Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

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.

Welcome Cat Mom here we are on a new group together!!

My son is an ABH, his first ship was the Stennis.  His initial enlistment as 4 years.  He made third class on the Stennis and re-enlisted for 6 years in order to serve out 5 years of sea duty for his rate and get shore duty.  He then got shore duty at NAS Meridian which was great, he was only 100 or so miles from home so he could come home on weekends if he wanted to.  However, he was only there for two years and then got orders to the IKE where he is now.  He made second before he left Meridian and re-enisted for six more.  So he now has 4 more years of sea duty before he can rotate again.  Hopefully, he will make first and re-enlist for his last 6 to give him the 20.  It all depends on the rate for length of sea duty.

CaMom, welcome and good to see you again in another group. What ship or command did your Sailor get orders to? There won't be a rotation between ship or shore, she'll have one or the other. Just because they are attached to a ship doesn't mean she'll be at sea all the time as they are in port between underway periods and deployments.

Does she have a car? It's tough to make it in Norfolk without transportation as things are not convenient and the base is huge. My son was going to try and make it without a car to save money and that only lasted a couple of weeks and we had to ship him his car.

Don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions.

CaMom, you can also ask your recruiters to explain the Sea Shore Flow for her rating.  And I echo Dad of Sailor regarding the need for a car in Norfolk!

Otherwise this explains everything about Sea Shore Flow LOL I think my eyes crossed when I saw this :)

Marcy, lol I hope that was a joke. Even my 26 years in the Navy isn't helping me figure that out. :)

Here is the current sea/shore flow message. Scan down and find IT and you'll see the length in months for the first sea tour, first shore tour, second sea, second shore, etc.

SEA SHORE FLOW ENLISTED CAREER PATHS UPDATES

In the first days after my son went off to bootcamp etc, my most successful (and pleasant) method of research was to drop by our recruiting office and have them explain things, as one answer invariably leads to more questions.  And a plate of brownies doesn't hurt either LOL  Now after a few years, I get everything from the Internet, but in the beginning, all the acronyms etc can set your head spinning!

Twins in the Military Article

This is fun to read.

Check it out DadofaSailor

CatMom, maybe I didn't understand your question. Yes there is a rotation between sea and shore duty but that will come years down the road. Her orders she has now will be either sea duty or shore duty and she'll remain on that (with no rotation) until her orders are fulfilled. For an IT the first sea tour is 42 months so if she gets a ship she'll be on that ship for 42 months before she rotates to shore duty.

I thought you were asking is she going to rotate from ship to shore on her current orders to Norfolk, she won't do that and will be on one or the other for the length of time shown in the message I linked in the previous post.

Does that make sense?

CO-Twin, interesting I knew there was some twins but didn't think it would be that common. Hopefully your Sailors can do something memorable like that along the way in their careers.

Thanks for the welcome everyone! 

Yes, Dad of Sailor, I was wondering if our Sailors rotate between shore and sea duty.  So, the answer is "nope!"  The way she phrased it to my husband is she got assigned land duty--shore duty.  So she is out 3 for 3.  She is #2 in her class, but no choice available, no San Diego, no being assigned to a ship.  Poor baby will just have to make the best of it!!!

She shared her car with her sister and left it and her half of the car payment with her, so she will need to look for a new--or new to her--set of wheels.  I read that there are dealerships specifically looking to take advantage of our Sailors with quoting one price or finance rate, then putting a higher number on the paperwork!!  Does anyone have a recommendation for an honest and fair dealership that doesn't and won't do that?  I also read that our Sailors need to be able to get the paperwork and have the Navy legal department look at it before they sign it and purchase the vehicle.  Is that true?  How about having someone check out the vehicle mechanically?

CatMom,

What she probably means is she got orders to an aircraft squadron that isn't based on a ship but does deploy with the ship during deployments. This is still sea duty but when the ship pulls into port, the squadron goes back to their Naval Air Station and they work on base until the next deployment. Could also be a squadron that doesn't deploy on a ship but deploys to bases overseas.

Sounds like she got sea duty but isn't attached to a ship. That is actually a more "pleasant" way to spend sea duty as most young Sailors don't mind the ship while they are deployed but hate having to live on the ship while they are in port.

DadofSailor  Cat Mom's daughter was an IT would she still be assigned to a aircraft squadron? She was not Aviation.

Yes, squadrons all have an IT or two assigned to manage all the squadrons computer assets.

There are other units (besides aircraft squadrons) that are considered sea duty and have IT's assigned that are not attached to a ship but aircraft squadrons are the largest number of these types of commands.

OK thankd makes sense. 

Interesting!  I always thought she would be attached to a ship or base, but not aircraft.  She graduates on August 6th.  Will she be having a series of final exams that I should be praying about?

