My LO wrote to me about RPT sessions. Can someone tell me what that is? It wasn’t in the Navy Speak list of acronyms. I’m assuming some type of physical training.
jesnavymom: Definitely not an expert. I have heard it stands for remedial physical (or personal) training. Maybe this will help, I don't know how accurate this description is, things are always changing at OCS. https://www.reddit.com/r/newtothenavy/comments/3rjgjp/ocs_fitness_r...
jesnavymom: my son just commissioned Friday (Hooyah!) and he said it stands for (as CL said) Remdial Physical Training. It's a way to help the whole group improve on the curlups, pushups and the run.
Well, now it is my turn to brag. My son is an F-18 aviator and still flying from carriers and ground stations. He has been flying for 13 years and will keep flying weekly at full quals (info for those Moms asking about how long a Navy pilot may fly). He just became a Commander today. He also is stationed at the Pentagon, but if transferred to a new station he will still be flying full quals each week. He is living his dream from 3 years old, and truthfully, my dream for him also since he was 3. I just gave him his new lid with the scrambled eggs with great pleasure. Well he did have to order it. He wants to have it for Memorial Day when he and his wife and their 3 and 5 year old sons spend time at Arlington National Cemetery laying roses on some very special headstones, more than DS wishes but in memory of special souls.
I could not be more proud of him and feel today like I am flying with him aa I use to do when he was at Embry Riddle U and I use to have him fly us for fun or in my role as an attorney to depositions , court hearings etc. His brother "K" is multiply disabled from birth .and my DS could not been a better brother at all times . DS took his brother with us into the air much to "K" delight with his brother's flying. Thanks to Skype we should all get to see the new uniformed Commander soon.
Thank you all! He will be going to Pensacola in August. He is desigated a SNA. Right now he is back at his home for 12 weeks: OHARP. I'm good with that as it is only 400 miles from me. Once he is in FL it will be more like 2000 miles! I have to say, that Commissioning was one of the most incredible events I have ever witnessed. So proud of all our DS and DD who have made the choice to serve our country! Hooyah!
And, as Memorial Day approaches, I want to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. God bless all our sons and daughters.
Congratulations to everyone who has proud news to share. My news is that I am saying good by to my son as he heads to Virginia for schooling. I am very proud and cannot get enough hugs before he and his wife head out.
PKM, There is a graduation ceremony held at Dam Neck which the families may attend at the end of intel school. We attended our son's and stayed in Virginia Beach at a hotel right on the beach/boardwalk. Alas, a tropical storm hit the area the day of graduation and it rained, and rained, and rained! No frolicking on the beach, but we enjoyed spending time with DS and his fiancée, (now wife.)
Hello! I will be attending ODS graduation in July. Just curious if there is a type of dress code to abide by. Is it ok to wear a dress that shows shoulders and things of that nature? Want to make sure to respect tradition or unspoken lady-like "rules". Any insight would be helpful.
MelissaAnn79: For my son's OCS graduation, I wore my "dressier" outfit (a dress) to the Hi Moms reception, and then dressy slacks and nice top to graduation. You will want to take pictures with the new Ensign afterwards, so consider what you want to be photographed in standing next to a spiffy Navy officer in dress whites! (July) The attire for the graduation ceremony was fairly casual though, with some in jeans and even shorts if it's hot weather.
With her hubby/BF going to ODS, he received his commission prior to attending ODS. ODS is not the same program as OCS, though many of the officers in ODS are acquiring their first Navy uniforms at that time. As you stated, it will be a once in a life time picture opportunity!
I knew ODS (Officer Development School) was for medical professionals, lawyers, etc. who were being commissioned, and I knew it was only for five weeks or so. I assumed they had a graduation ceremony similar to OCS, but I don't know if they have a "Hi Moms" reception the night before like OCS does.
Many of the members in this site are not familiar with ODS. Those at ODS are not "being commissioned" during or at the conclusion of ODS. They already are Navy officers and remain the same rank/paygrade. My daughter had been an Ens. a year prior to ODS and my son was an Ens. for the three years prior to ODS. Both of my kids returned to their Univ. to resume medical school and later reported to the Navy for active duty - and completely different Navy routes between them! It is just a very different path for these officers, and often misunderstood, than followed by our other fine officers via programs such as OCS, NROTC and Naval Academy.
