USS George Washington Sailors

I agree abc.....very cool, and so wonderful of Claudia to tip anchorsmom off. It's great having more than one set of eyes peeled for opportunities to see OUR sailor.

These little tidbits mean the world to us mom's don't they. Mine made it once, during the steel beach party. Luckily her boyfriends mom tipped me off in an email, cause I hadn't been on FB in a couple of days, and I may well have missed it. Likewise, when he made sailor of the day last week, I spotted it and was able to alert her :-) Us moms gotta work together!!!

bobdot, I know that they DO exist, but Kelcie said that the higher ranks can "bump" the lower ranks for the seats, so you can never depend on actually getting the seat you sign on for. She has never risked it, their leave time is to precious to waste, if things don't work out :(

Lately, my sister has received phone calls from my niece at least once a week, mainly becasue she has been having a very hard time getting adjusted to working nights and trying to sleep during the day with all of the noise. It wearing her down to the point where she can't concentrate. I'm told she has worked 7 days a week for 10-12 hours a day for some time now. This is her first year in the Navy (just graduatued from boot camp in March and first time out to sea in June 2010). She didn't get a chance to come home before she left for her first assignment and was hoping to come home at Christmas, but was told a while ago that would not be possible because too many others had off at that time.

The miltary lifeliis is all new for our family and we have a lot of questions. I see all of the emails about getting airfares for the sailors to come home. We don't even know when Kelley will get her leave. How far in advance do thy have to put in paperwork for time off ? Is their leave only 10 days...I would think you would need at least 2 or 3 days travel time.

Also, once the ship is at dock for the winter, do the sailors sleep on base or must they stay on the ship? Do they get a different mailing address? Do they keep the same job? She has worked on deck a short time when she firt got on the ship in June, then was moved to the kitchen and being on her feet in one spot doing pots & pans for that many hours is taking a toll on her back and legs. It's a shame, she has a college degree but did not go in as an officer becasue she missed the score on the test by 3 points. We thought it might be better to go in as enlisted and work her way up, but now we have second thougths about that.

Any information for a worried aunt and mom new to the millitary life would be of help.

Thanks in advance !

Kelley's Aunt, I am getting the sense that when the sailors get to take leave depends a lot upon the administration within their unit. My G'daughter has a lot of leave accrued but has essentially been told that it will be over the holidays or not at all. She still insisted upon being considered for January.

What is your daughter's rate (job)?

Hi Kelly's mom and others :-) There were 3 pre-assigned "holiday time" leave periods. Each of those was only 10 days each. I had the exact dates of each, but can't lay my hands on them right now. I DO know that one of those pre-assigned periods didn't even start until early Jan. Mine opted not to spend the BIG$ that holiday travel cost for such a short period also. Generally, if they avoid those holiday time options, they can use a LOT more of their leave time, usually not to exceed 30 days, although it ultimately depends on their upper commands rule for whatever rate they work in. Kelcie has also pretty much worked 12 hour days 7 days a week since she went to sea. Occasionally, she will get a half day off. Their mailing address does indeed stay the same, whether they are at sea or in home port. Whether or not they have to live on board when they are in home port for the winter depends in large part on their "E" level. They used to HAVE to live aboard year round until they reached E4, then they could live in the barracks. Luckily, my sailor was E4 when she got there, so spent minimal time living aboard until she got her blue card. I am actually leaving in just over 2 weeks for my 1st visit to Yokosuka. I will be staying at the Navy Lodge on base while there. It costs only 60.00 a night. The link for that is https://www.nexnet.nexweb.org/pls/nexlodge/lodge_page?p_lodge_number=4 Or you can just google Navy Lodge Yokosuka.
Michelle, like you I hear from Kelcie almost daily, but emails were kind of sporatic lately. She is also working nights, and has to stay up during the day pretty frequently due to different training, and GQ's, so I know it is hard on them. Hang in there, I like you am kinda "spoiled" but I do LOVE it :-)

Thanks to all that took the time to answer my many questions and for the suggestion to send support socks and cusion inner soles I guess it would not matter what color if worn under her millatary socks.. You are an awesome group and really up on so much.

Kelley is E3 and is in the Deck Dept, but has worked mostly in the kitchen the last 3 months.

