Corpsman Moms

Please see the attached San Antonio vacation offer for all those with upcominDealChicken Ithaca a href="mailto:mail@e.dealchicken.com">mail@e.dealchicken.com>g Corpsman School graduations. 

Someone told my son at HM School that the sailors from fleet deployment could only get jobs at the coast or area they came from. It doesnt make much sense to me.

Does anyone has any information toshare about this?

@ HM_Mom Ruth... I just spoke to my son who asked his HM3's about your daughters asthma and they said she should have no issues since she's already been enlisted for 3 years. They will test and treat her.

Hi ladies, I'm hoping someone will be able to help me understand somethings.  My son is at his first duty station (since graduation from Corps school)  since the the first week of July and as of yet, still has no definable job.  He says he's waiting to class up - which I'm not real sure what that means & he gets real irritated with me if I ask too many questions.  My questions are this; 1. Is this normal? 2. What does it mean to class up & why does he have to wait to do that?  Based on your answers I may have more questions..lol :)  I'm just trying to understand the process and what is normal & what is not.  Thanks ever so much!!

It seems to be perfectly normal, cupcake, for sailors to be put into a training class at a new duty station. My daughter had this same experience not only at her first but at her second assignment. She also gets testy with me when I ask too many questions, so I perfectly understand your frustration.

Cupcake, what is your son's first duty station?  Is he going to FMTB?  Is he assigned to a hospital, clinic? 

As Ruth said, training classes are normal and sailors arrive at different times to new assignments so they have to wait until the class is formed before "classing up."  It could be strictly an orientation class, specific duty class, FMTB, etc.  

Also, many of these new corpsman don't go into jobs they expect to be doing.  Some will end up desk clerks with little hands on medical care.  It is a real bummer for our kids when that happens because they want to use their training and to learn more.  
  

He is assigned to a hospital - for now.  He wants to go FMTB, but hasn't had the opportunity yet.  I asked him if he was waiting for more people to arrive to form a class & he said no. So my guess is he's waiting to be assigned a class?  He indicated he was working, but not doing anything at his job??  That made me real confused..  He wants to get going with something, he's so bored. 

My son's first duty station was Naples, Italy out of A school.  He was assigned to a clinic there but still had classes for EMT when he first arrived.  They are always training, always learning.  He knew before he left Great Lakes (before it was moved to San Antonio) that he was going to FMTB, but back then, most received orders to go FMTB out of Corps school.  There may not be a need for it now. So it may be a waiting game until the next round of training for FMTB.

My son just notified me that he will be heading to San Antonio as well, pretty excited, PIR 9/12, was supposed to head to Groton for Sub School, but declassified for some reason medical

If you’re in the Cincinnati area, plan on attending the Hospital Corpsmen memorial highway dedication Wed., Sept. 3 @ 6 pm, Fort Wright City Building, 409 Kyles Lane, Ft Wright, KY.
BUMED’s FORCE Master Chief Sherman Boss will join local and state dignitaries, including special guest Charles “Dan” Daniels, the very dedicated, passionate, persistent and charming 90 year old and very proud WWII Navy Corpsman who worked on getting the highway honoring Navy Hospital Corpsmen.

Hello! My son's PIR is 9/19 and then he's headed to San Antonio for Corpsman A School--on the Navyformoms group for that A School I was reading about moms going to visit their sailor on their first weekend in San Antonio and "setting up their dorm room" and buying things for them like coffee makers....I'm confused....I thought they won't be able to have visitors for a couple of weeks....do the sailors need certain things to "set up a dorm room"? Any insight would really be appreciated.

Welcome Aymee :)  Hm, not sure where you saw that!  Perhaps they were talking about attending a C School, which lasts longer than A school.  No, your sailor will be provided with whatever he needs, other than laptop or tablet if he wants it; and he has access to the Exchange to purchase other incidentals as needed.  It would be kind of crazy to be buying things like coffee makers, since at the end of A School everything has to be packed into seabags and taken to the first duty station, or shipped home, unless staying on for a C school and that doesn't get determined for a while.   

Thank you for the clarity, Marcy!

It's a) not college and b) they're adults in the military, able to take care of themselves.  If you want to provide something extra, a Visa gift card for those incidentals and meals out can be a pretty welcome thing - and it doesn't have to be packed up later  :)

Aymee, are you going to PIR?  

Hello everyone, I just wanted to let you know about a great group i joined called-NAVY FOR MOM'S HOLIDAY PROJECT. They adopt a ship on deployment that wont be home for Christmas and try to send each sailor a stocking or bag with goodies. They have list of what could be sent, mostly essentials for everyday use and candies.

I think it is a wonderful initiative to help our sailors feel appreciated for their hard work while overseas.

Good morning everyone! My daughter will finish up Corpsman school in Nov and will stay in SA for Surgical Tech C School. Does anyone have a kid in C School who know's whether they can have their car? Any other Surg Tech mom's out there? I understand the barracks they'll be moving to are older then the A School barracks. My daughter says they stand duty in those C School barracks and they are very musty smelling and old.

hope you all have a super Friday!!