CatMom, she has a final test for her final mod but she passed her A+ certs which were the hard ones. She should not have any trouble on the final mod.

I'm not sure she is assigned to a aircraft squadron, she'll have to tell you what unit she has orders to. I'm just taking a guess based off of the information you have given that she thinks she is on a sea/shore rotation on these orders.

If she has her orders she can tell you where she is going, she knows which command she has orders to.

I guess I will find out eventually.  Thanks for being so helpful, Dad of Sailor~~

Hey ChambosMom!  Good to see you on here too!!

Hello all.  ....Theresa so sorry to hear that sad news....I will keep families in m y Prayers.....always remind our son. to  take a cab....or don't drink....I always worry and pray he makes good choices.

Marie...so glad to hear your's is coming home soon!!!  Philip is about 90% sure he will re-enlist.  His contract was extended for 6 months for him to take the Naples orders so he's still waiting to make sure he's PTS approved.  I think Seth one of their buddies was with a helo up there in Norfolk...we can't use last names here so I'll hit you up on FB.  I can't believe it's time for these guys to re-enlist!!  

Thoughts and prayers to those involved in this terrible accident!!

My heart goes out to the families of the Sailors and civilian involved.  Praying for God's comfort for them all~~

Good morning all, what a tragedy my prayers are with each of the families. Some how we as society need to speak even louder about how drinking is portrayed and how we accept it as just something everyone does. Just the other day I commented to some friends how you can use your baseball ticket to get a free beer at a certain restaurant after the game and how a restaurant is offering BOGO entrée if each buys an adult beverage. And living here in FL and being a seasonal town some even offer 1/2 price drinks all day to get people to come in and eat.  Enough said I will get off my box now.

Does anyone know of a website or discussion site where I can learn the lingo of the halo squadrons?  I am at such a lost when I talk with our son who is now with this group coming off of the USS Enterprise.  He loves what he is doing but I am so confused. Any help is much appreciated.  Thanks, enjoy your day!

Joyce, have you tried these groups?  http://www.navyformoms.com/group/aircrew and http://www.navyformoms.com/group/navalaviation  

Thankfully, my son doesn't drink, but many of his friends do - another reason I'm glad he has his own car.  It's not just about DUIs for the Navy, either, they recognize that one can be alcohol-impaired hours after drinking, which can create operational and safety risks.  

Earlier this year, the Navy started use of alcohol detection devices when sailors report for duty (they prefer ADD to "Breathalyzer") - Navy Times: Fleetwide breath tests start now.  This related FAQ about the new policy from the Navy Bureau of Medicine & Surgery has a good description of number of drinks and resulting blood alcohol content over time.   

The Navy's threshold for a positive blood-alcohol test is 0.02 percent and a sailor could be referred to the command's drug and alcohol program's adviser.  Anything below that is considered a negative test.  Sailors above 0.04 are "presumed to be not ready to safely perform duties. The sailor will be "retained on board the command in a safe and secure environment until the ADD-indicated reading is not detectable" and referred to an advisor.  

For comparison, the FAA prohibits pilots from operating an aircraft if he or she has a blood-alcohol content of .04 percent or higher.

For qualifying veterans and service members, Jos A Bank and the Gary Sinese Foundation have teamed up to provide a free two-piece suit - called the "Uniform for Success" program. Seems they don't carry women's clothing though :( Still, a good thing! Good through Nov 11 2013 (Veteran's Day).

New to being a Navy Mom! My son is now stationed in Norfolk and now starting his new life. I'm in California, and missing him! Is there other Mom's that have sailors attached to HM14?

Welcome!  Not I - I had to google it to figure it out :)  Pretty cool!  http://www.hm14.navy.mil

Alex's mom- my daughter is HM-14. Got back from Korea on Saturday. PM me if you want.

Welcome Alex's Mom.  I'm in California also, Discovery Bay.  My son is on a ship in Norfolk.  He's been in since Feb 2012 and a lot of this is still very new to me too.  But this is a great group, very active and informative.

angies,

Korea sounds interesting!  How did she like it?  I have a Sailor daughter graduating Pensacola IT school in August and her verbal orders are for Norfolk land duty.

CatMom509 - land duty?  She will see a lot of guys coming and going (the love of my lady is the sea) remember that song?

I saw a woman at the movie theater today with a Proud Navy Mom t-shirt and found out her son PIRd the week before mine!  Small world.

My salior is attached to HM-14. There is a FB page by the produced by MIL about this group.  I visited Norfolk and it is quite an operation. 

It's official - use 9-digit ZIP codes when mailing to FPOs or it gets returned... Navy.mil: 9 Digit ZIP Codes Mandatory for FPOs

Isn't that unpatriotic

OH NO!!  You're right, moms are a whole other matter!  Perhaps you can ask and see what's going on, maybe an exception can be made?  Can you access and post from your smartphone, and add more later from home?