Gigi - Be sure to post a request on the Norfolk group for some pictures. I am on G'ma duty and trying to post quickly here. 

B'sNukeMom - Have a wonderful time!!

The Hammer - I am so glad you had a chance to tour your son's sub!! We were not able to attend the family event for our sailor's ship during their Tiger Cruise for the day, but we were able to visit the week or so later and our sailor and DIL took us on a tour of the ship. It was pretty neat!

Oh whale watching!! Aww!!! They saw dolphins on my sailor's ship and I was sad. 

When my son was stationed at Pearl aboard the Bremerton SSN-698, he was able to give us a tour. He just had to clear it with the OOD, who made an announcement to cover anything classified. My wife was impressed with that ladder down the torpedo loading hatch. They let me look through the periscope as long as I didn't touch anything. There was a destroyer precisely in the crosshairs.
A 688-class submarine is very little like a WWII Balao class. Much more spacious, and I didn't notice any particularly low overheads. Still, I started to feel the bulkheads closing in after about 20 minutes. He said he has some really weird dreams for about 3 weeks.
As far as museum submarines, if you get to visit Pearl Harbor, don't miss the Bowfin, a memorial to submariners on Eternal Patrol. It is also a popular choice for re-enlistment ceremonies. It is right across from the sub base there, and every so often the sailors go and do a Field Day on it. Everything is shiny. It looks like they could take it out to sea. Too bad the Clamagore wasn't so lovingly cared for.

Welcome to our newest member ~ Kristin!

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.

B&C

Youngest & his fiancee

Ah we had a great time in Colorado!  It was so good to spend time with the whole family ;-D

B'sNukeMoM - I love those pics!  So beautiful!!!

Kristin - Welcome to this great group!  Where is your Sailor in the Nuke program?  My son just started Power School yesterday, so we are still very much at the beginning.

B'sNukeMom - I am glad that you had a chance to visit your famiily and celebrate your niece's wedding. 

Kristin - Welcome Aboard!!

MomofJoseph - Good to hear that your son's classes started for Power School. 

FYI - I saw on FB that Prototype graduation for tomorrow is cancelled due to the storm.

Oh, that is sad news about graduation, but those of us that have been around awhile know that it is not uncommon. 

I hope all are well, been thinking about those along the hurricane pathway.

B'sNukeMom that doesn't surprise me. I'm here in GC until we get electric back at home.  It's 64 and very windy today.  They will likely only get a tropical storm but I'm sure that's concerning if you've never experienced one before.

Everyone be safe! 

JayDee659 - I forgot about you being in FL when we were checking on others in the Beyond BC group. Glad you are able to visit your kids. Keep us posted. 

Thanks Chipmunk, the eye of Ian hit just a little south of us.  I heard that the Manatee River (which is about a mile from my house) had all the water sucked out of it by the force of the winds!

For anyone with a sailor at GC here's some information you may like to have regarding hurricanes and tropical weather.  My daughter is an instructor at prototype and was just told this morning that they follow Charleston County protocol.  If Charleston County mandates an evacuation then there will be meetings on base to discuss the plan, set up transportation, etc.  Your Nuke will know.  I know that not all Nukes do a great job communicating with us but you can follow Charleston Co. on line and be aware of the current situation.

When they evacuated for Matthew in 2016 my daughter was allowed to drive her personal car home to Indiana.  She first had to file a very detailed plan with her Chief and get permission.  So if you live close enough to SC but far enough out of the path, your child might have an opportunity to come home - NO GUARANTEES!

I'll say that right now it's windy right now but no big deal.  Your kiddos may want to make sure they have fresh batteries in their flash lights and have some canned soup and extra tp on hand.  The Walmart in Summerville is a zoo, out of soup and short on water flats, hopefully the one in GC is better stocked.

I'll update everyone if anything changes, but if any of you mid west moms are nervous, feel free to reach out to me.  Trust me, I know what it's like.  

