Corpsmen Moms and Dads

1proudmom, I used to send my daughter and son "birthdays in a box."  My daughter was easy because she was a college girl living in her sorority house.  Anything was okay for her.  I worried about how my son would react to the same goofy stuff but he loved it.  I sent usual birthday favors, horns, hats, noise makers. 

Because your son is turning 21, I would send him cab fare!  I can imagine he will be celebrating his birthday at Seville Quarter or Palafox Street (both downtown) or Pensacola Beach. 

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What a lovely offer!!

Thank you everyone for all the great ideas. Ive sort of taken some of each  idea and put a box together for him and with the help of IDCmom#1 (great name for you btw) it will be ...almost like being home!!!!.

Hi!     My son started at Camp Pendleton for his FMTB training in early October.  I understand graduation is around Thursday, December 12, 2013.    Does anyone know how much the video and other items are from the graduation?   I want to purchase one for my corpsman son and one for his Dad and Mom (us) but we cannot be in Oceanside for graduation.   Can my corpsman son purchase the video in advance if we give him the money?   Thank you for any information

DinaGay-

   Thank you so much for your response.  I am going to give my son some extra money to order the DVD.

Awesome job IDCmom. 

IDCMom#1, you really, truly are #1!!  

Moms, please pass this along to your corpsmen - 

Warning!  DON'T download an app called "MyPay DFAS LES." It presents itself as an official DFAS service and as many as 50,000 members are estimated to have installed it. This third-party app is NOT sponsored by the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government, and presents a serious risk of compromising your user name, password, and account information and even theft of funds. Steer clear of this and similar third-party MyPay/DFAS-related apps.

Thank You IDCMom#1.  Thats a good name for you but after doing this I think the word "angel" should be in there somewhere.  Looking forward to meeting you also.    1proud& grateful mom.

1proudmom, absolutely and completely, without doubt, the pleasure was really, really all mine.  If anyone gets the opportunity to do something like this, do it.  It is such a nice experience.  Makes me feel like my son is a little nearer knowing that I made contact with another sailor. 

Taken from DANTES Facebook page:  He joined the Navy in 1956 as a Hospital Corpsman and completed his high school diploma on active duty through correspondence courses (yes, the military has been doing distance learning that long). As a veteran, he graduated from Temple University and later received a PhD from the University of Massachusetts. Who is this famous veteran?

This guy :)  Good one, IDCmom#1!  A great part of corpsman history.  He was made an honorary chief by MCPON West in 2011.

My sailor is deployed and is on and off a ship.  Her birthday is coming up and her grandpa asked me if he could get her an international cell phone as a gift.  Does anyone's sailors have an international cell phone or are phone cards a better choice?   

Hi Cathy, great idea!  Cell phones can't be used at sea, so to call from the ship, sailors must use these AT&T ship-to-shore/global cards.  Fastest way is to order one at this link, have it delivered to you, and then email your daughter the info she needs to make calls.  You can continue to 'reload' the card when she tells you it's time to, by calling the toll-free number on the back of the card (it's easier for you to do it than for her from the ship).  You can send her the card once you get it and have the info - but she doesn't need to have it in hand to make calls, just the information.  

You can go direct to this site to buy:   https://shop.aafes.com/scs/Product.aspx?deptid=42000 and scroll down to purchase one card; or you can get to it through this link:  http://www.shopmyexchange.com/Community/supporttroops/ 

I learned all this when my corpsman was in a similar situation on and off ships with his Fleet Surgical Team :)  Happy to pass it along!  

This article is about a Ranger/Green Beret and a bit long but definitely worth the time investment.

All I can say is what a young man. What a story. This is definitely Hollywood movie material. What a life this man has lived already !

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9927669/nate-boyer-journey-acto...

humbly,

Thanks Marcy for the advice!  I will have him get a ship to shore card!

Cathy, it's the gift that works for everyone!  Your daughter is having the experience of a lifetime, so keep us posted here - love knowing about our corpsmen!  

Bill Cosby was a Corpsmen? I didn't know that, what a great piece of trivia.

Who here has a corpsman serving on a ship? 

With U.S. Navy aid to the Philippines underway, this infographic about an aircraft carrier's disaster relief and humanitarian aid capabilities (including 30 - 33 of our awesome "blueside" corpsmen) is especially apt.  

"During normal operations, a Nimitz class aircraft carrier can accommodate up to 150 hospital beds, a three-bed ICU and two Quiet Rooms.  The Medical Department has ten officers assigned:  a Senior Medical Officer, General Surgeon, Anesthesiologist, Nurse, physical therapist, psychologist, and 30 - 33 corpsmen.  All of this can be augmented for disaster relief."

http://navylive.dodlive.mil/2013/11/14/the-aircraft-carrier-more-th...

