NUKE moms

Good morning Everyone and like Chipmunk - I'm wishing all Mom's and Grandma's an early Happy Mother's Day!

I follow along and try to keep up on the posts here.  I feel like I "know" many of you by keeping up on the chatter.  Wish I had a better opportunity to get on and be more involved in posts, but please know how much I learn and appreciate all the love, support and information you all provide.  Really this has been an incredible place for me to feel like I'm not the only one...

Today is a little emotional for me as it is my sailors birthday.  I looked through pictures last night and it feels as if were just yesterday that he was so little.  Tears as I am missing him so much.  This is a tough week for him.  Finishing up his ICE labs today, and studying this weekend for his comp exam on Monday.  He's in my prayers.

Thank you all again for sharing your pictures, encouragements, knowledge, thoughts and every day life.  I appreciate it so much.  Wishing a Happy Day to this amazing group!  

KayCee- happy birthing day to you!! Sometimes we tend to forget this was a special day for us moms too!! So smile cuz today a few years back you made a difference by giving birth to a very incredible child!!!! Hope you have a great day also!

and happy birthday to your sailor!

KayCee - Happy Birthday to your Sailor!  And I like what Ceej0347 said - Happy Birthing Day to you ;-D

Don't forget to wear your RED tomorrow!

I wanted to wish everyone an early Happy mother's day since this will be a busy weekend for everyone.  Im.praying for those who have their comps. Such a stressful time. My son always told me not to expect him to pass, but he always did. I guess that was just his fear.

I also wanted to say that I got a very good report at my oncology appt. I'm still on what they call."watch and wait", and he thinks it will be that way for awhile.  Im very thankful and even though I'm tired a lot, this diagnosis has made me see every day as a blessing. 

I also wanted to say that my sailor is doing better,  and is in the process of re-inlisting. He is finished washing dishes and is studying hard to qualify. It is definitely a process. I will get to see him memorial day weekend! He was able to move out of the barracks and into.an apt. We are taking him up.some of his belongings. I can't wait to see him.

 Have a great weekend everyone.  

I love reading all of your posts and so appreciate all of the support on this sight!

I was just getting ready to leave the office and I saw your post Rebecca J - so glad you got a good report from your doctor!  That's wonderful news ;-D

I'm glad to hear things are better for your sailor too.  Memorial Day can't get here soon enough, right?!?

NancyJo: I admire your strength at this time of your children losing their father. Between your daughter's reaction, and your son family moving across country, you are the pillar of your family.

CoTwin: I like hearing about your AK nuke's adventures. I remember the photos you posted of the village where he lives. The climbing photos are amazing. Sometimes one must step away from our hectic culture to reconnect with themselves and the beautiful world around us. I like that in a person. I hope you hear from your other twin soon.

NancyJo, He did not go off grid at the last minute. He fell in love with the last town he went to. He was going to look at land off grid, but bought a little house right in town. I was so relieved. I think he realized he was not all that wanting to go off grid after all. I am glad he had made lots of friends. 

Happy Friday!

For some reason I was ok with my son being gone for Christmas and his birthday.  But I feel super sad about him being gone for Mother's day.  Mother's day has never even been about me around here! It has been about my mother and grandmother.  It is just so strange.

I want to thank everyone for their advice about going to A school graduation in September - I have decided we will visit him in July and also go to his graduation!  I found cheap airfare from Detroit to Myrtle beach - so about an hour from home and then 2 hours to him driving from what I can tell.

Have a great mothers day everyone and a lovely weekend :)

Hugs to you kai cat - it sure doesn't get any easier lol!  On a happier note, glad to hear that you'll be visiting in July in addition to A school graduation.  Gives you something to look forward too ;-D

How do the Nuke Graduations work? Do they have a separate graduation each step of the way? Will my son have a graduation after Nuc.Field School? Nuc. Power school, and Power training exc... Just trying to plan our visits exc. Thank you!

Mona - there are 3 graduations - A school, Power school and Prototype.  But, prototype graduation is not always a guarantee.  My son did prototype in Ballston Spa, NY and he had a graduation.  Sometimes depending on what's going on they may not have a graduation ceremony.  And Prototype tends to get delayed quite often....A school and Power school grads pretty much hold their dates (unless a hurricane hits!).

