NUKE moms

Kai cat, we went with the smiling one!

Big Kid has classed up and is starting Power School tomorrow. He sounds confident and is ready to start the next phase. His projected grad date is 2 days before Boy #2 leaves to go to MEPS and off to BC. I will definitely be needing the tissues that weekend.

And regarding the pictures - the smiling one :)

3B'smom - Those darn naval "allergies" :)

My son who is waiting to class up for ET - got his roomate who is an MM and will be finishing his A school in a few weeks.  I just thought they would put all the young adults in rooms with the same class and grad date?  What did your kids have?

THanks

Kaicat my daughters room mate when she got to GC was in Power School. It's the only roommate she had the entire time she was there. You just never know. 

Kai cat, when my son arrived at GC his roommate was already in Power School and they were like ships passing in the night even though they were the same rate (MM). Since his roommate left for Prototype in January he has had no roommate.

Just wait till they are out in the fleet. I just had to write 6 months worth of letters that I mailed to the boats Obundsman. Also now shoe box sized care package. Not much fits in that size. All have to be on the boat before they deploy for 6 months. I tell you, by letter 11, I was pretty much out of things to say. Had to take a break before I could resume. I sure will miss him. He sent a pretty cool video of dolphins racing the boat when they were coming into port. 

Kai Cat - I liked the smiling one, but the serious one is still a good picture.

I was under the impression that they usually put similar ratings together but I am sure it also depends on what beds are available. My son's roommate was already several months into A school when my son arrived at GC. Sometimes they are ships passing in the night, but they seem to get along well.

kai cat - my sailor is in A school and has had 2 roommates since being there. 

oh, and definitely smiling.

3Bsmom, good luck to your sailor, with that kind of attitude he will do well in Power School.

Upon arrival at GC, our sailor's roommate was a higher ranking petty officer whom he rarely saw. When he shipped out, no replacement.

CO-twin: How does the mail work on a sub, are they given a letter once a week? And the shoebox sized package is given 1/2 way through deployment?

I liked the serious photo best.

CO-twin - Are you able to send letters from other friends and family members as well?  When my son was at BC, I had shared his address with others and it helped to relieve the burden from me trying to come up with something new all the time to share with him or encourage him.

Hi all - Happy Monday!

I liked the smiling picture better but my son chose the more serious one.  I guess I couldn't complain since he bought them lol!

Good luck to everyone starting up new classes today whether it be A school, Power school or Prototype.  Onward & upward!

3B'smom - that will definitely be an emotional weekend!

Welcome to our newest member ~ Annag17! (In honor of the cows!)

Please be sure to read the ***NEW MEMBERS*** info at the top of the page and of course, feel free to ask any questions you may have!

Good morning Everyone - Happy Monday!

kai cat - my son in an ET and when he arrived in GC he was roomed with another ET who was several weeks ahead in class.  Also, like B'sNukeMoM, my son chose the serious photo - and he a paid for them as well :)

I appreciate that the world goes round with all kind of folks with all different ways about them, but having grown up taking care of cows I don't have near the love that some of you have. Too much herding, shoveling, and smelling from my youth. However, I do wish I had cow eyelashes. ;)

Regarding mail on subs - at least fast-attack. When they are on deployment there is an FPO address, but they only get mail when they come into port, and only if/when it catches up to them. We were instructed to keep the FPO address in the family.

They periodically come to periscope depth to exchage message traffic, which may include email on a space-available basis. Unfortunately, our submariner doesn't email much. 

Kai cat - my son just got a roommate and suite mates this weekend.  He has been solo since he arrived.  I forgot to ask. Mine is one of those non communicative sailors.. (heavy sigh).  I will let you know later this week when he calls

The picture - sailor likes the serious one.  I like both. It depends on the day.  They show two different sides of my sailor.  To quote my sailor "Mom I ordered the smiling picture because I know how much you like pictures but full disclosure, I bought a serious one for me"

My MM arrived at GC in July, and was roomed with an ET, in power school. His roommate was gone Thursday that same week. He didn’t have another roommate until the day he left on leave in December. His new roommate is also an ET. 

I don’t post much, but I do read everything. I really appreciate all of you, and the information you pass on. Like many others here, my son is very uncommunicative, and I’m thankful to you all for keeping us informed. 

