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What Should My Sailor Take On Deployment??
What are necessary things that my husband will need on deployment? This is his first one. He just found out that he will be deploying with in 1-2 weeks of us moving to Norfolk. Its going to be around 9 months. I'm going to be trying to find somewhere to live as soon as we get there. (his house hunting leave wasn't approved because he's leaving as soon as he gets there.) So I want to have everything he might need ahead of time. I just don't know what he needs. I read somewhere that he should get a list, but by the time he gets that we'll be packing up and leaving San Diego.
Views: 8365
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Forever proud on
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Hi Eva. Doesn't sound like this is going to be a stress free time for you and your husband! He will not want to take much as there isn't room to store it on the ship. He will have a store where he can buy snacks, toiletries and so forth. He will want to take a few items of street clothes (for port visits) and some shorts/tshirts for steel beach and athletics. Tell him to load lots of TV shows and movies onto a tablet so he can get some entertainment (they only have internet service in port) and maybe some books on kindle. VERY IMPORTANT: he will need a blanket for his rack and you want to look into getting him a blackout curtain for his rack. The one that is supplied is fairly transparent and does not offer darkness for folks that have to sleep during the day and all the lights are on. I bought one after my son left for deployment and had it shipped directly to his ship. You will need to check with the ship to see if they allow these curtains - some don't - and tell him to LABEL EVERYTHING as theft is rampant on ships. Keep it locked in his locker at all times. Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Eva on
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My stress levels are through the roof between moving cross country for the second time in a year and preparing for a deployment at the same time...ahhhh! And of course whatever can go wrong will go wrong so I'm preparing for the worst! haha But, thank you for the information. Its definitely helpful. I'm making a long list of questions that he's going to need to ask his sponsor.
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Favorite mini snack food........... Eva, you need an appointment with Family Services and you need to find hubby's ship OMBUDSMAN these are two valuable resources. Good luck.....
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Permalink Reply by Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom on
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Eva, this is a great pre-deployment checklist for families, prepared by JAG - http://www.jag.navy.mil/legal_services/documents/Pre-deployment%20C...
It would be good, though not required, for him to have a passport. If he needs to come home due to an emergency, a passport will enable him to fly commercially and not wait for a military flight to be available. (You should have one, too.)
You can order darkening curtains for his rack at http://www.navyrackpacks.com. Call and ask for the owner Pat, she'll tell you if his command has approved them for his ship and what size you need. The curtains help with sleep and have storage pockets, and they are embroidered with the sailor's last name for free too.
Other "necessities" include an iPad/tablet, a rechargeable ship to shore phone card from the NEX (all you need are the numbers to use and recharge), a good combination lock (some are touch-only, handy in the dark), a battery-operated stick-on light for his rack, a foam topper for his rack mattress, a clip-on fan, duct tape, shoe polish, sunscreen.
For sending care packages once he deploys - You can order "America Supports You" priority-mail boxes from the USPS and they'll deliver a pack of 10 or 25 to you, all free. You get a $2 discount for sending flat-rate boxes to FPO addresses; up to 70 lbs for under $16. https://store.usps.com/store/browse/uspsProductDetailMultiSkuDropDo...
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Perfect! Thank you! Unfortunately his sponsor said they aren't allowed to have the blackout curtains on his ship.
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No need for passport with Emergency Leave Orders. ELO will permit military members to fly commercial at members costs. Members with emergency leave orders get priority on military flights at no or minimum cost. The military will only get one to the States then member are on their own. I do recommend the whole family have separate passports, no mom and kids combos, why because if family goes for a visit with kids and mom wants to take a shopping R & R to Hong Kong and wants to leave the kids with dad in Tokyo without passports..........see the problems. Separate passports for all.......
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Permalink Reply by Laura on
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Better to start off traveling light. You could always send him things later. Whether he is on a small ship or a large one doesn't matter, he will still have a very limited amount of space.
Tell him to pack a small fan preferably one that can use either batteries or a plug in. can't always guarantee the availability of an outlet and a fan is extremely necessary. You won't be able to send him batteries, those are restricted items, so make sure he has plenty of those.
You will have to send him additional socks (boot and athletic), use them as packing material. Socks get destroyed on deployment. Also a personal water filtration bottle, with extra filters, will also come in handy. The water on the ship can have a hint of bromine in it. Most sailors use water bottle filters of flavored water packets to cut the taste of the water.
Anything else he needs once he is underway you will be able to sent to him. Use a APO/FPO flat rate box. About $16 to ship it, just under $14 per box if you ship it on line. On line fills out the customs forms as well. Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by beachmom76 on
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The Navy just released a new Deployment Support Handbook that includes checklists for Sailors as well as a ton of information about navigating deployments. You can download the handbook here: http://www.cnic.navy.mil/content/dam/cnic/hq/pdfs/n91_fleet_and_fam...
Hope it helps. Best of luck to both of you!
http://www.cnic.navy.mil/content/dam/cnic/hq/pdfs/n91_fleet_and_fam...
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Thanks for this, I'm adding it to the groups PCSing/Moving and Mothers Getting Ready for Deployment too!
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Permalink Reply by Josh Mom 2015 on
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My son deploys from Great Lakes to Norfolk in November. This is some great information. Thank you!
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Hope this helps a little. Make sure hubby doesn't purchase the latest greatest thing unless he is absolutely positive it is the latest greatest thing. While on deployment to Japan in the 1970's many Sailors went ashore and purchased reel to reel tape decks they dropped major bucks on those latest greatest things. Well those reel to reel tape decks were obsolete by the time they got home. He might want to see about getting tailor made suits..................good luck.
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