Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

Forever proud - funny story about your son even though he probably didn't think so. ha  My son had a situation many months after he got his base room too.  Not as funny though. 

He got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and always tried to prop his bedroom door open so it wouldn't lock.  That night he had his window open and the breeze pulled his door closed while he was in the bathroom.  His room key, cell phone and everything was in his room.  He said he banged on his roomies door for a long time before he even heard him.  He called someone to come open it for him.  It took the person a few hours before he showed up so my son slept in a chair in his roommates room.  Once they got him into his room he had hardly had any sleep.  I think he had about an hour and then had to get up for work. I am sure he was grumpy that day. ha

casb8, according to my son, they have a movie theatre, bowling, something thats called a Q80.  I think the Q80 has games, pool tables, etc.. a place to hang out. My son has been there since Oct and hasn't left base because there is so much to do.  He spent the first few weeks just walking around. A little harder to do now in the winter i guess.

Michelle,

I can pm you our cell number, or you can give his to us(if he's ok with that) and we can contact him. We're getting together tonight at 5 and he's welcome to come over

Yvonne

B'sNukeMom - good to see you in this group and Emptynesters!  If you remember, my son has been stationed in Norfolk since last March.  He is on the Theodore Roosevelt.  He has really liked Norfolk.  He had good friends from Boot Camp and A school stationed there so has that support.  In the summer he spent a lot of time at the beach and this fall has toured many of the historical places/battlefields in the area.  He has lived on the ship this entire year so that I am sure is difficult but he never complains.  He bought a truck so has transportation to go see his friends and spends a lot of time off base at their places.  He is deploying soon and will then be stationed in San Diego with the ship when it returns - I bet you would love to see your son in CA?!  How does he feel about his station?  I am excited for my son to literally see the world when he deploys although I am not looking forward to little communication.

Hi mariecb and Forever proud!  Yep, I'll be joining you here in the Norfolk group!  And I know Mommamac too - our sons are roommates in NY and now they will be roommates in VA.  Different ships but they are happy to at least be in Norfolk together ;-)

We would have liked him to be stationed closer to home, but I guess it's not about us - the Navy has other ideas LOL.  He is taking his car.  He will fly home to CA for his 30 day leave and then he'll fly back to NY and drive to VA. 

I'm sure I'll have lots of questions for you all - please be patient with me!

LoriLAB, this group on Facebook is a great place to ask questions about areas and specific locations.  You have to ask to join. Link:  Navy Home Search on Facebook

Welcome Yasmine5!  Sorry to hear about the train :(  Hopefully your son has connected with his sponsor by now. His sponsor will take him to his housing, show him around and get him checked into his command.  It's a large base so there's a lot to see  :)

Hi Yasmine5, If you have access to facebook there's a group called Navy Families of Norfolk. It's a pretty active group.

You could also try his ship for a FB page. My son's shop has a marvelous FB page. there are two actually. one is families one is the official ship one and the Captain posts pictures when they are deployed or get promoted. It is wonderful.

Yasminie5, this is a pretty active group, plus there is a lot of information permanently stored in the Discussions.  

Often, questions you'll have won't be ship-specific; rather they will be about things like owning a car, activities for sailors, where to stay for visits to Norfolk, things like that, so yes, I think this is the best group overall.  Know that ship groups on NavyforMoms tend to go rather quiet when the ship isn't deployed.  And I personally prefer NavyforMoms to Facebook because the focus is on sharing information here and the drama is kept to a minimum LOL

Be sure to get on the official lists for the ship's Ombudsman Team, and the Family Readiness Group.  The Ombudsman is a volunteer with a spouse on the ship, and acts as the official liaison between the command and its families.  The FRG is headed by elected volunteers with relatives assigned to the ship, and organizes events around and during deployment.  Your sailor should put you on the lists.  You can also contact the Bataan ombudsman yourself by going to this link and scrolling down to the ship name - https://www.ombudsmanregistry.org/?m=contactombudsman

Here is a great three-minute, time-lapse video of a day in the life onboard USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), which is one of the eight total Wasp-class amphibious assault ships that are virtually identical to USS Bataan (LHD-5).  It's called "Reveille to Taps."  Fun to watch!  

B'sNukeMom, I just messaged the admin of the Navy Familiies FB page and told her who you are.  I actually had a son in Nuke school Jan-June of last year, so I'm already familiar with you, even though I mostly just kept quiet and read everything I could from the Nuke Moms group.

Could anyone tell me if this sounds normal for Norfolk area?  My son got an oil change yesterday but we didn't get the name of where he went.  He is driving a 2002 Dodge Ram truck.  My husband told him it would probably be best to take it to the Dodge dealership for his oil changes.  But he pulled in to some oil change place he found instead.  With giving him a $15.00 (military) discount, his bill was like $86.00.  Now we think this seems really high.  My husband only paid $5.00 for his oil change back here when he had it.  But that was a deal he got along time ago.  Around here, they do not charge that much.  Any opinions on if he got suckered?

Seems a little high, especially if they gave him a "discount." My son was paying $60 for a high-mileage oil change on a 2002 SUV at Pep Boys on Military Ave and JiffyLube is the same.  Does a truck use more oil?  Wonder if they did an air filter change for your son too?  I tell my son to download the coupons on his phone  :)

Boy I want to take my car in where you go. I never paid that little for an oil change even when I did it myself in college. My car costs about $85. so I bet that is correct.

B'sNukeMom, I just heard back from the FB page admin and she said that she had just approved 2 nuke moms on the site today, so if you try to log in now, you should be able to get in.  Let me know if you can't.

Also you can have him check...if he is mechanical prone like mine the base in Charleston has an auto bay where he goes and uses it to change his own oil. Then just costs filters and oil cost.

There may be a post on there asking you to tell a little about yourself.

Hi all - Happy Monday!

Holly - I'm not sure if I'm in it or not.  I did not get a request for any info.  I think I can see the page now but when I look at my FB groups it doesn't show it listed in my groups.  (I'm still learning how to navigate FB!).  I'll keep checking and see if things change.  If it doesn't maybe I'll PM you so I can figure it out!

Does anyone here have a sailor on HST?  I'm looking for whatever info you might have.

Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Agree, call the Red Cross and they will find him. I found this name from a long time ago. But hopefully the number is the same or she can help you.

Tricia Jones

Ombudsman DDG96

757.284.8316

https://ombudsmanregistry.org/?m=contactombudsman&r=12&rcc=...

Hi all - Happy Tuesday!  I posted a discussion above that has the info for emergency messages.  TwoForTheNavy, glad to hear that they were able to make contact with the sailor. 

Hope everyone has a good day!

Happy RED shirt Friday!