STG (Sonar)

Any Moms in here with Sailors stationed in Norfolk and are in port right now? Some of us Navy Moms are meeting in Norfolk on March 29th and we'd like to take some Sailors to dinner.....

Donna it may be his venture but we are all along for the ride!! LOL Unfornately for me, I live smack dab in the middle of the country, so no matter where he ended up he wouldnt be close to me. He loves San Diego and all our family is in California, so like you, when we go to see him, we will see my parents and other family and friends!

ASW Point Loma, taken from San Diego Harbor.

This is the front of Anti Submarine Warfare Training Center

Julie, long time no talk!! Have a great time!!

I don't believe they have a sonar tech on the amphibious ship.

Ava - He will get his orders for his final duty station (base/ship) before the end of A school. I don't have a comparison for ATT & Techno, I know my son is busy everyday.

Norma:
There is a newly formed group for the USS Lake Champlain...
Click Here
The down side is so far there is only one member. I'll do a search and give you another link with more info.

Norma:
I did a search (upper right hand corner) of USS Lake Champlain and here are the results:
Click Here

These are discussions that members on here have had about the Lake Chammplain. If you click on the blue links, it will take you to the member's page and you can ask further questions. Hope this helps, if it doesn't give me a holler. I'm always here :)

Hi Ladies,

A school for my son was 9 weeks. Then he went to OPs which was 6 weeks. He did not do C school, he went directly from OPs to his ship. From what I understand C school can be up to 6 months.

Holds are a normal life in the Navy. Some are for security clearances, some are because they don't have enough sailors to start a new class. While on hold they will keep him busy doing lots of other things. Tell him to hang in there, because once he gets to San Diego he will LOVE it!!

My son took 10 days leave between A and ops and came home.

His A school ended right before Christmas, and YES we were lucky he got to come home for a week, before starting ops.

Karen: My son completed his sonar training in San Diego. I'd be happy to answer any and all questions.... :) If you're comfortable talking via phone, let me know.

A lot of PCS orders are on hold until October. That will effect a lot of Sailors waiting to get out of GL and into "A" schools. It was a pretty drastic budget cut for the Navy to take. Have your Sailors find out if they can take any online classes while they're on hold. They could get a few credits under their belts between now and October.

great advice Melissa!!

April:
You can depend on the Navy to never be dependable. Don't count on anything until AFTER it happens. There are so many budget cuts out there right now, I'm not sure anyone knows for SURE who is going where and when....lol, lol
Your son may have secured a spot in "A" school prior to the PCS order that came out. The good thing is, May 5th is just around the corner, you'll know the answer next week! Please post and let the rest of know, I'm really curious as to what the Navy is going to do with all the Sailors coming out of Boot Camp with no orders. Are they going to start stacking them up somewhere? Or shut down Boot Camp until October? It will be interesting to watch all this play out. Meanwhile, we'll all keep our fingers crossed your son does get to San Diego on the 5th! :)

PCS = Permanent Change of Station

Joline: Okay, you made me do it!! I just got off the RTC website to see how many divisions are graduating each week. The numbers are down:

Divisions Graduating by Training Group


TG 24 (9) Divisions (174-181 & 924) Graduate Friday, 01 May 09

TG 25 (9) Divisions (182-187 & 824-825 & 925) Graduate Friday, 08 May 09

TG 26 (9) Divisions (188-195 & 926) Graduate Friday, 15 May 09

TG 27 (7) Divisions (196-201 & 927) Graduate Thursday, 21 May 09

TG 28 (9) Divisions (202-209 & 928) Graduate Friday, 29 May 09

TG 29 (7) Divisions (210-215 & 929) Graduate Friday, 05 Jun 09

TG 30 (9) Divisions (216-223 & 930) Graduate Friday, 12 Jun 09


We had been seeing up to 13 divisions graduating at one time.....we should continue to moniter that site and see if it changes.

Patty: I was in Norfolk April 1st for my sons homecoming (USS Ramage). The Cole was moored next to the Ramage and was the sponsor ship for the homecoming. I being the nosey type, spent a lot of time talking to Cole Sailors who where on duty at Pier 5. Wish I had your daughter's cell number, I would have connected with her....

I do a lot of volunteer work here with recruiters. Recruiting has been cut somewhat. The Navy can retain a recruit in DEP for up to a year. That may explain your daughter's friends situation.

To answer your question about what is "common", with budget cuts, recruiting and active duty at recommended levels, the Navy is not in a rush to do anything. I don't even believe there are any rates currently undermanned. We may experience a lot of "hurry up and wait" between now and October. And heaven only knows what future cuts will be made when the new fiscal year begins.

I was talking to my son in Norfolk and his ship is in Yorktown unloading ammo b/c they're going into drydock for scheduled maintenance. Usually that maintenance is for 5 - 6 months. This one is only for 2 months due to budget cuts.

No, they're aren't in the same strike group. Ramage was with the Iwo Jima Strike group. They are due for a late summer trip to England and then back to the Gulf towards the end of this year. I'm hearing the CO's may have to lengthen deployments b/c of the budget. But that's another "wait and see". I hate to think they'd be out there longer than 7 months. But we all know what the Army is doing....