Thanks for the explanation about ODS. I wasn't sure when those officers actually received their commissions. A friend of mine was in the Navy while he was going to Optometry School, and I assume he went to ODS afterwards. I knew ODS was for those attending some kind of professional school, and then becoming active duty after that.
My son was commissioned in 2012, and I'm still learning about the Navy too! Sometimes when I talk to my son he will lapse into Navyspeak (all those acronyms such as RIMPAC) and I will have to ask him to spell it out for me. If I'm speaking to him on the phone, I can hear him rolling his eyes skyward. He knows he'd better not do that when we're face-to-face!!!! hahahaha
If you have questions, just ask. Some of the Moms here will probably know the answer. That's what we are here for!
I too am learning all the navy lingo. My son was commissioned 9/2015 and is currently on his second underway on a sub. His first 2yrs after being commissioned he was in NUPOC. (nuclear propulsion officer candidate).
We are here to learn together and support each other.
Good morning, my son is in OCS now. Week 1 is almost behind him. I am beginning a new adventure as well. Trying to learn as much as I can and way to many acronyms. My goodness. I will have questions and thank you to all in advance for your experienced information.
Meadow: Welcome! My son is finishing up week 7 at OCS currently. It is a whole new world to experience and learn about! The first three weeks are the hardest for them and also for you. Good luck and please ask questions as you need to.
welcome meadow to mom of Officers. My son was at OCS in 2015. He is now currently on deployment on a sub. We all were at the place you are now. Please feel free to ask questions. I still am learning what all the acronyms mean.
Search Wikipedia for "List of U.S. Navy Acronyms." I find this list very helpful when my son lapses into Navyspeak in an email, and I have no idea what he means!
meadow, a large part of this correspondence issues depend on the Drill Instructor. Of course you don’t know his/her personality so it is better to be safe that sorry. Our LO left for OCS in July 2014, graduating in October 2014, in Class 01-15. I hadn’t heard any rules about color of envelope and all that business. I knew not to send birthday cards. Our LO’s birthday was on his fifth day of OCS. I didn’t let anyone send him birthday cards but I didn’t want to have the day pass unnoticed. I wrote letters every day he was gone. Yes, EVERY DAY. On his birthday, I subtly put “HB” next to the date on the letter. He noticed and mentioned it. He said it felt “just right” at the time.
I mentioned that I didn’t know all the “white envelope and plain letter rules. I sent many cards and some were in tab or blue envelopes. (Oh, my!) No worries! There were no issues. When I mentioned it later in OCS, our son commented that the instructors have much bigger issues to manage than the color of envelopes. LOL That sounds about right to me, too. Also, we were encouraged to send bits of information to him from the outside world. My husband sent the baseball trade deadline deals from the newspaper. Our LO said it was a huge hit and he shared it with many interested candidates. Again, no issues with instructors. So, my suggestion is to write letters and feel out the situation but don’t lose perspective.
for the good of your LO and the class do not send anything other than white. As for Birthday my daughter was there for hers and wasn’t allowed to accept anything until candio . Wish your LO happy birthday on paper
meadow - I completely agree with jsefamily's advice on OCS: When you learn new instructions/rules, try to follow them but don't stress about it if you mess up. I messed up how I was addressing my letters for several weeks. My son mentioned it when he got phone privileges after week 6 but said it was not a big deal as no one cared. The candidates are the ones who collect the mail from the mailroom and distribute it. They all look out for each other. So If you happened to have already sent a birthday card in say a blue envelope, have a glass of wine and notice the world is still turning the same direction it was before the error. To lower your stress level, send future letters in white envelopes.
The color of the envelope may not be a problem, but do NOT send any musical cards, or big, fat envelopes that look like they could have contraband in them. We were told you don't want to send any mail that would catch the attention of the Drill Instructor, and therefore single out your candidate for the DI to harass.
There is a Facebook page - search for OCS 03-19 and a few options will show up, I am sure of it! Also look for the Officer Training Command Newport page, as that is where any photos will be posted. Fair Seas and Following Winds!
