Cryptology ~ CTI ~ CTM ~ CTN ~ CTR ~ CTT ~ CWT Corry Station Pensacola Florida and Monterey California

Ok WAG that's a new one for me.

I'll have the last laugh on Ryan when he comes on on the 29th. He bought a web cam (I've had one for years) and called us yesterday all excited so we could see him now. Well he thought is was "just too funny" when we took it outside to show him all the snow and his Dad out shoveling. As he's sitting there in his tshirt and 69 degree weather. He can do all the shoveling etc for the 2 weeks he's home..now see how funny he thinks that is.

That's wonderful. Some day I wish I could have a surprise like that. You're in for one happy holiday.

My son Chris is a CTN and is stationed in Norfolk. He joined the Navy after college but chose to enlist. I was just wondering if anyone else had some one in the Norfolk area. He just made PO2 and plans to stay in the Navy and make it his career.

My son has been a CTN a little over a year. He joined the Navy in March of 2007 and is now a PO2. The CT's are the fastest track in the Navy, at least the CTN's are right now. He loves what he does, he just can't tell anyone what he does for the Navy. The weirdest thing was the process of getting his security clearence. We had FIS agents all over the neighborhood. Fortunately, the neighbors took it well.

My son had lived with my mother in New York while he went to college. So when they showed up in her neighborhood, I got a call from the woman who lived across the street from my Mom. The woman wanted to know if it was some kind of Con or these men were "up to no good". I would have started laughing but I was too busy convincing her these guys were for real and to PLEASE tell them what they wanted to know.

It is my understanding that they get their security clearance as soon as the Feds have all the answers to all the questions they want answered. In Chris' case (believe it or not) they had a problem because Chris doesn't drink. It ended up on the report as "Abstains from alcohol". It took me an hour to explain that it wasn't because he had a drinking problem, or a religious issue. He doesn't drink because he hates the taste. Then there was the issue of why there were no girlfriends mentioned in his file. Chris was 28 when he enlisted, so they were expecting girlfriends. He was working full time, going to college and taking care of my mother. Not much time to date.

In all fairness, Chris was 28 and had done a lot in his life before he joined the Navy. We were a Navy family, so we had moved a lot. He was living in New York for 8 years before he joined. Add to that, a long list of part time jobs while going to college and getting his security clearance was complicated. I just thought it was funny that one of those long list of items was the drinking thing. The girlfriend thing really was just a passing remark made during the interview. But if you think about it, if he didn't drink because he had been an alcoholic, then the Navy might consider that a possible future problem. I just chose to laugh about it all.

Hi Kim, My son is a CTN. These CTs are working their tails off, whether they are at school or in the Navy. They love what they do, but it doesn't leave them much time. He'll call, just never as much as you would like. Hang in there, we're with you.

Just wondering if any experienced moms have had kids go to afghanistan?

Hi,

I am looking for a mother whose name is Patsy and her son's name is Robert, and they are from TX, let me hear from you.

Our son graduates from CTT C-School tomorrow. My husband flew down to Pensacola and they are driving his car to New Orleans to have it shipped to Hawaii. They my son will be home for two weeks before leaving the cold, snowy, icy, windy, wet western Pennsylvania weather and heading to Hawaii!!!

Hi Joy, Where in western PA? We are in Murrysville, just to the east of Pittsburgh.

My son got exactly the assignment that he wanted! I am so excited. I can't wait to visit.

We are about an hour north of the the Pittsburgh airport, Lyn Love.

GO STEELERS!!!

Sounds like we will be in the same neighborhood sometime next year. We are planning on moving to Cranberry late in 09 or early in 2010. Hope to meet you some time.

My son was in the CT barracks for a while. His room had problems getting internet access, so if he can facebook you that is a good sign. Just don't expect to hear from him once school starts. It is the hardest program in the Navy and they have to study and work every minute to graduate. We went down to visit Chris ( and deliver his car) and he did have time on the weekend to spend with us. Good luck to your son. Chris is now in Norfolk and loving life.

I forgot to tell anyone going to Pensacola to make sure you get to see the air museum. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. We had lunch in the museum restaurant. The food was good and not expensive. It was great to just sit and talk for a while. It gave us something to talk about beside his school which he couldn't talk about anyway..

There are wonderful shops and restaurants on Pensacola beach. My favorite restaurant is a place called "Crabs, We Got'em" A little expensive but great sea food and a lot of fun. Just get there early, the line goes down the block by early evening. Can you tell I loved Pensacola. We loved it so much that we are actually considering moving there after we retire.

That is true, but 17 months? WOW, I thought Chris having to wait 4 weeks was way to long. Chris did keep after them about his clearance. Its that squeeky wheel thing. He also said something about the CTN's having a shorter wait.

