Ship 5 Moms(Formerly Ship 17)

Christina,

I am also very angry.  Our children chose to serve what they thought was a noble institution of integrity.  What a disappointment to learn what the Navy really is. 

yes... Betrayed is a must read!

Just want to second what Chippers mom and MoDrummy said. These boys didn't fail... the navy failed them and it is indeed the Navy's loss

I hope you all find peace with the RC coming home.  They will come to find something else that they love.  I do want to say,, once the RC are hurt/sick they are also given a say if they are offered to stay that they can opt to go home.  None of them will ever tell you that for it hurts them so bad.  Some do this because they don't want to face other RC's, some do it because boot camp is VERY hard and some do not want to be there the extra time.  However, you will never know for sure, but the one thing for sure is if they made the choice to come home and people around them keep blaming the Navy they will feel guiltier and guiltier.  Please keep this in mind.  This was a very personal choice for them and they have the right to their privacy.  So please think of their feelings and just help them move on instead of blaming anyone or thing.  Neither the Navy nor the boys failed.  The boys signed a blank check of their lives for a great country.  Thank them for this and help them move on.  Some may choose to go back in after a period of time, this happens too.  I am not trying to offend anyone or belittle your feelings I just want you to know there may be more to the issue and what you say can really wear on the RC.

chippers mom,,, I am not calling anyone anything!  Yes I did have a child on Ship 5,,infact for many weeks!  I feel sad that you look at them as secret keeping babies from my message,,, I in no way insinuated that!!!  I have also been in the Navy and was medically discharged,, I knew a few who choose to go home after an injury and they opted not tell anyone at home that was their choice.  If you have never been in the military you do not understand how hard boot camp is.  I was not calling anyone anything just letting you know there could be other issues.  I am sorry you took it as a slam,,  I intended to inform people and that is all,,,   BTW my daughter fought to go back and is there now. 

Please use this site if you have SR in Ship 5.  I would love to think there is nobody in Ship 5.  Please ask questions if you have any.  If you do not want my response just put that at the end of your question.  I am sorry if I offended anyone I was just trying nto be as honest and open so that people can have information that only those of us that have gone through know the real answers.  I want to help and inform,, the more you all know the more you can be of great support for you SR's.

I'm hoping for some guidance and help.  My son had PIR on 10-3-14.  He had called the night before we left for PIR to tell us he was being put on a medical hold for 2 weeks but he didn't know why.  We went to PIR and he had liberty all weekend.  All seemed ok.  He went to medical that first week, they checked him over and sent him back to the THU.  He's been standing watch and escorting recruits.  This morning he had another appointment at medical and they informed him he was being medically separated because of some information in his pediatric medical file that we had been advised wasn't pertinent.  He ADHD when he was younger but outgrew it and hadn't been medicated for the last several years.  

He is totally devastated.  This was what he wanted to do with his life more than anything.  Why let him graduate only to yank his successes away over something so far in the past that doesn't have any effect on him now?  He was told he can apply for a  medical waiver but he isn't sure how long that might take or if it would be successful.  They said he could come home and apply for the medical waiver.

Does anyone have any experience with this?  Would it be better for him to stay there and fight than to come home and attempt it?  I need to give him some advice ASAP but I have no idea what to tell him!

HELP!

Hi mishka422,,, tell him to try and get the medical waiver while there if he can.  He will get paid while there and he will not have to repeat boot camp if he gets it handled there.  If he comes home he will have to get the waiver and start all over.  If this is what he really wants tell him to fight.  Tell him don't give up,,, took my daughter a year and a half to get waivered the first time.  She went to boot got very sick and a fracture in her foot and was unable to pass her run.  She came home to get better and she had to wait 6 months before she could even begin to get waiver to go back.  Then started the process all over again.  If he can keep his spirits up,, fight it there,,, a lot faster even if it takes a month or two.  Also maybe if goes home easily they don't have to worry about him.  If he really wants it,, and fights they will see he really wants it!  I am here if you need me.  Prayers!

Thank you LoriM!  I will tell him as soon as he gets in touch with me again.  It was heavenly having contact with him (even though it was just through Facebook Messenger) every evening but, from what I hear, Ship 5 is like prison.  Is that true?

My son just called me and he sounds so defeated.  I've never heard him this sad.  I told him that if he wants to fight this and try to get the medical waiver that he should stay there and fight and not come home yet but he just kept saying he just wants to come home.  I asked him not to sign anything or agree to anything until he really thinks this over.

Are there any sort of advocates there on base he could request to talk to that might be more clear about laying out his options?  He feels like he is being beat over the head with information but none of it seems complete.  He's just so sad and overwhelmed.  To make it all the way through PIR and then run into a problem is just devastating.

He can talk to the Chaplain,,, they also have legal he can talk to ....Does he have a separations code yet that they want use?  I sent you a pm with my number,,, you can use that for faster answers,,,  my daughter did not think ship 5 was bad,,, it is just sad at that time knowing the dream can be gone,, if they don't fight,,,, nobody is mean....

My son sent his dad a facebook message and said he was coming home this Wednesday (tomorrow) but that was it.  No info about how, when, etc.  We both work.  I have no idea how he is going to get home from the airport, bus station, whatever.  I swear, I just want him home in my arms.

My son is home.  He has a code RE-8 on his discharge form which is what we expected to see.  He is glad to be home but anxious to try to move forward with getting a waiver to get back in.  I hope to God he gets it because this is all he wants in his life.  He is determined to serve.  I hope he still can.

mishka422   Prayers and hugs to you all.  He will find his way to get back there.  He sounds very determined!  Talk with his recruiter, if they do not make a plan of action to help him with a plan of action, look for another recruiter that will.  He will do it!!!!  I am here if you need me.

My son called just after being at boot camp for 1 day.  He was honest about taking ADHD meds, even after his recruiter told him not to disclose.  He was happy that he made the decision to be honest.  They put him through 4 medical evaluations, he passed them all.  He was made guidon of his division and then got the RPoc position this past Monday.  He called yesterday to say that he had been sent to Ship 5.  He wants to fight it.  Is there any chance that he can get the waivers he needs while he is there and rejoin a division. 

he will be advised if he has a choice to stay and try and get a waiver there,,,   since he is so early in boot,, I would try to stay for a bit,, but if not come home and get the necessary waiver and go back,,, if he stays,, he gets paid and will not have to have a 6 month waiting period like if he comes home.  About rejoining his Div,,, unless the waiver gets done in  like 5 days he will not be put back with that Div..the other part about staying or fighting from home,, if he stays and fights he probably will not get a PIR he would just be shipped to a school after he finishes,, if he comes home it will start all over with a PIR.. there is so much to look at,,, 

Yes you can,,, your SR will send you their address when they write.    I just realized how old this question was,,, how are things going creolegoddess?

 I just joined this group, didn't know it existed. My son got to boot a week ago, and Monday we got a phone call that he was being discharged for medical reasons. It's all still fuzzy on what's going on. But it looks like he was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. He said he would be coming home in 10-20 days, plans to do what he needs to in order to get a waiver and go back in 6 months. I feel so frustrated for him, not at him, but for him. He sounds so down. He also has ADHD, but hasn't had the medication in over a year, so I'm wondering if that's got something to do with it as well... /=

I am sure it does have something to do with it.  He can get the waiver and go back.  There are a lot of people who do not want to get their dream taken away and they DO go back.  He will get there.. If I can answer any questions please ask.  My daughter came home,,, got a waiver and went back..

My daughter was sent to Ship 5.  Anyone else active in this group?

I am......My son was sent to Ship 5 on Wednesday.  We are devastated!!  He was a week and a half away from PIR.......all of the plans were made to attend his graduation......so proud!!  We have been on "pins and needles" throughout though, because at the Moment of Truth he admitted to ADHD as a child.  He had been told by recruiter not to disclose this information.  He called the day after he arrived at Boot Camp for the names/etc. of the physicians he saw....that was when he was about 12, in middle school, and has had no medication/treatment since....he is 21 now.  They moved him, saying he had "multiple diagnoses" after the last report came in......I have not seen the records.  When I talked with Legal yesterday, the LN1 I talked with says he "sees it all the time."  That is such crap....that the Navy lets this happen to our young men and women, who just want to serve our country.  I don't know what my son will do.  He says that Ship 5 is like being in a "prison with pay."  Does anyone know how many appeal, and if anyone wins?  My son said that a RDC told him that he has only seen 6 return in the year he has been there.

I am so very sorry.  We are devastated as well.  I messaged you. 

Its one thing when you are worried about  your child doing something they have wanted for so long and trying there best to do but when you know that it will no longer come true and they are stuck there in misery is hell. 

Yes, stuck there in misery, with all their hopes/dreams/plans shattered!  Sara - can't figure out where your message is?

HI,,, I am a mom of a recruit that went this road.  As hard as it is,, we need to stay positive for them.  Ship 5 is not bad,, they are just so heart broken they feel so down.  Tell them if this is their dream come home get their waiver and go back!!!  My daughter did.  He only saw a few because not many have the fortitude to go back through boot camp so they don't try.  Prayers and hugs keep positive for them!!!

Thank you, LoriM.  I told my son that I will support any decision he makes.  I will go to "the ends of the earth" to help him if he wants to appeal.  I will also go to "the ends of the earth" to help him get home and find his path.

I really did wonder if the RDC didn't see many come back because there are not many who fight.  I am going to ask my son if he meets many on Ship 5 who are appealing, and how long they have been there.  From what I have read, the statistics of winning an appeal or re-enlisting are slim.

Winning the appeal looks slim because not many go for it. Some do not qualify to fight and some just give up.(not saying that in a negative way). My daughter was told she was the first in like 8 years to come back,,, she was all the way through boot and had to come home ,, wait 6 months and applied for her waiver,, ,there was no fight, she got it,, and went back and kicked butt. Encourage them if they qualify to get a waiver to follow their dream... I am here,,, hugs and prayers for you. The other thing my daughter saw on ship 5 was people who did not really want to be there after they saw the amount of work it takes,,, they were very negative,,, and that bothered her...

Do qualify to fight if they diagnosed you with depression.  I believe RE4?

My son called this morning and said he was sent to the psych unit for having a break down and will not see the doctor until tuesday as monday is a holiday.  So will my son be sent to ship five after that? What is the process? I have not talked to anyone but him so I am not sure what is going on. 

Nicole,

It happened to my daughter early on.  She is in ship 5.  She was at the hospital as well.  They diagnosed her with depression. She will be coming home hopefully the week of January 26th. Im sorry for you and your son, hopefully they will not diagnose him with some type of mental diagnosis RE4, as I just found out they can never re-enlist even with a waiver. This has been a nightmare for all of us.  If there is anything I can do or questions I may be able to answer that we have gone through so far Im here

Thank you Sara, 

  it is difficult being in limbo not knowing what exactly is going on or what to plan. My son has never had any issues whatsoever and has always been an overachiever, going in as a Navy Nuke.  I think the homesickness overcame him. Just kind of scary not knowing what's happening

I think that was what happened with my daughter as well and then just escalated.  How old is your son?  My daughter is 18.  She was going to be an IS.   My daughter was aloud to call me from the hospital for pretty lengthy calls. She waited awhile because she said she was embarrassed, I think trying to take it in all herself.  Im sure he will call you soon.