Anyone who is interested in having a birthday cake (or any type of celebration like graduation, passing a big test etc) should consider joining the Facebook group Birthday Wishes. This is a network of volunteers all over the United States who will deliver to your Sailor. The ladies who do the majority of the deliveries to Goose Creek are fellow Navy Moms and they are so wonderful! If your Sailor happens to be assigned to another area besides Goose Creek there are lists by state of those around the country who are available to make the deliveries. It made me so happy to have another Navy Mom there to give my son a hug and take him a cake in my place as he celebrated his first birthday away from home.
Nukelukesmom - thanks for sharing. I thought it was your son I was remembering, but couldn't scroll back far enough to find it. I am not on FB, so I wondered how you connected with someone. I will have to pass this on to my daughter or younger son who are on FB, maybe they can assist me.
Yes, Kristy on the FB group will do deliveries for birthdays or any packages you would like delivered. She has even helped with delivery of vehicles that have been transported. Once your sailor has completed PIR you can request to join the FB group. There's a number of us that belong to the group - you can send a PM and we can get you joined if you are interested.
I got a text from B at 3:46 this morning (CA time) and he had boarded his flight - finally he's getting back to VA. But then at 6:30 I got another text that they had to re-route the flight to Richmond, VA because there was too much fog to land in DC and they had to re-fuel. He wasn't too worried because his connecting flight had been delayed about an hour so he thought he would be ok still. Then at 7:15 I got another text, his connecting flight (DC to Norfolk) was cancelled so he said once they pull into a gate in Richmond to refuel he was getting off the plane and his roommate was going to pick him up! Thankfully his roommate doesn't have duty today and can make the drive - it's about 1 1/2 hours to Richmond vs 15 minutes to Norfolk. He said the airline is going to deliver his luggage to his house. What an adventure this has been!
Oh my word, B'sNuke, adventure indeed! Nightmare more like it. It has taken him almost a week to get home! Yikes! Kudos for his zen attitude. A lesser fellow would have had a stroke by now. I've traveled over the holidays many times and I never had that kind of trouble. I'm so sorry that happened to him but it looks like a light at the end of the tunnel.
B'sNukeMom, I'm so glad that he's almost there! Good heavens, a little snow and life comes to a grinding halt. It was very foggy here this morning also, made for a creepy pre-dawn drive to work. We have warm weather here (upper 50's) until Friday then it plunges down into the 20's again.
His roommate got him picked up - yay! He texted and they were shopping at the Publix lol. This is 2 Christmas's in a row that he's had trouble getting back to VA. Hopefully it's not setting a precedent!
Hallelujah! Good to know he's where he belongs. I'm sure he's not the only student who almost didn't make it back, or still have not arrived. I'm glad that ordeal is over. Now to hit the books!
Re: Nuke liberty time after PIR - to correspond with a comment I made on BC for Moms - My experience at PIR this summer where my expectations that my son would have liberty immediately following PIR were very much shattered as I waited inside & outside the NEX and then the chapel for about 6 hours, occasionally catching a glimpse of my sailor, trying to figure out what was going on. I make comments on BC for Mom because every rating has different circumstances and issues with shipping out the sailors to A school. I was told by an officer at RTC while waiting on my son (and there were Sub families also waiting) that because he was Nuke, sometimes they scrutinize their medical in their paper work more - because the doctors at MEPS don't always catch everything. There also seemed to be a new doctor at RTC as well. Why this seemed to be a last minute thing they were doing, I don't know, but that is the way it was, and it was better for me to just appreciate the fact that I was there and could wait for him. (this was also before the tickets, so our passes were different a little bit.) For almost the first time in my life, I submitted to the fact that I wasn't in control of the situation and I better just stay calm, and keep waiting. After all, I just wanted to get a hug from my son (he dashed off after PIR without giving me one to get this all done.) There are more details I am leaving out, but in the long run, it was better for him that he got everything taken care of and was able to fly out the next morning with others from his TG than to have to go back to THU and there are moms here whose sailors will tell you that is no fun.
