Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

John & Yvonne,

Thank you for being there for our Sailors, feeding them, engaging them, giving them a home environment to hang out in, and providing them with spiritual encouragement.  Praying many that you have met and are about to meet will make your home a regular place for fellowship and learning of the Word!  Continued blessings on your ministry!!!

donnab,

First of all, it is really good that your son recognized that he needed help and got to the hospital for that help.  Did he ask his command those questions?  Is he concerned for his own condition?  Hoping they have made it possible for someone to be checking on him. But if he told them it is no big deal, they may not feel the way you as his parents do.

Hope you can be directed to get your questions answered.

Prayers for the Knighthawk crew~~

I totally agree with GoldnG8tr, John and Yvonne.  They have a special place in their hearts for the sailors.  It really touched me that they walked the Naval base and prayed for the sailors. May God bless you abundantly for all you do for these young men and women.

donnab~I will keep your son in my prayers.  Feeling alone and depressed is a scary place to be.  I went through this with my son.  Lots of prayers.  I encouraged him to speak with the chaplain on his ship.  It really helped him to put a voice to those feelings.  It let him know he wasnt' alone. 

My niece has been stationed in Norfolk for over 2 years now.  My son is currently in boot camp with PIR on Oct 4th.  He told me he has/will put in Norfolk as his requested station! 

donnab,

Is your son still in the hospital?  Or have they released him? We would be glad or would have been glad to visit him while there.  And we would be happy to invite him over to our home for a meal. Let us know what you think. :)

Yvonne

Donna...I will keep your son in my prayers..i

Good Morning Norfolk Family

Hello Norfolk! . . . headed your way next week. My last visit was December 2011 when my son's ship, USS Anzio, came home from deployment. I was fortunate enough to be on the Tiger Cruise with them. It was an awesome experience! Almost a dozen of the family made the trip and we spent a nice weekend in Norfolk.

Next week's visit is for an entirely different reason . . . while my son's been doing great with his career and settled in well, he got hurt last month on base, off duty . . . tore his ACL in a basketball game. His treatment so far seems to be very good and he really likes his surgeon. His pre-op appointment was today, I just heard from him (as I was typing this) and I'm listed as his contact person with the hospital. Surgery is scheduled for next week. I'm driving down the night before and bringing him to the hospital the morning of the surgery. He's got me booked at the Navy Lodge through the weekend and if all goes well, I'll head back home then.

His ship assigned a "buddy" to help him if needed and his girlfriend is nearby. I think we'll be fine.

Any thoughts and/or recommendations or hints would be appreciated!

Best of luck to a successful healing...hopefully after recovery and physical therapy, he heals with full recovery..:)

My sailor is driving to Norfolk from Pcola..should be there tomorrow night...:))

Beachbunny our son did that drive in July.  He said it was an easy good drive.  Hope is goes (or went) well for him.  Josh'smom...what is your son's rate?  I know our son has to keep himself busy, as well.  He chose Norfolk because he has a TON of friends there from A school.  He also has cousins that live there but he has not seen them in years, literally since he was in 2nd grade.  

Well..he got there a couple of hours ago...checked into the Navy Lodge for the night before reporting tomorrow...he said the drive wasn't back after getting out of the FL rain storm....took some back roads to for a scenic drive vs being on the highway...pretty adventurous for a 19 year old first "road trip" ...I'm glad he's safe and there on time...:))))

Does anyone know of a good long term storage lot for my son's car when he goes on deployment?  He has used the one that is right by the base but we were not happy with them after the last deployment. 

Joh'smom,

That is one of my biggest surprises with bootcamp. I spent 26 years in the Navy and used the post 911 GI Bill myself and thought I had my son all ready for bootcamp. When he was done he said the same thing that they pushed the Montgomery GI Bill and so he picked that one when he should have picked the Post 911 GI Bill.

To answer your question, he can switch simply by filling out the request online at the VA website. I do think he is going to have to wait until he finishes paying the $100/month for 12 months before he can switch but a call to the VA could get this answered for you.

to Josh'smom,

If your son would like a place to hang out, eat good food and play board games, we would be happy to invite him over to our home. At least he would have a place to go to  one the weekends. :)  Yvonne and John

Tonya,

I have no idea why boot camp is pushing the Montgomery GI Bill as it normally isn't the best choice. You pay $100/month for 12 months for less money. The MGIB will pay the student $1,648.00/month for 36 months while going to school. The student must then pay for books, tuition, living expenses, etc. out of that amount.