Fabulous weekend with my sailor at A school graduation in GC. If any moms could not go and are in 1749-T or 1808-A classes let me know.  I have lots of photos but can not upload any photos on this site for some reason :(  If any of you are on the Nukemom FB site they are uploaded on it.  

Now i got it! Proud Parents!

proudNukemom - great picture!  And you are ROCKING your RED!!!! (I saw them on FB - nice pictures!)

Proudnukemom- Congratulations!! I am on Nuke Moms Facebook site and saw your pictures!! Looks like you all had an awesome time!! I can't wait. My son graduates A school May 25th. I'm so looking forward to going down to see him and meet his friends!! (1809T) 

My son ordered the smiling photograph for me but he also ordered one serious picture for himself. The smiling picture was my favorite!

When my son arrived at GC he didn't have a roommate for a couple of weeks. Once he did get a roommate the sailor was a MM like my son. According to my son they very rarely see each other.

My Nuke ordered smiling pictures and frames for me but my Corpsman ordered non-smiling and a really cool shadowbox. 

NNLori, B'sNukeMoM⚓️MM, Thanks so much!  and yes i had to wear red, it was R.E.D. day! 

Oh, and my son chose the serious picture. 

My son has a room mate the same rate as him (ET) he is about 2 months ahead of my son and was supposed to graduate A school last Friday but he didn't pass his comps. He takes them again this Friday. Hopefully he will pass and move on to power school!! 

My son chose the serious pose - the smiling one was nice too, but I was just amazed that he had already taken care of ordering photos himself!! My first clue that the boy going in was a different man coming out....

CO-twin - I would LOVE to see the video of dolphins racing the boat.  I think it is so awesome that your son thought of you enough to send you such an awesome video!  I hope my son does it when his time comes!

DesertRose - It just made me laugh to hear what your son said about ordering the serious picture for himself! LOL :) I tried to get my son to tell me what his favorite one was and he said "I don't care" but then I said (all by text message) "no tell me" and then he replied "I guess the smiling" (but he only choose smiling as his favorite because he knows I only like the smiling ones!)

Rebecca J - Are you back yet from the USS COLORADO? I am just waiting to hear how it went!

proudNukemom  - I just saw your photo! How wonderful!

I just have to say that I think all of us have very handsome kids! (I haven't even seen any of your kids except this photo yet - but I am sure of this!)

They all just look so good in their uniform!!

Hi! My son will be headed to Goose Creek after graduation on 4/6/2018. I am trying to find out what he will need? Do we need to purchase sheets and bedding? If so is it a regular twin bed? Any advise for a soon to be Nuke mom? Thanks in advance. :)

Mona - Your son will be graduating BC, the day my son is to be graduating A school!!

You do not need to buy sheets. They will be provided those.

As for information, be sure to read through the pages to the right, they explain various aspec

ts of Nuke life. Also my discussion,

Nuke A school daily schedule - sailor's perspective

has additional information in it besides what is in the page to the right.

Also this discussion includes the address:AA Sailors Needs for A school Sailors Needs for A school

and items that a sailor had asked for, but a lot of those may be purchased at the mini NEX.

If he is MM or EM - he is FN (fireman) , if ET then SN (seaman) for addressing mail.

Got to scoot but ask if need more help and others will answer I am sure.

Here's a quick rundown of the time frame for nuke school:

A School - MM - 14 weeks, EM and ET - 24 weeks (in Goose Creek only)

Power School - 24 weeks (in Goose Creek only)

Prototype - 24 weeks (either in Goose Creek or Ballston Spa, NY).  When they get to prototype they will have to move off base and they get BAH (housing allowance).

ELT School - after prototype (only for MM's - if selected) - 13 weeks

Welder  - after prototype (only for subs - if selected) - 13 weeks

Mona - Hello!  My son just got to GC last week!   These were the only things he wanted:

Tennis Shoes

Socks

Underwear

Cell Phone

Laptop

Sunglasses

They provide the other stuff, he said the mattress on the top bunk is too high to add a mattress pad to and he says the sheets are fine.

The only other thing he wants is a TV and his playstation 4, but he says he wants to wait until he classes up before we send that to him.

Did you all still send written letters to your Sailors when they were at GC?

Kai: mine says he misses the mail aspect a bit but has little time to write anyhow.  I think he'd enjoy a package or two but no guartentee that he'd get it based on his schedule.

My son prefers not to get mail. He doesn't want extra clutter, and neatness is not something that comes naturally to him!

