Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

My son will be leaving soon and will be stationed on the command ship Mt.Witney.

Any infor.  for me?????

Hello Norfolk Folks !! I just found this site and I am so excited to be able to communicate with other family and friends of sailors stationed at Norfolk.  I guess I am a little slow at finding things here N4M.  My son has been at Norfolk since last August and I can tell you there has been many a time I could have used some help with questions and now I have a place to go ask questions. Navy for Moms has been a real blessing to me since my son left for BC last February. N4M helped me so much during that time and since.  I hope by being a part of Norfolk Sailors I will be able to help some of you in return for all the help that has been give to me.  Thanks and I look forward to reading your posts.

FI Gator, The car does not have to be in his name. My fiance' went through this when he first got to his A school... The car was in his mother's name and he just had to have a notarized letter saying that his mother was giving him permission to drive her car.

janae

my daughter is abh.  the biggest reason she hates it is she doesn't get to see her son much.  she was living in elizabeth city (about an hour away in NC) and by the time she got off and got home he was in bed asleep, he's 2 1/2.  she's still kranking but doing something different, not sure what.  finally got a 2 sentance email.

 

carol

Duhhuh, yea it's always hard for the "krankers" to email when underway. I used to hate it.

with the short trip i don't have a problem with not hearing from her alot it's just weird because i'm used to getting messages several times a day, i have her 2 1/2 year old.

my daughter is on the USS Kearsarge  now  involved in the NATO  Odyssey dawn mission

enforcing the no fly zone

My son is on the USS Bataan, I just keep praying to keep them safe and a safe return.

Anyone who lives in the VA Beach/Norfolk area. There is a group of us planning on meeting one day for lunch (shooting for Thursday) the last week of April. I will be there that week for spring break. We would love to meet as many other moms/families etc as possible for lunch one day. If you have a sailor or recruit in that area and they could possibly join us that would be awesome. If you are in that area and would like to join us please let me know. Send me a private message with your name and number. We will keep the time and place in private messages as well. Thanks, Lora

I must have had the  odd sailor. When my daughter was in and on the Kearsarge she said that the deployments were the best and most exciting time of her life... where she could actually feel she was part of a gobal dorce for good.  She truly loved it all even the scary parts.

Same here Polli - mine would go back in a heartbeat.  He felt so good to be helping others, even though sleeping in a rack for months isn't quite the Hilton :)

my sailor likes it now and wants to re-enlist     but did not like it in washington  because of all the paperwork

Thanks Janae, hats good to kow we have that option!

Well the deployment that my daughter liked was  to Central & So. America after a natural disaster. She even loved being in Columbia where they did their work under armed guard. Of courseshe was part of ship's security at the time and alway did like the guns..Even arirsoft..  Probably why she loved being an AO

FI.. Gator, you are so very welcome. I am always glad to help.

Lehigh,  My son is on his way to relieve the Kearsarge, it will be interesting to hear about the stories.  You will have to keep me posted. 

 

My son in law is part of the 26th MEU out of LeJuene  I hope that he is not going to be gone but if he is I knowwe can all handle it. We already go through him being in Afganistan for 10 mos. This time if he has to go guess I will have two more people at my house as I told my daughter that she and the 17 month old grandson to come home to Mamma! Will have to wait and see what happens.

Oh yea!! My whole family are gator fans!!!

Just learned of this, looks like a good thing for our sailors!

Friends and family can create a free Rocketlife 20-page (60 photo), cargo-pocket size personal photo book and the USO ships it to any APO, FPO or MPO address, all for free!
http://www.uso.org/uso_rocketlife_photo_books.aspx
or go directly to http://uso.rocketlifeproduction.com

that would of been nice to know months ago    ill save this info on the photo book for my sailors next deployment and i can pass it on to the Bataan

Thanks dms,   My sailor is on the Bataan.

yes i figured  my sailor is on the kearsarge

welcome to the group

if you google the ship you can read latest info and read all kinds of info about the ship   size,past missions etc...

Question, ladies. for any experienced moms out there.  RE:  my sailor's driver license/car insurance/registration. He is using my FL home address as his permanent address, and is licensed/insured/registered in FL.  That is presenting some problems with my insurance rates.  Plus it is expensive for him since South FL insurance rates are ridiculous.  I need for him to be licensed/insured/registered in VA.  Is that possible to do with just having a ship address as his "home" address?  Does anyone know?

he needs to call USAA (it's primarily for military) and they should be able to answer his questions.  i don't see why he can't get insurance in va.

