Awesome Alumni of 2/11/11

Hello All,

I have been traveling and no access to computer but have been reading your posts.  Just want to say I am remembering it all!!!What a time we shared!  My sailor out on 2nd deployment as of a week ago too.  He was in Pensacola only about 3 weeks and then flown very far away to join an aircraft carrier.  He is striking for a rate and doing so so well.  Also found someone very special and will be married in 2013.  Thank you to those who keep giving the facebook info.  Hope to join sometime! Out to sea  for 7 months.  Very difficult but so far communication by email is good.  Last time there were blackouts and that was very hard.  He has been to Hong Kong, Manila and Honolulu and has grown a very great amount in different ways.  I follow his ship on N4M--but there will always be a special bond with this group!  Stay strong and Safe.

What an amazing year this has been. It seems like just yesterday that boot camp was starting and we were all checking in several times a day to see if anyone knew what was happening in GL. Time has definitely sprouted wings! To each of you, may you all have a wonderful Christmas season and may your sailors be blessed wherever they may be!

Mama thanks he seems much better, just kept telling him what an exciting opportunity.  He has already been offered a new job on the ship and will be taking a different path again :) Miss him already and 2nd missed christmas. Already sent packages and cards!! Thanks for thinking of me and how are you and yours??

My son left a year ago today....wow how fast a year goes by and just an FYI Great Lakes is alot closer and easier to deal with than Japan. I thought then I was going to die with him being gone, to just find out it was a walk in the park compared to what I would go through with him being stationed in Japan. I am however looking forward to him arriving home December 30th =)

momofahousefull....it was very memorable time for me as well!

Kimba...did you get the FB acceptance on PIR? My son is about to graduate from FMTB on Dec 23rd and will be heading back to his duty station at Cherry Point, NC

Battlebuddy...so glad he gets to come home,, I cant wait to hear how it goes.

Thanks to advice from Meagan5520 back in Oct.!  We will be celebrating Christmas on New Year's Day this year as that is when my sailor will be in town.  It will be a little different on Christmas but the excitement of what's coming will get us through.  thank goodness it is better than last year!!   This year we decked out the whole house inside & out so that our sailor will really feel "home".  I am slowly, very slowly, learning to let go of the significance of the "day" and instead focusing on our time we do get together.  Thank goodness for the help of all of you!!!

sailormommind! I am certainly glad I could be of some help!! New years day will be exciting time to celebrate too! you even already have an eve built in ;) I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your sailor!! I am hoping my sailor gets to call me this year for xmas I am afraid the lines on the ship for the phones will be sooo long. But I will just be happy to get a call soon :) We are celebrating our christmas in 5-8 months depending on the Navy lol :)

HI all.. Hoping everyone is planning on trying to touch base here on our ONE YEAR anniversary next Saturday!   We made it and our Sailors made it!   

We also have a FB group and if you want to join, please let me or Shelly know.  It is a private secure group that noone else can see or get on unless they are invited in.  This keeps it confidential and secure.  Hope you plan to join us.  Its a great way to keep us updated on you and your sailor and where they are.  We also post fun stuff and just have fun!

This date a year ago, many of us were on our way to GL's to get ready for the Meet n Greet and find our way around.  Much anticipation of the PIR and the bearing the cold weather!   Hard to believe

I got to see my SeaBee for just a few minutes today, but I got a hug which is worth more than I can say. It's been a year with many sorrows and many bends in the road, but also with much joy. HOO-YAH!

Greetings Awesome Alumni of 2/11/11.  On this 1st Anniversary or our sailors PIR I hope you are fortunate enough to be with your sailor.  If not I hope you are enjoying remembering ever single moment of that special day when we finally got to see our sailors. They did it!  And we were all so proud to be there to share their celebration.  Now they are scattered all over world serving in the world's finest Navy but they will always be bound together by the time and experiences that they shared during BC.  As Navy Moms  we are also bound together by our experience as parents.  I know I would not have made it through without the support of my Navy Moms (and Dads).  I am not on here very much anymore but I will think of you all often.  We have a facebook group for PIR 2/11/11.  This is a closed group but I will add any of you who want to join.  We have been staying in touch and even sharing pictures of our Sailors and PIR.  If you want to check it out here is the link.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/110942482335217/ 

Happy One Year PIR Anniversary everyone. <3 

Hello everyone just wondering how all your sailors from our PIR group are doing now that they have been in the Navy just under 2 years?  Where is everyone.

My son just graduated yesterday from nuclear prototype in Ballston Spa, NY it has taken 2 years but finally he has completed his nuclear schooling and is qualified as a Navy nuke.  He will be headed to  the fast attack submarine USS Mississippi which as of today is still the newest commissioned sub in the Navy.