When was the Cole's last deployment?

How come the Cole has been in port so long? What CG is it assigned to?

I have heard that it could be October when those in GL will get their orders. That's when the new fiscal year begins.

My nephew was on the Tarawa which is the ship that brought the Cole home after it was attacked, years ago.

CONGRATS April!!

Once your recruit goes to boot camp the recruiters really can't help much. It's up to your son to find out on his end what is going on. Hang in there ladies, it will work out!! Taking college courses on line is a good thing to do while on hold.

I'd like to give our recruiters a chance to reply to our concerns. The majority of recruiters are PO1 or PO2. They usually have about 6 - 8 weeks of training after a recruiting assignment. They do not have time in their daily jobs to keep up with everything that goes on with the Navy. They have a lot to do just to keep up with the recruiting end. All recruiters fall under the "Naval Recruiting Command", NRC out of Millington, TN. They have very limited access to recruits and their Naval careers once they report to RTC.
I'm going to post some of the daily news releases in here from the Navy and the links so you all can sign up and receive those releases to your personal email. That may help answer some of your concerns about your Sailors orders and why our recruiters will not have an answer for you if your question does not concern recruiting.

I met with a Rear Admiral last month who did a fantastic job of explaining the Navy's budget cuts. They are across the board and effect just about every aspect of the Navy. I have a son on a destroyer in Norfolk, a nephew on a cruiser on San Diego and get a lot of feedback from both of them. They are still receiving paychecks, so I don't think the Navy has run out of money. If you look at the Navy's budget for next year, you'll find just about all rates have met their manning levels. Which means the Navy is full, not broke.

Here's a great link with tons of information that you can subscribe to and receive daily news releases:

http://www.defenselink.mil/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4016

Don't get me wrong, Melissa, I love recruiters...my nephew is one of them!!

Donna, thanks for your input. You were able to word it much clearer than I did.

One of the first Navy budget cuts was the training hours for pilots. I think that speaks volumes!

Yes, Hoppi (Angie) & Will are both in GL and are full of info.

Here's the link to sign up for the Navy's Daily News Releases. I throroughly enjoy reading this everyday.

http://www.navy.mil/tools/subscribe_navnews.asp

Congratulations to your Sailor Julie! I believe HARP is a maximum of 5 days unless they changed the rules. Did he put in a chit for it yet?

Hey Julie, CONGRATS!!! Is Riley loving San Diego? We've come a long way from when our boys were in boot last summer.

Hi Julie, yes Tim is loving ship life. He is very happy in the navy. I think he gets a little lonely on the weekends, because most everyone on his ship lives either in base housing or apartments, but he keeps in touch with some of his friends from A school. He also loves having his car.

April, I know how disappointed a lot of our Sailors are about not starting their schools as soon as they'd like. It has to be hard on them. Remind your son that he's at least collecting a paycheck while he's on hold. Oh, there was a backlog on A schools long before the budget cuts. It's the usual, "the needs of the Navy".....

When my son was in A school in San Diego, they went to the Zoo, Sea World, Knott's Berry Farm, they worked the local Air Show, did community service. I'm sure all bases have lots of things to keep their sailors busy.

YAY Joline!! That's great!!

Kay, great news!! What ship did she get assigned to in Norfolk?

Jenna: my son is in Norfolk and just moved into the brand new barracks near the golf course. He loves it. Has your son looked into getting on the list? Have him ask his chief about it.

Do they have to wait for a certain amount of time before they are allowed to move off the ship and into other housing?

My son is an E-4 and Norfolk is his first duty station. He finished schools in San Diego last September and reported to Norfolk October 6. He was there for 3 weeks and then flown out to meet his ship in the Gulf. He returned from the Gulf April 1st and just got moved into the barracks. He waited for the new barracks to open up from April 1st until last weekend. I have no idea how off base housing works. But your son can ask his Chief.

OK my son thinks he can't do anything about the on base housing until they return from his first deployment. I don't think he minds living on the ship right now, but I know he is looking forward to getting his own place someday.

While Matt was on deployment, his Supply Chief submitted the necessary paperwork to the barracks. When his ship returned (April 1st) most of them had a room waiting in the barracks. Matt did say there was a waiting list for all the barracks. I asked how long the wait was but he didn't know. If you Sailor is deployed, he needed to find out about submitting paperwork now.

Jenna, what ship is your son on?

Thanks Melissa. They will be deployed in September. I will tell him to check into it.

Oh Julie! What good news! I bet you and your sailor are excited.

That's great Julie!!

Laura: Not sure they have organized homecomings for the short cruises. I can ask my niece and nephew, they are both stationed in San Diego. You might have a hard time getting on base to be at the pier to greet S.

First off Nina, congratulations to your new Sailor!! The info you have for ST schooling is right on target. The only thing you won't know is how long he MIGHT have to wait in between all those schools. The times can vary from one Sailor to the next. Patience and "the needs of the Navy" are some key terms you will adjust to in the coming months...lol. We've all been right where you are, so feel free to ask anytime. And remember, this is a place where we all can moan and groan, if necessary.... :)