 

https://www.usaa.com

1-800-531-USAA (8722)

 

Carol

 

Thanks, Carol.  I actually have accounts with USAA and had already emailed them, but since it's the weekend, haven't heard back.  Thanks so much!

i read the summit  this morning  anyone else?  good news

Whats the summit?

the uss kearsarge news paper

Jo, I'm assuming you mean flags on sticks that folks can wave like crazy as the ship arrives?  Sounds nice!  Perhaps he could write the ship name on each so they become a memento (can't write the date as arrival dates can change up to the last minute).

My son is stationed out of Norfolk. He bought his car from an individual via the classifieds (had it checked by a local mechanic & got the Carfax first) & registered it in VA, which is not his home state by the way. Important: Virginia waives their annual personal property tax fee for active military; they have to provide info & LES statements, so be sure your sailor takes care of this. Annual vehicle inspections cost $16. His car insurance is with USAA & I was amazed at how low the cost is.

He lives off base in an apartment, not in barracks, but I would think the barracks address would work...  I'm not sure what address USAA bases his insurance on (home state or VA).  USAA folks are always super-helpful and deal with all these questions re the military all the time (as does the Virginia DMV in that area) so why not give them a call and ask for an advisor?  USAA 800-531-8722.  

The DMV (phone (804) 497-7100) has a good page here: 

http://www.dmv.state.va.us/webdoc/citizen/vehicles/vehiclereg.asp

RE personal property tax:  "Any person who is active in the military is exempt from taxation if his/her home of record is outside Virginia pursuant to The Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940, as amended. However, the vehicle must be registered in the name of the active military person only. If the vehicle is jointly owned and the co-owner is non-military, the vehicle is taxable."

 

No problem, it's so good we have this group to share what we learn along the way!  I found out about the tax exemption here on N4M, and though my son had already paid it, he was able to get a refund - that was a happy day  :)

cshore, do you have a Power of Attorney for your daughter?  It's helpful when you want to talk to the bank on her behalf.  I got a form that was offered free on an attorney's website here in our state, retyped it with our info and my son signed it/got it notarized at a bank in Norfolk.  We filed it with USAA (also with his apt management) and it's been handy.  It takes USAA two weeks to review and approve it, by the way.  Whether they're on deployment or just working long hours, it can be helpful to have mom get on the phone and take care of stuff.

I have one for my sailor for all accounts and the auto   the banks must have a copy of the POA in their possession before anything can be done. i had to fax a copy to her bank just to deposit a check, that took weeks

my sailors auto is on base in storage  it is up on jacks and they start the engine up every 2 months

Hello everyone! My husband is serving onboard the USS Ponce. We have been here in Hampton Roads for 10 years. We have 2 children. I also served in the Navy for 6 years. I am hoping to connect with other familes to talk or hang out and to give or get advice. Happy to be a part of this group!

Karen my son did the same thing.  We have it in the garage with a car cover over it.  Thats his baby!!LOL  His mind is at ease knowing his car is ok while on a long long deployment.

Karen, there's nothing wrong with that, he's very smart.

My son been driving a 1996 ford pickup since he's been 16 that was my husband truck and just kinda claimed it.  Took very good care of it.  Great shape, drove it down to Pennsacola for him to have in A school.  Then he drove it home before he went to Jacksonville for C school.  I think the gas mileage killed him.  While he was home on leave looked for a different car, and found a 2005 mustang he fell in love with.  So now we have his Mustang next to my husbands 1972 Mach1 Mustang, and he wants his truck park in there also out of the weather.  lol   KIDS

welcome to everyone

 

I am in CA  originally from CO   my husband served 20 yrs in the army. went through desert storm  while we were stationed in germany. both our children we born in germany. our sailor just decided one day to join. we were shocked. she was disappointed with how the dental office she worked at tied the children down to perform procedures and the children would be scared and screaming

so thought a  job in the navy would be better  but found out civilians are dental assistants  so she chose to M1A1  our sailor is happy

police

still can't get comfortable with my daughter carrying a 9mm

our sailor has a toyota scion  will be happy to have it right there.  when she is off the ship

welcome  to our group

yes  my husband works on a post in CA and he told me he could be out of work for up to  3 weeks  He already has a salary freeze for 2 years. we just save as much money as we can

Hello! . . . my son's PIR was 2/18/11 and he's currently in A-school at Great Lakes. He's an OS. Just got his orders to report to Norfolk after graduation. He's assigned to the USS Anzio. N4M was a great help to get us through boot camp. I'm hoping that this group will be as helpful during his deployment(s). ;-)

Hello  and welcome