Thanks, everyone! My son is a SNA so he will be going back to his residence where he lived prior to beginning OCS, for 3 months doing OHARP, then he will have to report to Pensacola in December.
Congrats on the upcoming commissioning! I personally did not do this, however, someone had posted info on our class friends and family page on fb. It listed an email address as well as a phone number. Have you tried both avenues of contact?
I'm the Mom of a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) for over 9 years now, and just thought I would share a few random thoughts. The first tour is really busy with the junior officers (JOs) trying to get qualified and get their SWO pin in addition to doing their regular job, standing watches twice a day, and finding time to sleep and exercise. It's a crash course in time management, and they can use all the encouragement you can give without putting demands on their time. While my son and I are close and we talk often when he's in-port or on shore duty, I only heard from him a few times that first deployment. My son is now into his third deployment and my guiding rule has been to encourage him to stay connected with his wife and children and know that I am thinking of him and praying for him (calls every 2-3 months and emails every 2 weeks or so are about the norm). My husband and I were able to visit him in Greece when they pulled into port on his second deployment and that was great. If you can manage that, you will not regret it. Or if you can babysit (if your son or daughter has children) for his or her spouse to join them for a port visit, all the better!
My son will have been commissioned for nine years this summer. He's also a SWO. His first ship was an LPD, and he had hardly arrive when it was surged to help with the action off Lybia. The ship was deployed for nearly 11 months.
In July, he found out they were going to be at an Italian Navy base in southern Italy for a full week for maintenance. He called and asked if we could come meet him. It took some doing, but we made it, and I'm so glad we did. We got him a room in the hotel where he was staying, and he was able to catch up on some much needed sleep, something new ensigns struggle with. We also did some wonderful sight-seeing and ate a lot of good food.
Later in the deployment he was sent home to go to SWO school in Newport, RI, for a few weeks. Then he had to rejoin the ship, which was still deployed.
We participated in the Tiger Cruise from Morehead City, NC to Norfolk when they finally returned. That was also a good experience, and I recommend it.
His second ship was a destroyer. He requested that because he wanted to get some experience on a different kind of ship, even though he was pretty sure he wanted to be on amphibs in the long run. He also wanted to be navigator, and he was able to do that.
The second ship also deployed, for about nine months. He spent a lot of time going back and forth through the Suez Canal and also up in the Black Sea. He got to go to a lot of interesting places and had more port visits than on the first ship.
As someone else said, after two ships SWOs typically get a three-year shore duty. Our son, a Naval Academy grad, chose teaching navigation and seamanship at the academy, and that's what he got. We were thrilled to be able to spend three more years visiting Annapolis.
Now, after nearly a year of more schools, he's starting as the ops officer on an amphib that's in the shipyards in Norfolk, so he's not likely to be deployed on this ship. They request certain kinds of ships, certain jobs and certain ports, ranking which things are most important, and then they get some combination of those choices, usually. Whether they are deployed depends on what the status of the ship is at that time.
He's always been able to keep in pretty good touch with us when he's deployed. I always told him that if he got a chance to call, he should call without worrying about what time it was where we were.
He knows he's looking at more deployments in the future, but that's OK. That's the life he chose.
First off congratulations! I am not sure I will be much help but here it goes. The first move my LO did he moved his belongings by himself Washington to South Carolina. He was reimburse for some of the expenses. The second time South Carolina to New York he again did a DITY ( do it yourself) move. His last move NewYork back to Washington was a partial dity move and part Navy moving his big household item.
Romeogirl - Congratulations to both you and your son! Is your son coming home before moving? My son came home (on his dime, actually my husband's frequent flier miles) and then he drove his car and stuff (it fit in his car) back out east. The Navy pays miles, hotel and the weight of the stuff in his car. He had to have it weighted empty and then full. He didn't have much. He could have rented a U-haul if he had more and they would have paid for that. The Navy will hire movers as well. There should be someone he can talk to. You can find info here: https://www.cnic.navy.mil/ffr/family_readiness/fleet_and_family_sup...
Best of luck to your son on this next stop in his Navy journey!
