Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

Area of Norfolk are nice.  My future son-in-law lived in an apartment in Ghent, 15 min. to base.  VB is more like half an hour to base.  My daughter rented an apartment close to the Norfolk Zoo, in an old victorain house.  She also rented a house along Granby Street.  All were nice and a safe place to live.  My son is in Yorktown as he is on Enterprise and it is being dismantled in Newport News.

Colleen, I too like the Ghent area, and no tunnels or bridges between it and the base.  One way to search for rentals - go to http://www.forrentuniversity.com and search "Old Dominion University."  Another area to search in Norfolk is around Virginia Wesleyan University. 

Hi,my daughter just went to Virginia on her first assigment (OS)on sea duty(destroyer).her ship is going to b deployed nov 2014.Can anyone tell me what she should expect....

singingbird,

Yes, there is PPV (Private Public Venture) housing for single Sailors but there is a long waiting list. My son was told it could be up to two years before he can get a room. I've asked him about it several times and he's not interested in waiting that long and is looking for accommodations now.

I don't know what determines the length of time you have to wait, maybe the smaller ships have a shorter waiting list?

So my son has been assigned on a destroyer for sea duty (his first assignment).  He will live and work on this ship,  can anyone tell me what this experience may be like?   Will he be able to have some type of housing on base or off base at any given point?  This is all new to us,  so any bit of info will be helpful. 

kim,

Hi and welcome to the group. Yes, your son will live on the ship if he is single. He will have the opportunity to get a room off the ship once he is qualified and waits for a room to become available which can take a long time, my son was told up to two years. That will only be were he sleeps in port as he'll go to work on the ship everyday and of course be on the ship 24/7 while they are underway.

Dad of a Sailor..Thank you for the information.   Around how many Sailor's work and live on a destoyer while in port?  Just curious to see how many other Sailors will be living on the ship with him..I guess I can assume many, since the housing situation on base is difficult to get.

Abuon18~ Hello...My son is assigned to the (DDG95) James E. Williams.  Are we on the same ship? 

Will Hello again Kim, our sons were in BC together. I have twins, the one that had PIR with yours in in A School in S. Carolina, however his twin in deployed on the USS Bainbridge (DDG96) He got deployed IMMEDIATELY He was at Norfolk airport 4 hours before his ship left!! He will be back in January.  He loves being at sea. He would love to stay at sea for the entire commitment if he could. 

Kim. What will your son be doing on board?

Co-TwinsSalorsmom~  Hello again....yes, I do remember our boys being in the same PIR group.   My son willl be one of the two or three PS's on board.  It's great to hear you son loves being at sea...I'm sure this will be a huge adjustment for most of them first time around being in small living quaters and working-living on the ship.  My son is excited to begin and ready to get back to it.  It was so nice to have him home for two weeks,  but now I have to return him.  HA  Great hearing from you..

Kim,

Arleigh-Burke Class Destroyers have a crew of 276, however, a lot of them are married so they will not be staying on the ship while in port unless they have duty. Some of the single Sailors will have places off the ship as well.  They will all be there during the day to work but after work those with places off the ship will leave until the following morning. The ship is like a ghost town after working hours as it will only be the duty section and the few that sleep on the ship.

Kim our sons were in the same ship and div. Sam is in Nuke school, his twin is stationed out of Norfolk on a destroyer. 

Twin 1 on the Destroyer Loves being on a smaller ship. It was his 2nd choice on his dream sheet. He does not get sea sick. He also did not react in Gas Chamber. His description was hilarious on how everyone was a buggery, spit, vomit mess and he kept looking at his cupped hands and nothin'. Lucky boy. He has experienced 20 ft swells and it did not bother him.  He has seen lots of the world in two months. 

Twin 2 was in Div with yours, says Nuke school is very challenging. He said when all done he has something that he can be proud of himself for.  He is hoping for sub duty. He goes to the beach every weekend. He has also discovered he likes to run, he has a goal to beat the record for the schools 1.5 mile.

