Welcome, LakeviewMom  

Congratulations to you and your new Navy officer!

My son is an O-3, commissioned out of Officer Candidate School in Newport in Sept 2012.  He loves serving in the Navy, and has been all over the world on deployments and assignments.  He just got back to the States from 3 years in Japan, which he & his wife loved. 

It is hard to learn all that Navy lingo--all those acronyms!  When my son starts in with NavySpeak like "RIMPAC," etc. I have to ask him to spell it out for me.  You can Google "Navy acronyms" and find a page that explains a lot of them for you.

It's fun when your loved one is stationed overseas, because you can visit them and have a free tour guide!  We visited Japan when son & DIL were there, and had a great time.  I doubt that my hubby and I would have gone to Japan by ourselves, if son hadn't been there.  He is back in the States now for 3 years, so we are looking forward to where he will wind up next (Europe?) so we can visit there.

What is your Ensign's designator (specialty)?  Will he/she be heading to a school next or join a ship? 

LakeviewMom,

My daughter is also an O-3 who went through OCS in Sept 2012.  She trained in Pensacola as a Naval Flight Officer and is currently back in Pensacola as an instructor at the  Aviation Safety School.  What does your son want to train for as he enters the fleet after Commissioning?? 

Hi LakeviewMom!  My Mid just commissioned too, so you and I are in the same boat, except that I was raised by a Navy Officer, so I have some insight into Navy life.  Yet I imagine you and I have some of the same things to learn as our kiddos head to the fleet.  Congratulations to your Ensign!