Our son is home on 30 days leave after graduation so will be with us for Christmas. But being a nuke he still has 4 years left in the Navy. He is an ETN3 now (nuclear reactor operator) but is testing for ETN2 in March. KDB1 my son requested the Pacific but got the Atlantic instead. Lol. He volunteered for Guam and Hawaii but the new Virginia class sub is at the Groton, CT submarine base so Groton he gets. Good for us it is 2 hours from our home. Japan must be great.

Merry Christmas beachbum and congratulations to your son. Mine is eager to finally get out to the fleet.

My SeaBee is in the big sandbox across the ocean, doing a good job so far of staying behind the bullets.

Congrats WIlliam for your son graduating Prototype and I'm happy for you that he will be based nearby.  Also thanks for the link on graduation. 

I haven't been on for a long time so Hi everyone.  My son was delayed before prototype so he is one class behind William's son.  He just told me yesterday that he passed his 100% test and got his last choice and will be in VA.  He had Japan, San Diego and WA ahead.  Oh well.  He will be on the Abe Lincoln.

Unfortunately he won't be home for the holidays.  We haven't seen him since the spring.  He thinks he will be doing his orals around then.  He too is signed up for 6 years so he has 4 to go.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and happy new year.

Happy New Year to all and may safety and success follow our Sailors wherever they may go!

Omg you all have come back!!!!!!  I miss you all.  Our anniversary is approaching soon,,,please keep in touch as more will come back to update!   Let's see,,,,my son is now a Corpsman currently deployed with Mag 40 Marine unit. Not sure where he exactly is other than Middle East. He left back in September and no official return date yet but he loves what he is doing and is learning a lot under the doc's he is with. 

So glad William your son is on his way finally, wow what a long journey he has had.  

Glad to hear everyone else's Sailors are doing well !!!

It's hard to believe that it has almost been 2 years since PIR! William & Texasmom - congratulations on the success of your sons. Mamawalrus, it's really good to hear that your son is well. I am praying for his safety and success.

My son is with the SeaBees and is in Afghanistan. He is doing well and I hope he will be back stateside in the spring. His battalion left 3 days before his oldest  brother's wedding which was sad for me but we were all able to go see him the weekend before he left. He too has four more years, but I would not be surprised at all if he reenlists.

Happy New Year everyone.  Josh has officially passed his oral boards last week, yeah!  Graduation isn't until the 18th but hopefully his hours will decrease, at least the pressure is off.  Can't wait until we get to see him on his leave.  

He will be serving on the USS Abe Lincoln which is getting ready for the 44-month refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) at the Newport News Shipyard (NNS).  He may not ever sail on it.  He has 47 months left.  He is a little disappointed.  Are there any sailors stationed in VA?

texasmom, congratulations to Josh.  That is wonderful news.  Are you going to the graduation?     My son reported to his new command the attack submarine USS Mississippi in Groton last week.  For the next 4 years on I am going to be like Sgt. Schultz, "I know nothing!  Nothing!".  Lol.   

Josh will go back to regular 9-5 hours or not even, like out by 2pm a lot of days. No more of 12 hour days/7 days a week/7 pm to 7am  and noon to midnight shifts.

Momofahousefull & mamawalrus hope all goes well you are in everyone's prayers I am so glad the ground war is winding down.  

texasmom my husband is on the Lincoln! The ship will be in drydock for way longer than they think I bet. lol its in bad shape worse than they would like to admit after having sailors on it for months. Right now the nukes are on crazy hours on the Lincoln. :/ While he may not be on the Lincoln for a deployment chances are high he will get sent out to another ship to get his quals at some point during his enlistment. I know some nukes that were on this deployment that were told they would have to go back for more time to finish their quals. My husband almost got stuck with another 8 month deployment. They told him a week to go to check his orders, for a ship that left today.

Well thats sort of our update. We live in VA, husband is on the Lincoln, and I am currently searching for a job. Its been a mess. The job market here is horrendous for anything that you need a degree for. If you dont have at least a few years of experience you get maybe one job opportunity a month. Its very frustrating. I have a degree in Forensic Science and Psychology and its slim pickings. We didn't get to go home for Christmas but we got to spend our first christmas together. and we ended up getting to go home for a few weeks in September when his ship returned from deployment.

