Moms of Aviation Rescue Swimmers

and everyone else.

Jack --- hooooooyaaaaaaaa congrats.. now the "fun" begins hehehe

Jodi ----- KEWL wooow I rememeber that call... I was excited he was poooped hahahah

Team ---- I KNEW IT I JUST KNEW IT... now dont let your guard down cause you will test in and out of your NACCS and RSS with more and higher scores...... but now you focus on BC woooop to TEAM and JACK lalalalal

Kev -  how are ya?!?!?!

Jack. We are all celebrating for you and your son.  

Hey everyone, enjoy the weekend. I know our SD boys will.  

Good Saturday morning eveyone!

AIRR - howdy there sis!  Bman is GREAT he went with his two bffs and some of the guys from his squadron white water rafting for the weekend..  Lovin life while he can.  Glad your son is happy!

Vitamama - Do you know my B also even tho he is Sierra, I know they all know each other.  Your boy is with Rox's T...  such a small world isnt it!!!

Well, yall have a GREAT weekend!!!!!

Lydia, Rox and MamaB...... Yes, We are overly blessed to have such a great group of guys together, you know.  I know it's from a lot of the prayers of the mamas. Glad your B had fun white water rafting. I'm sure K is watching some race or football game this weekend!!  

Congrats TeamNavy on passing. That is quite an accomplishment.

Congrats to your son, JackFlash, for signing his contract. Yes it was great to get the call. I have a new phone and my mom (who is 89 and had trouble figuring out how to answer it) was watching for the call while I mowed her grass. She came out and told me she had hung up on him. I was disappointed thinking I missed the call but he was able to call right back. He was very tired but very happy. Said the speech they gave when the became sailors was very inspirational but he's glad bc almost over. He's ready for Pensacola.

AIRRmom86 yup my son is loving it too..... :) Coronado is the BEST. We love having him so close to home now. He is getting married Oct 27th on the Berkley, a maritime museaum in San Diego harbor. It should be beautiful and fun.... ill get to meet more guys from the squadron im sure. His new wife is attending college in SD and B is excited to live off base at last. They are the cutest couple ever.

Jodi - wooooohooooo   Awesome and congrats mommie!!!!  Now the fun begins as we know..  I loved that call...  the Im a Navy Sailor...  NOT!!!  He called said hi momma..  {{silence}}  ummmm  Hi B...  so whats up buddy?   {{ nothing much}}  WELL ARE YOU A SAILOR OR NOT...  ummmm  yea...  Im tired and hungry and going to bed...  I love you momma...  call you soon hahahahahah.....crrazy kids!!!!!!

Westcoast -  OH how awesome...  congrats to you and your son and your soon to be DIL!  GREAT

Teamnavy and and Jack are rocking down the house!!!!

SOOOOOO  Imm wondering about - WendyJ;  KKHoosier;  johunton;  LanneH;  NavyWife;  bsmom;  Navymom93;  jbmom;  momof5;  WendyPcolamom;  Lex the gf;  ochaos;  Rmom;  avasmooch;  jajajo;  LeslieCR;  .....   so many not checking in these days?????   Hope everyone is okay     HAPPY SONDAY everyone!!! 

My B is loving life...  went white water rafting in AZ with some squadron buddies this weekend...  HUGS!!!!!

I'm good Lydia thanks for asking, my son is stationed at Norfolk,he is at FRS now he will be flying on MH-53's

TeamNavy-congrats to you.  I am so proud of you! Have they told you when they will be offering you a contract yet?

Hi Ya'll!  Sorry it's been a while since I have checked in.  We are in Mayport and my husband is moving right along through the pipeline.  He has had numerous flight and he should graduate in March!  I hope you ladies are doing well ;)

NavyWife-good to hear from you and glad all that is going well.

http://www.pnj.com/videonetwork/1809148563001?odyssey=mod%7Ctvideo2...

That's a lot of sailors and marines!

Loved the video thanks for sharing.  Tough life they travelled on nice buses.  Expected to see a million yellow school busses parked out there.  Oh yeah, there not in school any more. 

Have been holding my breath, was not sure if I wanted to get back on but happy to say I am. My son is graduation from basic Friday and heading down to Fl on Sat. It's been a rough basic because of some un checked physical problem that was going to keep him from moving onto rescue swimming training.  I guess we are still holding our breath until he graduates as an aviation rescue swimmer.  This is all he wants to do.

jmh8642 Medical can be a pain. My Son had some issues unfounded medical issues. Sometimes these physical are subjective, My Son  was persistant ask for a 2 opinion on the outside!! Keep pushing! He will go through more medical in Fl. My Son just refused to accept the Navy's exam and got a second opinion and was cleared!!!

