Moms of IS (Intelligence Specialist) sailors.

Hey Anna my son saying he be petty officer second class in nine months I am like that quick for his field

Linda,

If he completed his qualifications and time in rate then he would be ready to take the second class test.  And if he passed then he would advance!!!  Good job for him!!!  How long has he been in?  My son made second class within his first 4 years. It can be done!!

Anna not long at all he just went A school been of Feb and now saying he cud be second class petty officer in nine months, man my son amazing me he smart but a class clown he was always getting beat in basic

PKM,

Most of the Moms in this group have sailors who are enlisted intelligence specialists.  My son is an officer in intelligence.  After graduating OCS in the fall of 2012, he went to intel school at Dam Neck, Virginia, which is an annex of Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach.  I can't remember how many months he was there before he graduated, but they have a ceremony that the families are invited to attend and we did, just as a tropical storm hit VB, so couldn't have any fun on the beach!

Hi: Is it so very different to be an Intel officer from OCS vs enlisted intel? My son will graduate from OCS with a commission and then he is off to Intel school, that is how I understand it. Are there different schools for Intelligence training?

PKM,     The officer's intel school and enlisted school are both at Dam Neck, VA, but are entirely separate schools.  They don't interact in the same classes, etc.  I don't know anything about the curriculum, because we don't ask anything, and our son doesn't tell.   When our son graduated from intelligence school, we teasingly asked him if he now felt more "intelligent," and he said, "A little, but I can't tell you anything, or I'll have to kill you."   They all get a kick out of using that line.  haha

Hi  Anna!

 Hope you are spending the winter someplace WARM.  It has been a cold & snowy winter here in Indiana.

Where is your son now?    Hope your daughter is still flying.  She graduated OCS about 2 classes behind my son.

Thank you M's mom for the info.

All the abbreviations seem like a foreign language and the terms too.  I look forward to having my son tell me that joke upon graduation. 

Anyone know if their spouses can join them at Intl School?

PKM,

Yes, sometimes my son will speak in military acronyms and I will have to ask him to spell it out!  You can Google "military abbreviations" and find lists that help translate Navyspeak.

When my son was at intel school, he lived off-base in an apt. in Virginia Beach.  (I think enlisted may have to live on-base?)  His fiancée (now wife) lived with him, so I assume spouses could be there too, but the rules may be different for those who must live on-base.

M's mom,

Well our plans for this year's travels have hit a major snag!!  We came to Oklahoma to spend Christmas with Jenn and then we were going to go south for the rest of the winter and then begin traveling again in the spring.  Unfortunately, Jenn's husband announced to her, at the end of her last deployment in early December, that he wanted a divorce and moved out on her the week before Christmas!!  What a class guy, but I always felt he was self-centered and way immature!!!!  He filed all the paperwork and the divorce was finalized the end of January!!  Jenn still has a year of deployments (she's on another one now) so we agreed to put trailer in storage and move into her house so we can take care of her house, dogs, and cat!!! After the end of this year she should transfer to a shore assignment and wants to move over to the training squadron, where she started, and become an instructor.  When she does that she won't do this every other month deployment and we'll continue our travels!!!!  So, while she is still adjusting to having the rug pulled out from underneath her, she is still flying, and she just made Mission Commander so she has accomplished all the qualifications she needed, and in record time!!!!!  Thanks for thinking of her!!!

How about your son??  Our intelligence son is hoping to make Chief this year!!  He is stationed at Whidbey Island, WA but they are ready for deployment soon.  Not sure where they are going yet!!!!

Oh and it has been a cold winter in Oklahoma so far.  Had a major ice storm Tuesday and Wednesday and now it's just cold and rain!!!!  No warmth for me right now!!!!!

Anna,

So sorry to hear of your daughter's divorce, but glad to know she is doing so well flying.  Military marriages are hard.  My son's wife has degrees in microbiology and genetics, but so far she has just found menial jobs as she's followed son around the world, but she knew when they got married that his career was going to be primary.  