Well you awesome Alumni of PIR 2/11/10,, it is now to be our 2 year anniversary!!! I know its hard to keep in touch and be on N4M since we are all seasoned but I hope to find that everyone is doing well.  Please check in with your N4M name and let us know how your Sailor is doing, if they have changed jobs since the beginning, where are they now and if anything big has happened to them during the 2 years!   I am so excited to actually be in touch with many of you and I hope to hear from some of our other members who have not posted in a really long long time.  

My son is Nick and he started out as Special Op but decided it was not where his heart was and left the Pre Buds program and went to a Corpsman.. He duty station is Cherry Point/Camp Lejuene, NC.  He is currently on a deployment to the Middle East somewhere and due to be home hopefully next month.  He is enjoying his job and adventure.  He just earned his FMF pin which is Fleet Marine Force which is a big deal with the Marines and your job.  So that is about it for now.. 

Hello everyone.  Hard to believe it has been almost two years since PIR.  Our son Cody is a PS2 (SW) serving aboard the USS Shiloh in Yokosuka, Japan.  He is enjoying his time in the Navy but just wishes he was a little closer to home.  He wasn't supposed to be home fore Christmas (that is what he told me anyway) but his Dad and his sister helped him and they pulled off a big surprise by just walking into my workplace.  Best Christmas present ever.  He has had some big adventures like climbing Mt Fuji and snowboarding at an indoor facility in Yokohama.  He has made port visits in Busan South Korea and Singapore.  His ship just got back from a port visit to Busan where he went snowboarding.  He says that next month his is going to snowboard at Nagano where they had the Olympics.  What an exciting life huh?  Anyway, I am glad to still be in touch with all the Navy Moms and Dads of our awesome PIR group.  That was an experience we will never forget.  It was wonderful to get to meet alot of you in person.  Our group still has a facebook page and we stay in tough a good deal on that page.  We share successes and heartaches and lots of pictures.  It is a closed group but I will ad you when you request to join.  Here is where to find the page.  http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/110942482335217/397166693712793/?...

Navy RTC PIR 2/11/11 new group

Hi everybody. I, too, am grateful for your continuing friendship. Our daughter was home after Christmas for nine days. Nice to see her, but it was hard to see her torn between two worlds. This is "home" but she's living in the other "home" in Norfolk. She is a helicopter crewman with HM-14 and will be going to Korea in a couple months. Happy anniversary!

Hello All,

It seems like a very long time and it has been.  I have good news about my sailor. He has done very well and has been on the Carl Vinson since 3 weeks after PIR.  They have been in the Arabian Sea twice I think and of course during the Bin Laden incident.  He is engaged to be married to a fine gal from San Diego and I have seen him three times when he got home to Maine.  I am very proud and happy.  He is an E3 and has earned various pins and recognition.  The ship's site is fun and I scan the site for photos.  So glad to hear the good news of your sailors.  It was wonderful to go through that time period together.  I was in Hawaii two years ago and remember my pride at their accomplishment.  I wish all well and hope we will stay connected always.

Hope all is doing well....

My son is currently out on a short underway on the USS San Antonio, but is stationed on the USS Wasp. Boy have we had the ups and downs in the last 2 years, he was held at GL for approx. 2 months after graduation for further medical testing due to going into the Submarine field.  Finally, released he was sent to Groton, CT for sub school.  After almost a year (in his 4th of 4 schools) in sub school he got dropped due to falling asleep in class.  He then was sent to the USS Wasp undesignated and was a deck hand.  His ship attended numerous Navy/Fleet Weeks. New Orleans, Ft Lauderdale, NYC, and Boston.  In September he tested for Operations Specialist, and passed so now he is an OS 3rd class Petty Officer, so proud of him for the hurdles he has overcome.  So glad this group has stuck together over the last 2 years.

I also have some other good news, my step daughter will be finishing her first year of college in mid May, and then shipping out to boot camp in Great Lakes on May 28th, so I get to do this all over again.  But super proud of the decisions my kids make, and now double proud Navy mom!

Good Morning. We were all celebrating 2 years ago today. It's amazing how the time has flown by since Boot Camp. The look of pride on the Sailor's faces is what I will never forget, it still gives me chills when I think about it. My Sailor went to A school in Meridian MS and is a SH (Ships Serviceman) and then came home before heading over to Sasebo Japan in May 2011. He came home after Christmas in 2011 and I went over to Japan in July 2012 for 2 weeks. He has been so many places, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Phillipines, Singapore, Australia just to name a few. His ship is in an ARG (Amphibous Ready Group) & work very close with Marines so they stay very busy. The Navy is probably not going to be a career for him, but he will complete his contract and we will see what life brings for him after that. Still I'm very proud of my Son. Thank you all for all of your support then and now. Here is a clip of my Son when I visited in July. I was able to be on the dock when his ship pulled into port which was so exciting. You might even see he and I hug in the video! :)  http://youtu.be/t4hgsw6skhQ

My son is a nuclear-trained ET on the Virginia class attack submarine USS Mississippi in Groton, CT.   He was lucky that was his first choice  and he got it. Like SailingHi's son, it took most of the two years for the nuclear training. He's been on the sub for 5 weeks.    The hours are long. Last weekend he worked  24 hours straight on the sub during blizzard Nemo.  When he came out his car was buried under snow.     

