Sailors attending A School in Meridian, Mississippi

Good news! My fiance got his "hard copy" today and he is definitely going to be on the carrier USS Stennis in WA state! :) He just has to go through 2 days of financial classes, so he thinks he'll be out of there by next Friday. Good luck to everyone waiting on their orders!

maussie64-thanks for the info! It's still so confusng? so what stage i yours at?

My daughter PIRed last Friday and arrived at Meridian Saturday evening.

And I agree. Every time I read a rate abbreviation I have to Google it to learn what it is.

We were going to try the same thing - quickie MS ceremony; "formal" wedding later - but yeah it was next to impossible to get married for us in MS with the requirements and time restraints. I know it will be a while for everything to get processed and eventually (hopefully) approved for me to join him. I am about half crazy with pulling all the plans together for the wedding and still not knowing if he will be here by the 8th. Everytime I feel certain I learn something else. Today he says that he has to have his record scanned (takes 2 days) and then 3 business days later he is on the outbound list; able to leave the next day. So if it really takes that long - I think we will have to move everythign to our back up date - the 22nd.

maussie64 - wish her well my son enjoyed it, but for sure ready to move on!

maussie64-he said Miramar-do you know anything about it?

Thank you Nancy, I will.
I don't know much about it. It used to be strictly Navy and now it is mostly (I think) the Marines. Nice, temperate weather. It is where Scarlett swore in.

Well that is good, he said it was mostly Marines, is that your daughter?

happy - happy !! I am leaving today to go pick up my sailor. Looks like we are on for the 8th to get married. So now I am trying to do mapquest to get directions. I am terrible w directions. Anyone that has been there have any pointers on how easy or difficult it is to find? I know I am doing map quest to meridian - but is it to the address i mailed his packages? or one i found online for Naval Air Station - Meridian? I have the mailing address at home written down and I am at work trying to put the mapquest together. I also have navigator on phone - but want to put in the correct info. Help! Thanks

congrats! be careful!

weird - i just got the mailing address from his gramma since my copy is at home; it doesn't pull up on mapquest. anyone know if i should call the base to get correct directions - or if it is that hard to find once I get into meridian?

i called the base. i should be good. wish me luck

Sschick try this site:

https://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/css/nttc/CommandInfo.aspx?ID=1

good luck and be safe!

Yes, that's my daughter, Scarlett in the picture.

daughter just left this moring for washington state. now for her new adventu re to begin

candi, my son graduated in April from Meridian as a YN. I agree with Emma...they class up at different times. Thankfully, my son only waited about 10 days. Others wait longer. HIs long wait was on the other end. He waited a month to leave the base after he finished. It's best to embrace the "hurry up and wait" idea now!

My daughter said that the place Tennessee where orders are drawn up was flooded. And that may delay orders for a while. Hope she is wrong.
After all, what's a little water to the Navy? 8))

Emma (Lady Hamilton), I'm sure maussie meant nothing by her comment and had no idea of the devastation. I know we are not getting too much news of it in our papers down here. It is very sad that over 300 on-base families lost all of their possessions from what I read on line. Our hearts and prayers are with all affected by these awful floods.

Thank you maussie64-and yes that is true, they are not sure when his orders will come through now, looks like he might have to go straight to Cali, without even coming home at all, I sure hope not! I think He an We need some time together, and Lady Halilton, diannep, is so right, I don't kow why they are not telling us more about what is going on down there, it is truly horrific, and our prayers are with them!

Diannep, Thank you. You're right about the news coverage. For some reason, the CA stations don't seem to find it newsworthy. And I don't receive the newspaper anymore. (It not even worth the price of the subscription in my town.) I certainly wasn't trying to make a joke of anyone's misfortune.

Lady Hamilton, my PIR group was a bit more relaxed and probably would have informed me of the situation in the south, while leaving the reprimand out. That said, I am sorry to have offended you. From now on, I will be sure to set my sense of humor on the shelf when addressing this group.

Oh Nancy, I hope that isn't the case. Was he a grad n go? My daughter was, so we only got to see her for Friday and a few hours at the airport. We consoled ourselves with the thought that A school is short and she will have leave and be able to visit us soon. But, she did warn us in the beginning that it could happen.
We will be praying that he gets leave time before he has to report. Keep us posted.

Maussie-please don't lose your humor, sometimes, like candy-nicksstipmom-said, we really need that! It would be nice if the "Navy" or someone would let us all know if we could help, but communication to families seems very very low on their list, This was my first mothers day without them all home, sad, but I've been very blessed, hope all you other Mom's had a great day!

Juli-Your so right! Good luck with your son's b-day, what is he going in for?

