laura☆Ship 13★DIV 102 (oncnurse) I finally got a letter as well -he sent back all  the surveys I sent him in one envelope. I sent one each week. He asked if this was a part of the MOM boot camp because all of the sudden everyone was getting these surveys. Sounds like they have become quite a good group and teamwork is their middle name. That is a huge relief for Battle Stations, hoping that those will happen this week and we might actually get to hear their voices again before  PIR

HooYah! Go DIV 102

[NHBBALL MOM]

Next week at this time we will all be getting ready to meet a Sarge's CAN NOT WAIT!!

[NHBBALL MOM]

Ladies

In exactly one week from today we will be watching our Sailors PIR!

[ProudMomInCO]

Better late than never to join this forum, right!? Since I'm so late to this conversation, I'll catch you up on our SR and start at the beginning of our journey.

My SR is in Div 102. I am super excited to see him next week! This is the longest we've ever been away from him. We are living vicariously through him, as I had planned to join the Navy when I was 18, but ended up having a child at 18 instead. If I had help at the time, I would have gone in anyway, but it just wasn't in the cards for me. His Dad had also planned to join, but was in a terrible motorcycle accident when he was 16, braking his femur and it didn’t heal well, knocking him out of a military career for good. For some reason our son has wanted to be a solider since he was very little. Now it's so fun to see his (and our) dream finally coming to fruition. We are over the moon for him!

My experience so far has been a mix of emotions. He and I are very close, so in the beginning I was a little sad, as it seemed like there just wasn't enough time to spend with him before he was shipped off. We had his going away party way back in November, then Thanksgiving, birth of his 3rd nephew, his Dad's birthday, sister’s birthday and Christmas all in one week. Then it was New Year's, his brother's birthday and my birthday the following week, and then he was gone on the 12th. Then on the 13th we drove all the way to MEPS to see him take his oath and see him off, but we only got to see him take his oath, five minutes max and then he had to leave right away. While it was really nice to spend all the milestones with him before he left, it just seemed like a whirlwind. And instantly, I missed him.

It took some time for me to get used to him not being around the house. I found myself starting to call out to say something to him, or I’d do something that I knew he’d have a smart comment for, or I’d sit in his room, which was clean for once, just thinking about what he might be doing at that moment. I missed him, so I started reading everything I could about others boot camp experiences to feel like I wasn’t so far away. Whenever we’d go anywhere or do anything he would have liked, we’d talk about how much we missed that he wasn’t with us to experience it too. It was a huge adjustment for us, but me especially. I’m not sure why, because I already had two fly the coop already and one still at home!

I immediately began writing to him, as his recruiter found out his address for me on the 4^th day. I kept a pad of paper with me all the time and would write a few paragraphs when I’d think of something new to say. Then when it was a few pages long, I’d mail it. That seemed to help me quite a bit. It was therapeutic.

Then we got the box of his belongings. It was a surreal moment seeing that box on the front porch when we pulled into the driveway. We brought it in the house and just let it sit by the basement door, unopened. Then we got our first letter from him, but I was disappointed that it was just the form letter.

Anyhow, all that sadness and uncertainty went away the first time I got a phone call from him on the second Saturday he was there. He sounded so happy and excited and said he was really enjoying his time there. He said it was a cake walk, although it was only the 2^nd week. He had a handful of friends he really bonded with and was looking forward to firefighting, weapons training and Battlestations. He said the food was excellent. He failed his first inspection and had to do pushups and warned his sister (who is planning to join this year) that they do a lot of folding, folding and more folding. He passed his first of three tests, but many of the others didn’t. His RDC’s were tough, but cool. He said he got his first paycheck, but about half of it went to purchasing his uniforms and gear. We were able to speak to him for about 20 minutes. I must say it was a very memorable phone call.

Then his letters started coming in, we got three in one day then at least one or two a week. He mentioned that his third and fourth weeks were pretty tough for him and he seemed to be a little discouraged, but knew he would make it through. We got another phone call the following Saturday and he sounded so tired, I felt for him. We just encouraged him to just push himself harder than he ever has and then he will be through the hardest part and the rest will be fairly smooth sailing.

The letters have continue to come in and he sounds like he’s really got this. He leans on his friends there for support and he is now a “Stick” or flag bearer, which gives him something else to learn about. He’s always been one of those kids who swung around sticks to he’s super happy about that! I don’t know which flag, but I guess I’ll find out on Friday.