They have been in Japan for two years now, and absolutely love it there.  She is working at the Arts & Crafts store on the base, (a good fit because she is a serious crafter.)  Son would like to make a career of the Navy, so I just hope that she doesn't give him an ultimatum like, "I've followed you around the world for ten years, now it's time for you to get a stable civilian job, so I can find a job in MY field."   Or worse yet, just leave, like your daughter's ex.  

They will be in Japan until January, and then son thinks he will likely be going to D.C.--actually Suitland, MD-- the HQ of Naval Intel.  They've said they will probably try to start a family once they get back to the States, so D.C. will be MUCH closer than Japan to go see grandbabies!!

Hubby and I visited them in Japan this last July, and had a great time except for the LOOOONG 12-hour plane flights to/from Tokyo.

I was wondering if your son was still at Whidbey!  My son enjoyed Whidbey. He worked with a squadron of Growlers, and then was deployed with them for 11 months on the USS Carl Vinson.  Join the Navy and see the world, they say!

Hope your daughter can get the instructor position she wants so her life will be a little more stable.

Thanks M's mom!!  My son's wife is a true blue Navy wife.  She used to try to find work when they would move around but now she takes care of their daughter and takes in children for day care.  She follows our son all over and handles things while he is deployed.  She is lucky in that they make friends easily so they always have people to spend time with while son is away!!!  He's career now, been in since 2003!!!  And she is ok with him staying until retirement!!!  Gotta really hand it to the strong Navy spouses!!!

Anna,

Your son is a lucky man to have such a wonderful Navy wife! Wow, 15 years now; he should surely stick it out for 20! 

My son said officers are either "up or out" meaning, if they are passed over for promotion, they are discharged whether they want to leave or not.  He will be up for promotion to LT Commander in about two years, but this time, he will have to go before a review board.   He is working on his master's degree, which is required.  I told him to just be outstanding in whatever his job is, and go above & beyond when possible.

M's mom,

Yes, Jenn is pretty much in the same program as far as making O4.  Also making preparations for her Masters and getting Instructor in her pipeline helps that process.  She is well liked by her XO and CO and pitches in on projects where she can.  All a matter of those fitreps!!!!!

ShawnMom:

If you are looking for info on SERE (survival) training, you may want to ask the group here called  "Naval Aviation."   I think all the pilots and NFO's must do SERE. There are videos on You Tube also about SERE.  I would NOT want to do it myself!!!!

M's mom,

Just an FYI, my daughter was told not to discuss anything SERE training as it is classified.  Trainers do not want newbies to know anything about the training beforehand as it can become ineffective.

Anna,

Yes, I suppose it would be less effective if they knew what to expect. Some people have nevertheless posted things that show it to be quite an ordeal.  I know it is necessary training in case they should fall into enemy hands. 

Yes ShawnMom, my daughter went through it in 2013.  It wasn't pleasant but she survived and she passed!!!  They just need to find that inner strength and learn those skills, and pray they are never needed!!!!!

WHEN CAN SAILORS START RECEIVING CARE PACKAGES IN A SCHOOL AND WHAT ARE THE LIMITATIONS ON SIZE AND CONTENT ETC

NAVYMOMK,

Sorry I can't offer any info on your question cause so many schools can be different in what they allow along these lines.  Best thing is to ask your sailor, they should be able to let you know what you can send and when!!!

JM-ISmomx2,

That is such exciting news!!!  I am so happy for your girl.  My officer daughter is transferring to Pensacola the beginning of February to become an instructor at the Aviation Safety School.  Our girls are really going places!!!!  Good luck to your daughter!!!

Hi Anna,

Glad to hear that your daughter is doing well and will be an instructor, so she must know her stuff!   Is your son still at Whidbey?

My son and his wife will be returning stateside in January after 3 years in Japan. They have absolutely loved Japan, and I think are a little sorry to leave, but it will so nice to have them back in the US.  They both hinted that they might start on the grandbaby project as soon as they get back to the States.  (I'm glad they didn't have babies in Japan---so far away!)

