Sub Moms

I've lived in Western WA 22 years, after six years in San Diego and the SF Bay area - I've only wanted to kill myself after two consecutive days in the 90s ;).

LOL Mark!!!

Agreed let's keep the conversation light. If someone asks is Groton a cold place I would say it was 61 degrees this Monday. Lol.

My son's still in BS and fretting about his old Ford Ranger truck being not-so-good in Groton snow ... he's thinking about getting a 4 wheel drive F150 or a Tacoma (there goes that bonus $ !!). Question: does anybody know if it's possible to suspend insurance for a new vehicle while a sailor is on deployment? I would imagine he'd want to carry theft coverage all the while.

Connie, my son uses geico and he calls them before and after his deployment and they discount his payments while he is gone.

Connie my son is getting his insurance discounted too while on deployment but I think it may make a difference if he has a car loan usually the loan stipulates they carry full coverage regardless but if its paid for then check with your agent he should tell him the best options.

Re car insurance, both my grandson and his Dad (retired Air Force) recently switched their car insurance from USAA to Gieco and saved a TON of money.  Not sure about deployment options there but Gieco is very good to work with,

Did anyone answer Candasj about graduation from Groton?  Since our son only took 3 months of welding certification there, and graduated from Goose Creek, I don't have an answer for her.

@Cheri - I am not sure about the state thing, but I do know first hand Gieco is great to deal with on claims.  In 2009 we rolled our van on a snowy and icey road in Colorado on our way back to Arizona after picking up my Mom and they were fantastic!  It was a Sunday and by 8 am Monday morning they had a rent a car ready for us to go home in, had the adjuster call us and on his way to look at our van.  It was totaled but they were wonderful to deal with through out the entire process.  FYI there was 5 of us in the van and we were all OK.  They had to carry me on a board from the bottom of the hill because I can't walk with out my walker but otherwise I was fine.

To Candasj: My sailor Graduated from Groton in August. For me it was well worth the trip. He had been at Groton for 10 months studying. I did not make the trip for BESS or C school. But I was determined to go for A school grad. They have a short ceremony but it meant the world to my sailor for me to be there. We made a long weekend out of it and did some sight seeing while I was there. I too am from Illinois. I booked through travelocity and did a package with air, hotel and car. All airports are an hour away from Groton base and having a rental car made it possible for me and my sailor to come and go as we wanted. The ceremony was very intimate and they stop when handing out the certificates for as many pictures as you want. If you want more information don't be afraid to send be a PM. I hope you get to go to Groton. It is beautiful over there. Well I think it still is since superstorm sandy rearranged things since I was there.

I'd like to ask the moms who have sailors at Groton, which airport did they use to fly home? And how did they get to the airport? Am finding very little info online.

Thanks in advance-

SK4Luker my son flew out of Providence and the base shuttle took him there, I believe he said he just had to let them know date and time of his flight and they took him.  There is an USO also at Providence so if he has a long wait he can wait there.

I had a question about the base housing at Groton, can somebody describe what the rooms are like for a E-4 who is single?   Is it like the rooms at Goose Creek? Thanks.

SK4Luker- My son use the Providence in Rhode Island. As far as transportation to and from the airport, my son received a ride from a friend on Base, and the other time he left his car in the Long term parking lot. I asked my husband if he knew of any more airports near the area that are close to the base; he mentioned Hartford and New Haven.
Hope that helps. =)

Where on the base at Groton does the sailor have to go to get information about the shuttle to the airports?

William, my son who was at Goose Creek and is now at Groton, says that the rooms in Groton (once you're out of BESS) are similar to those at Goose Creek except they are a little bit larger.

Hello, my husband and I live in Suffolk, close to Norfolk. Is there anyone who has a son who might like to come and have Thanksgiving with my family and me? We can pick him up and drop him back off.

Candy LeDoyen

For sailors assigned to Groton submarines that are in port, do the Culinary Specialists for the sub still cook the crew's meals, and does the crew eat together?  Or else is it one big galley for the whole base (and in that case who does the cooking)?  Thanks.

 For those interested, I've pasted the menu for Thanksgiving Dinner at the Bangor Sub Base; looks pretty good...

