Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

I just came across this amazing Cox Video Diary - USS Iwo Jima Homecoming December 20, 2012.  It's beautiful tribute to our sailors and their Navy families, featuring Navy moms and wives - Kleenex alert!  :)

Good morning all - our son just moved to the Vanguard Squadron and I was hoping to find a group of moms and dads who have a son or daughter who are part of the Vanguard.  This is going to be all new to us since Scott is now headed in a new direction. He loves the move but is something totally different from what he was doing on the Big E.  Any help is much appreciated.  Of course I will stay tuned to our group here too!  Thanks! 

Good morning all...

Wondering if anyone knows of a place or places where a Sailor can relax and hang out and use their laptop with wifi? He knows about the internet cafe at C-9 but I was hoping to find something out in town to get him off base for a while. I've searched online and can't find anything. Seems like there would be some hang-out places in an area with such a large military population.

He's tried Starbucks but you can only drink so much coffee and he feels guilty hanging out in there for long periods.

Are there any internet cafes in the area, rec centers, anything off base where Sailors hang out?

Appreciate any information on where your Sailors hang-out and relax. This is more for the moms who have Sailors living on the ship and don't have homes/apartments to relax in.

I think my son has been to that coffee shop, I sent him to one down by the campus and he really liked it but said it was very busy and hard to get a place to sit.

I've never hung out in coffee shops, is it ok to sit there for hours at a time? I would seem to me you should sit there while you drink your coffee but should vacate once you've completed your cup. Is that how these places work or do kids hang out in them for hours at a time tying up chairs and tables from other customers?

The Ghent area around Old Dominion University has a number of coffee places; Fair Grounds on Colley Ave in Norfolk is a converted house where people hang out, they even have board games.

Downstairs at C-9 is a Starbucks and widescreen TVs and people hang there with their laptops all the time, more relaxing than the internet cafe upstairs that's just desks.  But I can understand his desire to get away!  And yes, people do hang out at coffee bars - order occasionally and sip slowly :)

Prayers being said for the safe return of the sailor who fell off sub. Please keep us posted Theresa...

Josh'smom, sending you a PM :)

Devastating news about the sailor, my prayers join with all of yours.

So sad to hear about the Sailor today, God bless the Sailors family. Rest easy Shipmate!

Filled with sorrow for the lost sailors family, Such a tragic accident was it at Norfolk?  How does that happen? 

Florida Mom  do you know from your son, did they find the sailor? 

Here is the news story; so terribly sad.  No further details at this point are being given at this point, pending notification of next of kin according to WVEC. http://hamptonroads.com/2013/07/navy-divers-recover-sailors-body-no...

WVEC.com - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VA_SAILOR_OVERBOARD_VAOL-?SI...

CO-Twin,

Are there many members, I wouldn't imagine there are not a lot of twins in the Navy and even less with parents on N4M's?

Hope you guys get a good turnout.

A sad day indeed.  Thank you Theresa for updating us.  I did a search and found that Seaman Acosta is from Plainview, Texas -  http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/jul/08/navy-identifies-sailor-overboa...  A handsome young man and beautiful family.  Prayers for them all....

I posted in the 'Texas Moms' group; hopefully there are Navy moms nearby.  Plainview is a small town of about 22,000 between Amarillo and Lubbock. 

I am in Keller (3 1/2 hour drive away).  I will assume he will come back to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Forth Worth and then the Patriot Guard Riders would escort him to Plainview. I will attend any service that I can.

Praying for our fallen Sailor's wife and young child.  This is truly a sad day for all.

You have me in tears.  Oh my praying for his family and crew.

Dad of a sailor

actually I started that group because all at once was connected to 4 other families with twins. Sam's division had another family with a twin. 

Theresa, so true!  So glad you're here :)

I've seen a number of cool stories about twins in the Navy, this one was pretty cool -

Navy.mil: Twins reunite aboard Truman

It makes me pause for a moment and think how we can not waste one day with out telling our love ones how proud we are of them or spend time complaining on such trivial things which we are all guilty of doing. And to realize they do not need to be in some foreign country serving that lives are lost right here at home. My prayers go out to the family, so young and doing something with his life his family can be so proud of and hopefully can find some comfort in. As parents our children are not suppose to go before we do and I doubt there will ever be an answer as to why some do. God Bless all that serve and trust in the Lord.

Good for him, or her that is happy news.

Joining your group, now that my youngest has his orders.  Usually how long do they stay on base before their ship is deployed? 

Welcome NavyMom2013!  The answer, is, it depends on the ship.  When ships are not deployed they spent a significant amount of time in port, during which time they may leave for one to two week work-ups.  If the ship is part of a carrier strike group, for example, they currently deploy once every 32 months, and those deployments range from six to nine months.  Your son will be happy that deployments are getting longer, families not so much :)  

By the way - we have to observe the Navy's Operational Security (OPSEC) guidelines which don't allow discussion of specific dates and more on social media such as NavyforMoms.com and Facebook - be sure to read these!  OPSEC Guidelines

As everyone knows the USS Enterprise was decommissioned so I can speak on our son's experience. When he came out of Boot Camp he was stationed at Norfolk and was actually living on the ship right from the start. That was in May. Then they went out for a short run and practice and came back in roughly 30 days. They then deployed for their last deployment in March and were gone until Nov.

He remained with the Big E and lived on the barge which I believe was considered towards his sea time which is 2 years total as an enlisted sailor.  I would believe each sailor would be told just how much sea time he is required when he enters the Navy.  Though sea time does not necessarily mean deployed at sea and depending on the situation someone could spend most of his enlisted time at sea.

After A School, my son was supposed to be home for 2 weeks before reporting to his first duty station.  He was also called to report several days early because the ship was going to be underway for almost a month. 

They are told their underway and deployment dates way ahead of time.  But in the past year since he's been with his ship, those dates have changes several times.

Hi CathieRenee, which squadron is he with Scott just joined the Vanguard coming from the Enterprise. Joyce

Cathie, actually your son is on sea duty even though he's attached to a helo squadron at a Naval Air Station. If his helo squadron deploys then that is considered sea duty. Sea duty doesn't actually mean you're "at sea" it just means you're in a unit that deploys. I spent years in a P-3 squadron (planes that don't go on ships because they are too big) but we deployed overseas and that was still "sea duty" for sea/shore rotation purposes.

Shore assignments are normally to units that do not deploy and can be in the United States or overseas.

There are some aircraft squadrons that are shore duty as they don't deploy.

Oh, sorry...thought you were saying he wasn't on sea duty because he was on land.

I've found that our recruiting office continued to be a good source for getting answers to questions even after enlistment - their knowledge is up to date, and they know where to get info if they don't know the answer themselves.  

Thanks for the reply CathieRenee. It is definitely a whole new language maybe by the time my son is finished (he is hoping to make it a career) I will understand some of it.  I do appreciated the explanations and the information it is a big help when you are not near the person serving so it is quick explanations via telephone when they do call home. 

Hello!!  My Sailor daughter just got her orders to Norfolk!  She graduates from Pensacola on August 6th with an IT rating.  Don't know if she will be on a ship or shore or is there always a rotation between the two, so everyone gets a bit of both all the time?

http://www.navyformoms.com/group/bootcampmoms?commentId=1971797%3AC...

Interesting article on twins in the navy posted on the new twins and multiples in the navy group.  There are 4 families so far and it is a hit.