So if it is a matter of a short time after PIR with your sailor and they get to fly out, or you get the weekend with them, but they are in THU for several weeks, I think your sailor would prefer to fly out and it is all about our kids. - Then there are those who have had no frustrating moments and everything goes according to plan. I just operate better if I know that my plan could very much be interrupted and not the way I want it to be. And I guess part of my staying active on this group and BC for Moms is to help those whose sailors fly out or go to GC to have a different perspective on what may or may not happen. Instead of thinking that what is written anywhere is a set in stone proclamation.
Welcome to our newest member ~ NukeManDad! Please be sure to read the pages to the right (11) under the member profiles and also take a look at the discussion forum above (hit "view all"). Don't let the fact that this is a mom's group scare you off - we don't bite! Jump right in and feel free to ask any questions you may have!
I just talked to B a little bit ago - as you know he made it back to VA yesterday but as of today his luggage still hasn't shown up :( The airlines is trying locate it - I had seen a post on FB that Norfolk airport was inundated with wayward luggage lol! I hope they find it since it has all his Christmas presents in it!
SantaBabs81 - that's so terrific that your Nuke got to go to his brother's wedding. I know my daughter is upset that her Nuke brother may not be able to make her wedding. Not sure if it's an issue because it's a destination wedding on an island so, out of the country. He put in for it but isn't hopeful. We were even thinking of streaming but he's not even sure that he will be able to be there at that specific time. She is getting married mid week as opposed to the usual weekend and he figures he may still be in class.
Haven't thought about the cardboard cut out but I like that idea. Can you share the how to for that so we can put the cut out into the pics.
SantaBabs81 - Thank you for sharing this great blessing and updating us on the positive outcome. Not every circumstance works out this way, as soccermom19 commented they are trying to get leave for her son as well, but sometimes those struggles can end up working out in the end.
B'sNukeMom - I will be praying for the lost to be found!! - That is B's luggage! Along with all the other wayward luggage to find its way back to its owner.
B'sNukeMom, holy cow, after all he had to go through and now missing luggage!! Hopefully they find it soon...I think I saw somewhere you said he was on Delta? I fly regularly for work, 99.9% of the time on Delta - over the years, the two times they "misplaced" my luggage they found it quickly and also had a courier bring it to where I was, didn't have to go back to the airport to retrieve it. One of those times I had a handmade quilt in my bag that was a gift from my stepmom so I was sweating it a little, but all arrived safe and sound!! Hoping for the same for B :)
SantaBabs81 - great picture and how fun was that ?!? ~ but again, even better that he was there :)
Pooh'sMom - BZ to your son! Is he able to get a 30 day leave?
bigsky21 - he was flying American and they did say they would courier it to him once they find it. I guess there's just so much "misplaced" luggage there from all the delays it could take a little time.
soccermom - we also did a cutout for a road trip we took back in 2014 and we used B's boot camp picture - we put it on a stick so we could carry it with us. Here's some of the pictures to give you an idea:
Welcome to our newest member ~ AZNuKeGma! I see on your page that your grandson is already in Power School - graduating in March. If there's anything we can help out with please don't hesitate to ask.
Hi! My son is in BC and has PIR feb 9. In his letter he said he will fly out next day and he might have 3 days leave before start but wasn’t sure...
question if it turns out he does and if I fly there will I get to spend time with him or will he be restricted to base? Obvisiously I’ll wait to hear from him for confirmation but need to look into rearranging my travel home if it works out that way.
Tracie - Maybe some others can chime in based on their experiences but I will share my son's. My son did not "class up" - start classes for almost a month once at GC. Until then he was INDOC (see pages to the right and also Nuke A school schedule - A sailor's perspective in the discussion above - there is more info added than what is in the pages and it explains phasing up.)
My son, along with a large group of others flew out early Sat morning and they had the weekend to acclimate to their living arrangements, figure out purchasing items at the mini- Nex, washing their dress clothes that they had to wear for two days (I think they have at least 2 dress uniforms). Your son will still be in Dress Blues so shoe polish stains won't show up as much as on my son's dress whites!! The ET's will have to get their stripes on their uniforms changed from fireman stripes to seaman stripes.
They will have some free time, but their weekend will be busy. And then Monday, they will be starting Indoc classes, and some of them will actually class up.
