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Comment by Gloria P. on October 28, 2008 at 7:03pm

Hi everyone. My son Dan started sub school yesterday. Can't wait to hear how different it is from boot camp. So glad he is nearby at Groton, CT.

Comment by Kaye S. on October 28, 2008 at 2:11pm

Welcome, Cheryl! Sub Nukes are doubly awesome. Nukes have brains and Submariners have... well, let's just say they're "brave" too ;-) Hugs, ks.

Comment by Kaye S. on October 26, 2008 at 3:22pm

No big deal... this site is all about moms sharing their "stuff!" Below is advice I posted on the discussion "Roll Call," but thought it'd be helpful here too:

Once your sailor gets to his boat, I highly recommend getting in touch with his Ombudsman (think "Team Mom"). She's the information clearinghouse between the Command and the families of the crew (this includes parents). She'll release info about deployments and arrivals. She's also the "go-to-girl" for questions you have, rather than calling the ship's office.

Each boat should have its own website, and the Ombudsman is usually found there. If not, contact the ship's office for her info. She will want to know your son's emergency contact information (just in case). There is a separate Ombudsman for the Blue and Gold crews.

Another group to contact is the FRG (Family Readiness Group). This is the informal association of crew families and is mostly comprised of crew wives. The FRG should have regular meetings where they plan social events for the crew and disseminate other information like the on-base recreation programs, continuing ed classes; plus benefits and programs offered by the Navy for families.

The ALABAMA's FRG and Ombudsmen send me a monthly newsletter which has an article by the Captain, notices of command changes, a calendar of upcoming events (official and social), crew birthdays, greetings and farewells to crew members, new baby notices, promotions, etc., etc. It's unclassified, so I email it to the grandmothers and aunts. It's so helpful, that I email it to Son! He's said, "I don't get it... Mom isn't even in the Navy and she knows more about what's happening on my boat than I do."

Funny story: I got a call from the Blue crew's Ombudsman yesterday, verifying all the contact information, etc. on record and we wound up talking for 30 minutes about stuff. She giggled when I told her Son is wigged out 'cuz I'm getting to cyber-know the wives of his commanders. While we were in Texas, my husband had a name for the ability of moms to network quickly and widely, and use that network to keep tabs on each other's kids. He called it "The Mama Mafia." When Son freaked that I knew his Master Chief's wife, I told him, "The Mama Mafia has gone global. You only thought you were getting away from me. Now I can find out what you're up to anywhere in the world!"

Another mom in the discussion group “Roll Call” didn’t know where to find the info I mention above, so I helped her out by doing some Googling:

1. I Googled "uss columbia" - and found a link to "USS Columbia SSN-762"; those containing "navy.mil" are official USN sites. So, I clicked that one...
2. On Columbia’s page, I clicked "Commanding Officer" - and read about the Captain.
3. Then I clicked "Home" to see what the home page was - it took me to “Commander, Submarine Force of the US Pacific Fleet” page, and wrote down the phone number at the bottom of the page.
4. Then clicked on "squadrons and submarines" at the top of the page - discovered that the Columbia is in Squadron 7, and wrote down that phone number
5. Then clicked on "Information" at the top of this page, but found a dead end - BUT I FOUND 2 PHONE NUMBERS THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL...

6. So, next I Googled "USS Columbia Ombudsman" - and saw a link for "Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet" (this would be the boss of the Pac Fleet Sub Commander); I clicked that (www.cpf.navy.mil/pacflt_commands.shtml) and hit PAYDIRT! On his page, found the link to "Welcome Aboard" which is tons of helpful hone numbers for new arrivals and family members. Also, found "Contact Us" which has many phone numbers of duty officers, etc.
7. The next step is to start calling phone numbers and asking for the contact info of your sub’s Ombudsman (and Family Readiness Group, if they have it).

If the first call isn't very fruitful, keep going. (Don't forget that Chaplains are on your side too). Eventually, you'll ferret out the contacts you're looking for… be tenacious and you'll get what you need. And in the process, I learned alot about the Columbia and the Pacific Fleet - including the Wikipedia article on her!

Comment by Kaye S. on October 25, 2008 at 11:55pm

Also, moms if you Google your son's sub, you'll find lots of info about it... most have Wikipedia articles about them with links to other sites. You'll also most likely find a sub patch/emblem that you can copy to a file for use on icons, stationery, address stickers, etc.

I'll boast a little: The USS Alabama had a fictional movie made about it ("Crimson Tide" with Denzel Washington), so the Wikipedia article about it is very robust!

Comment by Kaye S. on October 25, 2008 at 12:08am

Here's another one that's good: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/subsecrets/

You can virtual-tour a fast attack sub, and there are descriptions of sub life written by submariners.

Comment by Kaye S. on October 24, 2008 at 4:49pm

Hey, Sub Moms! Here's a page on the Discovery Channel's website about "How Submarines Work." There are 8 topics, with videos, about subs and I learned alot!

http://www.howstuffworks.com/submarine.htm

Comment by Kaye S. on October 22, 2008 at 12:41am

Hey Sheila! Welcome... my son is a MM3 on the Alabama! He's Blue crew. What's yours? Mine just got switched from Gold 3 weeks ago after being on that crew since April... surely they know each other.

Comment by Kaye S. on October 17, 2008 at 12:21am

For those who have someone on a boomer, here is an UNCLASSIFIED cutaway view of what they look like inside: http://www.milnet.com/pentagon/navy/688_cutaway.jpg

This is so helpful when Son is talking about his boat!

Comment by Kaye S. on October 8, 2008 at 6:05pm

What's BESS? My kid is a nuke, so we didn't have that.

Comment by Paulette,Rob's Mom on September 29, 2008 at 5:15pm

Hi Karolee. My son Robert's PIIR is 10/10 then he is going for missile tech also. Was Patrick in CT all that time after bootcamp or did he go someplace after CT. This is all new to me, I have a cousin that was in subs in the 70's but I don't know much about what he did.
Rob's dad and I are planning on going to PIR. It seems liek forever since we have seen him.
Good luck to Patrick and you.
Paulette (sub-mom-in-training)

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