Son will be stationed at Ft Meade, Maryland, near Baltimore.  He will be doing something there that he is not at liberty to discuss.  (We don't ask and he doesn't tell.) --But it is no secret that Ft Meade is the location of the Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command.  Maybe he'll be defending our country from a keyboard, instead of in a plane or on a ship!

Seems a long time now, doesn't it, since both of our kids were at OCS in the fall of 2012?

Are you still vagabonding around the country?  Hope you have found someplace warm to camp for the winter.  

M's mom,

Yes, sometimes it seems just like yesterday we were going through the OCS stuff but you look back and realize it was 6 years ago.  And my enlisted daughter went in 10 years ago!!!  She's been out 6 years.  IS son is still in and currently still at Whidbey!!  I'm going there in a week to take care of granddaughter while he takes wife on another cruise.  Last one they'll get for awhile as they are being transferred to Fallon, NV for another tour.  He just got back from a deployment to Japan!!  Not sure what he'll get into in Fallon this time!!  I know you'll be happy to have your son and family back stateside!!  MD is a beautiful place to visit - especially if you can get to Annapolis.  We lived there for 11 years!!  Sailor Son and daughters were born there!!!  

Hubby and I are getting ready to get back on the road for 2019!!  We've been parked in Oklahoma this past year to help out our officer daughter after conditions out of her control caused some major upheaval!!!  We've been staying in her house and trailer is in storage.  Can't wait to get back to my tiny home on wheels!!!!

But we'll still be here on N4Ms for a long time!!!!!

I previously saw somewhere on here a link to a list of things to send in care packages to A School but cant find now   Can one of you moms who is much better at this than this newbit help me out??

NAVYMOMK,

I hope you get some feedback from some moms who have had recent experience with someone at this school.  My son was there so long ago that I would be afraid all the info has changed since then.  Any new moms out there who can help????

Anna,

Sounds like our Intel sons have been at several of the same places!  My son was at Whidbey Island for 2 years or so before deployment on the USS Carl Vinson.  He had some temporary duty at least twice in Fallon, and then went to Japan.  Maybe their paths will cross someday in the same place, but of course, they probably won't know, since we are somewhat anonymous here!

Where was your son in Japan?  Mine was at Yokota, near Tokyo.

M's mom,

He was at Kadena!!  I'm sure they could run into each other sometime but we'll never know!!!!

Anna, 

Yes, that would be funny if our sons wound up working together somewhere, and never knew the connection!

As far as your earlier statements about Annapolis, we have visited Baltimore and Annapolis several times.  Took a tour of the Naval Academy with our son when he was in high school.  (Saw John Paul Jones' crypt being guarded by midshipmen.)

Have eaten many, many delicious blue crabs there during the season.  My husband's aunt had a cottage on an inlet of Chesapeake Bay south of DC, and we caught them live in crab cages right from her dock!   Steamed them over boiling water with some Old Bay seasoning.  YUM.  Since we are landlubbers living in the Midwest, we don't get actual FRESH seafood very often, so it was a treat.

Looking forward to visiting son & D-I-L in Baltimore and eating some more blue crabs!

M's mom,

Our family lived in Annapolis for 11 years.  We lived in Hillsmere Shores right on the south river.  Also had many a blue crab steamed with Old Bay along with a cold beer!!!!!

Hello! am new here.  I can relate to the fact that my daughter told me the same thing..."I can't discuss that." She was already good at that lol

Welcome, Susan! 

My son tells his father and I that he can't tell us anything, or he will have to kill us!  We THINK he is kidding, but we don't ask any questions! haha      (Loose lips sink ships.)

M's mom...That was very much inplied in our brief calls lol

My son has his rate confirmed for IS!! He should head to Dam Neck mid May but things are a little up in the air. My question is when should I send him a care package? We can not go to graduation since they no longer have those. So taking clothes and extra electronics will need to be mailed. 
Any advice is Also welcomed!

