GROTON, CT. SUBSCHOOL & "A" SCHOOL MOMS

FATHOMOM, you are so funny!!! I enjoyed reading your post! And thank you for reminding me how blessed we are that we are now able to talk and text with our Sailors any time we want while they are at School in Groton! You did make me tear up remembering PIR and all those letters we sent back and forth; alll those BC memories!!! :) God bless you always,

Annette, I like the pics! Thank you for sharing!!!

You're welcome ProundNavyMom#1

I enjoy sharing photos of my son and my hometown! Jealous of him as I am 3,000 miles away!

Squid, that is what we always called them growing up near the sub base...back when Jarheads guarded the gate! I went out with my share of both!

He is very excited to be starting his journey in the Navy and subs

That's awesome tidefan. My son is loving it, says it's the best decision he has made. And he loves Groton.

Counting down the hours until I get on the plane!!!

Hooyah  to all the Sonar Techs currently in " A" School , Groton, Connecticut.

Small but great class!!

I work in the front office of a special needs pre-school and one of the autistic classes made a special picture for me to take to my son tomorrow-lots of little hands in pretty colors!  I am so touched!!  I have the laminator warming up as we speak!  I will post a picture as soon as I can!  :)

Mrsb your class did a wonderful job! So Cute!!! Please tell all the sailors hello from GA and thank them for their service. Have a wonderful time!!! And if you happen to meet my son squeeze him tight for me!

Safe travels!

I certainly will Navymom26!!  Thanks for the good wishes!

I sure will!  I'd better write down their names!!!

thanks shirl!  As of today he has not.  I'll just be happy with what ever time we can spend with him.  Keep those duty swap prayers coming!

Leaving for the airport in 15 minutes-what a long day it will be but I'm so excited!!!

Thanks OklahomaMama!!

mrsb, that's awesome what your class did! Enjoy your sailor, and Connecticut!

Fathom mom, thank so you much for your kind words, my sailor is doing great, he has already raised a rank. . .he said because he passed his physical, he is a division leader and was told that if he keeps to the end, then he goes up another rank.  Us we are hanging in there on count down to see him at graduation.  How long will he be in Groton? 

Does no anyone know how the holiday break works?  Will he be able to come home?

mrsb, so happy to hear you left this morning for your trip to see your Sailor!!! Have an awesome time with him!! God bless!!!

Hi Y'all! Just got back from Groton.  Connecticut is beautiful this time of year.

My son graduated BESS and I am putting pictures on my page - got alot of good ones of everyone's sons at the 9/20 graduation.  Spent some quality time with my son.  He has already classed up - to Techno I think.  I brought him his car but he had to pick it up at Providence long term parking because the taxi wanted $125. to bring me there from the base.  We went to Mystic Seaport together and Mohegan Sun Casino for his birthday.  We had a hard time saying goodbye.

I posted some pictures from the 9/20/13 Groton BESS graduation under my pictures - more to come

Just got back.

Congratulations!!! And thank you for the pictures (when they show up :)

Sounds like the weather was wonderful!!!  I feel your sadness having to say goodbye again :/  But hopefully you will get to see him at Christmas!! :)

God bless

Love Mystic Seaport. Miss that place. Glad you enjoyed yourself! My son is enjoying being in CT, and seeing family.

Dennis hanging at my sister's house today, getting to know her dogs Jack and Libby. Libby felt that even at 50 lbs, she was every bit as much a lap dog as 11 lb Jack!

Hi everyone, got back sat afternoon from Groton.  Was there for the A school graduation(Thurs, Sept. 26).  They had it outside and the sailors stood on the Nautilus before getting their certificates.  Took longer to get home.  My sailor didn't get dismissed to leave until Friday after 1 pm.  But we are home.  He didn't know what to do after unpacking the cars and putting things away.  He actually didn't leave things sitting out. LOL.  Going to enjoy his time home before he heads out to WA.  Trying to find a Bangor, WA group.  I saw that his boat doesn't have a site.

Johanna and Shirl, thank you so much for the info.  I will be checking it out and joining.

hello ladies!  It is truly beautiful here in Groton!!  We got to spend most of the day with our Sailor, he had to muster at 8:30 this morning so we picked him up and went to breakfast; muster again at noon and again at 7 pm.  Went to Fort Griswold, Nathan Hale's schoolhouse, found a cool pub in Mystic where we just hung out before taking him back to the base.  Don't worry, he only had coffee!  We're off to other places tomorrow and will be back here on friday, saturday then home on Sunday.  It will be hard to leave him but he'll be home for Christmas and that will be a shorter time than when we last saw him!  I'll try to post some pictures.  :)

mrsb! Yay - sooo happy to hear you are enjoying your Sailor. I cry just thinking about seeing our son. We'll be there soon -  I'll text ya when we are close! The artwork of hands is precious. I will ask for the list of names of Groton Sailors who's Mom's are on NAVYFORMOM'S then I can hug all of them too! 

shirl - thanks for the Christmas travel information. Love this site - you ladies are awesome with helpful information! Totally enjoy the visit with your son before he heads to GA. Hope the visit is soon!