Oh and there is a chance they could go to ELT school after prototype - but that's only for MM's.

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

Thank you for clarifying that for me. So from what I understand my son is now in A school. He mentioned he will have some time off around October. I am guessing that's because he will be graduating A school at that time and preparing for power school.? How much notice to they give families about graduation dates, ceremony times?

A school graduation date is already set. You can track the schedule by your sailor's class.

A school graduation information will come from your sailor and he or she will need to make sure your name is on the security list.

Power School graduation you'll receive a formal invitation and to do that your sailor will have to provide your name and address. You are not suppose to get into the graduation without the invitation. You'll also need your photo id and be prepared with insurance and registration of any vehicle you drive onto the base.

I'm told that Prototype graduation is also very casual, especially if it's at BS which is where our sailor is now.

They did move the graduation date of Prototype which I understand is flexible.

Welcome to our newest member ~ beachlover0214!

Be sure to read the ***NEW MEMBERS*** info at the top of the page - lots of good info there and to the right.  And of course, feel free to ask any questions you may have!

Ok Thanks again! Happy Early Mothers day to all the Nuke Moms out there!

Mona I had about a months notice on A school graduation. Power school was known much earlier but I didn't get my invitation until about 3 weeks out. Prototype was a moving target and some of the class didn't have all their sign offs but they walked them anyway, then sent them back to the plant!

Happy Mothers Day to all you moms out here. This onw my son made us PROUD. 

Is there a.way to figure out A school graduation? 

I found the below attachment that shows schedule by class.

You need to be creative in understanding the lingo but it's as accurate as it can be.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Nuke Moms. I could not have made it this far without all of you.

I am going to stay busy by starting my vegetable garden this weekend. Mr. Buzzbeck did the tillage, and I am getting my starts from the Master Gardeners Sale. And hopeful get a text or a call on Sunday from my nuke!

Looking for some info from nuke mom who's sailor also did the welding? Thank you.

Fingers crossed for my sailor who at this moment is in the middle of comp....talked to him last night and he didn't sound too stressed about it :) Looking forward to A school graduation this Friday!

Hi all - Happy Monday!

bigsky21 - he's got this!!!

CSW - I'm sure you'll hear from someone regarding the welding school.

Buzzbeck - how did the garden go?  Did you get it started?

I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day. My youngest & I went by our local park yesterday - they are doing an "Art Float".  Something like 300 painted balls floating in the lake - pretty cool.  Then we headed to my mom's to finish cleaning out the garage ~ it's almost done!  Then out to the new house to offload everything and out to dinner with her.  My husband was bummed because he got called in to work and wasn't able to join us.  Got to talk to B too so it was a nice day ;-D

Ok my super smart nuke moms! I have 2 questions for you:

1. My son thinks that right after A school grad he will be able to get a week off and leave to fly  home on the Friday of graduation.  He already has the date the next powerschool starts and it is about 7 weeks after A school grad.  Will he have trouble getting this time off?

2. He was telling me about Powerschool (I was pretending to understand! LOL) but - it is confusing to me.  Right now he is in a very small class with ONLY ET's.  But then he said like 300 or so people do powerschool at the same time but they break up into small classes/groups.  But that in PS they mix up all the MM, EM and ET into the same class, so in his class of 30 people there might be 10 mm's, 10 et's, and 10 em's.  Is this right? (LOL - DId I understand it correctly?)

Thanks ladies you are all so Awesome!!

B'sNukeMom, I love the painted balls!  What a neat idea.  Sounds like you had a great Mother's Day, too bad your hubby had to work :(

My oldest daughter surprised me by coming home.  She got to the house while we were out on Saturday and hid in a dog crate. I thought that the dog had opened it herself (she can) and when I went to let out the other two, my daughter started barking from the third.  Scared the heck out of me but I was so excited to see her!

My Nuke is at sea but I got a little email from her late Saturday night.  I replied immediately but of course, got no answer.  Still don't understand how the ships email works but it's darn near impossible to go back and forth.  My Nuke-in-Law text me on Sunday as did my oldest daughter's boyfriend.  Good men. :)

JayDee659 - That is so FUNNY!!  