I need help. 

Last October my IS specialist son decided to cut off communications with us. He promises it's not permanent, just needs to work on things.There was no falling out and we got a long. His dad and I were completely blindsided. He's no longer station where he was the last three years and I have no idea where my son. 

Is there anyone I can reach out to? I understand he's a grown adult and I have no rights whatsoever, I just don't know what to do. 

Thank you

kamme,

My heart goes out to you!  The only thing I can think of would be to contact a Navy Chaplain and explain the situation.  The chaplain could locate him and give him a message from you without revealing his location, if your son doesn't want you to know.  Then, it would be up to him if he wants to contact you, but at least he will know you reached out.   

You could probably start by looking up the website of the Navy base where he last was stationed.  Then, search for the phone number of the Chaplain's office of that base.  (Or maybe the email address, if you can't find the phone number.) Hopefully, someone from that office will help you, although they will probably be duty bound to keep his confidentiality.   At least maybe they will get your message to him.  Hope this helps!

M's mom

Thank you. I actually did what you suggested. The chaplin reached my son and my son sent me an email explaining what was going on with him. This was in November. He signed the email much love and his name. My mom managed to reach him a month and a half ago through a app he forgot to block us on. He did answer her and said he was doing great and will resume contact in the near term. Whatever that means. I'm trying to keep the faith that he will return to us, but yesterday was a very hard day. He has the means and the skills to disappear if he wants. 

Thank you

kamme,

I know it is so hard to be a military parent as I had three kids enlist and two are still in.  I don't want this to sound harsh, but if you keep trying to track him down you may end up making his current situation difficult.  I have personal knowledge of higher ranking supervisors having to call in sailors "on the carpet" for not contacting their family.  From then on, they get questioned constantly "have you talked to your family?"  This can set up a situation where the sailor becomes embarrassed, and the superiors get aggravated because they have to do this kind of thing. 

If there was no falling out you just have to trust your son that there may be a reason (security or safety) that he has to do this. 

Always feel free to reach out to other moms on this website for support and for knowing that you are never alone in this journey!!  But please don't try to keep stalking your son. 

Samantha,

Congratulations to your son.  Right now with the virus putting so many challenges in the way, your son may or may not go to Dam Neck right away.  Several policies restrict military travel, even those that are supposed to be moving to new duty stations.  The best thing I can suggest right now is to wait until you hear from your son as to his status of getting to Dam Neck and when he can receive mail.  Most sailors who do move to another location then have to quarantine for two weeks.  Both of my current sailors are dealing with this very issue in their jobs and it gets very frustrating for all sailors involved.  Hopefully if he gets to Dam Neck and has to quarantine he can get mail and you can send off a package to him!!!  Good luck to your Sailor Son, and I hope all works out for him.

Hi Anna!

Yes, this doggoned virus has changed lots of plans.  My son is stationed at Ft Meade, MD and he was supposed to go on temporary duty this summer to San Antonio to train somebody to do the job he does now, but that got cancelled.  My husband and I have never been to SA, and were looking forward to visiting him there!

I read that they are making the OCS candidates report two weeks early, so they can quarantine before starting OCS. That's actually a good idea, because with the former OCS classes, they all usually caught a bug the first week or two because they were under such physical/mental stress and little sleep. This way they all start healthy, or it will be apparent that someone is not healthy before starting.

Is your daughter still flying?

Hope you & yours stay well.

Hello M's mom.

No, Jennifer hasn't flown anywhere since the shutdown began.  Since they can't teach their classes she has had nothing to do except some little make work jobs.  Right now they are doing the last bit of clean out of the building that got shot up. She hates going in there.  She said someone put down patches of carpet where the three sailors died. You just can't forget what happened there.

