NUKE moms

My son graduated from Prototype!  (Picture is of stage prior to ceremony.)  Just wanted to share a few tips.

My son was in the 3rd group that graduated.  The flyer said that the crowd change-out would be from 10:30 - 11:00.  We arrived on the ship about 10:22 and people were already seated for the 11:00 graduation.  (But we still found seats in the 2nd row.)

They had merch for sale before and after, but it is cash only.  There is an ATM at the gift shop, but it's not on the ship - it's back at the main entrance.  

Parking and admission fees are waived.  Just state that you are there for graduation and they'll wave you through.

Arrive EARLY.  Our hotel was less than a mile away.  We left at 10:05 and it took 10 minutes to get through the gate.  (People who are not there for graduation have to pay at the gate and that slows the line.)

Hope this helps!

momifJosrph - congrats on your son’s graduation!!!

MomofJoseph - My son graduated (as an officer) at the same time as yours. I wish I had known, we could have met!! Where is your son headed next? Forgive me if you’ve said already. Mine is going on the Teddy Roosevelt. What a great ceremony! I thoroughly enjoyed it! 

We arrived early, with my son, who had to be there an hour ahead of the ceremony (and he likes to be a bit early).  That was plenty of time.

I highly recommend going to as many graduations as you can, folks.  Each is different and special.  

MomofJoseph & PacNWmom - Congratulations to both of your sons!

MomofJoseph and PacNWmom, congratulations to your Nukes, it is such a tough program. My son is on the TR as well but on the topside. Enjoy your time together.

MomofJoseph - Bravo Zulu to your sailor! Way to go!!!

MomofJoseph & PacNWmom - congratulations to both of your sailors!!  I am sorry that you two did not get a chance to meet up. MomofJoseph - Thank you for the update for Prototype graduation. When my son had his, there were only two ceremonies, so having three is a lot of juggling. 

I have had computer issues this weekend and I am hoping that I finally have a new, working computer, but I still have some things to check out on it. But I am glad to know that I can still get logged into N4M!

MomofJoseph and PacNWmom - BZ to both of your sailors!

PacNWmom - wow, what a journey it's been for your son! Now graduating as an Officer - woohoo!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. 

Hello everyone 💙 My son will be arriving in GC in the next few weeks. Is there anything I can get him that he'll need for when he arrives that will be helpful? I know they're limited with what they can bring or take, but I wasn't sure if I can be helpful in any way. Can they receive care packages while there? Thank you⚓️

G'sNavyMom - They need very little while they're in school and living on base. My son asked us to bring a couple of his sweatshirts and his swim trunks from home. Any other civilian clothes he preferred to buy himself at the NEX. Others on this site have mentioned blankets and sheets. Care packages with favorite snacks and such are definitely ok, and usually very welcome!

joe-mom - this is great information.  Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.

joe-mom - can sheets, blanket and clothing be mailed to him?

Absolutely! Just make sure he gives you the correct address, with his class number.

Ok, perfect! Thank you

G'sNavyMom - I "bumped" the discussion "A Sailors Needs for A School" up above.  It's an old list but still should be helpful.

G'sNavyMom - Did you see the discussion that B'sNukeMom bumped forward? There is a list in that discussion of everything that they might possibly need - HOWEVER - They are supplied with bedding and towels. So, I would just wait. As much as we want to - deck them out as we would a college dorm room - A school is really not the time to do that. - Save your money for Prototype when they have to get an apartment and live off base.  - 

Wait for your son to let you know what he feels like he needs. I did mail the fluffy Navy blanket to my son which I bought at Sarge's Meet n Greet. But other than that, he was good with what was issued. There is a small NEX very close to their living quarters and they can purchase supplies like toiletries and laundry supplies. - I think they can even purchase items such as irons and an ironing board there, but I am not sure. My son was bunked with a sailor who had been there for a few months and had those items. When he moved on, he even gave my son his electric hair trimmer. 

At the time when my son was there, there was also a thrift store run by some of the Navy wives which was fairly close, but they had odd hours. 

Chipmunk and B'sNukeMoM - thank you this information. Just trying to get him ready and do what i can. I'm going into this blindly, so I don't know what I don't know

PacNWmom - Congrats to you and your Sailor!  I also wish we could have met at graduation!!!  My son is headed to Groton - he's on a PCU sub.  He is so excited to finally be headed into the fleet!

G'sNavyMom - We are excited to be on this adventure with you!  As the others said, I agree about waiting until they get to GC to see what they need.  We gave my son a fleece Navy blanket at PIR and that's all he wanted for his room.  (We only live 4 hours from GC so we drove down to visit and took it to him.)  Also, make sure you know what his address is (like someone else said).  There is one address for the first few weeks - it's the INDOC address in the discussion doc, but I think you need to know their division #.  But there are different addresses for A School and Power School.