Congrats to you and your son, Romeogirl! My son commissioned at OSC last May and had to pay his own way home as he was doing OHARP for 12 weeks before going to his first base in FL. When he finished in FL and headed to TX, he had the choice of having the Navy pay for his move or pay him to rent a U-Haul and move himself. He chose the latter as he did not like the Navy's time table!
When my daughter left for OCS she had the contents of her apartment stored in a storage unit in PA. After OCS she was sent to Pensacola. The Navy moved all her goods from the storage unit to her new apartment in Pensacola. After all her flight training she was transferred to Oklahoma. Again the Navy did her PCS move and just recently she was transfered again to Pensacola and another PCS move. She took a few things in her private vehicle to get her through until all her personal goods arrived.
jesnavymom
My LO wrote to me about RPT sessions. Can someone tell me what that is? It wasn’t in the Navy Speak list of acronyms. I’m assuming some type of physical training.
May 19, 2018
CindyN
jesnavymom: Definitely not an expert. I have heard it stands for remedial physical (or personal) training. Maybe this will help, I don't know how accurate this description is, things are always changing at OCS. https://www.reddit.com/r/newtothenavy/comments/3rjgjp/ocs_fitness_r...
May 19, 2018
jesnavymom
Thank you!
May 19, 2018
Andy'sMom
jesnavymom: my son just commissioned Friday (Hooyah!) and he said it stands for (as CL said) Remdial Physical Training. It's a way to help the whole group improve on the curlups, pushups and the run.
May 23, 2018
CindyN
jesnavymom - Congratulations to both your and your son! Where does he go next?
May 23, 2018
PKM
Congratulations to Andy'sMom!
May 23, 2018
TriciaM
Well, now it is my turn to brag. My son is an F-18 aviator and still flying from carriers and ground stations. He has been flying for 13 years and will keep flying weekly at full quals (info for those Moms asking about how long a Navy pilot may fly). He just became a Commander today. He also is stationed at the Pentagon, but if transferred to a new station he will still be flying full quals each week. He is living his dream from 3 years old, and truthfully, my dream for him also since he was 3. I just gave him his new lid with the scrambled eggs with great pleasure. Well he did have to order it. He wants to have it for Memorial Day when he and his wife and their 3 and 5 year old sons spend time at Arlington National Cemetery laying roses on some very special headstones, more than DS wishes but in memory of special souls.
I could not be more proud of him and feel today like I am flying with him aa I use to do when he was at Embry Riddle U and I use to have him fly us for fun or in my role as an attorney to depositions , court hearings etc. His brother "K" is multiply disabled from birth .and my DS could not been a better brother at all times . DS took his brother with us into the air much to "K" delight with his brother's flying. Thanks to Skype we should all get to see the new uniformed Commander soon.
Yes, I am a very proud and happy Mom
May 23, 2018
Allison
Congratulations TriciaM to you and your son!!!
May 23, 2018
M's mom
TriciaM:
You are quite justified in your pride for your new Commander! Congratulations to him and to you!
May 23, 2018
M's mom
Andy'sMom:
Congrats to you & the new Ensign! Where is he headed now?
May 23, 2018
Anna
Congratulations ladies to the newly commissioned officer and newly promoted Commander!!! Bravo Zulu Shipmates!!!!
May 24, 2018
Andy'sMom
Thank you all! He will be going to Pensacola in August. He is desigated a SNA. Right now he is back at his home for 12 weeks: OHARP. I'm good with that as it is only 400 miles from me. Once he is in FL it will be more like 2000 miles! I have to say, that Commissioning was one of the most incredible events I have ever witnessed. So proud of all our DS and DD who have made the choice to serve our country! Hooyah!
And, as Memorial Day approaches, I want to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. God bless all our sons and daughters.
May 25, 2018
PKM
Congratulations to everyone who has proud news to share. My news is that I am saying good by to my son as he heads to Virginia for schooling. I am very proud and cannot get enough hugs before he and his wife head out.
May 28, 2018
M's mom
PKM, There is a graduation ceremony held at Dam Neck which the families may attend at the end of intel school. We attended our son's and stayed in Virginia Beach at a hotel right on the beach/boardwalk. Alas, a tropical storm hit the area the day of graduation and it rained, and rained, and rained! No frolicking on the beach, but we enjoyed spending time with DS and his fiancée, (now wife.)