Kelciie's mom - have a great trip and enjoy your time with your daughter. How exciting!!

hi all! i'm not sure if this pertains to the whole ship or just my sailor's dept., but i know they've been having some evaluation thing going on starting sometime last week and is still continuing. so my sailor's emails have been shorter than normal due to a whole lot of extra "busy" work with cleaning and making sure everything is in PERFECT order.

as far as their holiday leave dates, mollie is correct! :) there are 3 separate leave dates...not sure if we're allowed to post. but it runs through mid-january.

katlanta......CONGRATULATIONS!!! You must be SO proud of John!! It certainly does us moms hearts good, when our sailors excel :-) :-) Yep, two weeks from today I will be packing my bags and heading to San Francisco.......can't wait!!

Oh, Katalana, BZ to your son. That is definitely an accomplishment. You definitely have every reason to be proud of him. Enjoy your visit at Christmas.

sherrill, i hope he doesn't have ANY problems, but definitely make sure!

Okay, so I'm officially bummed that the friends and family cruise has been cancelled :( But, of course, I'm still going to surprise my sailorette for her birthday. Her boyfriend is just gonna have to come up with a new scenario to surprise her with my presence. He's done such a good job planning this whole surprise visit that I have no doubt that he will come up with something awesome :-)

what!!!! the cruise was cancelled? do you know why? and if they will still be coming into port? eek! what a bummer, mollie! but hey, now you guys can check out the town together. :)

ahh, just got the "email" from the gwfrg. i love how there's no explanation whatsoever. sigh. there is a wedding that is set to happen... and it's imperative that the groom be there! ha. :)

Not to worry.....it's because they are coming into port EARLIER than expected. No hold up of the groom should be anticipated!!! Maybe he can actually get there a little early :-) :-)

Robyn, I sent you a friend request, accept me, then we can "chat" I don't have any actual dates of course, but the Ombudsmans site did say that they were coming in earlier than originally scheduled, and that was the reason for the cancellation of the F&F cruise.

Mollie, when I got the e-mail last night from the Ombudsman announcing the cancellation of the F&F cruise, I thought of you. I am so glad, however, that it is not a cancellation because the GW is going elsewhere. I can imagine that you are beginning to get excited about the trip. I sure would be. A tour would be a lot of fun.

abc, are you going to Japan to get married? I thought you were planning a wedding over Christmas.

hey everyone! just got off the phone w/ my sailor and it does seem like they are pulling in earlier as well as pulling OUT earlier...dates should be announced very soon...
and to dc g'mother- the wedding plans were pushed up, so that we could get paperwork in order as soon as possible. it's a very small wedding w/ mostly family and a handful of friends. my sailor is set to be here in nov. while the change in the ship's schedule SHOULDN'T affect us, i now have an uneasy feeling in my stomach

and to robyn, congrats to your son and his wife-to-be! :) what day are they getting married? i'm wondering if it's the same day as us. :)

DC, Kelcie's boyfriend has it worked out so that I can get a tour of the GW, I think he plans on taking me aboard and surprising her this way, instead of the F&F cruise. Steph'smom, by leaving earlier, I think they mean that they will be pulling out of Yokosuka earlier in Nov. than originally planned, for their last short cruise of the season. Don't think it will affect what time they leave port for the summer 2011 cruise. And I truly don't know how mom's that aren't connected to N4M make it, this is SUCH a great source of info and commaradarie for us moms. It didn't exist when my daughter 1st joined in May of 2007, but got off the ground shortly after that I think. I'm just eternally grateful for it now that she is SO far away from home. You gals are AWESOME!!!!

Millye, I will keep my eyes peeled for Claire, and believe me, if I can get a picture for you, I will :-) Was going to ride the train but Kelcie's boyfriend doesn't want me to try to navigate from Tokyo by myself, so he is meeting me in Tokyo and we will take the bus back to base. I'm so glad that the Navy Lodge has little kitchenettes, I might try to cook a birthday dinner for Kelcie while I'm there. You guys will have a wonderful time in Hawaii. Where abouts are you staying there? What Island? I grew up on Kauai, and my brother still lives there. Would be happy to try to hook you up with a place to stay if you go there. We haven't gotten to be with Kelcie since her 1st Christmas in the Navy, when we all met in Las Vegas, cause it was a 4 hour drive for her. This will be our 4th Christmas without her here at home with us :( This will be our 1st time together for her birthday since she joined up also. I can hardly wait!!!