Hang with us! We have all had our ups and downs! It's a great support group!

sweetpea4, his problem was he worked out so hard to qualify for his pst's that his muscle of his back near his shoulder grew fast on one side than the other and now his spine is pulling that way. I thought that with the work out at basic would pull it back over but they mostly run which he doesn't need , he needed pull ups

Basic has away of setting them back physically. I hope is working on the pull ups because RSS is sooo tough! That is the most physically demanding part of the training! hang in there!

no he is the one needing to HANG :), no really thank you and yes the special op's chief worked with him because he asked him too , so that helped. He is so set mentally that I hope the physical catches up. PIR here I come

hello to our Newbies!!  we are soo here for you...

okay...  mammas whose kids are heading to San Diego...  here is the link to the church that my son and about 6 of his buddies go too...  it is super casual..   I have known the pastor and wife for about 30 years now...  awesome and the youth are super active...  beach clean ups, street fair, face painting, skate board park clean up...  just lots of neat kids doing neat stuff.....http://newbreak.org/pacific-beach/..     

http://newbreak.org/pacific-beach/

Hi All - I do check in often to see what's going on.  We just got back from Pensacola and had a great visit with our son.  He is doing fantastic and waiting to class up for A school (AWS), next month.  After A School he believes he will be going to San Diego.  I appreciate all the posts made on this site, it helps knowing what's going on.  Prayers go out to all sailors and their families.  God Bless!

WendyJ....  welcome sista!  congrats on your son!  Its a bit quiet here right now.. prob cause of the holiday weekend ...  but we are usually hopping in here..  let us know if we can help you in anyway...  always here for each other!

Lydia, my son and the rest of the rescue swimmers (I think he said 37) that graduated Friday are now in Pensacola. They got to stay an extra day due to the evacuation of Pensacola earlier in the week. The graduation was awesome. 818 won the Hall of Fame so they are all pumped. It was so cool to see how grown up my son seemed. I can't wait to see how he likes Pensacola and school. He's been told there is a three month hold for schooling. I have a question about shipping his phone to him.What is the best way to get it to him? I have heard the Military FPO boxes can sometimes take forever (or not at all) but I don't know if it can be shipped any other way. Any suggestions?

BJ, I guess the next two divisions 819 & 820 are all SEALS and SWCC according to my son. Yes, he adusted well to bc though at first he didn't sound too happy>I think that was because he'd never been away from home for any period of time before and also he was leaving not only his family but a very special girlfriend. The first few letters were heart wrenching but about the 3rd week they started getting very positive. As they got closer to graduation, he kept talking about the chance to win the Hall of Fame which had all of them pumped. At Graduation, we met a poised young man with his sights set being a rescue swimmer.

As far as being on hold, he said the air school is backed up so that they wouldn't be starting that school for 3 months. I don't know what goes on when that happens, Lydia or one of the other veteran moms probably can explain that better.

Jodi-Josh-

My son was Ship 4, Div 817 and he was told classing up could be 3 months also.  There are a lot of Rescue Swimmer Contracts and it seems to take them a long time to class up.  I think it took my son 4 weeks, so I think they prepare them for the worst (3 months) and hope for sooner.  Thats what happened in his case anyway.  Good Luck, TIP--Tell your soon to get his uniform for Air Crew School before he starts...they get in trouble in they aren't prepared and get it late.  Usually they find out about getting it, when its too late and then they don't have their size and then they get in trouble for not thinking ahead and being prepared.  Gotta be ready at a moments notice.  My son was lucky enough to find out from someone else who didn't think ahead -- so my son was able to escape "trouble"  lol--this time anyway.

Thanks johun, I will tell him as soon as I hear from him. We have had no contact since we dropped him off at the NEX on base Saturday night. I hope to hear from him soon so I at least have an address to send him his phone even though I know he won't be able to use it right away.

It sounds like everyone is rolling along nicely... I've been glued to this part of the forum trying to learn all I can about the pipeline, and I've so appreciated learning with and from all of you.

I don't think the ink on my son's AIRR contract is quite dry yet, but tomorrow he's planning on going all combat side-stroke to see if he can get a SO- SEAL contract instead.  I don't even know what to say. 