I have not gotten the Keel yet.

Help me out, what is PS?

Hello,

My Sailor daughter is home on leave now and will report to Norfolk shore duty as an IT later this month.  Is there a link that describes what happens when they arrive, where the barracks are, any meal plans or can they just buy their own groceries?  I've learned a large flat amount of money was deducted from their paycheck whether they ate at the chow hall or not in A school.  With the classes all getting out at the same time, the Sailors had to stand in long lines or not eat, or spend their own separate money getting food from the commissary.  It seems there should be some sort of card that they can scan that will deduct a certain amount when they do eat at the chow hall.  If they want to spend their food money getting groceries from the commissary and scanning the same card, shouldn't this be possible?  This is the reasonable way for our Sailors to spend their hard-earned funds on their food~~

I just would like to learn what I can because it's hard to get detailed info from my daughter on just what her day will be like at base.  If someone already provided an explanation, you can just tell me about what page it is at.  Thanks!!

Well, my son is home on leave and I found out that since he is between commands he is homeless and they are not giving him extra money to live, he needs to stay in a hotel on his dime, I am very upset, I will be writing to congress, not that it will do any good.

Morning all,

A couple of points that you may be unaware...

First, in regards to the chow hall in A School and being charged when they don't eat. The Navy has to provide a chow hall for them to eat for those that want to eat there, the problem with giving everyone money and letting them decide how to spend it is that the chow hall would not be supported enough to keep it open as many would skip the chow hall and use the money elsewhere. This would make planning for the amount of people at each meal impossible and would result in the chow hall being opened and not supporting enough people to make it worth while. The same thing for those stationed on ships, they won't get their BAS (money for food) as they are expected to eat on the ship. If they gave everyone their BAS and no one ate on the ship the galley would cook everyday because they have to for those who do want to eat on the ship and very few would eat there. The Navy is providing three meals a day, at the chow hall or galley, if they chose not to eat there that is their choice but the Navy (taxpayers) should not be on the hook for preparing a meal at the chow hall for them and still paying them to eat elsewhere if they decide not to eat at the chow hall. Does that make sense?

Proudmom, you son will file a travel claim and the travel costs associated with his PCS will be paid back to him upon completion of his travel/leave. He will draw partial BAH (basic allowance for housing) and BAS (Basic Allowance for Sustenance) for his PCS time. This is paid to him after his travel is complete and he files a travel claim. He could have requested "advance travel" prior to his leaving his last command if he didn't have the money to cover these costs until his travel claim is paid afterwards.  They would have given him money prior to his transfer that would have been deducted from his travel claim he will file upon completion of his travel.

Also, he's never "homeless" and if he didn't have a place to stay while he was ON LEAVE he could have skipped his leave and reported directly to his next command and they would have provided him a barracks room or shipboard accommodations to live in. It was his choice to take leave and go home, the Navy has no idea if a Sailor has a place to stay when they take leave, that's the Sailors responsibility. They do get money afterwards to offset these costs.

I hope this helps with some of the concerns. Please let me know if what I posted didn't make sense. 

Oh, sorry...that should have been to Avonbymyna instead of Proudmom.

Proudmom,

I'm not really understanding your question, can you clarify a bit for me?

If you are asking if he will have a place to live once his ship pulls into port until the next time they go out to sea the answer is YES. He will live on the ship while he is in port just as he is while he is underway. The ship is his home and that is where he will live unless he gets a place to stay off the ship which can happen if he is married, if he gets single Sailor housing (some specific requirements he has to meet like qualifications) or gets an apartment out in town either paying out of his pocket or drawing BAH if he's eligible.

The housing the Navy provides for junior single Sailors who are attached to a ship is the ship itself. Again, depending on their paygrade, marital status, qualifications, etc. there may be ways to get a place off the ship but the Navy will always provide him a place to live and he will never be "high and dry" or homeless.