By the way, the infographic mentions ten officers but names only six :)  AND it doesn't include up to five Dental Officers (including an oral maxillofacial surgeon) who have their own dental HMs.  Here's the list: 

1.  Ship's Surgeon/Senior Medical Officer (SMO) and yes, they call him/her the SMO, rhymes with show  :)

2.  Ship's Psychologist

3.  General Medical Officer (GMO)

4.  Medical Administrative Officer (MAO)

5.  Radiation Health Officer (RHO)

6.  Flight Surgeon(s)

7.  Physician's Assistant

8.  Ship's Nurse (ICU qualified)

9.  Physical Therapist

10.  Anesthesiologist/Nurse Anesthetist

Marcy, two to three of those corpsmen are also IDCs and will do the same patient care as PAs.

My son told me that the Mercy is preparing to ship out.  It takes them time to get ship ready but they will leave port without all their crew and supplies and will load them in Hawaii.

I toured the Mercy when my son was supposed to deploy with them and it is an amazing ship.  Really fascinating to see all the gear they have - it really is a  hospital.

Looks like I came back to this site at a good time.. 

My son just got stationed in San Diego from CL and was told yesterday he is being pulled to head to the Phillippines on the Mercy.. he was packed and ready in about 6 hours and is now waiting for the call. He is suppose to be gone till February.

Does anyone have any info they can share.. contact?  mail?   I did read somewhere it will take them till next month to reach there and they will stop in Hawaii.  I think it is a wonderful opportunity for him as he has always wanted to do this and he already did one deployment last in the sandbox as they say so nice balance.  I will say I am a little sad as this was to be the first Christmas home since 2009 and he was finally close enough to home to get here.  Hurry up and wait, right?

mamawalrus, I started a Mercy group on NavyforMoms in 2012:  USNS Mercy 2012 for Families

I think some of the info is still pertinent so you might want to check it out and maybe contact some of the people on the list whose child/spouse were on the Mercy for Project Partnership.  

I remember my son was glad he was part of the support group in preparing to ship out because he got to choose his rack before people started coming on board.  He also took two locks and secured two lockers because there are more lockers than racks.  But, he just told me that might not work for sailors below E6 because the First Class guys come in and can decide they want to make a First Class area and kick everyone else out.  He said that racks had reading lights but not all have fans and that might be something your sailor would want to have.  I think those Command hooks were in demand, too.  I am pretty positive my son had a supply list and then some other mothers gave me more suggestions.  Since he didn't end up deploying on the Mercy, he isn't sure what is important and what's not. 

I have talked to other mothers whose children have been on the Mercy and the Comfort and they have wonderful stories to tell.  But, this mission will have a lot more hardship due to the Ttphoon.  My ex daughter-in-law was deployed to Haiti after hurricane and it was not a pleasant deployment although it was rewarding.   

WOOHOO AND HOOYAH!

Wow!  700!!!!  Nice job Marcy!  I think I'm one of the early numbers and I'm still around...LOL

Kathy - Thank you for sharing this article.  Yes a tissue was needed.

Yes, thanks Kathy. I had seen this story a couple of weeks ago. Maybe last week. I was mad at myself for not posting it here.

Thanks, Kathy, for the tissue alert!  Wonderful story...going to try to post it to FB.

Marcy...that is soooo cool....700!  I have been a member for about 14 months.  Looking forward to more years as my Corpsman continues his journey.  He's home now for Thanksgivukkah.  Sooo nice to have him home!

Vette - you, along with a bunch of us, joined when Carol started this group in mid November 2009 - good friends all of us ever since!  

I received a call from my corpsman son last night.  He just passed all the requirements to complete FMTB, and he will get his shield next week.   I am unable to attend the ceremony since my husband and I are being sworn in as trustees for our local school district on the same day he graduates.  We live about 15 hours by car away from Camp Pendleton.  I am happy for my son.  He might be one of the few corpsman that has a metal rod in his femur with screws from a previous skateboard accident when he was in high school.  He is a tough guy!

Congrats velvetlace. He may not be the only one but he is definitely in a very small minority !

Mine just surprised me with a text that said, "u wanna hang out Saturday". So typical. Can't wait to hear what happened and how. Last Sunday he told me not to expect any communication til graduation.

Congratulations Mary - tough young man indeed!   Bobbo, have a great time :) 

Navy Motion Picture Service is hosting a sneak preview of "Lone Survivor" this weekend at the following locations:

Dec. 7
Bangor at 6 p.m.
Camp Lejeune at 7 p.m.
Little Creek at 7 p.m.
New River at 7 p.m.
North Island at 6 p.m.
Pearl Harbor at 7 p.m.
Pensacola at 5 p.m.

Dec. 8
29 Palms at 5 p.m.
Miramar at 6:30 p.m.
Patuxent River at 2 p.m.

For more details on this sneak preview, contact one of the base theaters listed above. For more information on the Navy Motion Picture Service, visit http://navymwr.org/movies.

Bob, that is odd and a shame about San Diego not on the list  :(   I got to see a sneak preview of the movie 'Battleship' at the amphib base Little Creek, VA; the director, Peter Berg, appeared as well.  It was so cool to watch the movie with a full house of sailors and their families, they really whoop it up at the right moments!  :)  

Good catch familything!  So there Bobbo :p