Mixed feelings. 

Birdiejr-- I'd love to pick your brain... thanks for the offer- I appreciate it.

JacK Flash I agree with Birdierjr. not pretty if he DOR's!  

Yes, sweetpea, Jack we are not judging your sons commitment but if he DOR's or gets hurt, then they pick his rate for him or he will go undes. Chances of him going back as a RSS would be slim, my son when working as a yeoman while at NACCS and A school could not believe how many DOR's from Buds that would be checking in.

If he dor's then the contract will be voided no bonus sign up money, no forgiveness of student loans. not to mention how they are treated once they dor!!!!!!!!!!! Careful what you sign up for!!!!

My son has also talked about how many DOR's their are training right now.  Several SEAL and EOD.  They all have interesting stories.

He tells me that you can try to get through two spec ops schools, but after you are dropped or DOR from your second program, then you can never apply to a SPEC ops rate again during your military career, even if you switch branches.

My son's friend just got put on a ship.  He was undes and I don't think that he knows what he will be doing yet.  He was not able to complete A school, but will be allowed to apply to another A school when he comes back from being at sea.

That is good to know. He won't be undes forever at least.  Just six months

wooooooooooooooow   sorry to be MIA this week...  Sept is a hard month for me. Yall know Im an American Legion Rider here in TX and right now Im beating the streets to raise money for blankets, wool sock, thermal underwear etc for our Platoons (about  175) in the high mountains of Afghan..  ugggg  so much to do so little time.!  much money to be raised..  Anyhooooooooooooooo

hI to the newbies - medium bees and oldbees hahahahaha  johun - BJship - jesse and EVERYONE...   hey here is my feelings on the changing of mind on RATE...   I say if that is where is heart is jack...  back him up..  the atrition rate for BUDs is about the same as RSS..  about 85%..  dont make it... BUT  that means that some do!   We have had several kids here that did not make it through the RSS pipeline,  we have had some who did not make BUDs and transfered to RSS and made it.  I have moms on both sides of the story...  all in all the attrition rate for Spec Ops and Forces is about 75 - 80 percent..  If a child has his or her heart set on a Specs rate...  personally and this is just me having talked to my son...   BACK em...  if they fail they fail..  but if that is what they want and you discourage him or her then thats not kewl either..  This whole spec forces/ops pipeline is grueling and hard and a heart rendering time for us parents...  and the kids..  BUT I can not see discouraging a kid who has their mind set.  My son flew through RSS including making Honormen Award..  but guess what...  he is not happy... he wishes he had contracted for BUDs but there were no openings now he is working on Officer Candidate school and EOD..  so you see...  its just like - we know what we wish and what we might know another parent has been through seeing their child fail, DOR or med roll...  but at the end of the day...  we just love and support and hoooooyaaaaa - thats all we cn do!    My son was one of 39 in his RSS class he was 1 of 9 who passed..  30 either failed, Dropped or Med rolled....  same stats with BUDs and SWCCK...  so we pray we cry we stress we gain weight (me) and we age 10 years in the 2 years of the pipelines...  then that is just the beginning...  then they pass all and deploy.. 

Hold times from BC through the pipeline...  well, everyone seems to be similar give or take a few weeks...  but my boy grad BC  09-02-2010...  Pcola the next day..  classed up NACCS (Naval Aircrew Candidate School) early Nov..  passed RSS mid December - broke for Christmas when the base went on stand down..  finished and grad RSS mid january 2011...  classed up Sierra A school in late Feb..  graduated A school..  went to SD Cali in May...  SERE right away then HSC training for Sierra until June 2012...  now attached to his permanent duty station in SD and his perm squadron...  Black Jacks..  due to receive his wings in a few weeks...  so as you see that has been over 2 year pipeline..  once through NACCS and RSS and Aschool the attrition rate goes back to normal if they stay focused and keep their bearings....   yes long hold times but they are good for preparation of what is to come... 

On a side note...  I have several friends of mine whose boy either DORd, med rolled or just changed..  went undies..  and are stellar happy after a year of aclimation and re-striking for a different Rate..   seems to all work out over the long haul but sure hard on us parents, wives, etc...     so I still say...  Back em up - cheer em on until you are exhausted..  never give up on them or give in!  Sometimes we are all they have.. 

ooops this was long... that is what I get for being MIA for a week... dont forget to go up to the forum discussion area and read the Path..  it will help some also!!  love to alll!!!!     xoxoxoxoxox

I agree w Lydia that all you can really do is support them (even if you have to cry into your pillow). It is their choice and they may or may not make it and may or may not change their mind. You just never know what's gonna happy on this long and bumpy road. That's why we have each other to agonize together lol. One thing to add about the "holds" is that you can look at it as rebuilding and healing times bc sometimes they have medical issues that need recovering or just emotional strengthening. I know it has driven my boy crazy at times but he had a stress fracture so he had time to recover from that during his wait for NACCS. 