May 28, 2018
MelissAnn79
Hello! I will be attending ODS graduation in July. Just curious if there is a type of dress code to abide by. Is it ok to wear a dress that shows shoulders and things of that nature? Want to make sure to respect tradition or unspoken lady-like "rules". Any insight would be helpful.
May 29, 2018
LeAnn ⚖
MelissAnn:
Both of my kids went to ODS and the family members attending wore what you might consider "Sunday" or nice casual evening wear.
May 29, 2018
M's mom
MelissaAnn79: For my son's OCS graduation, I wore my "dressier" outfit (a dress) to the Hi Moms reception, and then dressy slacks and nice top to graduation. You will want to take pictures with the new Ensign afterwards, so consider what you want to be photographed in standing next to a spiffy Navy officer in dress whites! (July) The attire for the graduation ceremony was fairly casual though, with some in jeans and even shorts if it's hot weather.
May 30, 2018
LeAnn ⚖
M's Mom:
With her hubby/BF going to ODS, he received his commission prior to attending ODS. ODS is not the same program as OCS, though many of the officers in ODS are acquiring their first Navy uniforms at that time. As you stated, it will be a once in a life time picture opportunity!
May 30, 2018
Helomom
Congratulations to all of you! This great Navy life is such a rush!
May 30, 2018
M's mom
LeAnn:
I knew ODS (Officer Development School) was for medical professionals, lawyers, etc. who were being commissioned, and I knew it was only for five weeks or so. I assumed they had a graduation ceremony similar to OCS, but I don't know if they have a "Hi Moms" reception the night before like OCS does.
May 30, 2018
LeAnn ⚖
Many of the members in this site are not familiar with ODS. Those at ODS are not "being commissioned" during or at the conclusion of ODS. They already are Navy officers and remain the same rank/paygrade. My daughter had been an Ens. a year prior to ODS and my son was an Ens. for the three years prior to ODS. Both of my kids returned to their Univ. to resume medical school and later reported to the Navy for active duty - and completely different Navy routes between them! It is just a very different path for these officers, and often misunderstood, than followed by our other fine officers via programs such as OCS, NROTC and Naval Academy.
May 30, 2018
M's mom
LeAnn:
Thanks for the explanation about ODS. I wasn't sure when those officers actually received their commissions. A friend of mine was in the Navy while he was going to Optometry School, and I assume he went to ODS afterwards. I knew ODS was for those attending some kind of professional school, and then becoming active duty after that.
May 30, 2018
VickiB
New to this site- my son commissioned in Dec17 after completing NROTC and is on a ship in San Diego. Still learning about Navy.
Aug 2, 2018
M's mom
Welcome VickiB,
My son was commissioned in 2012, and I'm still learning about the Navy too! Sometimes when I talk to my son he will lapse into Navyspeak (all those acronyms such as RIMPAC) and I will have to ask him to spell it out for me. If I'm speaking to him on the phone, I can hear him rolling his eyes skyward. He knows he'd better not do that when we're face-to-face!!!! hahahaha
If you have questions, just ask. Some of the Moms here will probably know the answer. That's what we are here for!
Congrats to your son, and anchors aweigh !!
Aug 2, 2018
topdog1p
Welcome Vicki,
I too am learning all the navy lingo. My son was commissioned 9/2015 and is currently on his second underway on a sub. His first 2yrs after being commissioned he was in NUPOC. (nuclear propulsion officer candidate).
We are here to learn together and support each other.
Aug 4, 2018
meadow
Good morning, my son is in OCS now. Week 1 is almost behind him. I am beginning a new adventure as well. Trying to learn as much as I can and way to many acronyms. My goodness. I will have questions and thank you to all in advance for your experienced information.
Aug 17, 2018
redheadlass
Meadow: Welcome! My son is finishing up week 7 at OCS currently. It is a whole new world to experience and learn about! The first three weeks are the hardest for them and also for you. Good luck and please ask questions as you need to.