My youngest sister lives in Korea right now teaching English and last week she was like "You're sure your going to be home all day Thursday?"  I was really hoping she was going to come home for a visit and surprise me like that - but she sent mother's day flowers - which I loved - but I would have loved her more!

Kai Cat:  My son graduates A school this Friday and already has requested leave.  He was told he should take leave as he might not have opportunity later on.  He also was told Power School would start sometime in July, but did not provide any other details.  

kai cat, my son is also taking his leave right after graduation - he has 10 days. Even though power school doesn't start until July they have to be back on base.

Welcome to our newest member ~ Nursemom!  I see you've already jumped right in with a discussion above!  Be sure to read the ***NEW MEMBERS*** info above too!

Kai Cat: in Power School they do have about 300 kids - but break them up into sections - While all the rate (EM, MM, ET) all do power school together - each section is just one rate - so a section will be all EM or MM or ET but all the sections are in power school at the same time and graduate together. I hope this helps. My Son said his Power school section had some of the same kids from his A-school and some different but all were the same rate.

JayDee - that's too funny!  What a nice surprise from your oldest daughter ;-D Yep, those emails from the ship are always hard to figure out.....it's like they are online and then poof they are gone.  I had my phone set up to give me a special alert when B would email but the problem was sometimes the ships would hold the emails and they would all be sent out together - could be hours (or days) later. You just never know.

kai cat - it will depend on how many are asking for time off.  Have him put in his leave chit ASAP.  

Kai Cat - just to echo Siodhachan - They all have the same class number for PS, but divided by sections and each section has the same rate, per my son who just classed up for PS last week. He is in a section with some of his mates from A school, and some from his T-Track section and others from other A school classes.

As for leave time your sailor should be getting information first hand from his SLPO as to what their particular class will be given. My son had his leave time combined with Christmas so they were only given a 3 day liberty after A school, but most of the recent classes after his A school have had a 10 day leave, I believe.

Another new member ~ Welcome to Mama Lion!

Be sure to read the ***NEW MEMBERS*** info up above, and of course, feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Fun new cell phone case :)

anyone with Sailors in 1807-T...they all passed comp!! No fails :)

Congratulations to 1807 - T sailors, way to go!!!!

bigsky21 - one of my friend's son is in the same class. Hopefully, she will chime in or friend you. I will send her a message. 

TahoeZephyr - I love the phone case!! Let me know where you found it.

Hawkeye Nuk - Glad to see you chiming in. Is your son an ET in class 1807-T? If so, be sure to connect with bigsky21.

5/18 A school graduates should have a little more leave time than my son did, but I believe they will still do T-track. So be sure to read my more recent post in Nuke A school daily schedule - sailor's perspective - the discussion link.

Welcome aboard Nursemom & Mama Lion - be sure to share a little of where you are at on your Navy journey here with us and about your sailor. Hopefully those with similar paths for their sailors will friend you and take you under their wing.

My son is currently at GC (Goose Creek, SC), and just started Power School the end of last week. Yesterday should have been his first new intense day of studies as an ETN3. "ETN means electronics technician Nuclear, while the 3 means petty officer 3rd class." His clarification for me.  

I know we have some members who are waiting on "I'm a sailor" calls to come in from GL. Hang in there and all the best to your and your families, safe travels for everyone whether headed to IL or SC!

Good morning Everyone!  

bigsky21 - yes, my son is 1807-T and I will be at graduation on Friday!! Hoping my son gives me some details. 

Chipmunk - thank you!! bigsky21 shared the photo of the class before the Dash for Cash awhile back, so we are already friends :)

Hawkeye Nuk - Yes, let us know what class your son is in. 

Chipmunk - I found the cell phone case online at casegorilla.com.  They have a number of designs available :)

Skin-it also has some cool Navy cases.  Mine has an aircraft carrier on it (happens to be the Ronald Reagan).  

KayCee - I forgot about the picture! Glad you connected. The sailors should have their final instructions on Thur. Mine called me that afternoon while I was still driving to give me the lowdown and I asked him to email it to me!!

JayDee659 and TahoeZephyr - thanks for links!