This site is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids.
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.
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:
**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:
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.)
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.
Visite esta página para explorar en su idioma las oportunidades de educación y carreras para sus hijos en el Navy. Navy.com
Since my son decided to enlist I like many other Navy moms have experienced a myriad of emtions. I have cried and cried, mostly in private, sometimes in sadness other times with pride, and still other times simply with the fear of the unknown. i have laughed with my son, teased him about all the cleaning he will do, the foods he WONT be eating and reminded him of how much he likes to sleep and how much I will try to sleep for him. I have read with interest how each Mom deals with the changes their children go through and the expectations that each have.
I read as various people have very earnest ideas about how Moms shold behave and should not. I have worked in the mental health field for more than 25 years and I just feel the need to assure every mom that though the paths we take to helping our children navigate boot camp and their service in the Navy our goals are probably pretty similar. We want them to grow healthy, happy, responsible young men and women. As parents it is hard to abdicate that role to someone else even for a few weeks or a few months. While seamen recruits view the next step of their lives with excitement and anticipation it is change and with change their is always stress. That is simply a fact of life. I just want to reassure moms that there is no right or wrong way to go through this process. Your feelings are not right or wrong they just are. Allow yourself to feel them. Give yourself the gift of understanding and grace that you would be so quick to give to your friends.
Its important to remember that adolescence begins at 12 or 13 but technically doesn't end until age 24. Just because our children are of legal age to do many things at 18 doesn't mean they have the maturity to know it all, even if they think they do. They will still need your help, your guidance, your understanding, and your open arms when things get tough. I used to work near an airforce base and helped out in certain situations on the base and I can't tell you the number of times young soldier just wanted their "moms" and how much that contact with their moms diffused a difficult situation.
When I work with young people between the ages of 18 and 24 I always explain to their parents that they are seeking indepence, operating on their own, making their own decisions, having the time of their lives, until they screw up and then they need to know that mom and dad are right there to help them pick up the pieces. It is all part of the developmental process. That doesn't mean you can fix things, right a wrong, or intervene, but it means you can provide the shelter in a storm, a listening ear, and help them figure out a plan of what to do next.
I think the hardest part is to stay calm. The older my son has gotten the more he has asked the question of why when he has done something he would consider majorly wrong like getting a speeding ticket do i stay so calm and yet in his words "freak out" when the garbage doesn't go out. It is simple I always remind him, when there is a true crisis I want him to know that home is only a phone call away. I won't be angry, I'll be disappointed.
So remember, your children are your children forever and that means you will always have a special bond. You can't suffocate them, but you can't suddenly go from parent to friend either. In my business, we always say the extremes are more alike than they are different. In otherwards the outcome will often be very similar. Our young seaman will always be our child. We will hear about their successes, their frustrations and their fears in boot camp. Our job is to stay positive, stay focused, and help them keep their eye on the prize...graduation or as my son just reminded me as he walked by LIBERTY!!!
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