The Post 911 GI Bill doesn't cost anything to enroll and pays the tuition directly to the school so the student doesn't have to worry about that. It pays them $1000 per year for books and then pays them a monthly living allowance equal to the BAH level of an E5 with dependents which is $1401/month here.

They can switch from the MGIB to the Post 911 GI Bill by filling out the change form on the VA website. You don't get the $1200 back you paid into the MGIB until you use up all your Post 911 benefits then they will send you back the original $1200 you paid in.

B-Ready - This has the address and contact info for Navy Lodge Norfolk, photos too :) http://www.navyformoms.com/group/norfolksailorsfamilyfriends/forum/...

BEFORE anyone tells their Sailor to switch from one GI Bill to the next your Sailor needs to determine which is best for them. You can use both of them by exhausting all 36 months of the Montgomery GI Bill and then getting an additional 12 months of the Post 911 GI Bill for a total of 48 months of educational benefits. If your Sailor switches to the Post 911 without exhausting their MGIB they will only get 36 months of benefits.

If they determine switching is the best move for them it is done at the following VA website.

http://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/

Tonya...NO, she does not lose anything. She needs to use Tuition Assistance (TA) while on active duty to pay for any classes she takes. There is a maximum that TA will cover and some people have to tap their GI Bill while on active duty to cover what TA won't but that is not the best use of your GI Bill as they don't give you the living allowance while you're on active duty. She has 15 years to use the Post 911 GI Bill once she is out of the Navy and there are ways that they can transfer all or part of it to spouses or children if the Sailor isn't going to use it themselves.

I'll PM you on the other matter.

Josh'smom,

They will both pay for flight training but the Post 911 is the only one that will allow it to be transferred to dependents and there are some specific requirements that have to be met before it can be transferred. Here is a website that compares the two...since he is active duty the first two columns are the only two that apply to him.

http://www.gibill.va.gov/resources/benefits_resources/benefit_compa...

Also, the transfer process to dependents has to happen while they are on active duty and eligible (normally at a reenlistment). Transferring it to a dependent can't be started once they are out of the Navy.

Good Morning everyone.  I asked my son about the GI bills and why BC pushes the M-GI bill- here is what he said...

Josh'smom & Proudmom,

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, this thread moves fast.

The Tiger Cruise was awesome . . . getting to meet your sailor a few days before everyone else was special, seeing how they live and work gave me even more respect than I had before. Let me just put it this way, it's not a cruise ship . . . space is at a premium and very functional.

The atmosphere on the ship was contagious . . . hitting their first home port in 7 months and then having us aboard just re-enforced how close they all were to being HOME! There is a small charge per Tiger/per day (I think it was something like $15/day, not sure because my son paid it) and the Navy put it to good use, I had several sailors thank me just for being there because the food was better.

My son was able to get me a mid-bunk right across from him and let's just say it was tight, rolling over from one side to the other my shoulder brushed the bottom of the bunk above. There were no set sleeping hours, the ship is a 24/7 operation (not sure about all jobs but my son worked 6 on, 6 off) so there are people awake and sleeping almost anytime. I stayed up late spending time with my son and awoke early. Honestly I didn't sleep well the first night but by the second I was pretty tired and slept well. Bathroom/shower facilities were dated but adequate, again, no cruise ship.

There were plenty of things to see . . . lots of demonstrations from firing of the "big gun" and Sea Wiz to a drag race between all the ships in the group and an air show from the USS Bush. One evening there was a game night in the mess with prizes from the ship store to bingo game winners.

My son doesn't man the rails because he's needed in the CIC. I was with him but able to poke outside and text family as we made our way in. Finally seeing the hundreds of friends & family was a perfect end to a thoroughly enjoyable trip.

 It's a once in a life time experience that I'm greedy enough to do again if the opportunity presents itself.

Ken-55,

Thanks for that detailed description of your Tiger cruise experience!  Hope our family has the opportunity sometime during my Sailor daughter's enlistment~~

Josh'smom,

I just read that you will be here in Oct. If you have the time we would love to meet you. How long will you be here?

Yvonne