Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

CO-Twin,

Glad your Sailor is on land sleeping in a real bed--he must be very appreciative of that!  But YIKES that duty schedule!!  Blessings to him~~

CatMom509,

That is the Best Valentine we could have-Jesus! :)

Hey, I thought WE were the Navy's cheerleaders…then I found this!  Seems we have two things in common, we're not perfect and we have a lot of enthusiasm for the NAVY!   Here's the USNA Cheerleading Team ~  

Hi Group, need some advice, suggestions or direction.  My sons car is broke down on base, he thought it was the battery so he took it up to the local auto zone and it is not the battery so it looks like were gonna need to get it towed off the base.  A simple diagnoses would kinda tell us what direction to go in.  I don't want to see him spend unnecessary money that he does not have.  Is there anywhere or anyone local that we can trust to do that?  He just moved off base so he is having to bum a ride to get back and forth to the ship.  I'm trying to help him but it is very hard living in another state.  I appreciate any input that anyone has.

Hi Lori - I've asked two Navy wives who live in the area, and they're checking with their friends for a recommendation to a good auto mechanic.  Just fyi, we had a bad experience with Auto Port at Little Creek base (charged $325 for a repair that they didn't do, as shown by a subsequent inspection at Firestone) and I would NOT recommend them.

We have successfully used the Pep Boys on Military Blvd next to the Wal-Mart if that helps :)

OK Lori, I posted your request in this group Sailor Rescue List and here's what I got!  One more thought, could it be a loose connection at the battery terminal?  That happened to my son not long ago, it was a $20 fix to replace.

OK, here are the responses - Good luck!

Reply by adm402 1 hour ago

Lori, My daughter took her car to Lee's Auto Service on 837 W 44th st in norfolk. There phone number is 757-440-1053. They were reasonable and didn't fix any thing until she approved it. Hope he gets his car fixed soon and doesn't cost to much.  

Hi  John and Yvonne. Thank you for the invite to My Son to your home. I will relay the message to him.

Have a good day. S.

Beenerjoan-

Hi! My husband is also on the Truman. He works as a Diesel Engineer with the Reactor department. What department will your son be joining? Although my husband hasn't been with the Truman long, he seems to be enjoying his time out to sea and with the crew. :) 

momofc.r.15,

Let us know if he wants to come over. Then we can give you our phone number so he can call us. :)

Yvonne

to mmofc.r.15,

Let us know if your son would like to come over . We can give you our phone number so he can call or text us. :)

Yvonne

If this message appears twice, it's because I didn't see it up here after the first time I commented. :)

Thank you Soccer mom, I will check them out .

Tracy,

I gave Steve our cell number on Saturday....

Yvonne

I will be praying. I hate to see animals suffer and hopefully she won't. :) It sounds like the outcome will be whether or not her kidneys are affected..Or whether she suffers with the diabetes. The Lord will make it clear...

Yvonne

I'd call his recruiter in the morning if he has it, or see what he recommends.

Josh'smom,

He has an admin department to assist him with this and they should be sending a message off to get this resolved. Has he spoken to them? RTC (Boot Camp) was responsible for making sure all that information was complete so the command is probably going to have to interface with RTC or Navy Personnel Command to get this resolved. This isn't a problem that he can or needs to solve as they are going to need something official to correct a DIEMS date, not just your Sailor telling them what it is. Did someone tell him to work on this or did they just tell him there was a problem and maybe they are working on it?

Wow, that sounds like a mess. Which has his correct blook type, his medical record or his dog tag? Does he even know? He needs to go to medical and have them redo his blood type and get the correct one in his medical record if it isn't already in there. This early in his career I would think the results from the blood type they did in bootcamp would be in his medical record.

His dog tags are not that important as I never wore them after leaving boot camp. If he ever needs them for anything he can order a new set of them from whatever command says he needs them for his assignment. Most assignments in the Navy don't require Sailors to wear dog tags.

Is he normally proactive in his everyday life or does he just let stuff happen around him? The Navy requires you be proactive and address things early yourself because in most cases there isn't anyone looking at the little details of each Sailors life as they are adults and expected to somewhat take care of themselves. If they wait for someone else to notify them of an issue it's normally too late and when they owe $1800. Most Sailors assigned to ships know they do not get BAS while assigned to a ship so if he knew this (have no idea if he actually did) he should have addressed it right away before it got to $1800. Just something to think about and maybe mention to him unless you think it would make it worse.

There is a waiver process he can request to forgive the indebtedness to the Navy, however, without knowing all the specifics I don't know if he would have a realistic shot at a waiver. He could inquire with his Chief and personnel department about a waiver and see what they say.

If his enlistment contract in his service record doesn't have his DIEMS date I don't know what they can expect him to "hunt down" as the enlistment contract is the document that goes with him from MEPS to RTC which would have that information. Does he have a copy of his enlistment contract that he got when he joined? My son kept a copy of all his paperwork, if he has that maybe they would accept that? Definitely not the right way to address this problem but if it will satisfy them and solve the issue then it would be worth a try.