Is that what you were asking?

My son is on the USS George H.W. Bush and he lives on the ship all the time both in port and while out to sea. He doesn't have a different place to live when he pulls into port as the ship is his home.

Living on the ship while in port isn't much fun and a lot of Sailors try and find other places to sleep when the ship is in port just to get away for a while and get some personal space. Often times this will be out of their own pocket as they don't' qualify for assistance due to their paygrade, qualification level, etc.

Dad of Sailor,

I was saying that the Sailors should be allowed to used their BAS on base only at the commissary to buy their groceries or eat at the Chow Hall.  Why would the Sailors choose not to eat at the Chow Hall unless the food is not tasty or healthy?  They should be allowed the choice to spend their food money on groceries purchased from the base's comissary or eating at the Chow Hall.  They shouldn't be paying for food that they are not eating.  The one's who eat there are apparently supporting the Chow Hall being open. 

It's like if we who are home having to eat out all the time--regardless whether the food is healthy or yummy--and still paying for that meal out when we have bought our own groceries and are preparing our own meals.  The Navy would still get the benefit of the BAS funds being poured back into the system when groceries are purchased at the commissary.

There's just got to be a more efficient  way of handling everything is how I feel.  Same thing with advanced booking of airfare for duty stations instead of paying the highest airfare at the last moment all the time.

I know nothing will change.  Just felt like airing my frustrations with the way our Sailors' pay is deducted before they get to use/save it for themselves.

Just a note about living on the ship.  My son is on the Bush and had been there 6 months before he thought to tell me that the pillows the navy give them are not what they are used to at home.  So on our visit last month I took his nice pillow from his bed and his Dolphins football blanket.  He showed us his bunk and all around the Bush - very impressive.  But the guys in the bunks surrounding my son's all have their football/baseball blankets on their beds and their own pillow.  My son said they sleep on top of their made bunk and cover themselves up with their own blankets - that way they don't have to make their beds every morning lol!!!

Just thought I share this for any new moms out there wondering about their sailor's sleeping arrangements. 

CatMom,

I understand your concern but the Commissary and Chow Hall's are not the same pot of money. The Commissary is a civilian ran grocery store that provides sometimes subsidized groceries for military members, their dependents, retired military members, etc. The Chow Hall operates on a totally different pot of money and is to feed military members who are not drawing BAS. If they didn't force junior Sailors in A School to eat there by taking their BAS and providing three meals for them at the Chow Hall it would have to close because very few would support it and then there would be no hot meal option for your Sailors and all us concerned parents would be complaining about that. 

I was in the Navy for 26 years and can assure you that the Chow Hall is much more healthy than what most Sailors are buying for themselves at the Commissary. I did barracks inspections as a Senior Chief on junior Sailors rooms and most of the "food" was ramen noodles, TV dinners, canned junk and chips and cookies, leftover pizza or McDonald's, etc.. I NEVER seen fruit or vegetables like is available at every meal in the Chow Hall. Every Chow Hall I've been in had an unlimited salad bar along with the hot items they could get going through the line.

These junior Sailors are not provided kitchens to be able to cook meals so they have to be offered hot cooked meals someplace (Chow Hall) and if the Navy didn't force them to use it it could not stay open which as I've said isn't an option.

Proudmom, not until he gets to Bahrain, which will either be Aug 15th or Sept 1 we will know soon. 

Ok, now I understand, Dad of Sailor, but I guess if you were one of the Senior Chiefs who inspected my Sailor daughter's frig, you would've seen lots of frozen fruit, Greek plain yogurt, unsalted nuts, and granola.  She loves salad too, so I hoped she would have enjoyed that. I encouraged her to eat chicken too.

One of the things that I heard change at Pensacola was instead of the classes being staggered when they released the Sailors for lunch/dinner, that they all got released at the same time and that caused long, long lines.  Therefore, many Sailors skipped the Chow Hall and grabbed something else to eat on their own dime.  I was told the release times used to be staggered so everyone could get their food within a reasonable time.