Other than that, she's bored out of her mind.  She had planned to take leave at the end of June to go to Oklahoma to celebrate their 30th birthday with her twin sister.  The Navy has extended the no travel policy until the day after their birthday and if the school gets approval to start classes again immediately after that, she won't be able to go to OK anyway!!!  And her sister was going to travel to Pensacola to celebrate there but her business told her she'd have to quarantine for 2 weeks after she returns and she can't afford to take that much time off unpaid. But everyone is healthy and safe so we have to be thankful for that!!  How about you and your family??

Anna,

Hopefully, your daughter will get back in the air soon!

My husband and I have been well so far, thankfully.  I live in rural Indiana, and our county has had relatively few cases of COVID-19 so far.  Our state is gradually opening up, with restaurants able to serve sit-down at 50% capacity and other businesses opening.  That will probably result in more virus cases, but people are just getting tired of being cooped up, and just want to get it over with, if they are going to catch it anyway. 

To reduce the spread of the virus on the base, my son's office cut the roster in half, and each half has only had to report on alternating weeks for the last 6-7 weeks.  He said they are still getting paid to stay home, and it doesn't count against leave, which is good.  He has been getting lots of household projects done on his weeks off, such as laying a stone patio at their house!  

The problem is, even though he only has to report to work every other week, he is still responsible for getting his job done in half the time!!!  Since he works in intel/cyber security, he absolutely cannot do any work online from his home computer, nor take any paperwork home with him.  He must do ALL of his work from his assigned workstation computer at the base office.  He has been going to the base on Sundays at the end of an off week to try to get a start on catching up, so he can work double-time the following week and hopefully still get the job done.  He's not sure how much longer this will go on, but he says he would rather just go back to work full-time, so he's not always playing catch-up!

Are you still travelling in your RV, or are you staying put until this passes?   I imagine most of the campgrounds are closed still.   Stay well!

Anna, 

Thank you for letting me know about the restrictions. He made it safe to Dam Neck and is waiting to receive his orders to begin class.  He really likes it there and is eager to begin!  

Hope y'all are well!

Samantha,

I'm glad your son made it to Dam Neck!!  I hope later this summer you get to go visit him.  Virginia Beach as a whole is a pretty and fun place to go!!!!

M'smom,

Where is your son now??  My intel Son is also dealing with trying to get stuff done with his people being gone every other day!!  He's on leave right now cause we are staying with him in Nevada!!  We are still traveling, most all of the major campgrounds are still open because there are a lot of full timers like us, we don't have a home to go to!!!! Only in NM did we hear about issues with only being able to have 25% capacity but since we made a reservation we were able to stay there.  Others who were traveling through had to be turned away!! 

Anna,

My son is now with the US Fleet Cyber Command at Fort Meade, Maryland (Baltimore.)   He and his wife bought their first house nearby.  They had always lived in apartments and base housing, and wanted something they could change to suit them.  They are gradually remodeling and sprucing it up, since it's an older house, in hopes of selling at a profit when it's time to move on in two years.  The "joys" of home ownership come with lots of maintenance, as they're finding out.  Had to put on a new roof, etc.  At least YOU don't have to worry about maintaining a big house!!!   haha

Thank you Anna!  Just got word he will begin on Monday!  

M's mom, Congrats on your son being a homeowner!  

Samantha,

Congratulations to your son!!!  I hope he enjoys Dam Neck, as I remember from when my son went through there it is a lot of work!!  I wish him all the best!!!

M's mom,

Congrats to your son also!!  We lived in Annapolis for years and I love that part of the country.  There is so much to see and do in Maryland - from camping in the mountains to all the history in the area!! And on becoming a new homeowner - how exciting!  It is always so special when we have something of our own!!  Even if it can be lots of work sometimes!!!  Wishing him and his wife all the best!!!!

Anna-Thank you for the encouraging words!  I know he will do well but I need him to believe it also!  

Anyone else have a seaman in A or C school in Dam Neck currently?

My son is debating on purchasing a Laptop.  Any ideas or suggestions?