My son leaves for boot camp on Nov12th.

[UBU'sMom]

I am so proud of my son for for following his dream of joining the service, but I am scared too. He is going into the nuclear program,maybe a submariner...he hasn't made up his mind for sure though. He is 24 and more settled than most. Already with a college degree, waiting to hear about OCS. I hope to make some friends to help me cope....this will be the first holidays that we will not be together and his birthday is amongst the holiday time too! So it will be tough, but worth it,I'm sure.

[clevelandmom]

Hi, I also have a son leaving in Nov (the 13th) My kid is 19 and I too am  nervous.I worry about him being mature enough to handle the holidays away from home. (although he says the holidays at home aren't that great anyhow lol) I will watch for your posts and we can compare stress levels. :) Take Care

[3athlete]

Hi there.  My son is 20 this month and leaving for boot camp from Oregon on Nov. 28th I believe.  It looks like we will have Thanksgiving with him but not Christmas.  I am surprised that I am already dwelling on the holidays and him not being with us and it is only September.   I am doing the emotional roller coaster here too...Kathy

[pmgcakes]

My daughter leaves on 11/20  tomorrow I start my 60 day count down (yikes)  I've been thru this before, my son left in October 2010.  I know what to expect, but Im still very nervous its a totally different feeling with my daughter leaving. 

UBU ~ my son just completed the Nuclear pipeline (enlisted) and reported to the fleet 2 weeks ago (Groton CT Subs) it took a total of 22 months.  but well worth it.  Good luck to him, has he been speaking with an Officer recuiter?

Shanes Mom ~ you will be amazed that you send a boy to BC and receive a Man back, yes it does happen that fast.  it is amazing to see how much my son has matured, makes a momma very proud.

Kathy ~ we are planning to head to Great Lake for Christmas and adopt my sailor for the day.   we were able to do that for my son on thanksgiving and it was such a treat for all of us.  he was able to bring a liberty buddy with him, that was great too - I still speak to him and I only met him that one day.  this might be an option for you

[UBU'sMom]

Hi, My son has been in touch with the LT for OCS. He has been waiting for almost a yr. to go enlisted and then he was contacted by the OCS. He has filled out his paper work and is working toward getting in to OCS (which will cause another delay) He's getting tired of waiting though...wants to get on with it, as he says. He want subs for sure. Thanks for the encouragement.....

[pmgcakes]

That"s great that they contacted him, if he can hold out a little longer, it will be well worth for him, Officers do have a different life style than enlisted (ie: barracks are nicer, more $$) , but my son is loving his life :)  about a month ago the USN signed an Agreement with the NEI (Nuclear Energy Institute)  to Establish a formal partnership for Veterans.   reason I'm bringing this up is that this agreement also allows the Navy to Scout the NEI's formal curriculum (im assuming this would be for Officer Nukes .. just something to think about as it will stir a lot of competition for the Officers in the Nuke program.   here is the link:

http://www.nei.org/newsandevents/newsreleases/nuclear-energy-indust...

I was thrilled when I found this article as it will help my Son, If and when he decides that he wants to head back to the civilian world.

[UBU'sMom]

Thank you very much for the link. That's very cool! My son's trying to be patient. Just seems to be taking forever.  AND there is sooo much to learn, from my perspective! I'm anxious, but excited for him.

Thanks for your encouragement! 

[clevelandmom]

Hi, I didn't think I would ever go on this site when the recruiter first told us about it..now I want to ask everyone a million questions. Thanks for being there, I never knew anybody in active duty Armed Forces and it came as quite a suprise when my son said he wanted to enlist. Are we allowed to visit them at Christmas if they are still in boot camp? I thought it was very serious and they had to learn to be self sufficient. Its not that far from Cleveland to GreatLakes so if that is an option I would definately excersize it. This is actually very exciting and I can't wait to be a Navy Mom. 53 more days till  he leaves, he is getting bored here at home and is looking forward to the new adventure. take care everyone :)

 

[pmgcakes]

They will have to be at BC a certain amount of time to be allowed to leave for the day but I think we will both be OK.  I had to fill out paperwork, stating whom will be coming, Car info  (make sure your insurance and reggie is up to date, they will not let you on base) and emailed it to RTC.  Also every one in the vehicle must have an US government issued ID.  S didnt give us much noticed he called on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and basically said I will be dressed, ready and waiting for you on Thanksgiving, LOL  so tuesday night we hopped in the car and drive from NY (long Island) to Great Lakes.   it was hellish traveling the day before thanksgiving by sure was well worth it. 

I too have to deal with the boredom here, its tough all her friends are in College and Working.  we actually just had conversation (more like an argument)   silly me I suggested that maybe she should start going thru her summer clothes and start packing some boxes that I can sent to Florida next February,  we are changing our season right now to Fall and its chilly so I thought time to switch out our clothes any how .Well of course I'm nuts cause she still has two months to go...   LOL  

[tiggertime]

My son (18 this past March) leaves Nov. 7th to go into the Nuclear program. He wants to go carrier or destroyer...not sub. He is excited and plans to pursue a degree in Civil Enginnering as well as Environmental Engineering while he is in. We will see how it all goes once he is living it. I am not excited about going to Chicago in January for his boot camp graduation though. I just hope we don't have yucky weather.

[pmgcakes]

Hi Tigger, congrats on your son leaving for BC, my daughter leaves in November too!.  my son just completed the nuke pipeline in August after 22 months of learning (MM) he reported to the fleet in September.  Your son's only options are carrier and sub, destroyed are not nuclear powered.  since you said he does not want sub's it looks like carrier it is.  PBS has a 10 part documentary filmed on the USS Nimitz a few years back.  definately worth watching.    The nuke program is (mentally) one of the hardest that the US Military has to offers.  your son made it thru the doors at NNPTC and the navy will give him all the tools that he will need to succed.  I loved how my son stood on graduation day from prototype (3rd and finally phase of the pipeline) actually we all stood  tall and proud it was a wonderful day for everyone   :)