Anyway, I'm thinking that the Norfolk base is ran a little differently since it is life on the job, rather than training.  Are there any tidbits about the base that you can share with me, other than its super humongous and alot of Sailors end up getting a vehicle?  Is the shuttle system efficient in getting Sailors from one area to another? Oh, is there a map of the base?

Thanks for always being so helpful!  I really appreciate this~~

CatMom,

My son is on a ship so I don't know a lot about the base as he spends more time on the ship and at sea then he has in port. There isn't a base shuttle but there is a area bus system but it is not really for transportation around the base as it is not setup for that. Since your daughter is on shore duty she's going to have more time "on base" than those stationed on a ship.

Here is a map I sent my son and he used to find things on base that he could check-out. http://www.discovermwr.com/media/maps/navstanorfolk_basemwrmap.pdf

That is great that your daughter has good stuff in her fridge as that's not the norm for most of them. My son was at Corry Station when they had the smaller temporary galley open while they were remodeling the big galley that is open now. He ate breakfast and lunch every day at the galley and ate there on his duty days. He rarely ate dinner there as he was always going out for dinner or eating stuff he bought at the commissary. He often had a hard time finding people to go to the chow hall with him as they didn't want to get up early enough or they wanted to go back to their rooms at lunch time and get on their phone or computer. If they are really not able to eat when the galley is open due to class schedules they need to address this with their Chief as that is UNSAT and needs to be rectified.

Don't know if any of your Sailors fish but my son has really enjoyed using the fishing pier on base. You don't need a fishing license. He went to walmart and bought a cheap pole and some hooks and sinkers, got some frozen bait at the Marina on base and goes over and relaxes on the fishing pier. He lives on the ship so he can't keep anything but has fun and has caught some nice fish and helped others get in some big ones.

My son's ship will cook up fish that sailors catch, wouldn't his galley do that?

CO-Twin,

My son is on a carrier with up to 5000 other people. It's not as easy to do things on a carrier as it is on the smaller ships with a crew of 275 people. If you knew someone that was in charge in the galley I'm sure you could get someone to do it but for the average person I don't think it is an option on an aircraft carrier. 

Things like this are the reason most people prefer serving on the smaller ships as everyone knows everyone and it's more like a family then a carrier where you don't know anyone and everything is more complicated.

ChambosMom, I hope some of the information is helpful and please don't hesitate to ask any questions as there is a lot of knowledge in this group. 

Yeah, I think it is easier to just catch and release then try and plan a fish dinner at someones house when you don't even know if you're going to catch anything to bring over for dinner. :)

The Sailors on the smaller ships get to see more because it is easier and cheaper for them to get into ports so they pull in more often. Carriers don't pull in as often as the small. Neat your son is getting to experience so much so early. Also glad he's enjoying his underway time and not miserable since he was thrown into it so quickly and for such a long period of time. He didn't have any time to "get used to it" did he?

Thank you for the map, Dad of Sailor! 

Wow, alot of detail is left off of it, just a kind of general vicinity type of map.  Is the Package Store their mail room?

Is there anyone with a Sailor on shore duty here that can advise where the mail room is in relation to where the Sailors barracks are and most importantly, their hours, so we are aware when our Sailors can pick up their packages by a certain time?  Thanks~~

Hi ChambosMom!

So your Sailor will be here by the end of August or September 1st?  Good to see you here~~

CatMom,

No, package store is the military code word for the liquor store, don't tell you Sailor to pick up her mail there. :)

The rec center at building C-9 have mail boxes and a post office but I don't know if shore duty Sailors get their mail there or some other mail room. Hopefully someone else will be able to assist with that one.

A more detailed but less user friendly map.

http://www.public.navy.mil/surflant/ddg84/Documents/Map%20of%20Nava...