Kai Cat - That is a good concise list - Definitely their favorite tennis shoes. And both white and black socks.

Re: letters - I have gone back to emailing my son, texting, or we have usual phone conversations at designated times and he usually skypes with his younger brother on Saturdays.

Mammagoose - they can get mail and packages, but it is difficult for them to go get them, so I try to mail my pkgs so they arrive on Thur or Friday when he can pick them up in the mail room. I believe it is open until noon on Saturday.

I have also mailed him items from other companies that will ship for free.

I send a package about every month or so. It usually contains consumables, so clutter isn’t really an issue. I do send cards occasionally. He does not write. Texts are very brief, and usually only in response to something I have sent. But I do get a long FaceTime conversation about every week to 10 days. It is usually at a time that is not very convenient, but I have learned that when he calls whatever I’m doing will have to wait.

ProudNukemom - Awesome picture!  Congratulations to your son.  

Bigsky21 - I totally understand what you mean about your son being a different man coming out of boot camp.  My son was not big on the mushy stuff and now he tells me every time we talk he loves me and thanks me often.  It warms my heart.  Also, when I offer to send him stuff, he tells me not to worry about it, he can get it himself!  A complete 180 from before boot camp.

Kai cat - that's great.  Gotta love boys who want to make their moms happy!

Co-twinsailorsMom - oh my goodness! And here I was relieved that my boot camp letter writing days were over.  Boy how naive is that!!   

Oh almost forgot, I briefly spoke to my sailor today and asked about the roommates.  They are all the same rate, including his suitemates.  He said they try to group the rates together when possible.

Mona - welcome to the group!!  The mom's here are the bomb!  As far as your sailors needs in GC... Chipmunk and Kai cat pretty much covered it.  My sailor preferred to buy his own stuff at the mini NEX.

Letters - I have not sent letters to GC.  We text or call.  I have sent a few packages but I need to step up my game. He has a test tomorrow and is stressing out about it.  He receive a care package from his church youth group today and it really brightened his day.  

WLH, thank you.

Both my husband and I wrote regularly to our sailor while be was in GC.  Sometimes I sent small boxes of cookies or smoked salmon and local cheese. The small boxes from the post office were perfect sized, they cost about $7 to mail no matter the weight or distance. I followed B'snuke suggestion, kept a stack of them in my vehicle with tape, ready to send any time.

When he was in A School and PS and living on base, the mail room would sometimes get lazy about searching for large boxes I sent. So I taped them with bright colored duck tape, so my sailor could describe the box color. This worked. 

Ladies with all this talk about mail I thought I'd mention that my daughter always told me to send any packages UPS and to give her the tracking number.  She found that she had an easier time picking up the package when she could give them the tracking number.  We had very bad luck with packages send USPS.  My daughter sent me a gift via USPS and it never appeared.  She had a tracking number and they still couldn't figure it out.  She eventually had to demand the money from the insurance.  It just seems that the mail is not so reliable in Goose Creek, either on or off the base.

Rebecca, I'm so glad that you got to go to that, sounds like it was an incredible experience.  I will say that experiencing your child's ship/sub makes all the difference.  It somehow makes it easier when you can picture where they are and what their surroundings are.  I was fortunate enough to spend a few days on my daughters carrier for a Tiger Cruise.  That experience gave me a whole new perspective. Now when she calls and says "oh that hall that we take, or the rack in the next 6 pack" I can picture it and her and it just makes me feel much better.

As for being a NUB it's all part of the life.  My daughter was relieved to finally be qualified at something and those "somethings" grew quickly.  I'm sure he'll bond with the crew and be part of the team in no time.  My daughter isn't super social and it has surprised me how quickly she's bonded with her shipmates.

kai cat - I agree with what has already been said.  My sailor prefers emails and texts, so once he got back his phone and laptop, he really preferred communicating that way.  Although he has said many times he just doesn't have time to communicate.  He does like getting a package now and then, so I just ask him, what can I get you that you can't get there and he asks for snacks - mostly protein bars.  He asked for some sheet music too.  He plays piano and apparently there is one there so on occasion he plays.

Happy 1st day of spring!

RebeccaJ - so glad you had a good time at the commissioning.  I did see some pictures online and yes, it did look cold!

B took us on a tour of the Truman during one of our visits to VA and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  Even though it's a large carrier I still can't believe how small some of the areas are.  With that being said I just couldn't imagine being on a sub!