Question regarding reenlistment

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by NavyDads CoAdmin Jim Gramza on June 4, 2017 at 3:43pm

He should know by now that there are never any guarantees with the Navy. The needs of the Navy come first. Now he does have a couple of things going for him. He's Petty Officer 2nd. That says something to his command about his attention to detail and that he uses his brain. He has made himself valuable to the Navy.

We need bright young people to help lead those that come after him. I can't think of a more important job than to keep our jets in the air. I know of several sailors that have served a lot of time at Lemoore. I don't think it's such a bad billet. He must have had a hard time out there. I'm sure he would make the best of it. 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Scott Henry on June 4, 2017 at 5:49pm

Agree with Jim that there are no guarantees in the Navy. Unless it's in writing I would be wary of any "deal" being offered. That being said, he can control his own destiny. Getting orders to RTC is not a sure thing. There is a screening process, but if he meets all of the requirements he should get approved as RDC duty is a high priority billet and they are always looking for qualified Sailors to fill the open slots. Also, these billets usually come with incentives for people to apply for them like choice of follow on orders (usually it is just a guarantee of which coast you'll be stationed on following RDC duty, but sometimes it is more specific to duty station) so he could have a pretty good shot at not going to Lemore.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dale Shipman on June 4, 2017 at 7:39pm

Thanks gentlemen for the responses.  Geez, I just noticed I wrote NTC and not RTC, showing my age I guess as it was called NTC back when I was in the Corps back in the 1970s.

Yeah, he is well aware of the whole, "if it ain't in writing" thing; that's why he's being so cautious.

Regarding Lemoore, I suppose it may have been a good place to get orders at one point in time, but at least for the I-Level maintenance folks, these days it is no picnic; 80 hour weeks, air which smells like cow dung 24x7 and is constantly in the "unsafe" zone for being outside, and oppressive heat all conspire to generate exceedingly low morale which in turn leads to high rates of alcoholism, DUIs, and even suicides.  Not exactly what I would call a desirable duty station.  While my son was in Lemoore I visited three times and talked with a lot of Petty Officers about the environment, not to mention experiencing it for myself; it is definitely a good place to be from.

Regarding orders to RTC, he will pretty much meet all requirements after two more years with VAQ-132 except he'll be a couple of months shy of sea duty; something which is apparently fairly easy to get waived.  He has an exemplary service record, is in extremely good physical condition, and is a natural born leader, so "pushing boots" will be something he will excel at should he be given the opportunity.

I'll keep y'all posted as to how things develop.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by 1xp3hntmfs0hp on June 24, 2017 at 3:05pm

I would simply add that it is very important that your son gets spooled up as to the exact nature of the routing process for his re-enlistment package. And that he regularly checks in at all levels of the process to be sure that it is routed properly and most important ------- timely. I can give you two unbelievable examples of CPO ineptitude where in one case, my son was almost RIFFED out of the Navy upon completion of his first enlistment and another where he missed an application deadline because his "package" sat in the bottom of his chiefs in-basket until after the application windows closed. He's doing fine now, but he's learned a valuable lesson when it comes to assuming that proper and timely routing of a "package" through the command and on to Tennesse is a guarantee. It is not!

I agree with your comments on Lemoore. I have another son who spent 3 years there as an AO with VFA-151 Vigliantes('11-'14) He hated it so much, he joined the Army after his Navy enlistment was up! Go figure.... :-)         

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dale Shipman on June 24, 2017 at 3:36pm

Thanks for your comments Chris, they are pretty close to what my son has experienced.  When he was at Lemoore he was told his package which was supposed to move him to Whidbey Island had been delayed, delayed so long in fact he might miss out on orders to Whidbey and require him to stay in Lemoore for the remainder of his enlistment.

A quick call to his detailer sorted it all out and he was up in Whidbey six weeks later.

Wow, hating Lemoore so much he joined the Army?  Yikes.  Looking at the dates your son was in Lemoore, I see our sons may have overlapped by a few months; my son reported for duty there the first week of August 2014.  I helped him drive from Pensacola to Lemoore that summer, and when we got there the air was so bad I was afraid to go for my normal training runs and limited them to only about four miles.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by 1xp3hntmfs0hp on June 24, 2017 at 5:07pm

HaHa!Just a tongue in cheek attempt to make point about my younger son Matt's opinion on Lemoore. He did join the Army though. He enlisted in the Navy in 2010 with a contract to go to BUDS. Made it to 3rd day of hellweek (Class 287) before succumbing to challenge. Long story short, he did not pick a rate and he went "undesignated" as had a waiver put in his file that stipulated he could apply to return to BUDS after 1 year in the fleet in lieu of the requisite 2 years.  However, 2 or 3 classes after 287, a new NSW policy was instituted my son referred to as "One & Done" meaning that for the first time since 1962, BUDS was not accepting "Fleet Returnees" and it was retroactive. His waiver was meaningless. As soon as that fact drove a stake through the heart of his goals, he started counting days down to when he could report for basic at Benning. He left Lemoore in Sept of '14. He's now with 187th Air Assualt Regiment attached to the 101st Airborne Division at Ft. Campbell, Ky. The best time he had in the Navy was in 2012, oth he and his older brother Jon who was AWS 2nd Class at the time, went on a 9mos OEF deployment together aboard the Lincoln. Matt as a Plane Captain / AO OJT trainee with VFA-151 and older brother Jon as an Aircrewman with HSC-12 out of North Island. It goes without saying that Momma took solace and comfort that they were together.      
 
Dale Shipman said:

Thanks for your comments Chris, they are pretty close to what my son has experienced.  When he was at Lemoore he was told his package which was supposed to move him to Whidbey Island had been delayed, delayed so long in fact he might miss out on orders to Whidbey and require him to stay in Lemoore for the remainder of his enlistment.

A quick call to his detailer sorted it all out and he was up in Whidbey six weeks later.

Wow, hating Lemoore so much he joined the Army?  Yikes.  Looking at the dates your son was in Lemoore, I see our sons may have overlapped by a few months; my son reported for duty there the first week of August 2014.  I helped him drive from Pensacola to Lemoore that summer, and when we got there the air was so bad I was afraid to go for my normal training runs and limited them to only about four miles.

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion