Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

I'm sorry your daughter was "violated" by this girl.  Many years ago I had my purse stolen at work (not a fellow co-worker) and about 5 years ago my car broken into and both times I felt "violated."  My son is on the Enterprise and he said things are constantly being stolen.  He works in security so he knows all of the reports of theft.  He's had the following items stolen since the ship returned last July (the date when he was stationed on the Big E): one work boot (they left the other boot), a dress whites top (the pants were left), shower flip flops and two pairs of tennis shoes.  He said space is so tight that even when he hides things the thieves/thugs find it and steal it.  As I told my son, "you can take the thug out of the "bad area" but you can't take the "bad area" out of the thug."  I hope the thug that stole from your daughter is disciplined but unfortunately that may not prevent her from stealing again in the future.

Thanks for the info Marcy!!! @Soonergirl...that is so sad....I guess I put the Military on such a high pedestal...i guess the jokes on me:( ....I will make sure when she gets to her ship that she locks up all her stuff!!! She will be on the Abe Lincoln. She should be flying out to meet her ship next week.

clamom,

i'm sorry this happened to your daughter.  it is sad when this happens, especially in the military.  as the others have said it's stuff, yes, it was her stuff but at least it was minimal.

is she living in the barracks?  if so tell her to make sure she locks EVERYTHING up.  my daughter lived in the barracks for a while and she never knew when she'd get new roomies.  she woke up one morning at 3 am to a new girl.

also, a few others said, theft does occur on the ships.  when my daughter was out on deployment last year there was quite a bit of stuff stolen, high dollar stuff at that.  mostly in the men's berthing because the women seemed to be more mindful of locking their stuff up.  one guy was sleeping in his rack, had his cell phone plugged in charging and the phone under his pillow and someone actually stole the phone while he slept on it.

one had stuff stolen while he was in the shower, figured he was right there in the berthing shower so he didn't have to lock his stuff up, nope, gone.

sad part is, usually nothing is done about it.

hope she enjoys the rest of her stay in norfolk.

Carol

Thanks Carol.....We are learning and yes she is staying in the barracks right now. She should be flying out to meet her ship next week.  What ship is your daughter on?

Veronica,

she's attached to the bush but is getting out in june

I posted this a little while back but my grandson reported to Norfolk in Sept. 2011 and he and his wife got there a week or so early to find a house etc. They had contacted a real estate company who would show them what was available etc. Well they got to Norfolk, started looking at houses and everyone in Norfolk was ordered to evacuate because of the Hurricane they were expecting in. So they looked that morning, went ahead and rented one of the homes, was nice and on a main street, they did not have time to check the neighborhood, but then they had to get out of town and he had over a week to check in to base so they came on back home to Georgia for the days, they returned in about a week, furniture arrived from San Diego and they seemed to be all set. But then they realized they were really not in a safe neighborhood but had signed a year lease, but Thanksgiving came and they packed their car and headed home to spend thanksgiving with us, only gone that weekend returned on Sunday to find everything they had of value gone from the house.  Someone had to have been watching them pack up the car coming home and probably went in immeditely and stole all their valuables,  They broke through a side window... houses all around but no one would admit they saw anything.  They did the police report etc and they have checked the pawn shops etc but they lost all the electronics, and lots of new furniture etc.. so you really have to be careful in finding a place to live.  They talked to the landlord and got out of the lease and they moved to an apartment at Virginia Beach where they really feel safe.. he does not have to go through any tunnels getting to work etc so it is better.   It is sad that someone would just go in and steal from a Sailor that has put his heart into protecting our country... so sad.    He is based in Norfolk, attached to the USS Bainbridge ddg-96, My grand-daughter is actually working on the Oceana Naval Air Base but she has assignments to the USS Laboom.  She was off the ship while she was on maturnity leave and after she went back to work they assigned her to the Laboom.  She was previous on the James E Williams ship.  She works on the engines.  My grandson is a Sonar Tech, both are already petty officers but she is ranked a little higher than my grandson.  She has been in a year longer than he has.. She has already experienced being deployed having to fly to meet her ship and she said she was really frightened during the trip to get to the ship but my grandson has not been deployed yet for he was in school until last Sept and the ship he is assigned to is in dry dock now being worked on etc.   All we can tell everyone just be very careful there are mean, bad people out in the world... 

Momofbp- Here is an image of a map of NAS that shows were almost everything is.  Barracks, NEX, Galley, etc are all around Gate 1 and within walking distance of each other.  Hope this helps a little bit.  If you can't read it or download it, send me a private message and I'll email it to you so you can send it to your son. :)

CLAMOM- I'm so sorry this happened to your daughter! It makes my blood boil to think of our sweet, dedicated sailors being victimized by other sailors who do not deserve to wear the uniform!! It's a hard-learned lesson, but not that hard. It's a violation, but ike others have said, "It's stuff." Stuff can be replaced. Thank God she was not hurt or endangered. Hopefully this will be a lesson that keeps her safer in the future.

Wow, Arlene, that's a horrible story! I'm so glad your grandson and his wife are in a safe place now! My niece lives in a wonderful apartment in Virginia Beach. I went out there when I visited my son/sailor in November. It seems like a great area, and the beach is beautiful. :)

Arlene i'm glad that your grandson and his wife are in a safe place now!!!  I do know that there are several sailors waiting to go meet the same ship. Hopefully they will be traveling together. @ Debbie thanks for the words of wisdom!!

marine navymom....but you would think that they wouldn't tolerate such foolishness . If you get in trouble while you are in DEPS that can disqualify you, but it's okay to break the law while serving!!! I just don't understand.

Momofbp- I'm so glad the map helps! The link I sent has phone numbers for personell support, which says they help with transportation. I'm sure they'd have bus and trolley schedules, as well as Navy shuttles and group activites with transportation. Coronado is heaven and a very elite area. It's when you get a couple miles away from the base that you get into some of the worst neighborhoods in San Diego. A little further out gets you into much safer areas. The Hotel Del Coronado is over $400 a night. The Coronado Marriott is also wonderful but still over $300 a night. Your son might be interested in walking through the Marriott to get to a small boat ramp to catch a small ferry across the bay to the convention center/Gaslamp Quarter area for only $4.25 each way. It's a great place to spend a day or evening. Gaslamp has lots of great hotels and restaurants, but you really need to stay close to the water to stay in safe areas, and you should always be careful in touristy areas (this is a big tourist area!). While you're there, you might want to go about a mile down the main thoroughfare to the little hole in the wall BBQ place from the Top Gun movie. It's across the street from Seaport Village (also a beautiful spot to spend some time!). I used to work at Seaport Village and loved their lunch food. Back to hotels, I like hotels.com for good prices and a wide variety and cost of hotels. I'll take a look at what is there for San Diego and get back to you with some suggestions. :)

When my son was in the Marines, he had the same thing happen to him. He had just bought an expensive new cell phone. It was locked in his lock box under his bunk, but he did not know that his was broken and that all you had to do was lift the bunk to get in his box. They caught the kid that did it and he was already in trouble for drugs etc... so he got in a lot of trouble. I hope that they do the same to this girl. My daughter has been lucky that she has had some good room mates so far. A little too messy for her, but none of them have taken what doesn't belong to them. They may just be afraid of my tiny little dynamo. LOL 

My daughter is on the Jason Dunham. It is a destroyer named after a Marine. How fitting since her brother was a Marine. :)

Is there anybody in Norfolk coming to North Carolina this weekend??? My daughter needs a ride home.  We thought she would be able to rent a car on base but they said she had to be 21. I thought Military could rent at the age of 19.

Sorry CLAMOM...my Son just went back to Norfolk last night from NC.  What part of NC are you in?

Burlington....where are you guys from?