And like Chipmunk said, they will need LOTS of stuff for Prototype, so it's best to wait until then to shower them with stuff.

Good luck to you and your Sailor!  It's a wild (but awesome) ride!

MomofJoseph - thank you! I appreciate the advice and insight. Trying to do what I can on my end and learning as I go along. This is all new to me/us. 

Thank you for the kind wishes! We're all looking forward to what's ahead.

Congratulations to your son heading into the fleet! Exciting for him!

Welcome to our newest members ~ G'sNavyMom, Kimberly and KLsewso!

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.

WELCOME to our new members!  This is such a great place to get answers to your questions and to get support in this adventure!  :-)  I'm still relatively early in all this.  My son JUST finished Nuke School and is on leave.  He will head to his home port in a few weeks, so we are enjoying our time with him at home!  (But I really had hoped the Navy would train him to keep his room clean, but so far, that hasn't happened! LOL)  But it's good to have him home nonetheless!

Just want to let you all know if your sailor has a "family day" it is well worth the travel and time to go. We spent last Sunday on the George Washington, went out to sea for the day, saw an air show including jets landing and taking off from the carrier and had a tour of the ship. Of course, we cannot see where our Nukes work but can see much of the ship. It is a very long day but worth it in the end to get a feel for where they'll be and how it all works. There were complaints about long lines ( hours for tshirts and they were sold out of family day ones and all sizes other than small and medium before we got there) and lunch hours ending up almost 2 hours late but everything was worth it in the end. Things happen but we still got to go out on a carrier! 

That's all I have - do what you can to attend if you ever get the opportunity!

MomofJoseph - Enjoy the time with your sailor, even if his room is messy!!

Welcome to our newest members - Glad to have you here with us!

4kidsforfun - I am so glad that you had a wonderful family day!! I was not able to attend the one on my son's ship, but I really wanted to go. They also had long lines and such, which we did not have when touring with just our sailors, but we were in port. How I would have loved to have been out on the ocean!

Because there has been discussion about the government shut down and NFCU possibly covering paychecks in another group on this site, I wanted to share this information which I just received from my sailor gal. 

UPDATE: - NFCU Loan assistance for Gov't shutdown!!

My sailor gal just shared this with me - Government Shutdown Assistance | Navy Federal Credit Union

This 0% loan has to be applied for and then will be drafted back out of sailor's accounts, once their DOD deposit is made. There is a deadline for application, before their missed paycheck. 

Be sure to have your sailor check this out and let them know about it, make sure they read the fine print. If they are deployed this may be more difficult for them to deal with - it is not automatically covered as they have done in the past. If you are on their bank account, you might be able to apply for them, I am not certain. 

I am not going to be able to reply to questions about this, but I wanted to share the information as soon as my DIL told me about it, since I know we have discussed this recently in other groups. 

We are concerned about the sailors on deployment who may not be able to access this application, so I am sharing it with you as soon as I found out about it, so maybe you can reach out to them. They do have to have their access code to apply at least through the mobile app.

From other discussions, I don't know if there has been an actual loan application necessary with NFCU, but there is this time. 

4kidsforfun - I completely agree with family day! My kid is on one of the fast attack subs - USS Jimmy Carter, and the tour was fantastic! We obv did get to see many parts of the sub but I did get to look up periscope and sit in one of the navigation seats. Note of caution though… this is a pretty physical tour. To get out, I had to climb two stories straight up on a metal ladder! Great fun though… five stars!!!

Happy Sunday everyone! Yepp I am still here just reading always 2-4 weeks late. Whenever i wanted to chime in topics were long gone. 
Mom of Joseph so true about our son’s room. He’s home for a 10 days vacation. Whenever we’re out of town or visiting relatives house his room/bed was always tidy. But when his home he was in his old self. Never utilized closet so luggages were just wide open. 
4kidsforfun - glad you experienced family day. Mine might not going to happen his carrier is on dry dock til maybe 2026.

he was chosen to join another carrier to experience deployment and will fully qualified everything he quals. Only 2 of them in his division.  Question moms with deployment experience: how’s the communication looks like on ship? Only thru their navy email? Is there a wifi where he can use his laptop or maybe phone or the ship’s computer just to open his bank account and pay bills during sea days? I understand that communication is limited but i’m concern more of the navy fed bank website if he can access it. Thank you all 

Hammer - going on a sub sounds exciting! Glad you got to do that.