Marie, It took about 2 weeks after they got the employment interviews finished. Then he had to wait about 3 weeks until the next class started. Chris tells me that the CTN classes are incredibly small and so they need to wait until they get enough people. His class had 6 students in it. He's very happy being a CTN. He made Petty Officer 2 exactly 1 year from the time he left BC. Of course he already had a degree in computer science, so that puts him on a faster track. But he tells me they are so short on CTNs that their promotions come pretty quickly.

The majority of his securtiy clearance should have been taken care of while he was in BC, The hang ups only seem to surface because they are so cut off while they are at GL. These guys are needed so badly that the Navy does everything they can to get them through the process. Just some times you need to stay on top of things. Its that squeeky wheel thing.

This academic board is similar to the ones the Nukes have. The academic board will determine if he just had a bad day or if he can't handle the demands of the program. If they feel he can succeed they will put him on probation and set up a study program for him. He will need to bring his grade point average up. I know the CTNs failling grade is anything under 89%. So saying he failed is not like the high school 65%. He might not have to much to make up. Hope this helps.

Hi, Cheryl! Our son graduated from C-School at Corry Station on a Friday and left Corry that day. He (and his dad) drove his car to New Orleans to be shipped to Hawaii. Then they flew home to western PA. Our son was home for a couple of weeks. He arrived in Hawaii yesterday. He is stationed at Pearl Harbor, but will be training at Kunia for a couple of months. Our son is a CTT.

Cheryl, our son did C-School at Corry. He will only be at Kunia for a month or two. He will be working at Pearl Harbor after that. Is your son air crew?

Corry Station in in Pensacola, FL.

Dawn, I'm sure your son will get Norfolk. My son is stationed there, he's a CTN,and he tells me that Norfolk is the least popular choice. Although it was his first choice, others want Hawaii or California. It is also a great time to buy a townhouse or small house in Virginia Beach. There are a ton of forclosures there.

My husband was stationed in Norfolk when he was in the Navy. We lived there for 5 years,but a lot has changed. One thing that hasn't changed is the Naval Base. It is huge. Its the home to the Atlantic Fleet. Several aircraft carriers and their escorts. My son lives in Virginia Beach with his girlfriend who is a native of the area. My favorite spot is Williamsburg, which is less than an hour north of the base. Tell your son to explore the area, it has a lot to offer. Of course if he is a CT he won't have a lot of time. My son tells me that they are crazy busy and short handed. He's a CTN, so I don't know if that applies to your son. My husband and I are planning on going to visit some time this summer.

My son is stationed at Pearl Harbor. He is working at Kunia right now for a couple of months. He had his car shipped. In fact the Navy paid for shipping his car. Our son just had to get it to a certain location. He was in school in Pensacola and just drove it to New Orleans (about 3 hours away). It took about three weeks for it to get to Hawaii. My son would be lost without a vehicle to get around in. If your son has a car, I would let the Navy ship it. We paid nothing.

Our son is a CTT stationed at Pearl Harbor (NIOC Hawaii). I will be glad to answer any questions that I can. He has been there about a month.

Sandy, My son is a CTN. I would get very use to hearing "I can't talk about that" as an answer to just about every question. His recruiter told me its about computers and networking. He was a big help. Chris is now in Norfolk,VA but really wants to go to Fort Meade. Don't know why. His brother is a nuke on board a fast attack submarine, so I don't even know where he is most of the time. They both joined the Navy within months of each other, so Kim, I know what you mean about the empty nest thing.

I have a secret weapon in the "keeping in contact" department. Chris' significant other call me regularly and we talk. She manages to call when Chris is home and the tells him to say Hi to his Mom. So I get at least that from him. The other son is my worry. When he's at sea, I get regular e-mails because he gets bored being under water. But its hard not to worry when your youngest child works in a large metal tube under the ocean. Especially on days like today when I hear about things like the collision between the ship and a sub off the coast of Iran. Its so hard to hear that sailors have been hurt, even if they are now back on duty. But I'm rambling on. Alex is still in Groton, at least for now.

I checked with my son about mentioning where he is stationed. He told me that Norfolk is such a large base that it doesn't matter if I mention it. He won't, however, tell me which base or where exactly he is working. I don't even ask.

Lynn, They will find something for her to do while she waits to class up. The Navy always finds plenty to keep their sailors busy. They call it TAD (temporary active duty).

Sandi, C school is very stressful. Maybe he doesn't want to talk because he's afraid that the fight will start up again. He just can't handle both school and a fight with you at the same time. Instead of asking him to talk to you, I would just send him a message that says "I'm sorry". That opens the door for him to decide to just let the issue go or address it sometime in the future. I don't know what you fought about, but just make the blanket apology and let him respond. Being right or wrong can wait until some other time. What you need now is to open the lines of communication. Personally, I'd rather be talking to my son then to be right about anything. Hope this helps and I'm not butting in where I don't belong.

Cheryl that is great he got Hawii. I wished my son would have gotten there or somewhere nice with weather. He got West Virginia. It is nice though, he is only a few hours away. So he comes home when he has long weekends. Well Contrats to you and your son. I wished we could have to see him Pcola too but it was not fesable. Well like I said Contrats to your son and I wish him the best.

