Groton, CT

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Permalink Reply by John on August 18, 2009 at 7:10am

Dear Dee,

Congrats to your son for completing Goose Creek !

my son has been there since Feb., and will start his final school next week - God Willing . He has been doing well, and is excited about getting assigned to a Boat somewhere in the world. Tell your son there is so much history and beautiful New England Coastline to learn about and visit near there.

Your son should be on a boat soon after BESS, no?

Yours, john sr.

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Permalink Reply by Dee Leach on August 18, 2009 at 8:02am

Unfortunately, my son didn't finish Goose Creek. He was in the NUKE program and graduated part 1 this past Dec. The 2nd part he didn't make it. He was so supported by his teachers and the people he worked with and even after a 2nd test, he still missed the mark by "tenths". He was devestated to say the least. The Navy had him doing odd jobs, painting, cleaning the club house on a golf course and then working in the post office there. They finally got him to chose out of three things and he picked Sonar Tech. He has wanted to go on a sub since he is not claustrophobic (he went in one in FL when the Navy took him there prior to joining for 3 days). He said something about Oct. Don't know what that was but will ask him this weekend when he calls. I don't know what BESS is, so cannot answer that right now lol lol I still have a LOT to learn on these terms. Have a nice day!

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Permalink Reply by Chuck on August 25, 2009 at 7:02am

BESS is Basic Enlisted Submarine School. This is where you learn specialize skill that enable you to function on a submarine. Your son will still have to go through the qualification process when he finishes BESS and reports to a boat (sub).

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Permalink Reply by Paul Lundin on September 1, 2009 at 3:37pm

Can someone give me info on the Graduation process. My son just grauduated from Great Lakes and Groton is next on his schedule. Since his graduation was August 28th, seems he's not waiting around much to get started on his A school. My wife and I live in California and would like to support him during his duty in the Navy. That being said we would like to plan on attending his graduations. Is there any info out there on where to stay, how long to plan the trip for and any other hepful tid bits that we may need.

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Permalink Reply by Dee Leach on September 1, 2009 at 10:31pm

When my son graduated the Great Lakes, information was sent home on what hotels you can go to and where they were located. They also said to make sure your child knows for sure that they are graduating so that airline tickets won't be bought and lost. I went ahead anyway when I got the info as I didn't want to pay through the nose for a ticket. The closer to the date of travel, the higher the tickets. When he graduated in Goose Creek, I don't remember any info coming home. I Googled Goose Creek, SC and hotels/motels to find out which ones were closest to the base and booked a room pronto, same for an airline ticket. He'll be studying in Groton for Sonar Tech. which starts in a few months but I asked about graduation and he said he didn't think there was any graduation for this. So, I am assuming that it all depends where your child goes. If there is any info on a graduation etc., your child will know about it in time, and will let you know the details as he/she gets them. This response may not be helpful, but it is just my experience with the various schools. Also, it seems the graduations are held on a Friday, at least my son's were.

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