Liberation from OCS

[JudyDe]

My husband is in OCS right now in Newport. I was wondering when I would be able to spend time with him outside of the base. When are the graduates allowed to spend the night off base? On graduation night? I just can't wait to see my husband again! 

[BunkerQB]

liberate vt: 1) to release from slavery, enemy occupation. 2) to secure equal rights for women. liberation n.

liberty n:  permission given to a sailor to go ashore

I don't know the current procedure at Newport. My son went through OCS in 06/07. The candidates were not allowed to spend the night away from his quarters. Generally, after graduation they processed out, moved their stuff. We stayed on base at the Navy Lodge. He went out to dinner with us every night that he wasn't involved with a scheduled activity but he went back to his quarters every night. 

Good luck. Welcome to Navy life. How is he doing at OCS?

[BunkerQB]

Two groups for you to join.

1. Moms of Officers.

2. OCS Graduate Moms

My son is a nuke officer on a sub. Many wives and girlfriend in group #2.

Go to HOW TO DO STUFF ON N4M category (under Forum) and browse through the discussions posted on how to use this site.

[Fur&FeathersDVM]

It depends on the DI. Like BQB, I don't know the current set of DI's so I don't know their rules- my husband was in class 27-09. I do know the last Ensign to come to his ship who had just graduated OCS said her rules were similar to ours, which was no going off base without a liberty buddy at any point during OCS, there were specific hours of liberty starting around week 8 or 9 but if they had a watch or duty on the weekend, they didn't get to partake. It's up to each DI and class team though- some classes never get off base liberty if they're too busy or haven't earned the right. I went up to visit my husband on the weekend of his week 7 of training (he had been badly injured and had been there for 3 months at that point and was in desperate need of a morale boost) and was able to visit him at chapel for 3 hours (I do not live close to RI but he was feeling so down that I bought plane tickets and got a hotel along with his mom and we went and visited). Then the week he graduated, I just happened to be in transition from my summer internship and school, so I went up and spent the week there. I was able to get a room at the navy lodge and during his last week, he was able to spend whatever time he had free with me while on base- it was nice because we were able to go to the uniform shop together to pick things up, go to lunch together, etc. The weekend before graduation they had 3 nights of liberty because it was a holiday weekend (labor day). Then during graduation week he had liberty wednesday and Thursday night I believe, although the Wednesday night liberty was a very last minute decision made only because their class had broken some sort of record.

Like BQB said, join the OCS moms group- it is a great bunch of women and I know we were able to help each other out while our loved ones were going through OCS. I will actually be back up in Newport this weekend (my husband is going to advanced ship handling and tactics school and I am flying out to help him make the drive from Norfolk to Newport this weekend) and am spending my spring break there, so if i can find anything out while I am there, I will let you know!

[BunkerQB]

Princess, did I tell you already my son is about to loose the JG on his LTJG? I preparing stuff for filing our taxes - reason for diminished memory, long and short term LOL.

[Fur&FeathersDVM]

You did!!! So great! :) My hubby is about to put on his JG, haha! Has his CO convinced him to stay in yet? ;) Taxes... ew.... My mother in law is an accountant so she did our taxes. THANK GOODNESS!!! I like math but when you combine my education credits + working in two different states + military exemptions... yeah I would definitely do something wrong if I tried to do it alone!

[JudyDe]

Thanks for the information!  I am already in the OCS Moms group on Facebook. I emailed the webmaster of the OCS website and they said he will have liberty on Thursday!  The Navy Lodge is already full, of course, so we found another hotel.  I am looking forward to graduation! What do you do after graduation? Is he officially free after the graduation?  I was planning on spending the weekend there (Thursday-Sunday).  He has passed RLP but he has not received his commission yet, so I have no idea where we are going!  What is life like post OCS?

[Fur&FeathersDVM]

What's his designator? That is going to tell you what happens after graduation. We had to get my husband checked into SWOS right after graduation and the hit the road because we had less than 48 hours to be in VA to get him checked in. Other people get to go home to do recruiting until school starts. Other people go right to school. Commissioning happens at graduation on Friday morning, so he won't get his commission til the very end- but that doesn't tell you where he's going. What tells you where he's going is getting his orders. We got ours Wednesday of graduation week, but my husband had already selected his ship (SWO's go right to their ship) so we knew where he was going... just not when. Passing RLP is a big hurdle though :). Most people seem to get orders about a week before graduation it seems. Most of them do not spend the whole weekend after graduation in Newport as they need to head off to wherever they are expected, unless they are going to a school in Newport.

What you do after graduation depends on how much time you have! We had a nice dinner and said our good byes to his family before leaving. Most everyone was gone from Newport by Saturday morning except for the couple of guys who were staying there for school. They're no longer restricted to the base but they do need to be in transition to wherever they're expected next.

Life post OCS also depends on the designator. But the overall theme is that after OCS, he will not be able to go where he wants, whenever he wants.  He will be a naval officer and so his duty is with the navy.  Get used to things changing at the very last minute!!

[BunkerQB]

My son's OCS was in Pensacola. We packed up all his stuff. Came home to Calif by plane. The first week, he work at the local base during the day. I don't think he work the second week. He then drove his car to Goose Creek, SC for Nuke Power School for 6 months. From there he moved to Balston Spa, NY for Nuke Prototype training. Then 2 months in Groton Ct for Sub school. From there he was assigned to his permanent base (HI). His car was shipped to HI from NJ (paid by the Navy). The Navy had packed almost all his stuff to be transported to HI. He lived at furnished quarters in Groton. He didn't have much with him when he flew home before going out to HI. His car was waiting for him when he got to HI along with his the rest of this stuff. 

A couple of things:

1) My son told us he had very little transport after OCS.  Being an over-prepared type A mom, we took along with us several large duffle-type bags.

2) He started bringing things for packing to take on the airplane after  graduation. We realized quickly that 2 extra bags along with his suitcase was not going to work. We immediately went to Wartmart and purchased 3 extra extra large duffles. Know where the nearest Wartmart is before you get there.

3) He filled all of them to the brim. The guys don't always realize how much stuff they accumulate during the 10 or 12 weeks.

4) I would ask other where to sit to be able to take the best photos. I know if I had to do it again. I would have searched out a higher, less-obstructed place.

5) We didn't know about the photos and dvds that you can buy. We didn't get anything. Luckily our photos aren't bad. Ask you candidate about this.