USS George Washington Sailors

It must be quite a site to see the ship leave ....and a joyous one to see it return. On previous tours the port calls have included Busan (South Korea), Singapore, Guam, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Hong Kong. One year they hovered off the coast of Thailand for a while. It's fun to get out the map and see where they are. Rest assured that the navy men and women take care of each other.

This is my first Navy mom deployment and I can't stop crying! It is almost as hard as when he was in boot camp!! Fair winds and following seas to my sailor! I am worried and scared and ........... well, everything that I felt while he was in boot camp. UGH!!! This is killing me!!! Does it get better? What can I expect from this experience? 

http://www.pbs.org/weta/carrier/the_film_making_of_carrier.htm

@ Jess'ProudMom -This is not the GW but it will give you some idea of life on the ship. You just need to give yourself a little time to get used to your son's life aboard the GW. Preparing care packages can be constructive. Think of some things that will amuse him and won't melt.

Navy Mom,

Yes the Navy men and women take care of each other. But us MOMS take care of all the Sailors and their Moms. Right? 

Jess' ProudMOM,

You will find it is a major roller coaster ride. But one that once it stops you will be very proud of your Sailor and his/her shipmates. He will see so much and the countries that they visit. That he might not have ever had a chance to visit. Also really good life experiences for them.

USS George Washington facebook page has pictures.

@Momof2sailors - you are right about being proud that he is seeing things that he would have never have seen before. I am so glad that he is who he is. I look in the mirror and I see him staring out because he is in there and a part of me. I am proud of the accomplishment I have made by doing a good job as a parent. This roller coaster ride is hard. I am glad you are here to be my guide. :) Thank you for being a part of it. I don't know what I would do without you ladies!!! 

@Momof2Sailors - Taking care of all the Sailors and their Moms is part of our job.  And a shout out to the Dads and Sweethearts as well.

One thing I highly recommend that if your Sailor does not have a really good digital camera I would get them one and send it to them. They will want one. Best Buy usually has good sales on them. 

Some of the stuff I put in my sons care package is Specialty coffees, like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts Coffee. They do not like the ships coffee. My sons squadron loves also the flavored creamers. I get the big box of French Vanilla Creamer and leave it in the big box. Alot of moms use the post office large flat rate box. I choose not to because of the amount of stuff I send. And I found it cheaper to use a medium brown box versa the P.O. Boxes. I also send the Fiber One bars and brownies. Also pepperoni sticks and jerky. My son also likes the chocolate covered pretzels. I try to put in little silly games they can play with. One box I sent the little Army men with the rolled up parachutes and some little water guns. I have known some moms to send Nerf Guns. Just something they can have fun with to break up their LONG DAYS. Also I do not send gift cards, I just go and put money into his bank account. Some gift cards they have problems with using in Foreign Countries. Hopefully you were able to get a Power of Attorney from your Sailors. Things come up that need to be handled right away and can't wait till they get back. Navy Federal seems to like to call me at 4:30 am because they want to verify charges on my sons account. UGH!!! 

You are only limited by your funds. I send 2-3 boxes at a time. My sons squadron has a junk drawer that they have and they put the food in there. But imagine several Sailors converging on a box. Doesn't last long. LOLOLOLOL. If you are sending just to your Sailor they do have limit space in their rack. 

Greetings ladies, here we go again.  Power of atty would be a good idea, we didn't do that and being my sailor is single, it would be handy to be able to handle some things.  

Can we send batteries, I bought a water misting fan.  Thought it would be a cool treat in the heat, but it requires AA batteries.

I don't see why you can't send batteries. But you might want to ask the Post Office. Your Sailor can still get a Power of Attorney thru the legal department onboard. And then send it to you.

momof2sailors= thanks for the info.  I checked the Post Office website, it is no lithium batteries  :)  I'm trying to send cake this time, froze it and vacuum sealed the pieces...will see how this works.  I do love sending pkgs.

They work so hard and give up so much for us!  Thank you to all our sailors.

What's an Ombudsman??  I have so much to learn :(

A Ombudsman is the go between the command and the families. 

Something I forgot to also mention is the GW CREW Birthdays. On their facebook page they have a Birthday Section: "To send your Sailor a Birthday Greeting, shoot us a private message with their birthdate, name, rate/rank, dept./div., one or two of your favorite photos, and your personal greeting. If you get the greeting sent in with at least a week's lead time, we should be able to get it online in time."

momoftwosailors, I had seen that and wondered if they will do one for sailors in the squadrons as well, or if that is only for ship's company. My little pea brain would have to remember that for almost a year though. :-) I don't remember seeing the birthdays last year, maybe this is a new thing they are trying?

Got an email from my son this morning.  He said he is having an awesome time watching the birds land and launch.  He's loving his job and the experience.  So happy and proud of him.  Glad GW is having smooth sailing so far. 

Onealk,

I am glad your son is having a good time. Just wait till he see other countries. The Sailors have chances to also do volunteer work with each port of call. The hours that they put in go towards a Volunteerism Medal that they can earn. 

The Birthday Wishes just started back in February of this year. And they do it for everyone onboard. My sons birthday is in a month so I will try it and see if I can get it to work. He is in Squadron VFA 102 I was also gonna say if your Sailor is in a Squadron you can also send a email to the Squadron Ombudsman to get updates. I get better updates from my sons Squadron Ombudsman than I do from the GDUB Ombudsman. And see if the Squadron has a facebook page.

I was just out on Facebook and they have several pictures posted of the Squadrons.

Crystal31,

Who is your BF? My son talks about a few people in the squadron.

My son is a AT. I sent you a friends request.

momsof2sailors:  I know I can't wait to hear about the ports they are going to and see the pics.  Dalton said he had already taken a few awesome pictures and can't wait to send them to us. 

I sent a carepackage out last week anticipating him to get it before 4th.  I put some red, blue and white glow sticks for him and some to share.  I've already started working on another package.  I love putting these together. 

Just to let you know when they are out to sea care packages tend to take longer to get to them. Since they have to rely on the Army to get them their packages. But I can tell you when packages start coming on board, I have been told it is like Christmas morning in the hangar. Keep going onto their FB page because they load pictures all the time.

Onealk, I might try the Ombudsman at some point. I'm not as "in the loop" on things as I was before he got married. Now his wife gets all the info, and I get what she wants me to know. teehee. His job does allow him more internet access than many of the crew so I am able to get emails when they open the lines. They are pretty good about sharing information with mom so I don't feel tooooo bad. lol 

momof2sailors - my son is also AT but he's not attached to a squadron.  He works in the Cal Lab.

I'm sending out a care package too!  Just went shopping last night.

Onealk - Glad you got an email.  I hope it's exciting out there for all the new Sailors onboard.  Can't wait to hear from my son.

Hi Sam, my son is also on his first trip AND assigned to the galley for 2 months. He is not excited about serving food! But hopefully he does this rotation and can move onto something better!

No. They use their navy.mil address.

As far as receiving packages, that can vary. Usually up to 2-3 wks.

You can still send emails to their personal email address but understand they won't get it till they get into port. 

cbc mom,

Not sure what you mean by "temporary email". If it is a navy.mil email address that will be his work email. When I send emails to my son and I want a answer sooner than later I will send a email to both emails. Work & personal. Because that way I am covered and would get a answer soon. Except when on deployment. 

When they are assigned to the galley they call that "CRANKING". And the only thing I can figure out as to why they do that is so everyone appreciates the crew of the galley and what they do. Not sure if that is true but.... seems logical. 

Just checking in...I do read the messages every day, but don't feel the need to write until they are out to sea.  My son has been on the GW for a year now and it is still not any easier. He loves it so that makes me happy.

The GW facebook page lists this for Email address for your loved ones at sea: 
first name.last name@cvn73.navy.mil

Cranking is often done by "low man on the totem pole" for a department. The duties vary but the point is someone must clean the heads (toilets), wash dishes, serve food, help provide security, etc. Different ships decide how they determine who cranks, but basically it is a temporary assignment that provides a service to the entire crew. I know a guy with specialized training who had to go back to school for a few weeks to be trained as an MA. His ship needed one person from each department to provide security, and this fella was straight out of A school. He had to do MA work for a whole year before he was able to do his specialty. My son has not had to crank, but he has had to do jobs outside of his specific training during his first couple of cruises. This time out he will get to continue his regular job.

If not for the crankers, the ship would have to hire more people to do those jobs.

My son that is now stateside went to the GDUB as a CS (Culinary Specialist) and I think he stayed in the galley for 6 months at the most. And he was then sent to the Security Dept for training and there he stayed till about 6 months before he came back stateside. He is now an "AT" because he re-enlist for a different rate. But he loved the Security Dept. My other son that is still in Japan I think he only did cranking for a couple days and was sent back to his squadron because they needed him. He was never so happy to be sent back. 

Just got a email from my son on board. You gotta love the ones that start out with  "YO MOMMY DEAREST". LOLOLOLOL means he needs something. He forgot to take his razor. BUT he did remember to take his replacement blades. So my response to him was "YO BABY DEAREST will pick up tomorrow and send it to you.

Momof2sailors - because he is not normally on the ship, his military email addy is slightly different (@navy.mil).  Now that he is on GDub his email addy is @cvw5.navy.mil

He did say that the quickest way to reach him is through this email.  Using his personal email will only be read once he is in port.

Crystals31,

If you PM me you Sailors last name I will send a email to my son and tell him to have your BF email you if you want.

I still haven't heard anything from my son but that is okay. I figured it would take some time. :) No worries. I am just glad to see all the pictures on FB!!! They look great out there!