JayDee659 - I am glad to hear that things are looking okay for your place. Wow! That is interesting about the Manatee River! I can't imagine what that would be like for all of the aquatic life as well. 

I remember both of the evacuations my son made for hurricanes. Once during A school and once during Power School. The first one he rode on a bus transport, the 2nd one he drove himself. I remember telling him to make sure he had snacks and such with him. He had charged his computer and downloaded some books to read online for the first time. 

I told him to prepare himself as best as he could to be without things, so that he was not part of the problem when other sailors needed food and water.

Welcome to our newest member ~ jomama!

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.

jomama- Welcome to the Nuke Moms group! We are glad you are here. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions that you or your son have about the Nuke program. I also posted a message on your profile page. 

Hi All - just checking in. It’s been a while since I’ve been on N4Ms. For whatever reason, my email notifications keep getting turned off. After the 2nd or 3rd time, I just left them off. Freed up some time, as I must admit, this site is addicting :) 

My sailor graduated prototype in June. He did incredibly well in the Nuke pipeline, and became a JSI (Junior Staff Instructor) at NPTU (prototype). He loves it and really enjoys helping Nuke students learn. He recently Star Re-enlisted and I got to go onto NPTU and ‘pin him’ during the ceremony. I felt so proud and happy for him. 

He made great friends while in Nuke School and we enjoyed getting to know them too when we would visit. My son had bought a house and his 4 best friends (3 guys, 1 girls) lived with him during prototype. They developed a great bond and I hope they remain friends for life. They all did very well academically and had a super friendly competition throughout the program. One has been to visit us a couple times as he is stationed in San Diego and we live in Orange County.

The Navy, and the Nuke Program has been such a positive experience for my son, and helped a floundering young man who had lost direction during college find his way. He is now contemplating applying for the STA-21 program  

N4Ms got me through it during the first few months (boot camp and A school) when I was so afraid he’d hate it or would not be able to handle the workload. I thank all you wonderful ladies, especially Chipmunk for all your encouraging and wise words when I needed them the most. 

DsMom2020 - Oh it is so good to hear from you!! I was thinking about you the other day and wondering how your sailor was doing. The last we had chatted, I don't recall if I knew for sure that he was officially a JSI. Thank you for sharing!

Be sure to keep us updated, especially if he is thinking about STA-21. 

DsMom, congratulations to your son. That's so awesome he has been chosen to be a instructor. Prayers our Lord gives to him His Wisdom to instruct those depending on him to continue on their journey. So very happy for you!

NWM - thank you for prayers. I know he takes this responsibility and honor very seriously. 

Chipmunk - I will let you know how it goes. I hope if he does apply, he gets it!

B’sNukeMoM - thank you. Very helpful. Now I just wait to see if he applies. He’s brought it up a couple times recently. I’m proud of him either way. I do worry his college grades will hurt him (started very high first year, before he lost interest… then pretty bad). But he did exceptionally well throughout the Nuke Pipeline. Will have to retake SAT/ACT since he took it so long ago. We’ll see….. I’ll let you all know how it plays out if he applies. 

There seem to be a lot of Sailors recruited into the Nuke and other Advanced Technical fields who were poor or indifferent students. Many seem to thrive on the more structured learning approach of the Navy. The trend in colleges has long been to a less structured do-your-own-thing choose-your-path approach that appeals to some students but may be a hindrance to others. I suspect, though, that Sailors going back to school on something like STA-21 will have gained a lot of focus and maturity and will certainly be accustomed to hard work.

As you may know, my son has gone through the STA-21 program and is now an ensign. As a matter of fact, he is back at NNPTC going through the nuke pipeline on the officer side. He is exactly the sailor WearsLargeHats describes. He barely graduated from high school for lack of trying and focus. The Navy changed all that. He did well in the structure of the nuke pipeline when he was enlisted, thrived in college, and is happy with his first test scores in officer power school. STA-21 has worked out well for him, and I'm grateful to the Navy for bringing out his potential.

PacNWmom - Thanks for the update! I was wondering how your son was doing and hoped that you saw DsMom2020 - to share with her. He has gone full circle and now back again. I am looking forward to hearing how things go for him. 

I love reading these updates about your sailors.  I could say "Ditto" about the underachieving son.  We fully expected our son to not make it through A school because he hated high school and wasn't a great student.  But he did well in A school and is loving Power School so far.  He also mentioned the Seaman to Admiral program, but I didn't know it was called STA-21.  Thanks for that info!

It is so encouraging to have these connection with all of you!!!

Another underachieving kid here too! He is waiting to start ETN A school. He keeps saying he heard it is easy. I keep reminding him of his grades in Trigonometry. He texted me happy he got WiFi today because he has a lot of free time waiting for class to start. 

Lancertrackmom - He may realize it is not easy once he gets into it, and especially towards the end of A school. If you haven't read through my discussion above about A school, I suggest you do. My son is an ETN2. 

He would encourage your son to get his UIs (Under Instructions) "watch training" done as much as possible now, so that he is not scrambling to get it finished before he completes A school. They have to be fully qualified to stand watches during T-Track.  My son would also encourage him to make sure he is keeping up with his physical fitness daily, as well as volunteering for an assigned duty while in INDOC, verses being "voluntold". Mine was INDOC for a month, which included a hurricane evacuation. 

Thank you for sharing, he will enjoy that free time now and be wishing he had it later on. 

MomofJoseph & Q's Momma - Hi!! It is good to hear from you. 

Hi All - it IS always helpful to hear how common it is for Nukes to struggle before starting the Nuke program and then to hear how they just blossom in this environment. I remember being soooo worried he would not be able to successfully complete the pipeline. It was such a relief to hear from other moms and even better when I saw my sailor was stepping up.

I would love to hear from more moms who’s sailors were accepted to the STA-21 program. Anyone else have a sailor that bombed in college too?

I had heard that previous grades counted on the for STA-21…. I read all the links B’s Nuke Mom sent (Thanks again) and read that only about 25% of those that apply are accepted (I’d heard it was low) and that many Nukes apply several times before getting in (glad to hear that they can keep trying)…

Good Morning Everyone - 

I just realized that my discussion was no longer visible above, so I bumped it back into the queue. Here it is as well. Nuke A school daily schedule

BTW, my comment on underachievers in the Nuke program is based on almost 9 years of reading comments on this group. Lord, has it been that long?
There is also a surprisingly weak correlation between the academic part of the NNPTC program and actual on-the-job performance. Some breeze through A-school and Power School, but not Prototype, while others struggle through A-school and Power School and shine in Prototype.
The attrition rate is pretty high. Making it through, or not, doesn't mean better or worse. Being a Navy Nuke just isn't for everyone. IMO, the best advice for your Sailors is to take care of themselves, give it their best effort, maintain a good military bearing, and don't give up until the Command tells them to.
My son washed out late in Prototype about 7 years ago. He on shore rotation in a really cool job that he clearly enjoys. (Even though public articles confirmed what I thought he does, I still don't feel comfortable talking about it on a public forum.)

WearsLargeHats, totally agree. My son went through A School like a breeze but struggled doing the 3 different subjects in Power School. I still think being out of any kind of school for 7 years played a big part  especially in calculus and physics but he is loving his new rate and isn't stressed to the max anymore. Nothing but the greatest respect for the Nuclear Program and all the help he was given but it's not for everyone. God has different plans and sometimes they are not the ones we choose. The Nuclear Program added to my son's character but it isn't what defines him.

Northwoodsmom and WLH - I agree with your comments too.  My son did ok in A school, struggled big time in Power school - even had to re-comp, and enjoyed Prototype - he loved the "hands on" aspect of it.  Different strokes for different folks lol!

Happy Thursday!