Okay ladies, decided I should share a picture of Kelcie and her wonderful boyfriend, since you have been hearing me sing his praises :-)

Millye, mollie promised to give my sailor, daniel, a hug if she runs into him (which is very possible at this point)... i would LOVE to see the look on claire's and daniel's faces if that were to happen! :) mollie, we will all live vicariously through you right now and give you the title as "the crazy lady who's huggin' all the sailors and taking pictures". :)

abc, will gladly take on that title :-) :-) :-) I've been studying pictures of my friends kids, (and fiances) so I will "be on the hunt". I even promise to mend my evil ways of NOT being a very good picture taker for this trip!!

thanks mollie! :) for everyone else who doesn't know, my sailor and mollie have a flight for the same day out of the same airport, so there is a good chance they will cross paths somewhere...it's a matter of keeping your eyes peeled! :) maybe you can give him a big, fat kiss for me and see the look on his face THEN! haha...maybe that's going too far.... mollie, it's almost time!!!

Mollie, I am getting excited along with you! When do you leave?

does anyone know why the friends and family was cancelled? just curious as it doesn't seem to make sense if they will be in port...thanks! :)

Okay everybody, I'm starting to get REALLY excited. Am taking all of the "hugs" orders I can. PM me with the needed names and also where to look for them during my tour of the GW. Kelcie said that they MIGHT actually get to move off of the GW and back into their housing before the leave again for their last little jaunt. She is REALLY hoping that they do, so she won't have to live aboard for 3 weeks or so while they wait to leave again. I've set up "THE LIE" with her, since they will be in port and she will be calling regularly. I have to give a "valid" reason why I won't be home for those couple of travel days. OMG ladies, I leave home to start my journey a week from TOMORROW :-) :-) :-)
abc, I'm kinda hoping that the reason that they cancelled the friends and family cruise is because they DO plan on releasing the crew, so they don't want to have to call them all back for one day of the cruise.

Hey, Sherrill, my g'daughter is attached to the airwing and an AT. She works on Prowlers (Gauntlets). I am planning to go to Japan in March, too. If you like to have a "touring buddy" during some of the time, I would like that.

There is a Navy Lodge an I am hoping that is where I will stay.

Hi Vicky, not to worry.....once the GW FRG or Ombudsman openly post the return date it's officially okay to openly discuss it. They both sent out emails to everybody yesterday afternoon. That's why all of the free discussion as of yesterday. Until they post, nobody that doesn't live on base has access to specific dates and times etc.

Hi Atsugi moms.....don't know the cost for the Navy Lodge there, but I would assume it's about the same as Yokosuka, which is $65.00 a night. Not bad!! I was able to make my own reservation, but had to wait until only 30 days in advance, could not book it any earlier. Maybe if your sailor books for you, you can do it earler.

I did receive an e-mail from the Ombudsman but I assume that it is still for family eyes only, in particular for their list members only. If anyone assumes we are being alarmists, please don't. Think about the Cole and what happened to it. If evil doers know for sure when the ship will be docking, they can plan evil things. I don't know about you but I want my g'daughter safely on shore.

SueS, maybe someday we can greet the ship! I have seen carriers docked. I have seen carriers drop anchor in a bay and I have seen cruise ships dock. But I have never seen a carrier dock, especially not one with "my" sailor on board.

Vicky, I assume that when it something is posted on an official government site, e.g., navy.mil, or news is posted by the GW powers that be on the Facebook site (not a friend to the GW FB site), then the information is public knowledge. Anything that I receive in an e-mail, especially from the Ombudsman or GW FRG, it is private, privileged knowledge. Then I know that I cannot be accidentally letting the "cat out of the bag."

Actually, I have had fun trying to guess the next port and the next possible date from things I read on the Internet. It is like a game. I was right twice and wrong once. I was surprised one time. You realize, don't you, that is exactly what the "spooks" do. Monitor the chatter and look for hints.

my apologies to anyone i offended. i hope you all know that i would never intentionally try to jeopardize our sailors' safety...maybe it was from the excitement from hearing the news and i wanted to share with everyone. technically, we should not be "private messaging" information either until info becomes public knowledge...but i admit, it happens!

done

Okay ladies, decided to go straight to the source as far as what and when it is okay to discuss information. I'll let you know as soon as I get a response, and what the answer is.

Ginnlynn...oh so true. "Just because you can doesn't mean you should"!

thanks for the lectures, ladies. i get the point! :)

Welcome, Karen. This is a great group to answer your questions and to help you over the rough times. I love Skype because I get to video conference. Sometimes it works well and sometimes it leaves a bit to be desired. The best part is that I do get to see my g'daughter.

to bigDmom, yep! the date and time is officially set! :) just waiting to see if the groom will be able to make it. ha. can't really count on the navy's schedule until it is actually happening.

to steph'smom, i visited my sailor at the singapore port 2 months ago and a girlfriend of mine visited her sailor (who is also on the gw) at the thailand port. we got VERY lucky in that they followed the schedule...however, you just never know. definitely need to purchase insurance and keep in close contact w/ your sailor around the time of departure because once you get on that plane, no refund. i did have a scare in singapore because there were rumors that the gw decided to stop in vietnam instead...so i thought i was in the wrong country! thankfully, everything worked itself out. :)

Got a response from the FRG "The rule for the USSGW is that once we hit the 72 hour mark before pulling into a port, it is fine to discuss via electronic and phone transmissions. However some still exercise caution and perhaps this is where the debate lays." Hope this doesn't re-open up the can of worms, but I had let you all know that I was going to go to "the source", so didn't just want to leave it hanging.
On a lighter note.....Kelcie passed her Watch Commander boards!!! Only 2 of the 5 that took them passed, and she was #1. Proud puffy chested momma speaking here of course!!
Also.....have received lots of PM's from you moms with requests to "hunt my sailor down and get a pic if at all possible" type messages :-) :-) Am writing down each and every tidbit of info I get from you and will happily go aboard armed with my list and camera.

Oh bummer Sandra, my sailorette was also looking forward to being in port for Halloween, but I didn't think of those little kids, who were looking forward to it becasue Mom/Dad would be home to take part :( Don't they offer some kind of safe alternative for the kids on base? Thanks for the link, Kelcie said they were trying to outrun the typhoon, but guess they weren't fast enough. She said that the seas have been VERY rough. We'll have to pray for a safe porting, whenever that may actually be.

Wow, Ginnlynn, those were some waves! I was surprised to see any planes on the flight deck at all. I am sorry your son can't do Halloween in Tokyo as a farewell celebration.

Actually, Mollie, I think they are staying out behind it. According to the Ombudsman e-mail, the typhoon is headed to Yokosuka and they don't want to come into the bay. Also according to the report Sandra send the link for, several ships that were in port were sent to sea to ride out the typhoon.

I was looking forward to a Skype chat real soon but I really want them safe! If being at sea makes them safe, then I can wait happily.

Well, Ginnlynn, I guess your son came in with a storm and now will go out with a storm. What good tales he will have to tell!

Thanks, Sandra, I wondered if I was seeing a helo on the front of the deck. With all the waves, it was hard to be sure. The children are adorable! I love Lady Bug's costume.

I did wonder if the airwing had flown off. I suspect all the airwing crew wish they had gone off as well.

Okay ladies....I think I need a motion sickness pill after WATCHING that video. Kelcie did call today and say that she had to take some for the first time. She said that all of the jets were off, but some helo's were still on board, and tied down. She said a rogue wave had swamped one of the open hangar bays. She WAS bummed about not being able to port, but oh man.........wouldn't it indeed be lovely if they "HAD" to wait out the storm in Hawaii!!! Doubt that's gonna happen, but what a wonderful thought! Sandra, the grandbabies are adorable!! It must be AWFUL to have to be so far away from them :-( Glad to hear that at least all the things for the kids Halloween aren't being cancelled. Thank you everyone for your kind words. I guess we never quit being proud of them, no matter how old they get.

thanks katlanta, i'll definitely check it out! i could use all the info i could get :)

YEAH katlanta, will go check it out MUCH closer, so I can keep my eyes peeled. I DO remember the picture, but of course had no idea that it was John.
kathy......that's pretty darn ridicilous, where do they expect these sailors to live at? Sounds like a SNAFU if you ask me :( I guess Kelcie is actually lucky that she is only an E4 so she can live in the barracks.

Okay ladies, I'm starting to feel like Santa Claus......making my list and checking it twice. I've got 9 kids (besides my own) to hunt down and hug!!! Any more "takers" ? Let me know by tomorrow, cause I leave home tuesday and won't have computer access for a bit. Can't promise that I will remember which sailor goes with which mom, but hopefully you will all get to see a picture, and I'm SURE you won't have any trouble picking out your own :-) :-)

On the phone with Kelcie right now!!!!!

NavyMa....got it!! Fixin to start on a second page of names :-) Millye, the only thing that would make this trip better would be if a BUNCH of us moms were going over together!!!