What's it like?

[Eryn]

So for any of you gf/fiancee/wives that have already gone through a deployment what was the communication like while your sailor was on the ship and not at a port? What was it like while at a port and how often did that happen? My SR is in bc right now and I am curious what it's going to be like once he gets stationed if his ship id deployed. Thanks for any replies!!

[AshleySuperfly]

I've been pretty lucky.  My BF is an ET, so he's at the computer anytime he's on ET duty and has access to facebook chat.  I usually get to talk to him a couple times a week as a result.  Of course, I never know when it's going to be that he pops up (sometimes he'll message me at ungodly hours like 2 AM haha).  I'm not sure how phone calls work while at sea...I think they can make them from time to time, but, you know, theres hundreds of men and women on the ship, so my BF hardly ever gets to make phone calls and when he does, he usually calls his parents.  I don't mind because they are the ones taking care of everything for him. So that's how it's been while at sea.  Now it port, it really depends.  I've gotten to skype once with him while in port.  Sometimes sailors have to still work, even when the ship is in port.  Sometimes they can't get a good internet connection and just have a hard time getting communication out.  I know some people that get to talk to their sailors every single time they are in port, so it really all depends.  With modern communication, I don't think deployments are near as bad as they used to be.  My dad was in the Navy and he tells me how lucky I am because he could only communicate via letter and sometimes phone calls.

[hangonlittletomato]

So far I've gotten an email every day. I've been able to send him pictures, he cannot. I would be able to send him very short videos, but I'd rather not suck up space. There may be times they won't be able to email for various reasons. No chat sessions, as the ship email is their means of communication. Limited social media, if at all. Then again, it may all depend on the person. I haven't experienced port and don't think I will this time. You really should ask about anything involving file transfer. It's an iffy subject.

[Desiree]

my husband is currently on deployment and we talk everyday! he calls me at least once a week and email everyday. while he was at port we skyped, texted, and email. so far it's been twice that communication was cut off and they couldn't send out emails or read their emails but it's really not that bad. it's not the same for everyone but it works out.

[Eryn]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. It seems like it varies for everyone but that there probably isn't going to be whole months with no contact. That makes me feel better, lol. Again, thanks.

[sailorwifenmom]

Each deployment is going to be different. It's going to depend on their job, how much computer access their shop has, if they're on a ship or a sub or a flyer or on the ground somewhere (and even what kind of ship it is). It can also depend on the particular mission they're on, and how often they are in restricted communications (aka "river city"). It can also depend, even in the same deployment and shop, because, depending on their specific responsiblilities, some Sailors have more time to communicate than others.

BUT - you will be able to communicate. Most of the time, they can email, there will be times that they can call, when they're in port, they can communicate with you, you can send care packages, all sorts of stuff :-)
It's longer than boot camp, but they aren't kept as isolated as they are in boot camp :-)

[Eryn]

For any of you who have gone through more than one deployment or know when the next one is, how long did your sailor get between deployments?

[Eryn]

Oh wow!! That's a longg time gone.

[meagan5220]

For communication it really will vary widely. My husband had pretty regular access to email so I rarely went more than 24 hours without one. But I knew many ladies that would go anywhere from a few days to 10 days without recieving email. Also, a lot of the carriers are not allowed on facebook during deployment. I know for my husbands ship it was so restricted even the smaller ships in the strike group were banned from being on it while they were deployed with us. If guys got caught on fb (like the IT guys that could get around it) they would shut communication off for the whole ship. but again that is how my husband's ship was. calls were pretty pricey. I know people that paid to get them every night. Its expensive. about 50 cents a minute. If your sailor gets a phone card you can call and add minutes (which I would suggest especially since they will run out of calling cards around holidays and when they are pulling into port) In certain ports there are USOs where they can skype and access the internet. Other ports are harder to call. My sailor was in Turkey and they were told by the locals they couldnt get phones without passports... whether they were lying or not the guys couldnt get phones because no one would sell them to the sailors. So I only heard from him when he went back to the ship. Subs are different but it also depends on what kind of sub. I know some go out for longer deployments and have semi decent communication and others go out for short deployments and get pretty much no communication at all. My friend is on one and its like 3 month deployments with no communications but they are pretty set, almost 90% sure its 3 months out, 3 months in.

 

As far as how long inbetween as much as they claim there is a schedule they really dont stick to it anymore. It depends on if the ship is being worked on, when the ship can be ready, and much more. I know one ship is scheduled for a deployment and then already scheduled for one after that a few months later. but if a ship goes into the shipyard it can cause a year and a half break between deployments.  

[Eryn]

Tons of info... thanks! (: