Chipmunk - thanks for all of that. We will just take it day by day once he hits school. His girlfriend leaves for BC (also navy) a week after him - then she'll be in school for cryptology. It will be hard on them - though at least if they happen to have some similar free weekends, they can meet in the middle occasionally while in school. (5 hours of drive time will be between them).
Tammybiker - Navy married life is hard. Just some info, if two sailors are married, they will likely have to be offset of each other when it comes to shore duty and sea duty, because two of them cannot be out to sea at the same time.
tammybikerunfaithlove - I will do my best soon to send you a message with all that I have learned from my two sailors and their navigation to married life while in the Navy.
JayDee659 & NancyJo - How are you all doing? How are the kids / sailor - I am working on deleting old emails and found a post from around Christmas time.
Hey all! I'm looking for some guidance and advice. My son is returning from a six month deployment. My mom is in rapidly declining health and I need to let him know that we are putting her in hospice care in the next few days. Do I need to contact the Red Cross to do that? Should I give his wife a head's up about what's going on? Any advice is appreciated.
PacNWmom - personally I always figure the most direct route to communication is the best. So, yes, I would contact your DIL, as well if possible to let your son know. Then I would also contact American Red Cross, because I believe for your son to actually be able to get a leave chit approved, it has to go thru the Red Cross. I would at least contact them and see about getting the ball rolling, so that if things progress rapidly and you are dealing with your mom, then his approval might be in the works.
I believe you now have to contact them via the internet only, not 100% sure.
And my thoughts, love, and BNMHs I am sending your way. My mother passed away the winter before my son left for BC, his senior year that I was homeschooling him and it was really hard, just trying to juggle everything.
Hi Chipmunk, all is well with us. We actually just recently returned from spending several days in GC. My Nuke is enjoying the more regular schedule of shore duty and enjoys instructing. Her Nuke husband got out after his contract was up and is enjoying being a full time dog dad and house husband.
My daughter just re-enlisted again for the 2nd time. When she first enlisted I had no clue how quickly time would go by.
Hope everyone here is doing well. Welcome to all the new mommas.
JayDee659 - It is good to hear from you. We also returned from seeing our sailor and his wife as well. We finally had an opportunity to visit the ship. We missed the family day, due to other schedule conflicts that arose, it overlapped with when the kids could finally take their honeymoon trip. So, this Momma sucked it up and rejoiced that my kids had a wonderful honeymoon and I did not get to go out on the boat and see dolphins, but I did get a private tour when we were able to go see them. The other previous times we were out to see our sailor, the boat was in the shipyards.
I had to smile at your comment about your SIL being the full-time dog dad and house husband. Mine is planning on doing the same, but with cats and hopefully children before long. Although, I know my DIL expects him to finish his schooling as well. Time does fly by!
It's always nice when summer arrives and family visits take place! JayDee and Chipmunk - glad you had some fun family time!
PacNWmom - I'm so very sorry to hear about your mom. Definitely reach out to the Red Cross and hopefully your DIL can help with this too. Thinking of you....
Welcome to any new members we might have checking out this site or this group. Be sure to join and post a hello here and share where your loved one is at in their Navy / Nuke journey. My son has been in for 5 years now and is assigned to a carrier.
Please be sure to read the ***NEW MEMBERS*** info at the top of the page. Lots of good info there. Also take a look at the Pages (20) to the right under the member profiles - be sure to hit "view all". And the discussion forum above has some good info too - be sure to read Chipmunks "Nuke A School Daily Schedule". And of course, feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Hello, Nuke Moms! Thank you to all of you who suggested that we go to the A School graduation at GC. My son graduated a week ago today and the graduation ceremony was intimate and special. (Then I looked online at the video from Power School graduation and couldn't believe the difference!)
(I still don't get OPSEC so I don't know if I'm allowed to post a picture - although NNPTC posted them on FB, so it seems okay?)
Anyway, to the new moms, when I drove my son to GC right before A school started, he was regretting his decision to be a Nuke. He was concerned that he would never have any fun and all he is going to be doing for the next 2 years is studying. (And he HATED school.) But he loved A school. It was difficult and almost every week, he called and said, "Please pray for me; I'm afraid I'm going to fail my test." But he graduated with a good GPA, and is not regretting his decision at all.
MomofJoseph - I am so glad that you were able to make the trip to GC and that your son is doing well. Our Power School graduation ended up being inside due to the rainy weather, and it was split into 2 groups. There was some lack of communication though, so in a way, I wish it had been outside.
As far as pictures, I know a lot of stuff gets posted on FB, but I think here, for sure the name of the sailor should be blacked out, and I think some place I read, no identifying background. I just ended up sharing pictures in private messages with some of my close friends on this group.
MomofJoseph - Bravo Zulu on the A School graduation. Do you know when he starts Power School? Sometimes they go strait to Power School and other times they have T-Track for awhile. My son had about 6 weeks of T-Track waiting for the the class behind them to finish so they could all class up together. He also moved to slightly bigger quarters for Power School.
Chipmunk - Thank you for the info regarding pictures. That is helpful!
Sunflower - Thank you! My son has 11-12 weeks of T-track. The previous class was the last one to class up. So he'll be in the first group of the new class.
Good Morning!! Since this came up elsewhere and I know we have some new members on this group, I just wanted to share some thoughts. I don't tend to sugar coat things, even with my children and my intention is not to worry, but also to help you, so if anyone needs to ask more questions or inquire more - feel free to reach out to me personally or B'sNukeMom.
Nuke school is hard! It is probably unlike most any other intense bookish training your sailor has ever dealt with before. From what my son shared, those who had been to college and had some of the course work did a little bit better, but even then, testing was done a certain way, grading as well, and formats for answering questions - especially some of the mathematics was to their specifications. (These were some of the things he called home and talked to me about in the beginning.)
Life on the ship in the Reactor area, is hard, primarily because they only have so many people who can stand watch, compared to some other departments. Switching sleep schedules, the need for attentiveness, and extreme feeling of it always has to be perfect are other things that my son has had to deal with, as well as being on a first-in class ship, with many other eyes watching them and qualifications and testing. That doesn't mean it isn't just as hard on any other number of our ships and subs and what our sailors face.
Watching my son go through A school, Power School, T-track, Prototype and then out into the fleet and work on his qualifications there, every step of the way, I saw different times where he was being trained and prepared for the next thing ahead, but reality still hits in once you are on a ship or sub and serving.
I have been blessed to have fairly good communication with my son. It was also his way of dealing with issues that arose at school, news of classmates who were struggling. Calling home to me or his siblings was his grounding, it helped him to maintain his positiveness, but also helped him to keep reminding himself what were his plans and goals for the future. Not everyone's sailor does that. Recently, I had a mom share that hers told her that as much as he likes the calls or texts from home, calling just makes him that much more homesick. My son needs to hear often that we are proud of him, but also to know that there are no qualifications for that love, either. (if that makes sense).
My son also knows that "If Momma ain't happy, ain't no one happy." So sometimes, he would just text me, "goodnight". I knew when he was going to bed, and how long he had been studying likely. I knew that he was still alive. That is probably one of the hardest things to help convey to our sons especially, if they tend to want to be - "Mom, I've got this." Just a small bit of comforting words, helps with the Momma worry.
My son was also more talkative, and we had gone through a lot as a family prior to him going to BC. But I was also available when I knew he would be out of classes to right before dinner or having PT. (be sure to read my discussion above and reply if you have any updated information.) That was when he had his phone available and so I could text him and ask him to call me. He also was fairly good about reaching out on Saturday mornings with a Skype call to his younger brother. I would just pop my head in and wave hello. It was enough for me to see him sitting in his BEQ lounge, with his favorite hoodie on, and rubbing his nearly bald head. I would get my smile and life was good. His brother needed the time to be in conversation.
Being able to talk to your sailor about the things that are happening, let them know that you are aware of how tough it is, you are there to listen and be their sounding board, even if you can't fix things, helping them to recognize - should they go talk to a chaplain, or seek other help. (cont.)
(continued) Even if not religious, the chaplain can be a good nonbiased listening ear and source for information and help. On a ship, I had another sailor tell me that oftentimes the chaplain can have a more direct line of communication with the captain than even a chief or senior chief can.
Our role as mom or parent, moves from being the one that takes care of fixing the problem, talking to the teacher, coach, whomever to guiding our children to remember that they can seek out conversations with others as needed. Encourage them to go address issues with their immediate chain of command, and on up if they need to. Reminding them that they can reach out for help if they need to. Mental struggles are hard, my sailors are not immune to who they have known or heard of dealing with things, hearing sirens in the night, friends medically discharged, but being able to call and talk about them, without a judgement, or overtly panicky, but understanding and sympathetic, I believe has been helpful.
Some sailors won't share anything, and they want to deal with it themselves, whether they are afraid we will be ashamed of them or not, I don't know - those are the tough ones to be on the outskirts as a parent, because we still hurt when our kids hurt and don't feel like we can share with anyone else either.
This is why it is good to make connections on here and friends and be able to post messages privately if you need someone to reach out to. Learning and understanding, helps us to be supportive of our sailors.
Has anyone's sailor tried to get financial assistance for airline tickets for family emergency leave through the Red Cross? My mother passed away last week, and my son's leave has finally been approved for him to come to the service this coming weekend. He hasn't been able to figure out how to get the financial help that appears to be available. Any tips would be appreciated.
PacNWmom - I am so sorry to hear this news of your mother's passing. My sincere condolences.
I would say, if my mother was still alive, I would ask her as she worked during her retirement years at our local RED Cross office in my small hometown. That might be what he needs to do, is call a local Red Cross office, or see if he can speak to the Chaplain in his command, maybe he would know how to go about getting the help.
Chipmunk - thank you for the post last week with the detailed thoughts about the Nuke program. My son is in T-track now, just finished A school. He is similar to your son in that he likes to call and debrief. I really appreciate your insights! (Sorry for the slow reply - I don't check these messages daily and tend to get behind.)
PacNWmom - I'm so sorry for your loss. Praying your son can get home to be with you soon. <3
MomofJoseph - Thanks for sharing, I appreciate knowing that it was helpful! T-track was when my son learned about standing all of the different watch cycles and one of the few times in his 5 years that he was late for a muster. His alarms did not go off. He remedied that situation, but it was still the one time I very much became a helicopter mom! I was an hour behind time zone so was setting my alarm for like 2 AM to be able to call him. After the 2nd day, he finally convinced me he had it all under control - seeing as how I kept depriving him of at least 10 more minutes of sleep because I was calling that much earlier than his alarm!!
Every stage of classes and T-track seemed to enlighten me to more of what would be expected of them as he prepared to go to his duty station.
PacNWmom - I hope things are working out for your sailor's requests. I know things are really busy, I just wanted to let you know that I am thinking about you and praying for you. BNMHs!
This might be too early to ask about this as we are still in BC. I was reading the information about A school, Power School and Prototype. If I read it right, he can stay on base for the first 2, but then he has to live off base for the 3rd because he will be working on an reactor? I am asking because I want to make sure that he understands this. He chose not to get his DL and he has no car. His whole plan was to always live on base. He will have no choice now. Some of the info was not visibly easy to read or understand. Is Japan an option for prototype or is that only a duty station option? Again I know that I am early, but maybe he will make friends with someone who can teach him or he can take lessons down there? TIA.
JNMnavymomOH — Your son will be in the barracks for A school and Power School. Prototype is also in Goose Creek, down the road from the other two. (There is another site in Ballston Spa, NY, but I don’t think think they are sending any sailors there at this time.) There is no housing at Prototype, and the sailors get BAH for housing. My sailor got an apartment with two other guys who were in the same group at Prototype. He didn’t have his license before he left for BC, either, and ended up getting a permit and license in South Carolina. He was able to ride with his roommates since they had the same schedule.
MyKidsMom thank you! He believed that if he really needed to drive, the Navy would help him/teach him. I wasn't so sure about that. Now I feel just a bit better.
MyKidsMom - Thanks for sharing - I apologize, I missed JNMnavymomOH's post with other things I had going on. I am glad that things worked out okay for your son. Mine had his license, but his roommate did not and that was difficult as I would not let my son teach his roommate to drive because of our insurance. - MyKidsMom - Did your son end up buying a car in SC?
So - JNMnavymomOH - NO, the Navy will not teach your sailor how to drive. They have to figure it out on their own and get their own transportation from their housing to Prototype. I know my son's recruiter asked us when my son first was in DEP a year before he left if he had a driver's license and we said no. I do not think they indicated that he would have to have it, but we knew it was better for him to get it prior to going to BC. As it was, my son did not have much driving time under his belt, even after getting his license before we went to BC. Once he was at GC for A school, he bought a bicycle, because he could ride that from the BEQs (Bachelor Enlisted Quarters) - that is what my son called them there, not barracks - but pretty much the same thing - to class. He was able to ride to Wal-Mart and such, so he did learn his way around the immediate area of the Base before he had a car.
His older sister ended up giving him her car when she no longer had need of that vehicle. So, we drove two cars halfway across the country and gave him that car and came back in the other one. He was able to keep the car tagged and licensed in our home state at the time.
NO, there is no Prototype in Japan, and Yes, to my knowledge they have not opened up Ballston Spa again. We currently are only training in GC, and it is a farther drive than where the A school & Power school are located at.
JNMnavymomOH - my son is currently at GC. He just graduated A school and hasn't started Power school yet. He does have a car, but for about 3 months, he wasn't allowed to have it on base. (Having a car on base is a privilege they earn.)
There are sailors who are duty drivers on base, and their job is to give the sailors rides on and around base. (Not sure how that works for Prototype, but for A school and Power school, the sailors had transportation available.) Once my son took his car to GC, he became a driver for many of his classmates.
Big hugs to you as you wait for BC to end. I cry every time I read posts about BC. My son graduated at Thanksgiving last year and the emotions are still raw regarding how much I missed him, how I stalked the mailman for letters, all that! :-)
tammybikerunfaithlove
Chipmunk - thanks for all of that. We will just take it day by day once he hits school. His girlfriend leaves for BC (also navy) a week after him - then she'll be in school for cryptology. It will be hard on them - though at least if they happen to have some similar free weekends, they can meet in the middle occasionally while in school. (5 hours of drive time will be between them).
Jul 5, 2022
Chipmunk
Tammybiker - Navy married life is hard. Just some info, if two sailors are married, they will likely have to be offset of each other when it comes to shore duty and sea duty, because two of them cannot be out to sea at the same time.
Jul 5, 2022
tammybikerunfaithlove
Chipmunk - Wow - I didn't know that. Bet they don't either. No plans yet of getting married - but I know it's on their minds.
Jul 5, 2022
Chipmunk
tammybikerunfaithlove - I will do my best soon to send you a message with all that I have learned from my two sailors and their navigation to married life while in the Navy.
Jul 5, 2022
JNMnavymomOH
Just popping in to say HI!! We have started our BC journey so I will be sure to be a bit more active with questions and information.
Jul 7, 2022
Chipmunk
JNMnavymomOH - we will be here for you!
Jul 7, 2022
Chipmunk
JayDee659 & NancyJo - How are you all doing? How are the kids / sailor - I am working on deleting old emails and found a post from around Christmas time.
Jul 7, 2022
PacNWmom
Hey all! I'm looking for some guidance and advice. My son is returning from a six month deployment. My mom is in rapidly declining health and I need to let him know that we are putting her in hospice care in the next few days. Do I need to contact the Red Cross to do that? Should I give his wife a head's up about what's going on? Any advice is appreciated.
Hate to deliver sad news, but it's necessary.
Jul 7, 2022
Chipmunk
PacNWmom - personally I always figure the most direct route to communication is the best. So, yes, I would contact your DIL, as well if possible to let your son know. Then I would also contact American Red Cross, because I believe for your son to actually be able to get a leave chit approved, it has to go thru the Red Cross. I would at least contact them and see about getting the ball rolling, so that if things progress rapidly and you are dealing with your mom, then his approval might be in the works.
I believe you now have to contact them via the internet only, not 100% sure.
And my thoughts, love, and BNMHs I am sending your way. My mother passed away the winter before my son left for BC, his senior year that I was homeschooling him and it was really hard, just trying to juggle everything.
Jul 7, 2022
JayDee659
Hi Chipmunk, all is well with us. We actually just recently returned from spending several days in GC. My Nuke is enjoying the more regular schedule of shore duty and enjoys instructing. Her Nuke husband got out after his contract was up and is enjoying being a full time dog dad and house husband.
My daughter just re-enlisted again for the 2nd time. When she first enlisted I had no clue how quickly time would go by.
Hope everyone here is doing well. Welcome to all the new mommas.
Jul 8, 2022
Chipmunk
JayDee659 - It is good to hear from you. We also returned from seeing our sailor and his wife as well. We finally had an opportunity to visit the ship. We missed the family day, due to other schedule conflicts that arose, it overlapped with when the kids could finally take their honeymoon trip. So, this Momma sucked it up and rejoiced that my kids had a wonderful honeymoon and I did not get to go out on the boat and see dolphins, but I did get a private tour when we were able to go see them. The other previous times we were out to see our sailor, the boat was in the shipyards.
I had to smile at your comment about your SIL being the full-time dog dad and house husband. Mine is planning on doing the same, but with cats and hopefully children before long. Although, I know my DIL expects him to finish his schooling as well. Time does fly by!
Jul 8, 2022
Chipmunk
*sea
Jul 8, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Our 8 days in Michigan ended today. We had a great time with B&C but it’s never long enough!
And I wore my red today!
Jul 9, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
It's always nice when summer arrives and family visits take place! JayDee and Chipmunk - glad you had some fun family time!
PacNWmom - I'm so very sorry to hear about your mom. Definitely reach out to the Red Cross and hopefully your DIL can help with this too. Thinking of you....
Jul 9, 2022
Chipmunk
B'sNukeMom - Glad you had a nice visit as well. And yes, the time is never long enough!
Jul 9, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Jul 12, 2022
Chipmunk
Welcome to any new members we might have checking out this site or this group. Be sure to join and post a hello here and share where your loved one is at in their Navy / Nuke journey. My son has been in for 5 years now and is assigned to a carrier.
Jul 12, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Welcome to our newest member ~ Chrissie336!
Please be sure to read the ***NEW MEMBERS*** info at the top of the page. Lots of good info there. Also take a look at the Pages (20) to the right under the member profiles - be sure to hit "view all". And the discussion forum above has some good info too - be sure to read Chipmunks "Nuke A School Daily Schedule". And of course, feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Jul 13, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Jul 14, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
And I've got my RED on too!
Jul 15, 2022
Chipmunk
Good Morning Everyone!! I have my RED on also.
Do we have any graduations today?
Jul 15, 2022
MomofJoseph
Hello, Nuke Moms! Thank you to all of you who suggested that we go to the A School graduation at GC. My son graduated a week ago today and the graduation ceremony was intimate and special. (Then I looked online at the video from Power School graduation and couldn't believe the difference!)
(I still don't get OPSEC so I don't know if I'm allowed to post a picture - although NNPTC posted them on FB, so it seems okay?)
Anyway, to the new moms, when I drove my son to GC right before A school started, he was regretting his decision to be a Nuke. He was concerned that he would never have any fun and all he is going to be doing for the next 2 years is studying. (And he HATED school.) But he loved A school. It was difficult and almost every week, he called and said, "Please pray for me; I'm afraid I'm going to fail my test." But he graduated with a good GPA, and is not regretting his decision at all.
Jul 15, 2022
Chipmunk
MomofJoseph - I am so glad that you were able to make the trip to GC and that your son is doing well. Our Power School graduation ended up being inside due to the rainy weather, and it was split into 2 groups. There was some lack of communication though, so in a way, I wish it had been outside.
As far as pictures, I know a lot of stuff gets posted on FB, but I think here, for sure the name of the sailor should be blacked out, and I think some place I read, no identifying background. I just ended up sharing pictures in private messages with some of my close friends on this group.
Jul 15, 2022
sunflower
MomofJoseph - Bravo Zulu on the A School graduation. Do you know when he starts Power School? Sometimes they go strait to Power School and other times they have T-Track for awhile. My son had about 6 weeks of T-Track waiting for the the class behind them to finish so they could all class up together. He also moved to slightly bigger quarters for Power School.
Jul 16, 2022
MomofJoseph
Sunflower - Thank you! My son has 11-12 weeks of T-track. The previous class was the last one to class up. So he'll be in the first group of the new class.
Jul 16, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Jul 18, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Jul 19, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
FYI - the new suicide hotline # 988 went into effect 7/16/22.
Jul 19, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Happy Wednesday!
Jul 20, 2022
Chipmunk
Good Morning!! Since this came up elsewhere and I know we have some new members on this group, I just wanted to share some thoughts. I don't tend to sugar coat things, even with my children and my intention is not to worry, but also to help you, so if anyone needs to ask more questions or inquire more - feel free to reach out to me personally or B'sNukeMom.
Nuke school is hard! It is probably unlike most any other intense bookish training your sailor has ever dealt with before. From what my son shared, those who had been to college and had some of the course work did a little bit better, but even then, testing was done a certain way, grading as well, and formats for answering questions - especially some of the mathematics was to their specifications. (These were some of the things he called home and talked to me about in the beginning.)
Life on the ship in the Reactor area, is hard, primarily because they only have so many people who can stand watch, compared to some other departments. Switching sleep schedules, the need for attentiveness, and extreme feeling of it always has to be perfect are other things that my son has had to deal with, as well as being on a first-in class ship, with many other eyes watching them and qualifications and testing. That doesn't mean it isn't just as hard on any other number of our ships and subs and what our sailors face.
Watching my son go through A school, Power School, T-track, Prototype and then out into the fleet and work on his qualifications there, every step of the way, I saw different times where he was being trained and prepared for the next thing ahead, but reality still hits in once you are on a ship or sub and serving.
I have been blessed to have fairly good communication with my son. It was also his way of dealing with issues that arose at school, news of classmates who were struggling. Calling home to me or his siblings was his grounding, it helped him to maintain his positiveness, but also helped him to keep reminding himself what were his plans and goals for the future. Not everyone's sailor does that. Recently, I had a mom share that hers told her that as much as he likes the calls or texts from home, calling just makes him that much more homesick. My son needs to hear often that we are proud of him, but also to know that there are no qualifications for that love, either. (if that makes sense).
My son also knows that "If Momma ain't happy, ain't no one happy." So sometimes, he would just text me, "goodnight". I knew when he was going to bed, and how long he had been studying likely. I knew that he was still alive. That is probably one of the hardest things to help convey to our sons especially, if they tend to want to be - "Mom, I've got this." Just a small bit of comforting words, helps with the Momma worry.
My son was also more talkative, and we had gone through a lot as a family prior to him going to BC. But I was also available when I knew he would be out of classes to right before dinner or having PT. (be sure to read my discussion above and reply if you have any updated information.) That was when he had his phone available and so I could text him and ask him to call me. He also was fairly good about reaching out on Saturday mornings with a Skype call to his younger brother. I would just pop my head in and wave hello. It was enough for me to see him sitting in his BEQ lounge, with his favorite hoodie on, and rubbing his nearly bald head. I would get my smile and life was good. His brother needed the time to be in conversation.
Being able to talk to your sailor about the things that are happening, let them know that you are aware of how tough it is, you are there to listen and be their sounding board, even if you can't fix things, helping them to recognize - should they go talk to a chaplain, or seek other help. (cont.)
Jul 20, 2022
Chipmunk
(continued) Even if not religious, the chaplain can be a good nonbiased listening ear and source for information and help. On a ship, I had another sailor tell me that oftentimes the chaplain can have a more direct line of communication with the captain than even a chief or senior chief can.
Our role as mom or parent, moves from being the one that takes care of fixing the problem, talking to the teacher, coach, whomever to guiding our children to remember that they can seek out conversations with others as needed. Encourage them to go address issues with their immediate chain of command, and on up if they need to. Reminding them that they can reach out for help if they need to. Mental struggles are hard, my sailors are not immune to who they have known or heard of dealing with things, hearing sirens in the night, friends medically discharged, but being able to call and talk about them, without a judgement, or overtly panicky, but understanding and sympathetic, I believe has been helpful.
Some sailors won't share anything, and they want to deal with it themselves, whether they are afraid we will be ashamed of them or not, I don't know - those are the tough ones to be on the outskirts as a parent, because we still hurt when our kids hurt and don't feel like we can share with anyone else either.
This is why it is good to make connections on here and friends and be able to post messages privately if you need someone to reach out to. Learning and understanding, helps us to be supportive of our sailors.
Jul 20, 2022
Pizanche
Thank you Chipmunk
Jul 20, 2022
Chipmunk
Pizanche - You are welcome!
Jul 21, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Jul 22, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Happy Monday!
Jul 25, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Jul 26, 2022
PacNWmom
Has anyone's sailor tried to get financial assistance for airline tickets for family emergency leave through the Red Cross? My mother passed away last week, and my son's leave has finally been approved for him to come to the service this coming weekend. He hasn't been able to figure out how to get the financial help that appears to be available. Any tips would be appreciated.
Jul 26, 2022
Chipmunk
PacNWmom - I am so sorry to hear this news of your mother's passing. My sincere condolences.
I would say, if my mother was still alive, I would ask her as she worked during her retirement years at our local RED Cross office in my small hometown. That might be what he needs to do, is call a local Red Cross office, or see if he can speak to the Chaplain in his command, maybe he would know how to go about getting the help.
Jul 26, 2022
Chipmunk
PacNWmom - This is what my Google search pulled up. Not sure if this is what he has been working with or not? - Financial Assistance for Military Families | American Red Cross
Jul 26, 2022
MomofJoseph
Chipmunk - thank you for the post last week with the detailed thoughts about the Nuke program. My son is in T-track now, just finished A school. He is similar to your son in that he likes to call and debrief. I really appreciate your insights! (Sorry for the slow reply - I don't check these messages daily and tend to get behind.)
PacNWmom - I'm so sorry for your loss. Praying your son can get home to be with you soon. <3
Jul 27, 2022
Chipmunk
MomofJoseph - Thanks for sharing, I appreciate knowing that it was helpful! T-track was when my son learned about standing all of the different watch cycles and one of the few times in his 5 years that he was late for a muster. His alarms did not go off. He remedied that situation, but it was still the one time I very much became a helicopter mom! I was an hour behind time zone so was setting my alarm for like 2 AM to be able to call him. After the 2nd day, he finally convinced me he had it all under control - seeing as how I kept depriving him of at least 10 more minutes of sleep because I was calling that much earlier than his alarm!!
Every stage of classes and T-track seemed to enlighten me to more of what would be expected of them as he prepared to go to his duty station.
Jul 27, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Happy Wednesday!
PacNWmom - I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your mom. My condolences to your family.
Jul 27, 2022
Chipmunk
PacNWmom - I hope things are working out for your sailor's requests. I know things are really busy, I just wanted to let you know that I am thinking about you and praying for you. BNMHs!
Jul 28, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Jul 28, 2022
B'sNukeMoM⚓️MMN(Vet)
Jul 29, 2022
JNMnavymomOH
This might be too early to ask about this as we are still in BC. I was reading the information about A school, Power School and Prototype. If I read it right, he can stay on base for the first 2, but then he has to live off base for the 3rd because he will be working on an reactor? I am asking because I want to make sure that he understands this. He chose not to get his DL and he has no car. His whole plan was to always live on base. He will have no choice now. Some of the info was not visibly easy to read or understand. Is Japan an option for prototype or is that only a duty station option? Again I know that I am early, but maybe he will make friends with someone who can teach him or he can take lessons down there? TIA.
Jul 29, 2022
MyKidsMom
JNMnavymomOH — Your son will be in the barracks for A school and Power School. Prototype is also in Goose Creek, down the road from the other two. (There is another site in Ballston Spa, NY, but I don’t think think they are sending any sailors there at this time.) There is no housing at Prototype, and the sailors get BAH for housing. My sailor got an apartment with two other guys who were in the same group at Prototype. He didn’t have his license before he left for BC, either, and ended up getting a permit and license in South Carolina. He was able to ride with his roommates since they had the same schedule.
Jul 29, 2022
JNMnavymomOH
MyKidsMom thank you! He believed that if he really needed to drive, the Navy would help him/teach him. I wasn't so sure about that. Now I feel just a bit better.
Jul 29, 2022
Chipmunk
MyKidsMom - Thanks for sharing - I apologize, I missed JNMnavymomOH's post with other things I had going on. I am glad that things worked out okay for your son. Mine had his license, but his roommate did not and that was difficult as I would not let my son teach his roommate to drive because of our insurance. - MyKidsMom - Did your son end up buying a car in SC?
So - JNMnavymomOH - NO, the Navy will not teach your sailor how to drive. They have to figure it out on their own and get their own transportation from their housing to Prototype. I know my son's recruiter asked us when my son first was in DEP a year before he left if he had a driver's license and we said no. I do not think they indicated that he would have to have it, but we knew it was better for him to get it prior to going to BC. As it was, my son did not have much driving time under his belt, even after getting his license before we went to BC. Once he was at GC for A school, he bought a bicycle, because he could ride that from the BEQs (Bachelor Enlisted Quarters) - that is what my son called them there, not barracks - but pretty much the same thing - to class. He was able to ride to Wal-Mart and such, so he did learn his way around the immediate area of the Base before he had a car.
His older sister ended up giving him her car when she no longer had need of that vehicle. So, we drove two cars halfway across the country and gave him that car and came back in the other one. He was able to keep the car tagged and licensed in our home state at the time.
NO, there is no Prototype in Japan, and Yes, to my knowledge they have not opened up Ballston Spa again. We currently are only training in GC, and it is a farther drive than where the A school & Power school are located at.
Jul 30, 2022
MomofJoseph
JNMnavymomOH - my son is currently at GC. He just graduated A school and hasn't started Power school yet. He does have a car, but for about 3 months, he wasn't allowed to have it on base. (Having a car on base is a privilege they earn.)
There are sailors who are duty drivers on base, and their job is to give the sailors rides on and around base. (Not sure how that works for Prototype, but for A school and Power school, the sailors had transportation available.) Once my son took his car to GC, he became a driver for many of his classmates.
Big hugs to you as you wait for BC to end. I cry every time I read posts about BC. My son graduated at Thanksgiving last year and the emotions are still raw regarding how much I missed him, how I stalked the mailman for letters, all that! :-)
Jul 31, 2022