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Comment by MissMySailor on April 12, 2012 at 11:44am

Welcome Julie!!!

My son is a Boatswains Mate on the ship and he has been with the ship 2 years well before is was finished being built. So glad you found us here and feel free to ask away if you need to talk. Wifeofafc is a blessing because I can tell you she is helping us sooo much we are blessed to have her.

Let's see is we can spread the word and get more parents on here! I have been busy packing to move but I will try and contact as many as I have on my face book.

Take care Paula

 

Comment by wifeofafc on April 10, 2012 at 6:13pm

Message Two:

Then Navy Marine Corp Relief Society spoke about financial relief during deployment. Sailors can allow a loved one to take out loans in their name while deployed. This can be because of an emergency or just oversight. The sailor will then be deducted that amount from his pay over a 10 month period. Navy Marine Corp Relief Society can also assist the sailor to come home in an emergency. The command will pay for a sailor to come home in the event of the death of the closest living relative, i.e. spouse, mom or dad. IF the sailor looses a loved one and the command approves the sailors leave, the NMCRS will make the travel plans, book the flight and pay for the expenses up front. The sailor will then be set up with a 10 month repayment as mentioned above. This is a great number for your sailor to have on board.

Fleet and Family Services then spoke about communication during deployment, expectations, etc. Do NOT expect to hear from your son everyday. At the captain's command communication can be cut off at any time. If you see on the news that a US destroyer released missiles you can assume there will no communication for quite some time, this is in the interest of security. Not hearing from him does not mean there is a problem. They also spoke about making sure the sailor's Power of Attorney, Will, etc. is in good standing. This should be done by the time they leave for the next underway (talk to your sailor about this as well). If your sailor is living in barracks they need to know where they will put their belongings (you loose your barrack when you deploy), also they need to know where they will leave their car if he has one. Cars CANNOT stay on the base for more than ten days I believe. If they leave a car on base they should assume that MWR will sell it to the lowest bidder and it will be gone when they return. :( They can make arrangements with a friend, spouse, etc. on where to leave his vehicle.

Thank you for caring about your sailors! I know just by the fact that you are on this website that you care! If you aren't receiving my emails and would like to just send me your email address to jasondunhamfrg@gmail.com

Comment by wifeofafc on April 10, 2012 at 6:11pm

One of our Navy for Moms had asked for an idea of some of the things mentioned at last week's pre deployment briefs. Your sailor was bombarded with information so it might be a good idea to talk through some of these things with them. I have copied my email below so that everyone can read it. I have to break it into two messages because it is so long.

Message One:

First, the captain, CDR Bretz, spoke about the upcoming deployment. He gave the location and date of deployment which I will let your sailor share with you. He also encouraged sailors and their families to buy matching atlases. This way your sailor can email you and say turn to page 25 and locate D-9. This will allow you to know where your sailor is while not compromising security. If they forget to do this I would make the purchase for them if I were you.

Our ship's ombudsman Mrs. Valerie Neumann then spoke about her role on the ship. She is your contact for family emergencies, etc. if you call me with a serious matter I will direct you to her. She will email the captain directly about deaths, births, terminal illnesses, etc. You can inform me of these situations but I would not be the one to directly help you. In the event of death or imminent death, I would contact Red Cross first however. (see below)

I spoke about my role. I have the fun job. If there are births, moving, etc. I can rally the spouses to provide support. I plan monthly meetings/activities/fund raisers all in support of spouses and loved ones. I will plan to send off and homecoming parties if you would like to be involved as well.

Next the Red Cross spoke. In the event of death, birth or imminent death you can directly send Red Cross messages from hospitals. While your sailor is deployed I would carry with you at all times a card with his info. To get a Red Cross message sent with no hold ups you will need his full name, date of birth, social and his command USS Jason Dunham DDG 109 based out of Norfolk, VA. A Red Cross message goes directly from the Pentagon to the ship. The captain would then review the message and take appropriate actions, such as bringing the sailor to his state room to share the news privately.

Comment by Julie on April 10, 2012 at 3:48pm

Thank you Maddie and Veronica for welcoming me with open arms!   I truly appreciate it!   My husband and I are still "learning the ropes" - so any information is greatly appreciated!  Thanks again!

 

Comment by Veronica (Ariel's Mom) on April 10, 2012 at 11:23am

Welcome Julie. My daughter is also on the ship. I hope your son will like the ship. There seems to be a good group of young men and women aboard from what I hear from my daughter. Ariel is undesignated until she can get accepted and into school as a corpman. 

Comment by Julie on April 10, 2012 at 10:30am

Thank you Maddie!  My son is / will be a HT.  He should be done with A school in a couple of weeks.   I read back a ways and from what I gather  -it looks like the Jason Dunham is going out to sea fairly soon.......   Our son didn't say anything about knowing where the ship was going, etc

Comment by Julie on April 9, 2012 at 7:07pm

I just found out that my son will be on DDG 109.... any info will be helpful!  He doesnt know much else.... THANK YOU!

Comment by Veronica (Ariel's Mom) on April 5, 2012 at 11:35am

Now I remember. Thanks for rattling this old brain. I thought I said that on a private message. Still getting used to this computer stuff and how to navigate around and what is getting said on what page. Slow but sure I will. LOL

Comment by navymom9875 on April 4, 2012 at 11:20am

Veronica - No worries, but what you said was that a ship of a friend of your nephew's had deployed and you mentioned the name of the ship and the date it deployed.  Giving names of ships with dates of their movement is a no-no.  It was an easy oversight to make and thankfully we have administrators on these sites that are watching and deleting when that happens.

Comment by Veronica (Ariel's Mom) on April 3, 2012 at 9:56pm

Sorry Maddie. I didn't realize that I said anything about dates since I don't even know any dates yet. Just a possible month. ??? Maybe I said something on accident. been through this with my son and I would never do anything to jeopardize our military family. I may have had a senior moment. Sorry again. You are always welcome to come party with us in OHIO.  Hi Paula. I knew it was you. :) Honestly, I have 3 bedrooms that we don't even use. So there would be room if you wanted to come for a few days. But I understand and it is up to you. I would kick my daughters behind if she told me not to come when she gets back because she wanted to sleep. LOL Do you need me to send my Marine to talk to Drew?? LOL As far as the Navy Lodge. If it is anything like the one for the Marines, they let you stay but you just have to have your son or daughter sign in when they get back. Ariel and I were there 2 days early when Cole came back because they couldn't give us a definite date.

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