I guess how I looked at it, having 3 older children that went off to college, PIR and time at the airport was sort of like the parent's time at college weekend welcome, and once he got to GC (even though we could talk, and we were driving home) this was when he actually stepped into "college life" and started making friends, figuring out how to accomplish what needed to be done at GC without a Recruit Chief yelling at him and managing his time - even though it is still pretty spelled out for them. I just think if I had been in the area hanging around, it would have been more difficult for my son to acclimate to what he needed to do, and it would have just dragged out the good byes for me.
The next weekend was Labor Day, he had more time to call and was able to take liberty, catch the bus to Charleston with a free pass and go purchase his first computer!! - That was a late night trek as it turned out and he did not call me when he was back at NNPTC, and this momma was a praying mess until I actually heard from him the next morning!
Tracie, that is my experience, I think some families have driven down to see their sailors at GC after PIR, so hopefully they will chime in. Welcome to our group and be sure to read the pages, and ask questions.
Thank you so much for the Welcome here! I really appreciate it. I’m surprised I didn’t find this sooner since I did this same thing for his Navy boot camp a year ago.Really is very helpful to network. My profile pic is of my daughter (his mom) & our Nuke. Who is doing very well in School. He is about #5 of 28 in his class.Can I put his class #? Not sure. And he is the youngest Nuke at age 18. Will be 19 at the end of Jan. Very kind & humble as well. He will graduate Mar 9th. Onto prototype school hopefully in Ballston Spa. He wants a change of scenery. He should know soon. Not sure how that will look after graduation?
We visited him last summer in Charleston and he came home for Christmas. Is anyone here going to be at the graduation Mar 9th? Any additional info would help. Thank you again Shana :)
AZNuKeGma - my son did proto in Ballston Spa and really liked it - he didn't care for the heat/humidity in GC. He even handled the snow/cold just fine (he's a CA boy). We visited Ballston Spa twice while he was there - April and then January. It's a nice place. Our youngest visited him in August and was able to experience the horse racing at Saratoga. If your grandson does get BS for proto there is a group for that on here but it's not real active.
I got a text from B a little bit ago - still no luggage :( He's hoping maybe tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
Pooh'sMom - I have to laugh at your comment about the cutout (we called ours "Flat B") - my youngest kind of felt the same way that it was a little creepy lol! And this will creep you out - when we went to the Diamonback game in AZ we had Flat B with us and someone came up and said "I'm so sorry about your son, but that's nice that you have him with you." I was like, sorry, why? They thought he had passed. I assured them he was ok and this was our way of bringing him along. I even got stickers from places we visited and stuck them on the back as souvenirs. It was quite fun!
JayDee, I just checked and I'm on the Subs list, but just having been active since my son isn't there yet. I'll have some reading to do. He's currently in the Ballston Spa area.
Patti P, Your son likes being an ELT? Could you share the details?
B'sNukeMom, So nice that you got have stories to tell of the adventure!
My son has graduated Nuke school in Charleston, he is currently arriving in Groten for welding. May starts his sub life in Guam. I have several questions regarding car insurance, phone carriers and general life there. Would love any input from mom's or dad's that have sailor there.
Thanks
Good morning everyone!! My Nuke has given me so much information about graduation that I'm just drowning in all the details. No, wait, that's some alternate universe that I don't live in. Never mind.
In fact I have no idea what's happening or what month graduation may be for my Nuke. The only thing he mentioned at Christmas time was that things were going pretty good. He was doing sufficiently well to be on target for graduation. So if he had PIR August 25th and synced up at GC 2 weeks later for classes, about when should I be thinking graduation might be???
Actually I kind of thought that about just having the photo of my Nuke at the wedding because that is what is done sometimes if a member of the immediate family has passed. And the cutout seemed much more fun. But either way we want to have something there of him be it picture or cut out. It will just be getting it to the destination island that will be tricky. I suppose I can have it shipped.
NurseRenee - When he goes to Guam, suspend his American phone service until he comes back. Get him a local Guam cell phone service. Get Skype and Facebook Messenger installed on your home computer & cell phone. This will let you communicate for free. He will need transportation in Guam. The safety standards that we are used to in vehicles don't exist in Guam. They call the cars Guam Bombs. Feel free to send me a friend request if you want. :)
NurseRenee - You can also use an app called WhatsApp
This allows you to make a call to anyone on the planet for free. I use it all the time. I call Europe and Asia. Never had an issue. Plus this way your sailor does not have to use his/her personal Facebook account to message so better security I would think. You can text & picture message as well as video & voice calls. I really like it.
