NROTC

Congratulations to your son, Glenni! NROTC has been an interesting but great experience for my son.He initially got a Marine scholarship, but  at OCS after junior yr had a medical drop due to a shoulder dislocation. The Navy has transferred his scholarship to Navy from Marines so he has some catching up to do on his Navy labs. Will graduate from the Citadel in May but won't commission until Dec after he completes an additional semester of Navy courses and Physics. He is taking the test for Aviation in April, sure would like to see that happen! This has been a quiet group lately, hope it can be of some support to you. 

Strider223, my son is EOD stationed in Rota.  He Commissioned in December 2014 and Rota is his first real duty station.  He was there for a month and got sent back to San Diego for Free Fall...leaving his wife behind in Spain.  Military spouses make a lot of sacrifices too!  NROTC was a great experience for our son.  

Suzie, that is awesome!!! My son would LOVE to fly F-18's! I read him your comment and he was really impressed. Did your son get the scholarship his sophomore year, or did he finish college in 3 years?

Hi Glenni  My son is NROTC at Univ of South Carolina. He will be preparing his package to apply for flight school next month. He is in Mechanical Engineering. I would love any advice to pass along to him regarding flying. He has wanted nothing else since 3rd grade and has worked so hard.

Hi Glenni I think your comment was meant for Suzie, my son is at UN of South Carolina in Mech Eng . He will be preparing his package for flight school soon

My daughters just commissioned on Friday.  The bonds with the members of their NROTC Unit were incredible and foresee that continuing.  NROTC was a great fit for them.  As a parent who is non-military, there was so much to learn while they are in NROTC, especially the acronyms.  Now, as one goes Surface & one Flight School, I have new stuff to learn.

Congratulations 2017Commission  I was a non-military Mom also. NROTC was a great fit for my DS too. He commissioned in 2014 and is now a Naval Aviator flying the P3 Orion. He just joined his new Squadron at Whidbey Island, WA. Flight Training is a lot of work, but he is very happy.

I  see that you have two commissioning at the same time. Are your daughters twins? My DS is an identical twin. His brother was not interested in military.  

Thanks helenp.  The one in Flight School will be NFO (back seat driver -lol)  Yes, they are twins (identical) and their interests align.

We just got home from dropping our son off at NROTC NSO. I'm really excited about this new step in my son's life! It's been an interesting path getting to this point, but I feel certain he is right where he is supposed to be.

Janite, that is wonderful. I know you are so proud of him. Pamb, that sounds like an exciting summer! I know !that his dad must be very proud, too!

I have to admit that I was hoping to hear from my son - at least  a text - but I know that NSO is intense!

Just curious what year your midshipmen are and what direction they are planning on going. Has that changed over the course of their NROTC time?

First Navy Ball coming up in a couple of weeks....anything in particular we should know?

Wow, Suzie,  I had no idea parents could go....I somehow don't think that would work in our situation. Are you or your husband military?  So I do have a question...should he get his date a wrist corsage...is it formal like a prom?

Checkout this link  http://militaryoneclick.com/what-to-and-not-to-wear-military-ball-f...

Navy Ball is a formal affair and normally for only military and their dates/spouses. There usually is a lot of tradition and the event follows a set schedule of events.  It is an honor for non-military to be invited. 

Does anybody else here have a midshipman going to Tulane this week for the drill meet?

My son just finished his first year! He’s looking forward to CORTRAMID. Will we be able to have any contact with him while he’s there?

When our son went thru CORTRAMID i managed to get 1-2 letters to him.  The last one caught up with him 3-4 months later cuz it missed him at his last location.  

It was a few years back, but if i remember correctly, a couple of the weeks he could text us and let us know he was ok, but not really much communication until he was back to the Unit at the end.

Thank you, J/J Mom. Was he in San Diego or Norfolk?

Glenni -- Son went to Norfolk.  

Thanks!

Anybody here have a Midshipman leaving for Norfolk tomorrow?

CORTRAMID was a fabulous experience! My MDSN went to Norfolk, but was sent to San Diego for sub week. Then after Marine week at Camp LeJeune, they boarded an amphibious assault vessel that was coming home from deployment to head back to Norfolk. He absolutely loved it! Now we are heading into his third class year.

Anyone have a recently-graduated student? I'm curious what your experience has been with how things flowed following graduation/commissioning. When did they receive their orders? How soon did they head to their school of training or assignment? What was their first year like following graduation?

Thx!

Anybody else in here have 2nd class midshipmen this summer? Is it as crazy for your mids as it is for mine? At first there wasn't going to be a 2nd class cruise, just SeaTrials. Then no sea trials just a cruise, then both. He was scheduled to leave tomorrow for a sub cruise, and it got cancelled late yesterday. Sea Trials is cancelled, too. Is everybody's summer this crazy??

Looking at the political events and military funding, this is not a surprise. The rush to get a task force to the Persian Gulf, the recent launch of a ballistic missile by the North Koreans and the lack of naval ships can play havoc with training. The reduction of military funding, the poor state of ships, the lack of training opportunities that resulted in collisions of navy ships on deployment a few years back revealed that there wasn't enough personnel and ships to meet peacetime requirements. Lately events have resulted in more demands for overseas support so midshipman cruises are suffering.

I cannot speak to this summer, but I can say that my midshipman has had last minute changes to his summer cruise plans the last 2 years, as did most of his battalion mates.  I do hope your mid gets to sea in some way this summer.  I know mine got a lot out of his summer cruises.

Thank you so much for your perspective and insight lasersailor. And it's good to know that despite the last minute changes, the cruises still happened LakeviewMom. Thank you for your input!

So SeaTrials is back on! He goes to RI next month. Anybody’s Midshipman been through SeaTrials?

Glenni,  I am so glad to hear that. I hope your son has a great time and learns a lot.   I knew there was some kind of ROTC thing happening in Newport because some of my son's friends reported there to work for several weeks.  Christina

My son went to Newport yesterday, he is from the Capital Battalion in DC.  

Siempre Gumbi.... His iteration of Sea Trials was cancelled, but he will get a sub cruise later this month. Shocklady, how did your son like SeaTrials?

Glenni, he said it was a great learning experience.  Glad he went

Well, the sub cruise he was scheduled for got cancelled again. I think I may be more disappointed than he is because he sees it as a chance to just keep working at his summer job and making money. But I was really hoping he would get the experience. I'm still praying something will work out!

Shocklady,  I am glad your Mid enjoyed Sea Trials!  Even when events/training were hard (maybe especially when they were) mine found enjoyment and learning in every experience.

Glenni,  I am so sorry that your Mid's cruise was cancelled (again).  And I do hope that something works out for him this summer. It is so frustrating sometimes.  And I agree, with you that I often found it harder to deal with than my son, maybe because he just loves the Navy so much. 

Anybody have experience with your mid getting a waiver for summer cruise? My mid will be eligible for his first class cruise this summer. However, he won’t graduate until Dec of 2021. So he wants to do his 1st class cruise this summer. He has received a terrific internship for this summer. He’s asked his commanding officer about the waiver, and they said that was fine, but that they might send him on SeaTrials this summer. After last summer’s fiasco, he doesn’t want to say anything to his employer about possible summer deployment because that cost him a good internship last summer, then nothing even materialized until the very end of the summer..

My Midshipman got engaged this weekend. Next summer he will have his first clAss Cruise. They are trying to set a wedding date for late July. Does anybody have any suggestions about the best way to open the dialogue asking for an early summer cruise?