Sad Sailor...

[Kim (Dani's Mom ship 10 Div 331)]

So went to visit my daughter this weekend in Virginia (that is were she is stationed) and was a little bummed..  She was so excited when she was in bootcamp & A school, no she is just blah.  She went into bootcamp as undesignated, because she couldn't wait to go in, now she is seeing that she should of waited for her field to come up. She really wants EOD.  She is complaining of being exhausted from doing nothing because she is so bored with cleaning, watch and so on, she feels she is doing nothing real.  I am trying to be as positive as possible, but she is so thick headed. I told her that give it a year and work a little harder and show that you want to do more.  Any suggestions... 

[TexasMomof2]

Hmmmm......okay, don't want to offend with response but HERE GOES.....my oldest was undesignated for 2 years.  In Norfolk with the USS Enterprise.  He was not happy at first but settled in.  After 2 years, he went to corpsman school and graduate last summer after being Platoon Leader in his school.  He's doing great and he just called me tonight saying he was nominated for an award at his base. 

 

My sons' (my youngest is an aircrew rescue swimmer) have a childhood friend, "T", who just signed on and is going in as undesignated.  We asked my corpsman son what advice would he give "T" for going in as undesignated and this was my son's response:

 

"undesignated was an excellent learning opportunity for me to see all the different jobs the navy had to offer. There are a lot of sailors that are undesignated who will be very negative and try and drag ya down but if you keep your wits and remember what you joined for you will go a long way."

 

Everyone, and I mean everyone, regardless of whether they're undesignated or not, clean and have watch.  Tell her to hold her head high and make this the best experience possible.  The choice is her's.

[BunkerQB]

THE VALUE OF CLEANING.
     My son is a nuke officer on a submarine. When he is out somewhere in the middle of Pacific, his days consist of 2 six hour watches, 1 six hour paper-work/debriefing session and the remaining six hours he can do all his personal stuff, including sleep.

     When the boat is dry docked, his hours are even longer. Typically he has from 10 to 18 enlisted men who work under his direction. On a rotating basis, a few guys get "cleaning" duty. My son doesn't have to do any cleaning. My son comes in on his days off to help his guys clean, so they can get the job done faster and all go home earlier. Even the captain on his boat comes in occasionally and rolls up his sleeve. The whole thing is about TEAMWORK. It's about helping each other. It's about bonding. Every job is worth doing well. This is the Navy.
      For your daughter, if a rating was not available she could very well be assigned to do cleaning, painting or WHATEVER the Navy needs. She may be "undesignated" but she could take this opportunity to find out what else is available and make sure her superior know that she is capable of more and that she will perform her job (regardless of the job assigned) in a competent and efficient manner. If she develops an attitude that cleaning is beneath her, that will be noted also.

     This is not a time to act like a princess.

[Kim (Dani's Mom ship 10 Div 331)]

Thanks for all the advise, I don't think that it is the cleaning that bothers her I think it is more that she just wants to get out and do things, believe me she is far from a princess, LOL... I think in her head she thought she would be out on a ship seeing and experiencing the world and actually doing something productive.  I told her over and over that you are not going to like every job you do, but it will all pay off in the end. As I said in my post she loved bootcamp because they were in your face constantly and now she has way to much free time, and she is the kind of child that you need to push and push, noone is in her face telling her what to do, I told her to use that time, take some classes.  I am sure she is just blah right now and next week it could all be better.  She is going out on a test deployment later this month for about 3 weeks and I am sure when she gets back she will be pumped.  Crossing my fingers!!!!  Thanks again for the advise, I can take the bad & the good it is very helpful to me.

[TexasMomof2]

Kim, after I logged off last night, I thought "oh darn!"  Cuz I meant to also say that one thing she is most likely experiencing is the downhill after all the hoopla of BC and A School.  I mean, there's so much built "adrenaline" built up for BC and then "A" school.....and then they go into the "real" world for their rate (Job).   It's the military, yes, but it's a job like a job in the civilian world and sometimes the reality of that can be shocking after the hooplah dies down.  This is just a thought I had.....just keep encouraging her.

[TexasMomof2]

One more thing, LOL!  If she wants EOD, that is AWESOME!   My  youngest is special warfare and I'm familiar with EOD and  a female EOD would be incredible.  This is a goal she can make to work for.  And, with her keeping in mind this goal, tell her she WILL be watched and consideration for her actions/behavior/attitude during this time will be considered two years from now if she does strike for EOD.  When they strike for another rate, past "job" performance is taken into consideration.

[Anti M]

I am prior service, and yeah, I had many, many dull days and days full of boring crap. Like maintenance and paperwork.  But it was boring crap that made the basis for us doing our jobs when the time came.  Believe me,  "doing something" at three in the morning drinking stale coffee in order to stay awake after 72 hours straight is Not Fun.  You really don't want to be Doing Something in the Navy all the time.  Cleaning is downright relaxing, because it you miss the dirt in the corner, you may get yelled at, but no one dies.

[BunkerQB]

Kim, it beginning to sound more like she is just bored. One thing she can do is find out what classes are available online. Start taking classes - particularly if she has a aptitude for technical stuff. Or even if she takes classes towards a AA then eventually a bachelor's degree. Showing initiative with taking classes can also be good for pushing for a specific rating. I know a young guy who joined right out of high school. Within a couple of years he had credits for a AA degree. He thought the maximum he would have to do would be 2 years to get his bachelor's - hey the colleges are getting smart too - they don't always accept transferred credits - to make a student make more in tuition. Also forgot to mention, if she has free time on her hands, she can go and ask if she could help out with some other task on her ship. Good luck.

[Cristina (Robin'sMom)]

Hi Kim, sorry to hear your daughter is not very happy with her position. Keep encouraging her and be supportive. Maybe she just wants to vent her frustrations to you. Keep telling her persistence and patience will soon pay off. Goodluck :)

[DaniellasMom]

Hi Kim:

 

Wow...your daughter sounds just like my daughter when she arrived in Norfolk. She was miserable!!! She also loved boot camp, and thought A school was OK, but was really bummed she got stationed in VA. Last week she shipped out on the Enterprise and I got a call from her yesterday. They have her working in the kitchen serving chow 12 hours a day, and she said she's happier doing that, rather then sitting back in VA doing NOTHING! In three months she will be at her office job, which she never wanted, but thats all they had open at the time. She wanted EOD too!!! These two daughters sound alike!!! Thanks for reading my ramble....she'll be fine!!!!

Deb