Soccermom19 - my son's PIR was 8/25 as well!. There were quite a few that flew out that Sat morning, so hopefully someone else will respond. My son is 1801-T, he did not actually class up until Oct 2, I believe it was. His original A school graduation was March 30th. Due to the snow, his understanding is they are just moving graduation back one week, versus them trying to do a lot of make up days on Saturday.
What rating is your son? Or class? Hopefully someone else will be able to assist. I have gathered from comments here that A school graduation is not as big of a deal as Power School, but I am hoping to travel to GC anyway with my youngest. Any of you that live in route from OKC to GC, I am planning to drive and we do some history stops along the way. I haven't started planning, but any suggestions are welcome!
NurseRenee - here's the link to the Guam group. It's not real active but you should join and start posting, maybe you can get some more answers there (and get the group active again!):
Chipmunk - My son is an ET. He was THU for about 4 days but then when he got to GC he classed up rather quickly. I thought it was in September. But he is last in line when it comes to communications. I know nothing unless it's on this site for moms. His rating is ET. I don't know what 1801-T is. I thought the nukes were either ET, EM, or MM. I would like to go if it's in March though. Was wondering how that works. Are the graduations on the weekend like PIR?
soccermom - ET's A school is 24 weeks so you can sort of figure it out from when he started. 1801-T is the class that Chipmunks son is in. Graduations are on Friday. He should know when graduation is - maybe you could just give him a little push to get you the info.
Hi B'sNukeMoM⚓️MM , so I went back into text message history and see saw a message stating he is starting classes on 9/25. So the 24th week ends 3/9, but that does not account for the leave for holidays which was from 12/16 through 1/2. So that's 2 weeks off. Do they tack that on to the end, so last day of the 24 weeks would be 3/23. Does that mean last day of classes or graduation day?
Nukelukesmom
Anyone who is interested in having a birthday cake (or any type of celebration like graduation, passing a big test etc) should consider joining the Facebook group Birthday Wishes. This is a network of volunteers all over the United States who will deliver to your Sailor. The ladies who do the majority of the deliveries to Goose Creek are fellow Navy Moms and they are so wonderful! If your Sailor happens to be assigned to another area besides Goose Creek there are lists by state of those around the country who are available to make the deliveries. It made me so happy to have another Navy Mom there to give my son a hug and take him a cake in my place as he celebrated his first birthday away from home.
Jan 9, 2018
Chipmunk
Nukelukesmom - thanks for sharing. I thought it was your son I was remembering, but couldn't scroll back far enough to find it. I am not on FB, so I wondered how you connected with someone. I will have to pass this on to my daughter or younger son who are on FB, maybe they can assist me.
Thanks Gmom!
Jan 9, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Hi all - Happy Tuesday!
Yes, Kristy on the FB group will do deliveries for birthdays or any packages you would like delivered. She has even helped with delivery of vehicles that have been transported. Once your sailor has completed PIR you can request to join the FB group. There's a number of us that belong to the group - you can send a PM and we can get you joined if you are interested.
Jan 9, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
I got a text from B at 3:46 this morning (CA time) and he had boarded his flight - finally he's getting back to VA. But then at 6:30 I got another text that they had to re-route the flight to Richmond, VA because there was too much fog to land in DC and they had to re-fuel. He wasn't too worried because his connecting flight had been delayed about an hour so he thought he would be ok still. Then at 7:15 I got another text, his connecting flight (DC to Norfolk) was cancelled so he said once they pull into a gate in Richmond to refuel he was getting off the plane and his roommate was going to pick him up! Thankfully his roommate doesn't have duty today and can make the drive - it's about 1 1/2 hours to Richmond vs 15 minutes to Norfolk. He said the airline is going to deliver his luggage to his house. What an adventure this has been!
