This site is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids.
FIRST TIME HERE?
FOLLOW THESE STEPS TO GET STARTED:
Choose your Username. For the privacy and safety of you and/or your sailor, NO LAST NAMES ARE ALLOWED, even if your last name differs from that of your sailor (please make sure your URL address does not include your last name either). Also, please do not include your email address in your user name. Go to "Settings" above to set your Username. While there, complete your Profile so you can post and share photos and videos of your Sailor and share stories with other moms!
Make sure to read our Community Guidelines and this Navy Operations Security (OPSEC) checklist - loose lips sink ships!
Join groups! Browse for groups for your PIR date, your sailor's occupational specialty, "A" school, assigned ship, homeport city, your own city or state, and a myriad of other interests. Jump in and introduce yourself! Start making friends that can last a lifetime.
Link to Navy Speak - Navy Terms & Acronyms: Navy Speak
All Hands Magazine's full length documentary "Making a Sailor": This video follows four recruits through Boot Camp in the spring of 2018 who were assigned to DIV 229, an integrated division, which had PIR on 05/25/2018.
Boot Camp: Making a Sailor (Full Length Documentary - 2018)
Boot Camp: Behind the Scenes at RTC
...and visit Navy.com - America's Navy and Navy.mil also Navy Live - The Official Blog of the Navy to learn more.
OPSEC - Navy Operations Security
Always keep Navy Operations Security in mind. In the Navy, it's essential to remember that "loose lips sink ships." OPSEC is everyone's responsibility.
DON'T post critical information including future destinations or ports of call; future operations, exercises or missions; deployment or homecoming dates.
DO be smart, use your head, always think OPSEC when using texts, email, phone, and social media, and watch this video: "Importance of Navy OPSEC."
Follow this link for OPSEC Guidelines:
Events
**UPDATE as of 11/10/2022 PIR vaccination is no longer required.
FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR UP TO DATE INFO:
RESUMING LIVE PIR - 8/13/2021
Please note! Changes to this guide happened in October 2017. Tickets are now issued for all guests, and all guests must have a ticket to enter base. A separate parking pass is no longer needed to drive on to base for parking.
Please see changes to attending PIR in the PAGES column. The PAGES are located under the member icons on the right side.
Format Downloads:
- Graduation Info
- PDF – 2.7 MB
- PNG – 2.3 MB
- JPG – 3.4 MB
- Printable PDF – 2.0 MB
Latest Activity
Navy Speak
Click here to learn common Navy terms and acronyms! (Hint: When you can speak an entire sentence using only acronyms and one verb, you're truly a Navy mom.)
N4M Merchandise
Shirts, caps, mugs and more can be found at CafePress.
Please note: Profits generated in the production of this merchandise are not being awarded to the Navy or any of its suppliers. Any profit made is retained by CafePress.
Navy.com Para Familias
Visite esta página para explorar en su idioma las oportunidades de educación y carreras para sus hijos en el Navy. Navy.com
Badge
Just starting this new adventure
I think my son will be enlisting very soon. He at least wants us to meet with the recruiter before he takes that next step. I find myself excited for him - he really wants to do this. Right now, at least, I'm not even too nervous about him leaving (but I'm sure that will change!). I don't know how long we will have between his enlisting and shipping out, or how often we will be able to be in contact - either by phone or in person. But I have a few more days to make my list of questions and hopefully get some answers. Anyone have any ideas on questions that, in hindsight, they would have liked to ask about before their loved one enlisted? Thanks in advance!
Views: 256
-
Comment by Leach73 on February 3, 2015 at 10:30am
-
TJR's Proud Mom - is your son still in HS? I would definitely agree that you go with him and meet the recruiter. I too was in your position and I did not know what to ask. When we were there at the recruiter's office, it turned out to be an almost 4 hour Q & A session. He said he'd stay as long as we had questions! That was in March of 2012. My daughter wanted to join to be a Corpsman...unfortunately there weren't any openings for that rate and she signed as Undesignated. She was in DEP (Delayed Entry Program), signed her contract in early November of 2013 and shipped out to boot camp in Feb. 2014. Hard to believe that it will be a year ago already since she left!
