Navy Cryptology

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Comment by Tony on March 26, 2009 at 10:56am

Mara called home yesterday afternoon. My wife and I were not there so she left the message with my other daughter, "Tell Mom and Dad I am in California."

Nothing like adding too much detail. :)

Comment by Joe on March 23, 2009 at 10:32am

Still loving the contact with my daughter. Talked to her a few times over the weekend. Looks like she's done almost verything needed to phase up and has some liberties, like being able to wear civilian clothes off the base, etc.

She seems to be making lots of friends, and seems happy. Classes start for her on Thursday, so we'll see how she feels after that.

Comment by Tony on March 21, 2009 at 7:42pm

That's great news, Bob. Keep us in the loop, my daughter should be at Monterey on Wednesday now.

Comment by Bob on March 21, 2009 at 6:27pm

Greetings Gentlemen,
We have received a couple phone calls from Jim over the last two days. We shipped out his cell phone mid-week and he got it quickly. He loves being able to just call now. He really likes Monterey as well. He "sleeps in" to about 0600 now compared to rising at 0400 during boot camp. His division "musters" at 0745. They do PT each day and are taking some basic classes. He will not start language class now until April 2. He had liberty today and was able to get out to town and see some things. They have a TV room in his hall so he was able to watch some of the NCAA basketball tournament. Life is returning to some kind of post-boot camp "normal", but real classes are coming soon!

Comment by Bob on March 17, 2009 at 12:47pm

Thanks, Joe, for the insights and information. I'll keep you posted if I hear anything from Jim this week concerning what's next for them. He left Chicago this morning at 900 am central time. There were four seaman total going to Monterey this morning from PIR 3.13.09...Jim and three others. One of which was a female also slated for Arabic. Jim called us from O'Hare Airport about 715 this morning central time and informed us of all of this. He was enthused to hear the information you shared from Caitlin, especially about being able to get off base occasionally. Thanks... I'll blog when I hear more.

Comment by Joe on March 17, 2009 at 9:49am

Welcome aboard Bob. It does sound like they will be classmates. Caitlin has been being pushed through all the military training that they need to do to be able to Phase up. Sounds like about all she can't do right now is leave in the weekday evenings and ride in personal cars. She called us again on Sunday and we had a good talk. Still sounds positive.

One thing I've learned is believe what happens when it really happens. Caitlin's entire graduating group was told they would have the same language, then when they got to Monterey some of them were given a choice. Your son will just need to be flexible and roll with it. Sounds a little like Boot Camp, doesn't it?

For those who are thinking of visiting there Seaman while they are at Monterey, I just found what I think is a pretty good rate flying into Monterey from San Francisco. I was planning on going into San Jose and driving, since it's only about 70 miles, but Monterey has a small airport that has regular commuter flights into it.

Comment by Bob on March 16, 2009 at 7:52pm

Hello gentlemen,
I am a "newbee" on this site. My son Jim just PIR'd from Great Lakes last Friday, 3/13. He flies out to Monterey, Ca, this week. He is going to be a CTI when his time in Monterey is done. He is going to study Arabic. Joe... our son says the same thing Caitlin says... that they will start on March 26. I would imagine Jim and Caitlin might be classmates in some parts of their studies. I don't know how all of that shakes out, but I'm sure we will find out soon. It is so good to hear that Caitlin has called you already from DLI. The letter writing during boot camp was getting a bit old, and it will be good to have real-time communication with them. I don't know how much they will be able to call once they get moving in studies, but my wife and I are hoping for at least a once a week call (or skype on the computer). It was also good to hear that your daughter likes Monterey. We are hoping for the same for our son.

Being a Navy Dad is a brand new experience for me. I was filled with various emotions during PIR last Friday. It was great to be there, though, and we just want to support our son every step of the way. Glad to be on board with all of you.

Comment by Joe on March 11, 2009 at 9:38am

The next Arabic class is supposedly starting on March 26th. I'm getting into I'll believe it when I see it mode, but my daughter still sounds very happy to be in Monterey.

She's already changed rooms. I guess they were going to change anyway at the end of Phase one, but they pushed them through a little early. They had to be moved by 7:00 PM, but they had them in lectures and then PT until 6:00 PM. Took the whole time until 7:00 to get moved and then they missed chow. There is a kiosk they can eat at until later, so all was good.

They've already told the new students how to take free CLEP tests to get enough credit to graduate with an Associates degree and Caitlin is going to jump all over it, since she still has two weeks until real classes start.

Comment by Joe on March 9, 2009 at 11:27am

My wife asked her about that and she said they took a cab, which cost about $10. They're were four of them so that's not too bad. They'll probably start looking into the bus or other alternatives when the newness has worn off.

Comment by Tony on March 9, 2009 at 8:30am

That is great news to hear. Glad that feels that she made the right choice. That must make you feel very proud. How did she get to the mall? Does one of the people she know hae a car?

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