He gave our family a tour of the USS Mississippi when we visited  Groton at the sub base,  which was a very rare opportunity indeed.  It was amazing.  Talk about high tech equipment.  We could not comprehend 5% of what  we were seeing.  The only parts that we already knew what they were,  were the berthing area, kitchen, bathroom and laundry.  We were also lucky to meet his department head (Lt.) who is very friendly and who kidded our son about being on the sub on a Sunday (he had already come in on his own on Saturday to help out with extra work, Lol).    He  really likes being on this submarine and is working hard on his reactor qualifications and submarine warfare pin.    Everyone on the crew is very friendly it is a good bunch.  We met a nuke electrician that was in his graduating class at prototype on the boat that was nice too.  No exotic destinations yet.

SailingHi good to hear from you again and congratulations to Darren on the teaching job.

Good luck to everyone we should keep this group going not just on anniversaries!  It is great to hear from everyone and how your sailors are doing.

Hello everyone! I have been catching up on some of the posts. I remember how N4Ms was the first thing I did when I got home from work. couldnt wait to see  what was going on with my mom friends and to hear about the letters and success of each and every sailor. I want to thank you all for helping me get through that tought time..

My sailor is currently a Corpsman in Lemoore California. She is with VFA-94 and loving life..

Bless you all!

Hi all! Happy PIR Anniversary! My son is with the SeaBees out of Gulfport, MS. Glad it's only about 4 hours away. His first deployment was to Guam which he really enjoyed. He is now in his second deployment to Afghanistan and we are eager for him to return. All is well with him.

Glad to hear from y'all and hope to stay in touch. Pench, where are you?!?!?

Two Years, Two Months and 10 Days after leaving for Boot Camp my son completed his training as an ET-N, Nuclear Reactor Operator.

On Sunday he passed his Oral Boards and was placed on the watch list for the MTS until he gets PCS orders to a Sub or Carrier.

Less than 4 years left on a 6 Year active duty commitment.  Time certainly does fly when we are having fun :).

NF Mom: Congrats to your son!

NF Mom congratulations to your son that is great news.     If he is assigned to a submarine, they also are  entitled to be back paid their Submarine Duty Assignment Pay dating from the day they began submarine training, which is first day he started nuclear field A school.  That is 2 years of  submarine pay in his next paycheck, plus the enlistment bonus finally earned and paid.  Lol.

It is a boy.

The Henry M Jackson.

Is anyone else FROM PIR 2-11-11 still waiting for their son or daughter to receive their first duty assignment or is our son the last ?

Our son made it home for his 30 day leave before his first permanent duty assignment.

It is nice to see his face relaxed and without the stress.

NF Mom: Congrats!

Our son was just home for a 96 after returning from Afghanistan. It was great just to sit back and watch him with his brothers and sister and baby nephew. I'm looking forward to Easter when all of them will be home for a couple of days. You are so right, NF Mom; God is Good All the Time!

Wow, when I first read that I thought 96 days :)

Then I realized 96 hours can mean a lot when you are coming from Afghanistan.

Thank him for his service, in all the ways he is giving.

So much time has passed since PIR in 2011. My Sailor is stationed on Oahu came home in DEc. of 2012 and got married and they are expecting their first baby in January 2014. My how time flies. 

Vinsmom1991 - Congrats! Babies are so much fun - especially GRANDbabies!!!

Thankful today for our sailors, Marines, soldiers, airmen, and coasties who have or are currently serving and protecting us! Thank you for your part in encouraging and enabling your son / daughter to serve as well!

Here we are... another anniversary.

Angies: Grateful for all who served then, those who enlisted because of what happened and served faithfully, and for those who continue to serve as protectors of our nation.

Three years goes by very fast at times.  Very slow at other times.

Happy New Year to all! May your sailor be blessed with a wonderful year wherever they are as they realize that there are many who respect and honor their commitment and pray for their safety and success.

Four years since PIR. Hope all of you and your sailors are doing well! Mine has finished his 3rd deployment and we just returned from seeing my soldier (my sailor's brother) off on his first deployment. Thanks for all who serve!