All I will say is make sure your son has an idea of what job it is that he is going to want to do in the Navy. Read up on it and learn more about it just to prepare himself. As far as boot camp goes, once he leaves, you will only be able to write letters to him. He will be able to call home a few times but those calls will come randomly. Boot camp is about 8 to 9 weeks and when you see him again will be at the graduation. Just from my experience, this website has been a life-saver for me with the wealth of information it provides. Looking back, I would have preferred that my daughter would not have chosen to go in as Undes. in the PACT program. At this point, her chances of becoming a Corpsman are slim to none as this field is overmanned. I wish she would have waited for an opening in this rate rather than having gone in Undes.
My advice to your son would be to just make sure he is choosing a job that he wants and will be able to use to his benefit once he comes back to civilian life.
As a mom, my advice to you will be to give him some money/financial/budget lessons so that he carefully manage his money.
-
Comment by My2kidz on February 4, 2015 at 11:37am
-
I hope your meeting with the Recruiter goes well. The test you were speaking about is most likely the ASVAB. The scores of this test determine the rates (jobs) available to your son. But just because he scores well doesn't mean the job will be available. Best advice is as above, don't get too anxious but wait for the right job to become available. Also make sure he will clear any waivers. My son had to wait 6 months to get a waiver for an old injury but I am so glad his recruiter was thorough. While he was in BC quite a few people were sent home for various reasons that could have been avoided with the proper waiver. Waivers are not only for physical reasons but also for background checks which I believe are pretty stringent for Intelligence jobs.
There are a lot of good recruiters out there (my son had a great one) but there are some who are a little unscrupulous so trust your gut and make sure your son is happy with the job. My son't recruiter spent a lot of time with him discussing options if the waiver didn't come through for his injury (which would have precluded his preferred job) and he did find two other jobs he would have enjoyed just in case. In the end he got the contract he wanted and is extremely happy.
Good luck to your son and your family. It is an exciting journey.
-
Comment by TJR's Proud Mom on February 4, 2015 at 6:46pm
-
Well, we met with the recruiters and we are lucky to have a good group to deal with. We were made to feel very comfortable and all of our questions were answered in a very straightforward manner. I half expected to be met with a "sales pitch", and was glad that I wasn't. We were told how the process works without any grand promises being made. My husband had all of his questions answered, and we both feel very comfortable with our son moving forward with his plans. After being told their impressions of my son from their previous meetings with him, I feel even more proud of him now than I was before! Looks like I will be becoming a Navy Mom!
-
-
It's getting closer... he turned in a packet of background check paperwork today, and has his physical scheduled for Wednesday. How long between the physical and when they present him with his "job offers"? (Providing they don't find any issues with his physical, of course!) It seems like they move the process along fairly quickly.
-
-
Well, I got my question answered today. He went in for his physical this morning and came home a sailor this afternoon. We got the bumper sticker and everything! :-) In a few more days we'll know for certain what he'll be going in as. I'm very proud of him and excited for him!
-
-
Correction, he came home a recruit... still have a ways to go before he's a sailor. I'll figure out all these terms soon enough!
-
-
Yesterday I shed my first tear over his upcoming departure... over what? we were talking about how we will be handling his cell phone while he's away! It's funny the little things that can get you!
-
-
So here we are, two weeks from his departure. So far we're all doing good. He is ready to go and can't wait to start his training. We are trying to make all the favorite dinners he likes, do a few day trips as a family, and have him get together with friends and family as often as possible. I guess I just haven't had the time to think about what it will be like after we say goodbye and he heads off to start his new life. But until then, we're keeping it all good!
-
-
Wow, it's been a while since I've written! We had a great going-away party at a local park last Saturday, and my son left for BC right as scheduled this past Wednesday. We went to the swearing-in and to the airport... the airline was even gracious enough to give the three of us "boarding passes" so we could wait with him at the gate. We stayed strong until he walked through the doorway to the ramp to the plane, then I had to dig out the tissues for my daughter and I. We watched the plane take off and fly out of sight. That was around 2 PM our time... we got "the call" at about 9 PM our time. I threw him an "I love you" at the end and was thrilled to get an "I love you too" back before he hung up.
So far things have been pretty good, but I do get choked up at the most unexpected moments over the most mundane of things, like putting the last of his laundry away or reading from a website about what goes on at BC. Today's thing is hopefully receiving "the box" - I read someone else's post that their son left the day before mine did and they got his box yesterday, so I am really hopeful ours will arrive today. He had told us that he would take pictures along the way, so we should check them out when we get his phone back.
It's definitely an adjustment, but we're getting through it. Hopefully these next three weeks will go by quickly until we get the next phone call.
Comment
© 2025 Created by Navy for Moms Admin.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Navy For Moms to add comments!
Join Navy For Moms