Jan 9, 2018
NancyJo (NNPTC)
Oh my word, B'sNuke, adventure indeed! Nightmare more like it. It has taken him almost a week to get home! Yikes! Kudos for his zen attitude. A lesser fellow would have had a stroke by now. I've traveled over the holidays many times and I never had that kind of trouble. I'm so sorry that happened to him but it looks like a light at the end of the tunnel.
Jan 9, 2018
JayDee659
B'sNukeMom, I'm so glad that he's almost there! Good heavens, a little snow and life comes to a grinding halt. It was very foggy here this morning also, made for a creepy pre-dawn drive to work. We have warm weather here (upper 50's) until Friday then it plunges down into the 20's again.
Jan 9, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
His roommate got him picked up - yay! He texted and they were shopping at the Publix lol. This is 2 Christmas's in a row that he's had trouble getting back to VA. Hopefully it's not setting a precedent!
Jan 9, 2018
Chipmunk
B'sNuke Mom - So glad you have good news that B has boots on the ground where he belongs!!
Jan 9, 2018
NancyJo (NNPTC)
Hallelujah! Good to know he's where he belongs. I'm sure he's not the only student who almost didn't make it back, or still have not arrived. I'm glad that ordeal is over. Now to hit the books!
Jan 9, 2018
Chipmunk
Re: Nuke liberty time after PIR - to correspond with a comment I made on BC for Moms - My experience at PIR this summer where my expectations that my son would have liberty immediately following PIR were very much shattered as I waited inside & outside the NEX and then the chapel for about 6 hours, occasionally catching a glimpse of my sailor, trying to figure out what was going on. I make comments on BC for Mom because every rating has different circumstances and issues with shipping out the sailors to A school. I was told by an officer at RTC while waiting on my son (and there were Sub families also waiting) that because he was Nuke, sometimes they scrutinize their medical in their paper work more - because the doctors at MEPS don't always catch everything. There also seemed to be a new doctor at RTC as well. Why this seemed to be a last minute thing they were doing, I don't know, but that is the way it was, and it was better for me to just appreciate the fact that I was there and could wait for him. (this was also before the tickets, so our passes were different a little bit.) For almost the first time in my life, I submitted to the fact that I wasn't in control of the situation and I better just stay calm, and keep waiting. After all, I just wanted to get a hug from my son (he dashed off after PIR without giving me one to get this all done.) There are more details I am leaving out, but in the long run, it was better for him that he got everything taken care of and was able to fly out the next morning with others from his TG than to have to go back to THU and there are moms here whose sailors will tell you that is no fun.
So if it is a matter of a short time after PIR with your sailor and they get to fly out, or you get the weekend with them, but they are in THU for several weeks, I think your sailor would prefer to fly out and it is all about our kids. - Then there are those who have had no frustrating moments and everything goes according to plan. I just operate better if I know that my plan could very much be interrupted and not the way I want it to be. And I guess part of my staying active on this group and BC for Moms is to help those whose sailors fly out or go to GC to have a different perspective on what may or may not happen. Instead of thinking that what is written anywhere is a set in stone proclamation.
Jan 9, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Welcome to our newest member ~ NukeManDad! Please be sure to read the pages to the right (11) under the member profiles and also take a look at the discussion forum above (hit "view all"). Don't let the fact that this is a mom's group scare you off - we don't bite! Jump right in and feel free to ask any questions you may have!
Jan 9, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Hi all - Happy Wednesday!
Jan 10, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
SantaBabs81 - that is wonderful news! I'm sure everyone was so happy to have him there for the wedding ~ what a blessing indeed :)
Jan 10, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
I just talked to B a little bit ago - as you know he made it back to VA yesterday but as of today his luggage still hasn't shown up :( The airlines is trying locate it - I had seen a post on FB that Norfolk airport was inundated with wayward luggage lol! I hope they find it since it has all his Christmas presents in it!
Jan 10, 2018
soccermom19
SantaBabs81 - that's so terrific that your Nuke got to go to his brother's wedding. I know my daughter is upset that her Nuke brother may not be able to make her wedding. Not sure if it's an issue because it's a destination wedding on an island so, out of the country. He put in for it but isn't hopeful. We were even thinking of streaming but he's not even sure that he will be able to be there at that specific time. She is getting married mid week as opposed to the usual weekend and he figures he may still be in class.