STEAMSHIP ROUND/AU JUS
OVEN-ROASTED TURKEY
BAKED HAM
CHICKEN CORN CHOWDER
SALAD BAR
WALDORF SALAD, POTATO SALAD
SHRIMP COCKTAIL/SAUCE
TURKEY GRAVY
CRANBERRY SAUCE
CORN BREAD STUFFING
MASHED POTATOES
SCALLOPED SWEET POTATOES
PEAS & CARROTS
GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
CORN ON THE COB
HOT ROLLS
ASSORTMENT OF BAKED
ASSORTED PIES
CHEESE CAKE
FONDUE WITH ASSORTED
CUT FRUITS
(STRAWBERRY/RICE
KRISPIES/MARSHMALLOW)
FROZEN YOGURT WITH
ASSORTED TOPPINGS
ASSORTMENT OF FRUITS
EGG NOG
BEVERAGE BAR
SPARKLING APPLE CIDER
NUTS AND HARD CANDIES

William- My son says that the Culinary Specialists do cook for the crew while the sub is in port, so the crew can eat there or elsewhere, including the galley on base.

My son also advanced today to E-5!

Congratulations Mary(MMnukesmom)...and to your son!!

That is so sweet of you Candy-oh

** In advance... Happy Turkey Day everyone! Best wishes to all of you.

Thanks Lynn and congratulations to your son, and you too Mary. That is quite an accomplishment.

Yummy Mark thanks for sharing, I would love the have the recipe for Scalloped Sweet Potatoes I have never heard of that

Congratulations Lynn on your son making E5!

I am now the proud parent of an MMN2!  I knew already, but I acted surprised.  Of course, I had looked in the wrong place on the list at first and didn't find his name.  Then, when I heard Mary's son made it, I looked for his name (wasn't in the wrong place, of course), then found my son. 

How he told me was pretty funny--he is such a Mr. Smarty Pants. Sent me a text: "That package you sent the other day. It was sent to the wrong person." Me: "What??" Him: "It was MM3 Last Name." Me: "Um, yeah." Him: "Yeah, it's MM2 Select now." LOL Didn't tell him I knew already. He's very excited.

And he said he probably will not re-up yet; will wait and see how he likes it (just got to his boat the 1st).

Congratulation to you and your son Michimom!  What a great way to tell you!

Mary, hey I've got a way to make $$ for those surgeries... (this is strictly tongue-in-cheek) .. one of my clients is a professional surrogate mom, she made $36k carrying twins last year .. and spent it buying pregnant Thoroughbred broodmares. She asked if I'd be interested, and I told her my baby ship sailed a longgg time ago. Anyway, ya gotta laugh a little when faced with medical bills, otherwise you'll end up having a heart attack on top of everything else. I'll keep my fingers crossed for your husband .. and that awesome, wonderful sailor son of yours. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all the silent service moms, dads, wives and girlfriends! Hope you have a blessed day.  I am thankful to live in a country that I know we are protected by the best and bravest men and women in the world!  Especially the silent service men!  (I'm not biased)

Wow and congratulations on a spectacular year for all the newly minted(my made up adjective for this occasion)nukes and their earned advancements. 2012 will be a stellar year of memories in the lives of all these guys.

And Happy Thanksgiving to all of us, where ever we celebrate and with whom ever we celebrate with!

Congratulations to all the advancements, and Happy Thanksgiving to all. Just got a call from my DIL that my son just got his dolphins and will be able to come to our house on Saturday for a thanksgiving dinner!!!: )

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  I will not have either of my Sailor grandsons here for Thanksgiving, BUT they will both be home for Christmas.

Mary(MMnukesmom)- You've got an INCREDIBLE,KIND HEARTED SON! At least, that is one of your blessings in your life. =)  But, it sounds like you have a ton of hardships too. I will keep you and your hubby in my prayers.

Thank you for the link to see if our Submariners were able to advance. Congratulations to all who's sons advanced! (My son was one of them too..Yippy!) Lol

Best wishes to all of you this Thanksgiving Day.  One of the things I'm thankful for is having a great 'support group' through all of you. Its corny I know...but it is true.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to all my Navy family in this group & everywhere! Got to talk with our sailor cause he had duty but they seemed to have the food under control-they were making their own holiday! Hope you all had a great day with family, friends, or whomever made you thankful! God Bless our Navy & all the military!

