A Mom of 3 who IS joining the Navy Reserves :D

[jaxx10]

Hello, 1st ..what a wonderful site :)

As the title says I am a mom of 3 (ages 17, 15, & 6) who is wanting to join the Navy reserves. Im awaiting the MEPS physical (hoping after reviewing my Med records.. they will still want me ... lol ). I passed the  ASVAB with great scores and pretty much qualified for everything minus 10 jobs.  I've decided on Corpsman or Intelligence Specialist

I have a few quesitons that i cant seem to find an aswer to:

1.As a reservist... Can you do your 2 weeks a year commitment overseas/international ..of course provided that theres a base etc.?

2. Which one gives me more possibility to travel more corpsman or Intel?

3. Is it still mandatory to cut your hair ? or can you have it in a bun? ... my recruiter and my friends recruiter BOTH independently said NO.. just to have it up when I arrive for Processing.  So i want to hear from you guys who have you daughters at the moment in BC and have gotten to speak to them.

4. Because i will be gone anywhere from 7- 10 months depending on what i select during my A school and C school... I can bring along my family... though my recruiter said that they discourage it since ill be "training" for 14-16 hrs a day and would have to put that 1st over my kids. or i can get kicked out. Because they would be staying with my sister back home I would like to have them with me if possible. Spoke it over the kids and they said they wouldnt mind being Military brats for a few months..

Thanks you.

 

[sparkyjo-PIR 09/21/12 Div 303]

Hi, lemonelephant,

I went to the above site about women's hair length.  I don't understand the meanng of this sentence. "No portion of the bulk of the hair as measured from the scalp will exceed approximately 2 inches. Figure 2-2-2> refers. " I clicked on the link "<Figure 2-2-2>".    The drawing looks like all the hair on the head is only 2 inches all over.  Is that correct?  With hair that short you wont't be able  to keep it under you hat and off your forehead. 

My daughter is getting her hair cut the day before she leaves.  I want it to be the acceptable. 

 

 

[sparkyjo-PIR 09/21/12 Div 303]

Thanks.  I would hate to pay $40 and not get it right.

[Angie]

1) As a reservist you are assigned to a unit and they tell you where you will do your two week drill time, you don't just pick where you want to go.

2) travel as in what?  Being deployed for a year over to the sand box...yep those two ratings do that.  Along with the Seabee ratings.

3) yes your hair WILL be cut.  Your recruiter and your friend have no idea what they are talking about...for at least the last 20+ years women have been, and still are required to have their hair cut short.

4) The school has to be over a certain length for you to be allowed to have your family with you.  If your school isn't that length than it is an easy answer....no you can't bring your family.  But if your school is over that time frame and you are allowed to bring your kids... If you bring your kids with..who will watch them while you are in school? The Navy doesn't just give you day care...also what happens if you have duty and are required to be gone over night..who will watch the kids?  Who will go pick up your kid from school if they get sick (hint...it won't be you).  You really want to up root your kids for such a short amount of time...when you will just be being sent home anyways? 

 

Truthfull...I don't even think the USN allows reservest to move their family as it would cost the Navy too much money.  Why would the Navy pay to move your family to where your school is and than move you all back home again.  Yea...I am going to say the answer is going to be no, as the Navy won't move your family.

[jaxx10]

Angie: thank you for your sincere reply.  It helps to hear other proples point of view etc. All the points you brought upare valid and makes more sense than what my recruiter says or implies.  ITs a shame that Most recruiters do that ...complete car salesman ...smh.

[ebigirl]

jaxx10; You will ALWAYS get an valid and honest answer from Angie on this site. I wish she could re-educate EVERY recruiter. I'm glad that you took her advice in the way it was intended. I actually waited to post anything until Angie and lemonelephant had their say!! Both ladies are veteran's here and a wealth of information and advice. :-)

Adding to what Angie advised, the Navy will NOT pay to move your family OR pay to house them while your in ANY kind of school. It would be very expensive to do so, and something you would have to think about cost wise as well. Is uprooting your kids, especially your teenagers in their best interest? Your 17 year old will be graduating from high school, if he/she hasn't already. Changing schools as a teen is hard enough, but moving during their senior year might come back to haunt you.

My son was lied to by his recruiters also. Take what they tell you with less than a grain of salt. My son was told to sign on with the Reserves so that he could get into bootcamp faster, and then could "switch" to full-time Active Duty after bootcamp. This is NOT true, as my son discovered AFTER bootcamp. This is a very sore subject for me...I don't deal very well with liars.