Haven't thought about the cardboard cut out but I like that idea. Can you share the how to for that so we can put the cut out into the pics.
Jan 10, 2018
Chipmunk
SantaBabs81 - Thank you for sharing this great blessing and updating us on the positive outcome. Not every circumstance works out this way, as soccermom19 commented they are trying to get leave for her son as well, but sometimes those struggles can end up working out in the end.
Jan 10, 2018
Chipmunk
B'sNukeMom - I will be praying for the lost to be found!! - That is B's luggage! Along with all the other wayward luggage to find its way back to its owner.
Jan 10, 2018
bigsky21
B'sNukeMom, holy cow, after all he had to go through and now missing luggage!! Hopefully they find it soon...I think I saw somewhere you said he was on Delta? I fly regularly for work, 99.9% of the time on Delta - over the years, the two times they "misplaced" my luggage they found it quickly and also had a courier bring it to where I was, didn't have to go back to the airport to retrieve it. One of those times I had a handmade quilt in my bag that was a gift from my stepmom so I was sweating it a little, but all arrived safe and sound!! Hoping for the same for B :)
Jan 11, 2018
Pooh'sMom
I got the message! I have a QUALIFIED Engineering Laboratory Technician! YIPPEE!
Jan 11, 2018
bigsky21
Pooh'sMom, that's awesome! Congratulations :)
Jan 11, 2018
Pooh'sMom
bigsky21,
Thank-you! We are over-the-moon for him, and looking forward to him having some leave time before heading to a sub.
Jan 11, 2018
JayDee659
Pooh'sMom, congratulations! Do you know which sub he'll be heading to? It would be something if he ended up on a sub with my SIL.
Jan 11, 2018
Chipmunk
Pooh's Mom and fellow Oklahoman, congratulations on your son's qualifications!! I know you are very proud of him!
SantaBabs81 - thanks for sharing your picture. I was trying to explain this to my husband last night, so now I have a picture that I can show him!
Jan 11, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Hi all - Happy Almost Friday!
SantaBabs81 - great picture and how fun was that ?!? ~ but again, even better that he was there :)
Pooh'sMom - BZ to your son! Is he able to get a 30 day leave?
bigsky21 - he was flying American and they did say they would courier it to him once they find it. I guess there's just so much "misplaced" luggage there from all the delays it could take a little time.
Jan 11, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
soccermom - we also did a cutout for a road trip we took back in 2014 and we used B's boot camp picture - we put it on a stick so we could carry it with us. Here's some of the pictures to give you an idea:
we had a blast with him!
Jan 11, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Welcome to our newest member ~ AZNuKeGma! I see on your page that your grandson is already in Power School - graduating in March. If there's anything we can help out with please don't hesitate to ask.
Glad you found us :)
Jan 11, 2018
Tracie
Hi! My son is in BC and has PIR feb 9. In his letter he said he will fly out next day and he might have 3 days leave before start but wasn’t sure...
question if it turns out he does and if I fly there will I get to spend time with him or will he be restricted to base? Obvisiously I’ll wait to hear from him for confirmation but need to look into rearranging my travel home if it works out that way.
everything is so new and confusing to me ugh
Jan 11, 2018
Chipmunk
Tracie - Maybe some others can chime in based on their experiences but I will share my son's. My son did not "class up" - start classes for almost a month once at GC. Until then he was INDOC (see pages to the right and also Nuke A school schedule - A sailor's perspective in the discussion above - there is more info added than what is in the pages and it explains phasing up.)
My son, along with a large group of others flew out early Sat morning and they had the weekend to acclimate to their living arrangements, figure out purchasing items at the mini- Nex, washing their dress clothes that they had to wear for two days (I think they have at least 2 dress uniforms). Your son will still be in Dress Blues so shoe polish stains won't show up as much as on my son's dress whites!! The ET's will have to get their stripes on their uniforms changed from fireman stripes to seaman stripes.
They will have some free time, but their weekend will be busy. And then Monday, they will be starting Indoc classes, and some of them will actually class up.