Its wonderful that you have such a positive outlook Mary(MMnukesmom).  I know from my own experiences with medical problems, that it is not the easiest thing to do sometimes. But, you need to keep 'plugging away' and do the best you can.

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving.

God Bless Our Servicemen and women in the military.

good morning everyone.. hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.. my sub son was home for the last few weeks but now the house is a tad too quiet.. never get used to them leaving.. blessings to all for a great week

I'm so happy for you moms who were able to spend Thanksgiving with your sons.  I'm sure you all treasured the time you had with them. (I cannot say I'm not a little teeny bit jealous..lol.) Seriously though, I am happy for all of you! =) I received a  suprise on Thanksgiving. I received an e-mail from my son! It was the first time the sub was able to transmit in weeks, while on their on deployment. It was a heartfelt letter,and it brought tears to my eyes....happy tears. It was a wonderful moment.

Rebecca, so happy that you got that e-mail!  I'm sure it must be so hard not knowing when you will hear from your sailor.  Mine just left on deployment for the first time Sunday.  They flew him from Pearl Harbor to join up with his sub in Guam.  Very hard not knowing if he got there safely and is now under way or still in port there.  It will be a whole new process for me.  He was extremely nervous about going!!  He is a Nuke and was told many horrible things about their first year on the sub.  Hoping lots of that info was false!  

Pamela, don't worry too much about your son's first year.  It is tough on them because they are qualifying for their 'fish' or 'dolphins'.  It is a process they all go through.  The reason it is so hard is they have so much to learn and until they are qualified, they are not full sailors and cannot carry their own weight.  The sailors are hard on the nubs (non useful bodies) to make sure they are working as hard as possible to qualify so they can stand their own watches and carry their load like everyone else.  It seems unfair to us moms, but it is the way it is and it works!  There will be times when you talk to him he will be begging for sympathy from you.  Don't be sympathetic!  Be positive, supportive and tell him you understand his feelings but it is part of learning his job and it will get better.  The faster he qualifies, the easier it will be on him.  

My sailor had a hard time due to his personality (thinking he knew better than everyone else!), which made it worse.  He even had trouble finding someone to sign off on his quals at times!  But it definitely helped him to become a better sailor and person.  He had to learn how to get along with everyone, not just those he liked. I sympathized with him at first, but after the 4th or 5th time of him complaining, I realized that I was not helping him.  Finally I told him that I would pray for him and his crew but I could not do anything more.  He had to learn to deal with it.  It was a hard year but it helped him grow tremendously.  He still has a problem sometimes with his tongue being too active(!), but he has learned to deal with those he does not particularly care for in a better way.  He has been reprimanded harshly at times, and it was hard on me to not be upset about it.  But he now takes responsibility for his own actions and has become a great sailor and young man.  It still makes me tear up at times to think of all he went through, but I also get teary thinking of how good a young man he has become. Anytime you need a hug, let me know!

It is hard for us to let our children go and grow up learning necessary lessons, but the Navy has been the best for my son and I am sure it will help your son as well.  (My son joined at 22 and still needed to grow up a lot!)
I spoke to my sailor yesterday for the first time in several weeks and his deployment has been a little tough the last few weeks, but he has done many things for the first time and is enjoying his new experiences.  It was really great to hear his voice and be able to wish him Happy Thanksgiving.

Have a great week moms!

Rhonda, AMEN to your comment!! Pamela, he will be fine! Really!!

Thanks for all the positives ladies!!!  It sure helps to have others who are in the same "boat"!!  No pun intended! LOL!  My son unlike your's Rhonda, is very shy!!!  That's what makes me worry about him.  Even going through the 2 years of Nuke school being yelled at all the time, didn't break him of that.  It's just his personality I guess.  I did tell him before he left to just keep a smile on his face at all times (which is not how he is either), thinking that would make it better for him.  

Hope you all have a great day today!!!  

The thing about the sub guys is that their group is small enough that they become family.  I have met some of my sailor's sub friends, and they are all fantastic.  They are such a support system to each other.  This summer one of they guy's young daughter's had an accident while visiting her grandmother--and the other sub guys were there all the way.  So, shy or not, I think they all become brothers.