Too bad Philip is not coming in this weekend.  We live in N. Durham so we are not very far from Burlington.  He used to have every other weekend off and they changed his schdule to 4 day on 2 days off.  He's an MA and works waterside on base.  He's leaving soon though for a new command.  He's been at Norfolk 2 years...hard to believe it's been that long!!

I'm sorry...I wish we could have helped you!

We are originally from Durham. My mom still lives there.

Small world...sending you a friend request. :)

I know where Fuquay is!!!

navymom2011 My daughter is on the Abraham Lincoln.  She will be flying out April 3rd to meet her ship!! What ship is your sailor on?

Send the request. Courtney graduated from boot camp Dec 16 2011.

My son rented cars when he was 19 and 20. You have to pay more though. I think he went through Enterprise.

NavyMom2011...I know exactly where Fuqua is also.  My Mother-in-law is from down there.  We used to call it 3 Flags over Fuquay!  lol  It's grown up though and it's not such a small place anymore, just an appendix of Raleigh.  It's a beautiful area.

Veronica...my name is Veronica too!!! Yeah my son rented a car from enterprise at 19 also.  Did your son have orders or was it for pleasure?

The car he rented was for pleasure. It is strange to meet someone named Veronica. There are not that many of us. Or at least I have not met many in all my years growing up. I usually go by Roni.

Yeah we are few in number??? LOL....My nick name is Roni too!!!

Does anybody know where the enterprise rental car place is on base in Norfolk??? My daughter can't find it!!! 

If your sailor is 21-24 (18-24 for Hertz) and has an account with USAA, he/she can reserve a car with Enterprise, Avis, Budget or Hertz via the link on the USAA site and get the under-age fee waived, plus get up to a 25% discount and no fee for an additional driver if a spouse or USAA member.  

Once logged into USAA, put your cursor over "Our Products" and look to the right to find "Rental Cars" under the list headed "Shopping and Discounts."  

Takes a little effort but saves a bunch of $$$ :)

BTW there's not an Enterprise office on the base but this one is less than a mile away: (757) 423-4196.

Thanks for the info Marcy!!!

Sharon, my daughter even called the 800 number while she was standing inside the rental car place and the people on the phone was telling her she could rent the car at age 19 but the people at the counter would not let her rent!!! I don't know what's going on in Norfolk??? My son who is in the air force rented from enterprise at 19 and 20 while he was in Oklahoma!!!

i didn't know they were having a fleet week here.  when is it?  you might try the navy lodge

The last Fleet Week in Norfolk was last October Fleet Week Norfolk 2011  It didn't at all have the fanfare of a fleet week such as New York's, as the Navy's already there :)  They did offer tours on the Eisenhower, and some events around the area such as a chili cook off in Oceana.

Coming up this summer is Opsail 2012 June 6 - 12, which has a lot of people excited to see the tall ships and military vessels from around the world, fireworks, concerts (Bruce Hornsby), etc.  Opsail 2012

Navymom2011, Fleet Weeks are when the Navy sends active-duty ships to visit major cities (Boston, NY, San Diego, etc) for a week of ship tours, events, air shows and so on.  They're very cool!!

It varies each year; your sailor will be able to find out whether they're scheduled for a Fleet Week (and the schedule can change leading up to the event, by the way).  The Iwo was at NYC's Fleet Week last summer -  

Theresa, that sounds wonderful.  The big cities are great, but that sounds like it was so much from the heart, must have been a very special experience. 

I just learned that New Orleans is hosting a Fleet Week at the end of this month.

I know many of you are living in the VA Beach area...hope all are ok.  Just saw on the news about the plane that crashed into the apartment bldg down that way.

According to the news reports the two pilots ejected safely and only a couple of minor injuries on the ground.

Hi Theresa and Marcy, I hope you and family were not affected by the plane crash the other day and all who might have been affected by it. Gods Blessing your way .Maria

Praying for all involved!!!!!