Cheryl, my son is in Sugar Grove. It is a nice area but very secluded. It takes 45 mins to get to the next town. We have been ther a couple of times to take him back before he got his own car. The moutains are absolutley beautiful. It would be nice in the fall. Let me know if that is where your son is.

Sue, Yeah it does get a little easier after a year but you will always worry about your kids no matter what or where they go. I worry is he paying his bills on time and stuff like that. I just feel like I should still have control over some of the stuff he needs or wants to do. I know though he is growing up and I need to let go but I don't think I ever will. I know my husband doesn't understand sometimes either. He did when Adam first left becaus I wasn't good until I heard from him in boot camp and then it made it even harder when you do hear from them. I felt better when we got to see him at PIR. That was one of the best days of my life. So yes I know how you feel and like I said it does get better, especially when you can talk to them all the time. Good luck and we, on here, are always here for you if you need anything.

That is where my son is too. He likes it down there. It is a very nice base. In the middle of the mountains though. Either way you go, you have moutains to go up and down. My daughter get car sick everytime we go up the mountain and down the mountain. There isn't much there but in eyes my son is there and that is what counts. It is a really pretty drive too. I think it would be nice to go in the fall. You should go because the scenery is beautiful. Good Luck.

Happy Easter to all and thoughts and prayers to all of the sodliers and sailors and police officers too.

I need a big favor from you Moms out there. My son is trying to buy his first home and the mortgage company needs some information. They need the address of the A school or base in Pensacola. Chris is a CTN. We are in the process of moving and everything I own is packed in boxes. I know it was Corry Station but that is all I can remember. Please give me a hand.

It is a great day to a Navy mom. Contrats to the Navy Seals and other Navy men and women who helped in the rescue of the captain.

Welcome Cheryll. Yes you find that your daughter won't be able to tell you much about the job because I asked my son a lot of questions at first because I would like to know what he does and he just say I can't tell you. I learned a lot about it on the Navy websites, so that I could at least have an idea of what they do. It gives you a brief dicription of it. So good luck to you and your new sailor and just wait until you get to Pass In Review. It is great you will love it. It is definately worth time to go and see.

I know what you mean Susan R. because my son, everytime I call him he is playing World of Warcraft too. They must not keep them busy enough where he is. Where is your son? Welcome to all of the new moms on here. My son was in the Delayed Entry too. So we knew he was going. Plus he had talked about the military since he was in 8th grade, so I knew he was going somewhere, just didn't know where at that time. Then the Navy recruiter came to meet with us and he made his mind up. I am glad he chose the Navy. He got me a beautiful necklace that means so much to me. I will put a pic on my page. I will also put on it what everything means on it on there too along with pic. It meant so much to me and I cried when I got it of course. Well hope everyone has a good day. Talk to you all later.

Yeah that is what happened when my son graduated from PIR. They either buddied up with some other families or just friends. We met up with some of them in Chicago and hung out with them. They seem to manage though. They get a long just fine.

I know when my son was in Boot Camp I sent him letters everyday too. When I could talk to him, I would say I sent you a letter. He would then say I get one everyday. I told him I could stop, but of course I did not. He of course did not want me to anyway. Before I got his address I wrote a ton of letters too. I still have all of his letters he sent to me. I want to start a scrapbook for him. Well everyone have a great day

I sure hope he gets off of hold soon. How long has he been on hold? I hope you have a great day too Brenda.

Congrat's Brenda.

My son is thinking about cryptology and I am wondering what type of classes they have to take? Will it be math, science, computer, language or a combination of all of them? Is it as hard as Nuke School is supposed to be?

Hi everyone, welcome to the new comers and yes we will try and help in everyway we can. My son is CTR. I still don't really know what that means but you get used to it. If anyone lives in the Pittsburgh area and heard about the accident on 422 yesterday, it was just about 2 miles past my house it happened. A lady who worked for a wood chipping company that was trimming trees along the road for the past week was killed when a car driving too fast was killed. I feel for her family and my heart goes out to them. I did not know the person but it is a tragedy no matter if you know them or not. My stepfather inlaw was killed in an accident on I-80 3 yrs ago, so that is why I feel for the family too. Know how that phone call feels. Well everyone have a great day. Hopefully the rain stops soon.

No, it does seem like that is where a lot of them go for schooling because that is where my son went too. He loved it down there.

I got an email the yesterday and it said to for everyone to wear RED on fridays to support the troops all over the country and over in Iraq and where ever else they may be. Do wear RED today to support them.

Alex, Did you mean CTN. That's my son's rate. You need to get use to the idea that he can't tell you anything about what he does. He won't even explain exactly what CTN's do, except that they work with computer networks. They love to use that quote from the movie Top Gun,"I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you." Its only funny the first couple of times. They work very hard, study very hard and put in long hours. He'll need a lot of patient support from you.