AW! How thrilling! I know your feelings! My son got to carry the flag for graduation as well, just made your heart jump!

That is great Juli! What a great mother's day gift. Is he Executive officer of his LS class? How did he earn it?

my daughter is at her command for about 10 dyas. her ship came in today the USS ABRAHAM LINCOln and she was on the team to tie it to the peir. she sounded so happy and proud said they could see the ship coming in and it was HUGE. she also e-mail that gave me chilss and brought a tear to my eye this' THE FAMILIES ARE STARTING TO COME ON THE PEIR" i can't wait for that experencie.

Wow, Dorie; How neat that your daughter already got to observe a "homecoming" for her ship! I bet that did get her so excited! I just can't even imagine the emotions on that day...now she knows what awaits her when she returns on her first homecoming.

Hi, Kyle! Ask any questions you like! But A School is SO MUCH BETTER than bc! You can stay in touch which is such a good thing!

Oh, meant to say that mine graduated from Meridian in April....YN....so if I can help, let me know!

Hey, I recognize some of you gals....

I have a question; What are the living quarters like at Meridian?

Kim, my son sad they were GREAT! It is like a pod of 4 rroms with shared common space. He had a roommate, as did most of them. But the roommates come and go...he had one who finished really fast, so he had a room by himself for a while. Then got another roommate. After leaving in BC, they feel like they are in a luxury hotel where they are!

Oh, forgot to say....Hi, Kim!

Hi Kyle Melissa, my daughter recently graduated from A school in Meridian. They do get liberty, but she was there during rainy season (I guess) and they cancelled it often due to weather. They would get confined to quarters a lot due to tornado warnings.
I think the ones that are there longer can take leave. She was only there for 8 weeks.
She made a bunch of friends and actually misses the place sometimes.

i told my son what you said and he said it sounded like heaven.

Kyle Melissa... Will you be visiting meridian?

Diannep... I thought i read somewhere that this is a self paced program. Do you know if this is true. Is it possible to complete faster than 8 weeks. My son is LS

When my daughter was was there we talked and texted often. When she was allowed to that is. There was no reception her her room so she had to stand outside. Bloody hot for her, but it was so nice to be able to talk regularly again after BC.
Now she is on Diego Garcia. No cell service there and we have to wait for her to call us. 8((

Same here My son just left on 8/7 Last time I heard from him was when he was at the airport I know he is OK just waiting to hear from him because he decided not to take his cell phone from us because he was not sure if he could have it yet I want to at least talk to him and get his address The graduation was SOOO beautiful I still cannot get over it Even though he only had the day with us I was just so happy to see him I did alright though I didnt cry this time when he had to leave LOL So glad this group is here

When they finiish is there another graduation like BC

Kim, yes, it is self-paced. YN was and so was LS. Yes, it is possible that the course can be completed ahead of the 8 weeks. But when my son was there, they all had long "hold" times after graduating before they could take leave. He finished up April 1st, graduated April 7th, and didn't get leave until April 30. They were very backed up with YN orders.

Kyle, Liberty is on a graduated basis. They arrived under "red dot" status and are moved up from there. They have the buddy system in place and believe me, there is BIG trouble if they don't return with that SAME buddy. Possible Captains Mast. They go through indoc when they arrive for a week or more. There isn't much to do in Meridian (but the mall), but my son loved being on the base there with all of his buddies. He was one of the last to leave and had a hard time saying goodbye to everyone! Luckily he met up with many of them where he is staitoned now.

Yes, as with maussie's daughter, my son too had some problems with phone reception and would call from outside. They have to be in their rooms by 10 weekdays, so he would be hurrying to get up there on time. They still have room inspections, personal inspections, muster up to march to and from class, and when in "hold", they muster them up several times a day. But it is a welcome relief from bc, believe me!

mfavored: Not even CLOSE on the graduation like PIR. My son said few if any parents attend. It is very low key.

mfavored and dillon's mom. I mailed my son his phone by priority mail and he got it in 2 days. Sometimes the mail is tricky...packages apparently are in a different place from regular mail. So he needs to check that out. He should be able to use a friend's cell or his phone card to call you with an address this first week. He will be in indoc this week. What rate are your sons?

This group moves rather slowly...not like the PIR groups. But hopefully if more get on here, we will move again! There is nothing quite like the PIR groups! They are so much fun!

Welcome to this group, ladies!

Let's start with the good news first, Kyle. "Muster up" is line up to march. They use it to make sure all are accounted for in hold situations also when there is more free time.

Captains Mast is disciplinary action with the top officers. Reserved for the most severe infractions. They are scared to death of it! Can't tell you what is done as thankfully my son has not had this nor have his friends. I hope it STAYS that way!