Aug 17, 2018
topdog1p
welcome meadow to mom of Officers. My son was at OCS in 2015. He is now currently on deployment on a sub. We all were at the place you are now. Please feel free to ask questions. I still am learning what all the acronyms mean.
Aug 17, 2018
M's mom
meadow,
Search Wikipedia for "List of U.S. Navy Acronyms." I find this list very helpful when my son lapses into Navyspeak in an email, and I have no idea what he means!
Aug 18, 2018
jsefamily
I mentioned that I didn’t know all the “white envelope and plain letter rules. I sent many cards and some were in tab or blue envelopes. (Oh, my!) No worries! There were no issues. When I mentioned it later in OCS, our son commented that the instructors have much bigger issues to manage than the color of envelopes. LOL That sounds about right to me, too. Also, we were encouraged to send bits of information to him from the outside world. My husband sent the baseball trade deadline deals from the newspaper. Our LO said it was a huge hit and he shared it with many interested candidates. Again, no issues with instructors. So, my suggestion is to write letters and feel out the situation but don’t lose perspective.
Aug 18, 2018
jsefamily
Aug 18, 2018
jsefamily
Aug 18, 2018
Noni
Meadow
for the good of your LO and the class do not send anything other than white. As for Birthday my daughter was there for hers and wasn’t allowed to accept anything until candio . Wish your LO happy birthday on paper
Aug 18, 2018
CindyN
meadow - I completely agree with jsefamily's advice on OCS: When you learn new instructions/rules, try to follow them but don't stress about it if you mess up. I messed up how I was addressing my letters for several weeks. My son mentioned it when he got phone privileges after week 6 but said it was not a big deal as no one cared. The candidates are the ones who collect the mail from the mailroom and distribute it. They all look out for each other. So If you happened to have already sent a birthday card in say a blue envelope, have a glass of wine and notice the world is still turning the same direction it was before the error. To lower your stress level, send future letters in white envelopes.
Aug 18, 2018
M's mom
meadow,
The color of the envelope may not be a problem, but do NOT send any musical cards, or big, fat envelopes that look like they could have contraband in them. We were told you don't want to send any mail that would catch the attention of the Drill Instructor, and therefore single out your candidate for the DI to harass.
Aug 19, 2018
djbmer
Hello!
My granddaughter reported to OCS on 2 Sept. Do any of you know if a FB page has been set up for class 03-19?
Thanks so much!
Sep 4, 2018
MJoe
djbmer,
There is a Facebook page - search for OCS 03-19 and a few options will show up, I am sure of it! Also look for the Officer Training Command Newport page, as that is where any photos will be posted.
Fair Seas and Following Winds!
Sep 4, 2018
redheadlass
My son just graduated from OCS two days ago. Just wanted to say hello to the group.
Sep 22, 2018
Noni
Congratulations on your new ensign! Welcome to Navy life.
Sep 23, 2018
Allison
Congratulations on your new officer! Welcome to the group!
Sep 23, 2018
redheadlass
Thanks, everyone! My son is a SNA so he will be going back to his residence where he lived prior to beginning OCS, for 3 months doing OHARP, then he will have to report to Pensacola in December.
Sep 23, 2018
M's mom
Congrats redheadlass, and also to your new Ensign!
Now the adventure begins. Anchors aweigh!
Sep 23, 2018
Andy'sMom
Romeogirl,
Congrats on the upcoming commissioning! I personally did not do this, however, someone had posted info on our class friends and family page on fb. It listed an email address as well as a phone number. Have you tried both avenues of contact?
Mar 4, 2019
Chris
https://www.public.navy.mil/netc/centers/swos/sandiego/documents/pg...
BDOC...enjoy!
Mar 12, 2019
LEANNEJB
I'm the Mom of a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) for over 9 years now, and just thought I would share a few random thoughts. The first tour is really busy with the junior officers (JOs) trying to get qualified and get their SWO pin in addition to doing their regular job, standing watches twice a day, and finding time to sleep and exercise. It's a crash course in time management, and they can use all the encouragement you can give without putting demands on their time. While my son and I are close and we talk often when he's in-port or on shore duty, I only heard from him a few times that first deployment. My son is now into his third deployment and my guiding rule has been to encourage him to stay connected with his wife and children and know that I am thinking of him and praying for him (calls every 2-3 months and emails every 2 weeks or so are about the norm). My husband and I were able to visit him in Greece when they pulled into port on his second deployment and that was great. If you can manage that, you will not regret it. Or if you can babysit (if your son or daughter has children) for his or her spouse to join them for a port visit, all the better!