Bev63

Aymee,

My daughter has been at A school/Hospital Corpsman since July. I saw your note about 'stuff' for their room. She noticed while marching to class that another class marching by had a kid in the last line carrying a Keurig coffee maker. Turns out the whole class chipped in for the machine and everyone brings their kcups w them to class. Her class thought that was an awesome idea and they now march to and from class w theirs! :)

Thanks Karin417...We are in the NE area near Boston so it'll be a long road trip to get it there. I know it'll make life allot easier for her. Is there an office he had to go thru to get a permit for parking? Or just the base sticker? She sent me the pool pics, so not far from where she is. Thanks again!

Son will be finishing up A School in Nov and starting Surg Tech C School.  He said he'll be allowed to have his car.  We live a couple of hours away, so it'll be easy getting it to him. Does anyone know about a holiday schedule?

Bev63 - I think our kids had PIR at the same time.  PIR 7/18

Yes Selah my daughter PIR was 7/18 !! They have come so far since then. She is very excited about C school but not about having to stay in SA for another 6 months. I think having her car will make all the difference. I hope the new C school barracks have less mold/meldew. She has developed a nasty cough that won't go away and they can't figure out why. Poor kid.

Karin, My hubby and neighbor will take a road trip down with the car so she won't be doing the drive. A retired SEAL and retired police Sargent should be able to stay out of trouble in route. lol Hopefully!!

That's a good question, Emily.  Other than the Navy Seabees doing construction, this article says that the 4,000 troops are primarily Army.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/10/15/u-s-mil...

Another question - does anyone have (or has had) a corpsman on USS Boxer?  

Oh wow Emily, I can only imagine your concerns.  I had heard about the possibility of IA's but nothing since, until now.  How long is his IA assignment to be, do you know yet? 

This is from a recent Associated Press article I read recently - last paragraph says that our troops would not be providing direct patient care.  

"With the addition of military personnel, administration officials said that the new U.S. initiatives aim to:

—Train as many as 500 health care workers a week. —Erect 17 heath care facilities in Liberia of 100 beds each.
—Set up a joint command headquartered in Monrovia, Liberia, to coordinate between U.S. and international relief efforts.
—Provide home health care kits to hundreds of thousands of households, including 50,000 that the U.S. Agency for International Development will deliver to Liberia this week.
—Carry out a home- and community-based campaign to train local populations on how to handle exposed patients.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the 3,000 troops would not provide direct care to Ebola patients. A substantial number of troops will be stationed at an intermediate base in Senegal, Earnest said, with others at locations in Liberia where they will provide logistical, training, engineering and other support."

Emily, a mother in my Zumba class told me her son was deploying from duty station NAS Pensacola.  He is also a corpsman.  Have a feeling that, due to his rank, he will probably be more supervisory if he is going on the same mission as your son. She was not sure where he was going.  I will ask her at class on Monday.   

I can only imagine your apprehension about his deployment.  Will keep you and your family in my prayers.  I know how scary it can be. 

I'm confident right alongside you!  And I'll be sending good thoughts and prayers to your son and his fellow corpsmen for sure.  I'm a sucker for a care package and always have a box on hand waiting to be filled so please let me know if it's possible to send things to them and their Marines! 

I'm impressed that he's been selected, it's quite an assignment and we'll be supporting him and YOU all the way till he comes home. 

Might as well start getting prepared then :)  The USPS will ship you a free "military pack" with a small assortment of boxes, tape and customs forms, call 800-610-8734; or go hardcore like me and order a case of 10 or 25 of the large (12x12x6 boxes (no tape or forms) at this link - USPS military priority flat rate boxes.

A couple of things come to mind as you prepare for deployment.  He'll need to do a Power of Attorney so that someone he trusts can keep an eye on and handle things in his absence, like his checking account, filing taxes etc.  File it with the bank as soon as it's done, because it takes their legal department up to two weeks to review and put in place.  

Here are some useful checklists and information - 

Single Sailor Deployment Checklist

Pre-Deployment Checklist for Family Members

Filing Taxes When a Service Member is Deployed 

Power of Attorney Basics from Military OneSource

Emily, this is scary stuff, I know....please join us on our group for moms with kids deployed to war zones....this would include those on this Ebola deployment as far as we are concerned! 

I saw an NBC news cast that interviewed a couple of people deploying , both were USN. Also expected to see more Seabees sent as well, but the Army is supplying the actual builders of those buildings, I guess.

Moms with Deployed kids...

Hi girls,  I am looking for some ideas for what to get my Corpsmen for his Birthday & Christmas.  I was looking at para-cord bracelets but don't know what regulations are for when he's working.  He works at a hospital and wears his NWU's.  Does anyone know what the regs may be?

Thanks so much!!

Once my sailors at A school will he have to spend Christmas there or can they come home for the holiday?

My son was in A school at Christmas in 2005 and he came home for Christmas. In fact, with this timing, he came home every Christmas for the 7 years he was in the Navy. Only once before Iraq deployment did he come home and it wasn't Christms holiday. Just the timing of it.