Somehow we N4M ladies stay together even after PIR!

Hello. My son just graduated from Meridian. LS... Navy Lingo... just google it. google.com. It is a new language for sure this military lingo. Yes, phone reception is terrible within their rooms at Meridian and I think in many of the buildings. Although my son found a spot near his room (it sounded like he was in a stairwell) and the calls would not drop. If I recall correctly, they are not allowed to walk outside & talk on cell phones. However, he would put me on speaker once or twice & I guess that went under the radar, so to speak. They have to be extremely careful when on watch to not succumb & use their cell phone. Yes, Captains Mast can be a consequence. Prior posts here indicate a number of sailors got in hot water for it. There is no internet access in their rooms... (which is just as well, my son was totally spent from a full day & sleep became extremely important... he really appreciated the weekends he got to sleep in !!! whooda thunk !!!) However apparently the library & the bowling alley (of all places !!!) has wifi. So we chatted on FB several times while he was at the bowling alley. (His one big purchase was a laptop.) I think the saving grace for my son was the golf course. $20 or $25 for the whole kit & kaboodle... golf cart, clubs, balls & greens fees. From his pics, it looked like a nice retreat in & amongst the jack pine. He said it really helped him clear his mind. There are also several basketball courts... Meridian is a small town with a major civil war history... Personally, I would've explored that, but our young adults usually are not into history as much as us 'old folk' are... lol. I know my son took several trips into town (by cab - The cabbies must do a fairly nice business) for movies & a steak dinner. My son said the food on base was as good if not better than BC. He was super busy with classes, studying, marching, runs and standing watch. One of his last was early morning and I got a wonderful text about the wildlife in the wee hours of the morning... coyote, fox, big spider, and praying mantis. A new world. My son came home on leave last Wed & its been wonderful. I'm super proud of his results from Meridian... he was shooting for a promotion, and while that did not come thru, he was the only Sailor in his group to get posted to Hawaii. We feel that is a reward all by itself. (Yes, we are planning a vaca to Hawaii next summer !!!) He has been assigned to a squadron with a tremendous history... how cool. I am so looking forward to the new experiences that await him. Thank you NAVY !!!

Lady Hamilton: In my son's mind, he was scared to death of Captain's Mast, serious offenses or not. What is deemed serious to one sailor may not be to another. Remember, they just got out of boot camp where all was so strict, they are sensing some freedoms now, and so any form of discipline in front of officers is HUGE to most of them. My son's buddies felt the same way...thank goodness. I would not want anyone to dismiss Captains Mast as not a big deal,no matter what the offense. I wasn't talking about offenses that might result in time in the brig...I was talking about regular offenses that can mess up ones life, even if temporarily. I would like for all of the new sailors to have a healthy "fear" of Captains Mast.

Interesting note about the YN's Legal Clerks Course.

My son loved it there, Cyndi. He likened it to a college campus...but MUCH STRICTER! It is a step up from bc...so much less pressure, although of course still lots of structure. I think she will like it and you will like talkiing to her....maybe even skyping if she can find a signal! That is the challenge...the signal for the phones and internet is hit and miss...but some find "spots" to get some reception.

My son arrived on 2/7, started classes on around 2/16 and finished 4/1 But he got stuck on one of the mods for much too long...he was a week to two weeks behind many of the others in his class. He had orders 2 weeks later. He was on "hold" until 4/30 (he said they were told that part of that was because the guy who schedules was on vacation and they weren't processing as quickly...and also there was a backup of YN during that time). He got his 14 days leave. Not sure when he will be home again.

Yes, we know that holidays won't be the same. Mine misssed Thanksgiving and Christmas this last year because of bc. Birthday too...even though he was finished A School in time....he was on hold when his birthday came around.

We will take any time that we can get with him. I'm going to visit him in the Fall for a weekend.

My daughter arrived on 4/24. Waited a week for classes to start and arrived home on leave 6/23. I was expecting some notice and a long wait before she came home on leave, but she called on Wed. and said "I'll be home tomorrow." That was a pleasant surprise.
The travel arrangements weren't what the recruiter said they would be. No surprise there, right? But, she was able to reroute for $30.00. God was definitely in the details there.
She had almost 3 weeks leave before she had to report.

Kyle, isn't it frustrating to be so "in the dark" about everything?
I don't think they will hold her at Gl until then. They like to move them out quickly. My guess is that she will be at Meridian waiting to class up.

Hello to all, been awhile since I have been on, anybody know details about the Corpman School in Chicago? And he finally got to come home while being in "limbo" after 4.5 months!!! LOL So hang in there Mom's!!! He looked just great!