Then the last phone call we got a few weeks ago he was basically just getting phone numbers for his friends back home. It was pretty brief, but he sounded more rested and in good spirits.

We got a letter from him yesterday and the tone of the letter was much more determined. He only has one more physical test to pass, which he is pretty confident he will, and then it’s Battlestations, which looks like such an exciting/challenging time for all the SR’s. I can’t wait to hear the stories from him. I’m so excited! Gosh I was excited when he graduated high school. I can’t stop thinking about seeing him all grown up. He makes me so proud of him!

He will be staying in Chicago for another month for his school since he chose PACT. Then he will get leave for a week or so and then he will be assigned to a ship and leave. It’s all happening so fast!

I am hoping that because he’s staying in Chicago, we’ll have some good time with him. We’ll see I guess.

Well that’s it I suppose. See you all on Thursday. I’m going to RSVP for Sarge’s get together.

[Anchors-A-Way☆Class 1429 M]

oWelcome, PROUDMOM! Glad that you found us! We are a great DIV! Our mom's rock, just like our SRs, who have become a tight unit over the past weeks, building their team attitude and prepping for the big one Battlestations 21, which - my SR has convinced me - will rock at!!

Jetersmomis our team leader!  She is awesome!

[ellen0502]

Reply by Jeter's Mom ★Ship 13★Div 102 on Friday

PROUD MOMinCO

Welcome to our group we are glad you found us. Your stories sound similar to most of ours my son is also a STICK so they must know each other. My son said he had become very close with M*(last name removed)?? he has really really bad handwriting I though that the Navy might fix it obviously NOT :)

With a large array of emotions different for each one of us we have leaned on each other for updates of when to stay by the phone or who got a letter and when but the good news is we will all be receiving that call next week "I am a US NAVY SAILOR" and the time away from our loved ones will make us forget it has been two months or more.

With that being said Sea Sister's make sure all of your transporation and lodging is all set, we need to pray for good weather and no snow ( so spring can show up at anytime!!) lastly make sure you have signed up for the Meet and Greet we need to BRING IT and  REPRESENT DIV 102  when Sarge does the DANCE OFF.

As my husband says everytime I grab my phone  " So whats up with the Navy Moms today?"

I cant wait to meet you all :) Hooyah!!!

Jeter's Mom

*edited to remove last name PERSEC/Navy for Moms Guidelines

[ellen0502]

Reply by ProudMomInCO 24 minutes ago

Thank you so much for the welcome and support. Jeter's Mom ★Ship 13★Div 102 my SR is not M*(last name removed)), but C*(last name remofved). He hasn't mentioned any names so I'm not sure who his buddy's are, but he must know your SR. I am so excited and time is going so slow!

I just found out last night my other son will ship out to RTC in May. His MOS will be on a Sub as their IT guy! Then my daughter will go in 2015. I couldn't be prouder.

I am hoping to be to Sarge's meet and greet in time, but we will have to leave at 1-2am to get there in time. But I really want to meet other Mom's so we will make it work.

Haven't heard a peep since his last letter last Friday, when he told me not to write any more, because he won't get them. It's driving me crazy not sending these letters that I am still writing, but I guess I can bring them with me.

Take care and write as soon as you hear ANYTHING!

*edited to remove last name PERSEC/Navy For Moms Guidelines

[ProudMomInCO]

Thanks N4M for removing the last names. I just read the OPSEC and PERSEC page and came back to delete this comment, but I see that you are protecting me/my son! I appreciate that.

[ellen0502]

You are welcome!

[NHBBALL MOM]

Morning Ladies

WE MADE IT THE FINAL STRETCH!! Can you believe there are only 3 days left YYYYYYEEEEEAAAAAHHHH!!! 

Sometime in the next couple of days we should be getting the "We are Sailors" calls make sure you keep your phone handy! And please let us know when you get that call so that others that have not heard know to be on look out. Our SR have become one tight knit group who are going to outstanding sailors, they have just one last testimate to how hard they have worked for the last 8 weeks BATTLE STATIONS 21. SO UNITED WE STAND SEA SISTERS OF SHIP 13 DIV 101 & 102, LETS BRING THIS SHIP HOME!  HOOYAH