Dan, Interesting info. I didn't know that. Thx.

Hooyah!!

Well said Lydia, it's a gut wrenching process. JackFlash, Just make certain your Son realizes his options if things don't turn out as planned. Have a plan B so that there are not any suprises. If it is in his heart he will suceed always always be supportive. All of us in this group have had different experiences so bend our ear if need be.

I totally echo what Lydia is saying about support your sailor and his decision and Sweetpea also has a very valid point.  My son also wanted to go for a SEAL contract and I totally appreciate the recruiter running down the pros and cons of going with a SEAL contract vs. a RSS contract.  Obviously, my son went with the RSS contract and will go for a SEAL contract down the line, and he is very happy with that decision. (And I might add that I was not unhappy with the decision. It sometimes makes me cry when I think of the danger he will be in as a SEAL.

JackFlash, I can relate..I'm currently considering EOD now that I've passed for AIRRS.  I'm very hesitant about going EOD since all the females that were recently in Prep school after boot camp were all dropped or quit.  I will not be able to make my final decision until I try out some of the drills(torture haha)  in the water that I will have to undergo and pass at Prep school, to see how familiar and comfortable I become with them.  I want to be challenged to the extreme, but I also don't want to set myself up for failure.  I'll never know until I try.  I know that if I fail EOD my chances of going spec war are slim and will take a while before I can try again for AIRRS so there is a LOT weighing on my mind.  There is nothing wrong with the AIRR job, EOD has the marine mammal program and I feel that that would open many more doors for me in the long run!

team - I think you will be steller at what ever you do and where ever you are!!  Just remember to use FULL THRUSTERS straight ahead!!!

My son writes that after BC he won't be able to go right to A school after all.  He says he will be staying at Great Lakes and working out with the Navy Seals until he gets a waiver for an allergy.  Does anyone know if this means he will be able to get more leave time after PIR?  I don't know if we should make flight reservations for leaving the day after PIR or if we might get to spend Saturday and/or Sunday with him also.  Anyone else dealt with this in the past? 

Shawn..  first of all if he is Rescue Swimmer.. he wont go A school first...   go up and read the Path of the Rescue swimmer...   humm..  I dont about his liberty.. not leave...  Id say as I did my self years ago plan for the best but expect the worse...  in other words..  Id make the reservation for extra day or two.. I did and even tho my son left at the early am the next day after PIR it was worth it..  all though he left... we hung out with some other parents and had a blast...  so Id err on the side of stay an extra day..  just my opinion....   welcome and glad you are here with us...  hooyaaa...  =D

Ann1 - yea awesome...  so glad he is doing so great and you got to be with him..  I know you were soooo worried!  We were worried with you!!!!  gosh it is soooo quiet in here these days!

Goodmorning all! My Son is enjoying his new squadron and working towards those wings! This will be a very long process!!!! Lots to learn and many new skills to acquire!

I've not posted for quite awhile, although I try to keep up with everyone else.  My son is halfway through A School and doing well.  Much less "eventful" than the six weeks of RSS. Carry on all and enjoy a beautiful weekend.

My son just PIR 8/31..  I traveled from Portland, OR so I stayed as long as I could (left Wed PM and flew back Labor Day)  we had Friday and Saturday with him..  he was Hall of Fame Div 818...  we were so hoping for that extra day.. then he flew to Pensacola early Sunday AM..  His sister, girlfriend and I spent Sunday having a blast in Chicago (first time East of Denver for me other than a WA DC school trip :) .. We stayed out late, got up late the next morning and checked out and headed to O'Hare for our early evening flight home...  best time!  Now I am looking forward to a visit to Florida!  He sounds so good and it is so nice being able to talk and text frequently.  I am a sponge with all of this Navy lingo..  He says they "class up" this week..  and I thought "phase up" too...  I know he does Aircrew and then RSS...  I am curious about the "eventful" 6 weeks of RSS?

Anyone's son going through SERE soon?