Norfolk Sailors - Family & Friends

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!

B'sNukeMoM  My son has his truck register here in Ga and he is in VA. 

Thanks pschip - However I just realized, sailor won't be bringing his car home from NY - he'll be flying, so it won't be possible for him to register it in CA.  I guess he'll keep it registered in NY for the time being.  Oh well....

Counting down the days until we see our sailor!

Happy Monday all!

My son bought and registered his car in Virginia, no problem plus the annual registration fee is waived by providing a current LES statement.

Thanks Marcy - maybe he'll switch the registration to VA then.  I'll pass that on to him! And nice to know they waive the fee for them too ;-)

Got a kick out of seeing this on TV last night!  This latest Geico ad is filmed on the battleship USS Wisconsin, permanently moored at Norfolk's Nauticus museum at Waterside.  What a beautiful view of the downtown Norfolk skyline on the Elizabeth River, and it's only seven miles from the base!  

It's also the view that Naval Medical Center Portsmouth has from directly across the river - lucky corpsmen living and working there :) 

Thanks for sharing Marcy.  Can't wait until hubby & I can plan our first visit to Norfolk!  Sailor arrives there on 2/26..... I guess we better start saving ;-) 

(Hubby was born in WI so he will definitely want to see this battleship.)