Gigi - my son's carrier has not actually deployed yet but they've been qualifying during several underways and have been out a couple weeks at a time so far. We've been able to get through to him via Facebook messenger or a message through snapchat - something he can access with wifi. Regular texting doesn't get to him. Their navy email is a great way as well but my son has something wrong there and so far has not gotten it straightened out. We are hoping he will before they actually head to Japan!

Gigi, Your son should get his bills set up for autopay. Also he should set up his account with you as an authorized user. Even on his NFCU credit card if he has one. It would also be wise for single sailors to have a parent set up with a POA or on their accounts so you can act on their behalf. I was on my son's bank but not his NFCU credit card but my phone was a notifier for fraud charges. Even though I was on his bank account I was not attached to his cc and the bank had to close it down. 

Also the last I knew NFCU has their own POA form that has to be filled out and approved.

4kidsforfun - make sure your son has cleared his email messages. That can bog up their incoming mail. Also they have to get all of the approvals down on the paperwork. He can check with IT - and stay on their good side. 

PacNWmom, did you see that the pictures from graduation were posted on the NPTU Charleston FB page yesterday? I just noticed them today.

Thank you 4kidsforfun for the info, good to know about the Facebook messenger and snapchat. Hoping they’ll fix your son’s email before he leaves.

Chipmunk- thank you but those weren’t our options now. He flew out today to VA. His other bills were already set up autopay, only the credit card his worried about. He’d given me his online password our last option.

Anyone knows if they can access the navy fed account And other bank while on the fleet? Thank you 

MomofJoseph - Thanks for the head’s up! I’m very rarely on FB. This will surely make me log in.

I’m still enjoying the hugs I got from my son and his wife while I was in Goose Creek. It’s great to see them thriving and excited about the next chapter in their Navy lives.

GiGi - My apologies, I have been "Out to sea" so to speak. 

As for bank access on the ship, I think it depends. I do recall my son fussing about the extra authentication requirements that banks usually have for accessing things, because if you can't get a phone signal, you can't get an authorization code. Also, while they are NFCU, it seemed like my DIL or I were constantly having to explain, "they are out to sea, they cannot access anything."

This reply just came back from my DIL - "If the internet is good enough. You have to know your password (she may mean the access code - NFCU has several different things) and be able to log into your email for the one-time password."

As for credit card, he might ask NFCU if he can pay ahead on the card, to make sure there is money in the account to pay off any charges that come through. That is not common with most credit cards, to my knowledge. 

If your sailor is headed out to sea, the ombudsman should have shared a deployment pamphlet. And your sailor will likely need an active ship email to get you authorized for access to the Ombudsman FB page, if that is how they communicate. Your sailor might also be able to directly email the ombudsman with his rate / rank and department chief's name, if he doesn't have his ship email set up, with a message to the ombudsman to please accept any contact from his parents. My son was able to do that with ours while our ship was still in dock, and I am not on FB, so if I did send the ombudsman an email, she still knew she had permission to talk to me. 

Thank you so much Chipmunk. I guess we’re all set with his banking arrangement. He will be using the one that i am on it and not the Navy Fed. I have no idea about the ombudsman, i will tell him about giving me an access. And as of now he is not set up yet with this new ship, but he will eventually he was just invited to join this ship. Again thank you 

For those of you with sailors getting ready to head to the fleet, you might find this information helpful - Naval Sea Systems Command > Home > NNPTC > Ombudsman (navy... - It is a description of the Ombudsman's purpose and duties. Also, for those of you with sailors at NNPTC, the ombudsman contact information is listed directly above in our group page information. 

Some more deployment information if anyone needs it. 

Ombudsman & FRG Bifold Color.indd (navy.mil)

DeploymentSupportHandbook.pdf (navy.mil)

Thank you Chipmunk. I don’t have desktop access right now, i’ll check everything out tonight at home. Yes I have Facebook 

Gigi - That sounds great!

Gigi,  late to see this but last year my son gave me some access to his NFCU account.  I never needed it since I also have access to another account that had enough funds to deal with what I needed.  But this does mean there is some way of doing it.

Mine is on subs so when out zero access to anything.  My conversations with the ombuds lead me to believe that so much is focused on the sailors families on land, which I get, but there are many single sailors who parents deal with everything while they are deployed.

When yours is back on land get a power of attorney done and have a good conversation about when you can use it so you are both on the same page.  I had to use it  for taxes once.

automatic payments set up before they leave is best, as long as they have enough in the account to cover them.

Thank you New Adventure:) This is all new to me, to us. i think we are all set when it comes to bills and banking. He called yesterday was out shopping for what he needs. He seems pretty excited about his deployment. I’m really praying for his email to be set up before he leaves