NUKE moms

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Good Morning all!  

I'll be off for about 10days - limited access.

We're moving my mom to Michigan and she and I fly out tomorrow morning.  Movers were at her house all day Monday and Tuesday, packing and loading.  I have the dog transport set up for today...movers show up Saturday and dog will arrive Sunday.  Then I spend the next week unpacking and getting her house set up!  A lot going on lol!  I'll check in periodically but it will be hit and miss.

Sending positive thoughts and wishes for a good move. Cross country can be a bit stressful ! It  sounds like you have everything under control ! ! Will she be near your son and family? Any chance you can sneak in some Olie time while you are up there ? The weather should be beautiful this time of year. 

Safe travels, B'sNukeMom!

Safe travels, B’sNukeMom!! 

B'sNukeMom - I missed seeing your message as I was just returning from a month + time away helping with grandkids/ new addition & other family. 

I hope all goes smoothly with the move for your mother!!

Hi all - I'm back!  Got mom all moved in (but not everything unpacked lol!).  So far so good.  Her new home is 4 minutes from B&C & little Oli so that is a great help for me.

mom of mrams - the weather was fantastic while I was there!  Cooled off a bit on Thursday and Friday but not too much. And yes, I got lots of Oli time!  He helped Bon-Bon (my mom) unpack things lol!  It's good for my mom to be able to spend time with him....she really didn't do much here so I'm hoping she'll do a little more with B&C & Oli.

Now my next step is to start interviewing candidates for my replacement here at work and then get them trained.  I've been here for 28 years so it's going to be a challenge.  Then we start all over again with packing and purging our house so we can move after the first of the year - hoping around April/May.  The time just goes by way too fast though....I told hubby we need to start SOON!

WELCOME BACK!!!!  You were so missed!  So happy the move went well!!!!

Daddy had just left for work.

Welcome back !!  I'm glad you got so much family time and the move went well. Oli is going to be so lucky to have his Bon-Bon there. BUT...... did you just slide some info in there that I had not heard before ????? HAHA  I'm going out on a line and guess your move will also be to the state of MI ?? Good for you guys ! I'm sorry about the mountain that may lie ahead but the end will be so worth it . I have never been to California so I don't know if you have seasons like the midwest but how exciting to look forward to that . Time will go so fast .

On a side note how happy was hubby on the football game yesterday !!  27-13 Go GB  

B'sNuke Mom - I am so glad to hear that the move for your mother went well. It is great that she will be able to be closer to Oli!! I understand all too well that daunting task of moving!! And yes, the purging and such has to start now. I know you are looking forward to being closer to Oli! And B&C. 

mom of mrams - Yes, you are correct!  We will also be moving to MI.  We bought a condo there almost 3 years ago (leasing it out right now) and it's walking distance to B&C & Oli. Now mind you, I'm born and raised in SoCal so this is going to be quite the change but since we'll be retired there won't be the having to go out in the weather/elements everyday for work.  And being close to our grandbaby will be such a benefit!

And YES, Go Pack Go!

How exciting!! So happy for you and your family and being closer as the end result once you guys make the move too. I know I don’t know all the players but I love hearing all the happy tales. 

I know I have been MIA for awhile, but my daughter just graduated A-school, with distinction!! I am so proud of her! And she gets to come home for a short visit! I am so excited!!!!

BZ AZ-RACCOON!  Congrats to your daughter!

Enjoy your visit with her ;-D

Unfortunately she will be on T Track for awhile, but I guess that's how it goes!

My daughter just finished A-school today and gets to have leave next week, but starting today. She isn't sure yet about leave for the holidays. She will either get time off around Christmas or around New Years, she just isn't sure which one she will get yet. 

AZ_RACCOON - Congrats to your daughter, and WOO HOO for leave!!!  I hope you will get to see her when she's on leave???

Gwen - my son was at Nuke School from Nov 2021 until Sept 2023.  He arrived after Thanksgiving in 2021, and I can't remember about Thanksgiving 2022.  For Christmas, there were no classes for two weeks at the end of December.  They had to stay in Charleston for one of the weeks, and were given leave for the other week.  (I think they were asked which week they wanted for leave - either Christmas or New Years, but there's no guarantee they will get their first choice.)  My son chose New Years both times, so he came home after Christmas and stayed a week.