Hi everyone .... it's been a long time since I've been on Navy for Moms I hope everyone is well My Oldest son was just deployed from ORF to Afghanistan on Feb 13 this is my first experience with deployment..  any advice suggestions would be helpful.    

Hi lorriemi!  I have a fantastic NavyforMoms group for you - http://navyformoms.com/group/momswithkidsiniraq ("Moms with kids in Iraq/Afghanistan").  They will greet you with open arms and provide a ton of support.  I will keep your son in my thoughts, and look forward to your posting all the info about his homecoming!

Help! I've been on navymoms since my sailor was in Boot Camp.  Well, now he is headed to the USS Harry S. Truman, driving his car from prototype in NY to Norfolk.  He left it for 3 weeks to come home, but it started up just fine last night.  He spent the night with a buddy in Saratoga Springs, and left this morning. 

Soo, his car's broken down.  It's stalled on him about 3 times, each time restarting, but each time running for less time, and taking longer to restart. Finally not wanting to chance it overnight, he stopped in Georgetown, Delaware and is spending the night.

Anyone by any chance know anyone in that area, or who is passing through that area?

I'm really at a loss as to what to do.  Any he's only 20, so not sure he could even rent a car.

If you or a family member has AAA they will tow him and his car to his home - but not sure if there's a limit on how many miles they'll tow.  I think you can call and join on the spot and they'll tow you.  Our local meineke garages are open on Sunday but not sure if they are in Delaware.  Sorry I know you must be worried sick for him

ktrsb,

Don't know anyone in that area but he can rent a car through USAA's agreement with the major car rental agencies. Some of them won't even charge him a surcharge for being so young. Is he a USAA member?

Dad of Sailor - yes, he is, and that is good advice. I will pass it along.  I also got in touch with the Delaware USO, another good resource. 

Mommaross, thanks, I am kicking myself because I meant to sign him up for AAA. But I think the USAA towing is pretty generous.  Nothing seems to be open on Sunday in that part of DE, not even an Enterprise rental, nor U-haul (for renting a tow dolly and truck).

ktrsb - I just posted your situation in the group Sailor Rescue List - http://navyformoms.com/group/sailorrescuelist.  Please come join us there too.  Hopefully a member is nearby and can help your son ASAP!  :)  

my son will be arriving to Norfolk next month I'm feeling nervous  

Welcome gabbyplus3!  What an exciting time for your son, and for you.  It's a great area to be stationed.  Hopefully you can plan a visit to see him :)  We're here to answer your questions and calm your nerves!

ktrsb,

Did you son get taken care of? Hope he is at his destination safe and sound.

DOS, he finally made it late Sunday. Got as far as VA with the car, but two hours short. Called a wrecker and rode into Norfolk.  Now we're trying to figure out if he is going to cool his heels to until the HST gets home, or fly out to join her.  Thanks, everyone, for concerns, prayers, etc. 

Glad to hear and I hope the rest of his journey to the HST is less eventful.

ktrsb CVN-75,

Glad to hear that your son made it here safely.  We just wanted you to know that we open our home on the weekends for the sailors to come over and eat, play board games, cook if they want to, :), or just hang out. We have several sailors coming over and would love to invite your son-whether he is waiting for the HST to come home or even if he joins her. Let us know if he would be interested in coming over and have some home cooked meals. :)

Yvonne and John Wagner

Contact Wendy, aka Cmyhero, at  http://navyformoms.com/profile/Cmyhero - she had a great photographer at her homecoming!  :)

Do you know Jon and Ynonne Wagner. He is a chaplain and maybe they would come help you out with homecoming photos. 

Jmae12, Wendy's photographer is Erika Ritschard, and her site is https://www.facebook.com/E.RaePhotography.  She's on maternity leave, but she can recommend someone good i'm sure :)  Good luck!

A plea from Naval Medical Center Portsmouth today -  PLATELETS NEEDED -- In support of a critically ill pediatric patient, the NMCP Blood Bank Department is in desperate need of platelet donors with the Type B blood type. Platelets have a total shelf life of only 5 days, which makes the need for donors even more important. For more information and to schedule an appointment, please call 757-953-1717 or 953-1730. You must have base access to donate.

I have donated platelets there before - it's a different process than just donating blood, as the platelets are removed and the rest of the blood components are returned to you, all in one procedure.  Pretty cool in fact.  

And you get a free coffee mug!  ;)

@ Marcy-Thanks for posting this. I just called and booked a slot for 24 March; they are looking for two donors per day for several months to come. They have a pediatric patient who will be at the hospital for an extended period and are trying to keep a ready supply of platelets on hand for the duration. If you call, the next available appointment is mid-March.  The corpsman who answered the phone said to thank everyone for their overwhelming response!