Mar 12, 2019
LindaB
My son will have been commissioned for nine years this summer. He's also a SWO. His first ship was an LPD, and he had hardly arrive when it was surged to help with the action off Lybia. The ship was deployed for nearly 11 months.
In July, he found out they were going to be at an Italian Navy base in southern Italy for a full week for maintenance. He called and asked if we could come meet him. It took some doing, but we made it, and I'm so glad we did. We got him a room in the hotel where he was staying, and he was able to catch up on some much needed sleep, something new ensigns struggle with. We also did some wonderful sight-seeing and ate a lot of good food.
Later in the deployment he was sent home to go to SWO school in Newport, RI, for a few weeks. Then he had to rejoin the ship, which was still deployed.
We participated in the Tiger Cruise from Morehead City, NC to Norfolk when they finally returned. That was also a good experience, and I recommend it.
His second ship was a destroyer. He requested that because he wanted to get some experience on a different kind of ship, even though he was pretty sure he wanted to be on amphibs in the long run. He also wanted to be navigator, and he was able to do that.
The second ship also deployed, for about nine months. He spent a lot of time going back and forth through the Suez Canal and also up in the Black Sea. He got to go to a lot of interesting places and had more port visits than on the first ship.
As someone else said, after two ships SWOs typically get a three-year shore duty. Our son, a Naval Academy grad, chose teaching navigation and seamanship at the academy, and that's what he got. We were thrilled to be able to spend three more years visiting Annapolis.
Now, after nearly a year of more schools, he's starting as the ops officer on an amphib that's in the shipyards in Norfolk, so he's not likely to be deployed on this ship. They request certain kinds of ships, certain jobs and certain ports, ranking which things are most important, and then they get some combination of those choices, usually. Whether they are deployed depends on what the status of the ship is at that time.
He's always been able to keep in pretty good touch with us when he's deployed. I always told him that if he got a chance to call, he should call without worrying about what time it was where we were.
He knows he's looking at more deployments in the future, but that's OK. That's the life he chose.
Mar 13, 2019
topdog1p
Romeogirl
First off congratulations! I am not sure I will be much help but here it goes. The first move my LO did he moved his belongings by himself Washington to South Carolina. He was reimburse for some of the expenses. The second time South Carolina to New York he again did a DITY ( do it yourself) move. His last move NewYork back to Washington was a partial dity move and part Navy moving his big household item.
Mar 23, 2019
CindyN
Romeogirl - Congratulations to both you and your son! Is your son coming home before moving? My son came home (on his dime, actually my husband's frequent flier miles) and then he drove his car and stuff (it fit in his car) back out east. The Navy pays miles, hotel and the weight of the stuff in his car. He had to have it weighted empty and then full. He didn't have much. He could have rented a U-haul if he had more and they would have paid for that. The Navy will hire movers as well. There should be someone he can talk to. You can find info here: https://www.cnic.navy.mil/ffr/family_readiness/fleet_and_family_sup...
Best of luck to your son on this next stop in his Navy journey!
Mar 23, 2019
Andy'sMom
Congrats to you and your son, Romeogirl! My son commissioned at OSC last May and had to pay his own way home as he was doing OHARP for 12 weeks before going to his first base in FL. When he finished in FL and headed to TX, he had the choice of having the Navy pay for his move or pay him to rent a U-Haul and move himself. He chose the latter as he did not like the Navy's time table!
Mar 24, 2019
Anna
Romeogirl,
When my daughter left for OCS she had the contents of her apartment stored in a storage unit in PA. After OCS she was sent to Pensacola. The Navy moved all her goods from the storage unit to her new apartment in Pensacola. After all her flight training she was transferred to Oklahoma. Again the Navy did her PCS move and just recently she was transfered again to Pensacola and another PCS move. She took a few things in her private vehicle to get her through until all her personal goods arrived.
Mar 24, 2019