I guess how I looked at it, having 3 older children that went off to college, PIR and time at the airport was sort of like the parent's time at college weekend welcome, and once he got to GC (even though we could talk, and we were driving home) this was when he actually stepped into "college life" and started making friends, figuring out how to accomplish what needed to be done at GC without a Recruit Chief yelling at him and managing his time - even though it is still pretty spelled out for them. I just think if I had been in the area hanging around, it would have been more difficult for my son to acclimate to what he needed to do, and it would have just dragged out the good byes for me.
The next weekend was Labor Day, he had more time to call and was able to take liberty, catch the bus to Charleston with a free pass and go purchase his first computer!! - That was a late night trek as it turned out and he did not call me when he was back at NNPTC, and this momma was a praying mess until I actually heard from him the next morning!
Tracie, that is my experience, I think some families have driven down to see their sailors at GC after PIR, so hopefully they will chime in. Welcome to our group and be sure to read the pages, and ask questions.
Jan 11, 2018
AZNuKeGma
Thank you so much for the Welcome here! I really appreciate it. I’m surprised I didn’t find this sooner since I did this same thing for his Navy boot camp a year ago.Really is very helpful to network. My profile pic is of my daughter (his mom) & our Nuke. Who is doing very well in School. He is about #5 of 28 in his class.Can I put his class #? Not sure. And he is the youngest Nuke at age 18. Will be 19 at the end of Jan. Very kind & humble as well. He will graduate Mar 9th. Onto prototype school hopefully in Ballston Spa. He wants a change of scenery. He should know soon. Not sure how that will look after graduation?
We visited him last summer in Charleston and he came home for Christmas. Is anyone here going to be at the graduation Mar 9th? Any additional info would help. Thank you again Shana :)
Jan 11, 2018
AZNuKeGma
Any fun ideas for Graduation day ie pictures etc?
Jan 11, 2018
Pooh'sMom
JayDee659,
Don't know yet which sub he will be headed to. Do they have pages for the individual subs? Here or Facebook? Where is your SIL?
SantaBabs81,
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the cut out of your Sailor! How FUN!
Chipmunk,
We are so very proud of him. I'm amazed at the strength of these young men and women.
B'sNukeMom,
We are hoping he gets his 30 leave and isn't a grad-n-go. Fingers crossed, toes-crossed, eyes-crossed! LOL!
I love the cut out! I put my son's photo of the table at Thanksgiving and his 30 year old brother told me it was creepy. LOL! I wanted him to join us!
It's almost FRIDAY!
Jan 11, 2018
JayDee659
Poohs mom they do have groups for the subs on N4M. My SIL is on the Albany.
Jan 11, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
AZNuKeGma - my son did proto in Ballston Spa and really liked it - he didn't care for the heat/humidity in GC. He even handled the snow/cold just fine (he's a CA boy). We visited Ballston Spa twice while he was there - April and then January. It's a nice place. Our youngest visited him in August and was able to experience the horse racing at Saratoga. If your grandson does get BS for proto there is a group for that on here but it's not real active.
I got a text from B a little bit ago - still no luggage :( He's hoping maybe tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
Pooh'sMom - I have to laugh at your comment about the cutout (we called ours "Flat B") - my youngest kind of felt the same way that it was a little creepy lol! And this will creep you out - when we went to the Diamonback game in AZ we had Flat B with us and someone came up and said "I'm so sorry about your son, but that's nice that you have him with you." I was like, sorry, why? They thought he had passed. I assured them he was ok and this was our way of bringing him along. I even got stickers from places we visited and stuck them on the back as souvenirs. It was quite fun!
Jan 11, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
And Welcome Tracie to the group!
Jan 11, 2018
Pooh'sMom
JayDee,
I just checked and I'm on the Subs list, but just having been active since my son isn't there yet. I'll have some reading to do. He's currently in the Ballston Spa area.
Patti P,
Your son likes being an ELT? Could you share the details?
B'sNukeMom,
So nice that you got have stories to tell of the adventure!
Jan 11, 2018
Tracie
Chipmunk: well that makes perfect sense to me! Thanks so much for giving me a different perspective. And for the welcome
Jan 12, 2018
Chipmunk
Tracie, you are welcome!!
AZNuKeGma - Welcome to our group. I am glad you found us!