Proudnavymom19 so glad to hear your son is doing well in Groton. Our son is happy there too! Our son will complete ATT very soon, then he will be ACU (await to class us), then I believe next is Techno, then A school early next year if not sooner. Our son will be in Groton for at least another year....I think. I will get more details from him when we visit with him next week! I have soooooo many questions for him!!

LoriM - Congratulations on A School graduation - Hooyah! Oh, enjoy your son being home! It must be quite an adjustment for him, their daily routine and lives are so very different than in our homes. Hugg him lots. Is there a C School or will that take place in WA.?

FATHOMOM, we will be seeing you on friday, somewhere in an as of yet un-named pizza place, along with other sailors our sailors our sailors know...!!!  Drive safely!!

Oh and yes, i cried when I hugged my Sailor today!!  Just what we do!!

mrsb, so glad you are having a good time! What's on your agenda during the week before heading back to Groton? I love exploring Ft. Griswold. Glad you are having a good time!

These are cakes made by my niece. She is awesome, and married my awesome nephew, who is a Marine reservist. They live right up the road from the base, and of course have base privileges. She is not a professional, but loves to do this stuff. The Dolly Parton cake was made for her best friend's bday, who has breast cancer. The pig cake was made for her daughter, my grand-niece, who loves pigs. My sailor can attest that cake was very delicious, as he got to be there for the party. When I saw people on a fb page looking for a local bakery who can deliver to base for their sons bdays, I asked her if she knew of a good local place, and I asked if this is something she would be interested in doing. She loves the idea, and is making a decorated giant chocolate chip cookie for a sailor's bday for tomorrow (he doesn't like cake). If you are interested, I can share her info. She is thrilled to do this!

If you are catholic and even if you are not, while you are at Groton, if you have access to an automobile - Look up St. Edmund's Retreat - Ender's Island.

I went out to this beautiful place to walk and take pictures.  It is absolutely the most beautiful place along the water I have ever seen.  I went from Mystic on a sailboat ride and the guy's explained that you have to go to Mason's Road or something off Highway 1 outside of Mystic - look on the web.  This is the best kept secret.  The road says private - keep going anyway to the end . WOW - you will not be disappointed.  Besides seeing my son, this is the most beautiful memory I have of the lovely Connecticut area of the sub base.

THANKS mrsb - see you soon!

navymom2013 - St. Edmunds Retreat sounds lovely - We are going to take some time to visit it. thanks.I will check it out on line.

Annette - thanks, perfect timing. Our Sailors birthday is the end of October.Please let me know how to contact your niece, I would love to order a cookie or something to be delivered to our Sailor. 

FATHOMOM - that place really has a history and the priest was on board the USS Missouri submarine http://endersisland.com/fr- tom-aboard-uss-missouri - check it out - too cool!!!

that link is a little messed up

Annette thank you for letting us know about the cakes!. I bet the orders will be rolling in!! I'm going to keep her info for my sailors b-day!!

mrsb I hope you are having a wonderful visit!!!

Ok ladies, under my profile, in the "about me" section, I put my niece's name, e-mail and phone number. Or if you want, e-mail me at
sweetmccoy@cox.net
 and I will send the info to you.

If it were me, as hard as it is, I would advise him to do what is best for him. Yes, they are off for 2 weeks at Christmas, and yes, he could use his leave then. However, they usually get some time before reporting to their next duty station after A school, and if he has used all his leave, he might not be able to make it home then. It will be hard not being able to see him at Christmas, but there will definitely come a time when he will be away on patrol during Christmas or other important events, and we loved ones at home have to bear it as best we can. We can do, we are Navy moms!

Eaglefan, they close the schools at Christmas time so he may have to go somewhere.  It seems that most of them have ACU, or awaiting class up, between BESS and the rest of the classes.  I don't know if anyone is allowed to stay on the base during that time but I'm kind of new to this too.

Annette, I will definitely order a big cookie or cake for my son's birthday in November!  And it is absolutely beautiful here!  Tonight we are in Portland, ME, heading to Quebec City tomorrow.  We spent today at Concord and Lexington, just awesome.  My husband and sons are all Sons of the American Revolution and I am a Daughter of the Revolution so it was very exciting, and humbling, to be where the whole thing actually started.  A little overwhelming too.  I was amazed at driving through 5 states in just a few hours-it takes 12 hours at least to get from my house in So Cal to Oregon!  It'w way different out here and am having a great time!

Fathomom, drive careful!!!  I'm thinking of the 7 Seas Pizza place-it's just outside the gate of the base so it would be easy for the Sailors.  I think Annette recommended it a few weeks ago.  :)