In my opinion you REALLY need to weigh the pros and cons of joining the Military with 3 children. If you have already signed a contract, your future has been decided. If you haven't, I suggest you do some serious sole searching and make sure that this is the right thing not only for you, but for your children as well. Let us know what you decide. 

[Angie]

Just checked with a friend and reservests are on different orders than active duty when they go to school.  So they are not allowed to move their families to their schooling. 

 

Yes I am glad she didn't take it wrong :~}

 

I HATE most recruiters!  They are used car salesman and they just need to learn to be blunt, and honest

[ebigirl]

All I ask is that they be HONEST!! It really isn't that hard. Why do they think it's ok to lie to "kid's" who are willing to serve their country? My son's recruiter RUINED his entire dream!!  :-(

[ski-nanny]

As a Reservist you can often pick up Annual Training (AT) outside of your command, especially if your command is on flex drill status.  It is hard to get orders for an overseas base for AT because that command has to ok the travel, and they might not have the funds for it.  It seems as though everyone wants Hawaii or Florida.  Hubby did Fleet Week in NYC last year for his AT.  It's also possible to pick up additional orders on what I think is called ADT (not sure what that stands for) and these orders can be for longer than the two weeks.  However, all orders will depend on your rate, and what other commands need help with.

Be aware that the Reserve can also be mobilized - where you get deployed as a unit or you can be deployed individually - we have been told that hubby's unit will likely be mobilized within the next 3 to 4 years.  It's also possible to choose to go on a longer deployment as an Individual Augmentee, especially if you want to experience life in the sandbox.

[salpetty]

One thing you need to realize about being a reservist is that it's also not just 1 weekend a month and two weeks a year.  Depending on your unit, you will have certain qualifications that need to be kept current and sometimes this involves completeing things, i.e. computer courses, etc. on your own time. 

During my time as a reservist, I did something Navy related almost every day.  But then it also depends on your rate and your paygrade, level of involvement/commitment, and your place in your unit's chain of command.

 

Also, the Navy will decide what kind of unit they place you in.  I was lucky enough to be in a working unit that actually did a job the Navy needed on an ongoing basis.  I saw many other units that just spent their time (and my tax dollars) sitting in a classroom every month.  I always swore that if I ended up in that situation, I would have to slit my wrists.  Thankfully that never happened.

 

 

 

 

[Kathy (AOMom)]

I have to ask, I want to know, dont take it the wrong way, but why would you choose to serve when it sounds like your a single parent, (could be wrong) and it also sounds like you want to be overseas or traveling? I am just curious,why now? Why chance that your kids could lose their mom? Just want to know what has made you come to this decision? Its could be  a long time without your kids?  Honestly I wouldnt have the guts to do it, so I am not criticizing you, just want to know what made you arrive at serving in the military? You dont have to answer, its okay, I see a lot of  moms, or even married couples who one joins (I get that, one stays home and the other serves) And heck there are plenty of married couples with families serving, my sailors boss has 5 kids, she has sea duty, he has the same job only he is on shore duty, and it works for them, but they have been serving since they were 18, I guess the question is why now?

[soonergirl99 12/159~5/6/11~Big E]

Jaxx10 ~

Congrats on your ASVAB score!  I'm proud of you for your decision to join the Navy reserves.  I missed my opportunity to join the Navy reserves and I kick myself often for not joining when I had the chance.  When I was trying to decide whether or not to join I had just lost both of my parents (they passed away 2 years and 4 months apart) and I was recently divorced with a 7 year old son (now my favorite Navy Sailor!).  One of the girls I worked with at the time was in the Navy reserves and encouraged me to join but . . . I didn't and now I wish I would have.  I recently inquired again about joining but too much time has passed and I'm too old.  I'm very disappointed I didn't join when I could but life circumstances were overwhelming at the time.

The girl I worked with (at a law firm) was assigned to the unit at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City (where I lived at the time).  There are two Naval divisions at Tinker (VQ3 and VQ4 ~ flying TACAMO planes).  I believe she worked with the JAG unit at Tinker for her weekend duty and did different things each year for her two week obligation.

My son's recruiter also lied to him and it still chaps my hide when I think about it.  The used car salesman analogy is dead on to describe the recruiters.

Please keep us posted on your Navy career.

[jaxx10]

thank you ladies for your constructive criticism and feedback and suppot. All my waivers are approved and Ill just be going to MEPS this week to pick my rating and get my shipdates ... I have settled my Childcare issues and ready .... !