Jan 12, 2018
nurserenee
Thanks
Jan 12, 2018
soccermom19
Good morning everyone!! My Nuke has given me so much information about graduation that I'm just drowning in all the details. No, wait, that's some alternate universe that I don't live in. Never mind.
In fact I have no idea what's happening or what month graduation may be for my Nuke. The only thing he mentioned at Christmas time was that things were going pretty good. He was doing sufficiently well to be on target for graduation. So if he had PIR August 25th and synced up at GC 2 weeks later for classes, about when should I be thinking graduation might be???
Have a good one everybody!!
Jan 12, 2018
soccermom19
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MM - so funny!!! I like the sticker idea.
Actually I kind of thought that about just having the photo of my Nuke at the wedding because that is what is done sometimes if a member of the immediate family has passed. And the cutout seemed much more fun. But either way we want to have something there of him be it picture or cut out. It will just be getting it to the destination island that will be tricky. I suppose I can have it shipped.
Jan 12, 2018
Tx Mom of Far Away Nuke
NurseRenee - When he goes to Guam, suspend his American phone service until he comes back. Get him a local Guam cell phone service. Get Skype and Facebook Messenger installed on your home computer & cell phone. This will let you communicate for free. He will need transportation in Guam. The safety standards that we are used to in vehicles don't exist in Guam. They call the cars Guam Bombs. Feel free to send me a friend request if you want. :)
Jan 12, 2018
soccermom19
NurseRenee - You can also use an app called WhatsApp
This allows you to make a call to anyone on the planet for free. I use it all the time. I call Europe and Asia. Never had an issue. Plus this way your sailor does not have to use his/her personal Facebook account to message so better security I would think. You can text & picture message as well as video & voice calls. I really like it.
Jan 12, 2018
Chipmunk
Soccermom19 - my son's PIR was 8/25 as well!. There were quite a few that flew out that Sat morning, so hopefully someone else will respond. My son is 1801-T, he did not actually class up until Oct 2, I believe it was. His original A school graduation was March 30th. Due to the snow, his understanding is they are just moving graduation back one week, versus them trying to do a lot of make up days on Saturday.
What rating is your son? Or class? Hopefully someone else will be able to assist. I have gathered from comments here that A school graduation is not as big of a deal as Power School, but I am hoping to travel to GC anyway with my youngest. Any of you that live in route from OKC to GC, I am planning to drive and we do some history stops along the way. I haven't started planning, but any suggestions are welcome!
Jan 12, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Hi all - Happy Friday!
NurseRenee - here's the link to the Guam group. It's not real active but you should join and start posting, maybe you can get some more answers there (and get the group active again!):
http://navyformoms.ning.com/group/guammoms
Soccermom - we had a lot of fun with Flat B. We took him on all sorts of trips with us and he was able to attend family functions too lol!
We also used WhatsApp - definitely recommend it.
Jan 12, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
I've got my RED on :)
Jan 12, 2018
soccermom19
Chipmunk - My son is an ET. He was THU for about 4 days but then when he got to GC he classed up rather quickly. I thought it was in September. But he is last in line when it comes to communications. I know nothing unless it's on this site for moms. His rating is ET. I don't know what 1801-T is. I thought the nukes were either ET, EM, or MM. I would like to go if it's in March though. Was wondering how that works. Are the graduations on the weekend like PIR?
Jan 12, 2018
soccermom19
I plan on wearing my red today. Just gotta get going and get dressed. :-)
Jan 12, 2018
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
soccermom - ET's A school is 24 weeks so you can sort of figure it out from when he started. 1801-T is the class that Chipmunks son is in. Graduations are on Friday. He should know when graduation is - maybe you could just give him a little push to get you the info.
Jan 12, 2018
JayDee659
We've gotten quite a bit of icy rain so I'm taking a snow day today. I'm wearing my red pajama pants and matching shirt!
Jan 12, 2018
soccermom19
Hi B'sNukeMoM⚓️MM , so I went back into text message history and see saw a message stating he is starting classes on 9/25. So the 24th week ends 3/9, but that does not account for the leave for holidays which was from 12/16 through 1/2. So that's 2 weeks off. Do they tack that on to the end, so last day of the 24 weeks would be 3/23. Does that mean last day of classes or graduation day?
Jan 12, 2018