His A School started in January, and their schedule is basically M-F.  They are not allowed to have a car, but they are allowed to leave base on weekends, but not overnight.  After several weeks, if their grades are good, they can level up and have a car on base.  They do get liberty (not leave) on weekends, but there is a mileage limit.

After graduating A School, they get a week leave, but it may not be immediately because of T-track.  My son graduated A school in July and got leave mid-September.  

After graduating Power School, they get another week of leave, and for my son it was immediately after.  (Although now that Prototype is open in NY, the leave is probably longer -- I don't know about that.)

After graduating Prototype, they get about a month leave because of having to move locations. 

Hope this helps.  (Sorry if it's way more than you wanted to know!)

AZ_RACCOON - Congratulations to your daughter!! 

Gwen - MomofJoseph gave you a run down that seems to be more recent information than what I can share from my son's experience. When he was at GC, he was given 2 weeks off at Christmas. They did not have classes and so they either went on leave (I don't recall if he had enough days off, or if he had to borrow a few?), or they stayed at NNPTC and stood watch. 

That said, for whatever reason, after his A-school was complete he did not get the week leave afterwards as several other classes around his same time frame did, because he had two weeks at Christmas. So, just be aware that each class can have some variations to the "normal", and only your sailor will be able to get the specific information from the SLPO, I believe. 

It sounds like NNPTC has transitioned to a holiday leave that is more consistent with what it looks like for the rest of the sailors in in the Navy. When my son's ship was in port they either took the Christmas standdown time off or the New Year's Eve standdown time to come home. Thanksgiving varied but it was similar, I think, and it was just too far for him to come home for a short visit.

As I watched my son go through the different stages of the Nuke Pipeline, I saw how each one developed a different area of readiness for him to serve his time on the ship. T-track was the one time when he overslept on an alarm and was late for muster. Because his watch shift was changing and he had to adjust his sleep schedule from the basic 8-4 of classes with study time after dinner. I was an hour behind him, and I even set my alarm one day to get up and call him to make sure he was awake. 

I do believe that was my worst "helicopter mom" moment in his career!

He managed to assure me that he had set multiple alarms on two different devices, and I had actually wakened him before he had to be up. My son is not inclined to get angry, but I knew that he wasn't happy getting about 10 minutes extra sleep!

T-Track as well as the shift changes during Prototype was all preparation for them learning to stand the watch bill at any of the three different time periods. It is not an easy task to do when you are tired, and because my son's ship was in port mostly and only going out on short underways, he had to drive home after watch. I was less concerned about him when he was out to sea than when they were in port. 

Gwen & others - Here are a few discussion posts that I wrote with the help of my son when he was at NNPTC. They may be a little outdated (2017 - 2019), but reading through the information, may help you think of questions to ask your sailors. 

Nuke A school daily schedule - sailor's perspective

Prototype Graduation - Goose Creek

I thought I had written something about Power school, but I may have just added it into the messages under the Nuke A school discussion. I don't have time to keep searching this site but always feel free to ask questions here. 

Gwen - Chipmunk's post triggered a memory for me about Power School.  The schedule for Power School is crazy, but predictable.  My son sent me the schedule and I made sure that I knew when he got off at midnight because it was a 30 minute drive back to his house, and he would call to talk so he could stay awake for the drive.  I wasn't trying to be a helicopter mom, but I did make sure I was awake on those days so that I could answer if/when he called. :-)

MomofJoseph - My son would do the same thing. Usually it was when he was getting off at 0600 that was hardest for him. Thankfully one of his sisters was also available to talk to him if he called.

Just checking, for clarification,  did you mean to say  Prototype instead of Power School?

For our new members, A school & Power School are houses at NNPTC. Prototype in GC is located on Joint Base Charleston and is a good bit of a drive back to it,  especially depending on where your sailor finds an apartment or rental house to live. At least a good drive when working shifts, tired, and many are still newer drivers. I think there was a bus that would shuttle from NNPTC, but that wasn't always an easier option either, especially with the later shifts. 

Chipmunk - Yes, I meant Prototype.  Thank you.  I don't know why they had to start them both with the letter P!  LOL

Happy Monday!