Welcome to NavyDads Philip! I'm sure you'll find the site as fun and useful as I have. Explore and make some friends, add your comments to a discussion or two, read the postings in the various groups-- even start one or two. I have! If you have any questions or concerns about your sailor and what he is going through...ask! I'm sure someone here will have the answer or can point you in the right direction to find out. I'm lucky enough to have two sailors- my son Eric just returned from a seven-month cruise on the carrier Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and my daughter Kat returned last fall from a seven-month cruise on the carrier Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72). And Philip this is a great place to brag about your sailor as well! So join in and let us know how Zachary is doing! And Philip- thank y0u for your distinguished service to our great country! Best Regards- Paul

Chief West, Welcome Aboard! My son is an ABE aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in San Diego, Ca. and my family and I couldn't be prouder of him. When he first enlisted I found NavyForMoms in searching for answers to my son's future. I just knew their had to be a site for dads like n4m's but I was wrong. So I started this site so us dads would also have a place to call home. I'm new at this and I hope this site will benefit fathers that come behind us. So jump right in share concerns, join groups, share info, and show off your sailor. I'm so glad to find out their are so many proud Navy Dads just like myself. I hope this site benefits you and your family throughout your sons journey in the Navy. Thank Zachary for his service for me and yours as well.Thanks again for joining us.
Sincerely, EG

Thank you. I appreciate your taking the time to fill me in.

Thank you Chief West. His name is James D. Herin. In August 2001 his rank was FC2. He was a recruiter in Holland, MI. He recruited my son and my son is now an officer training to be a pilot. I know Jim would smile to know this.

Thank you so much! I will let you know if this pans out :)

Thank you again Chief West! I contacted James Herin and he wrote back. I appreciate your help! He was happy to have the update.

Chief West-thanks for the info.

John,
You're very welcome!

Chief West-could you explain how they count days in boot camp...(ex. 2-6)just wondering .thanks , john

John,
The first week is known as P-Days (Processing), after that the week/days are put together [i.e. 2-6 (Week 2, Day 6)].
Make sense?

Chief

Chief West-makes sense now, thank you. Does training follow the schedule on the boot camp page or does that vary from div to div ?

Thank you for responding. Aaron needed a waiver ADHD meds. We took him off of them his junior year of high school. Our family doctor gave him a letter of clearance for the ADHD and determined he had either grown out of it or developed other coping methods. He completed high school, but he did have to take one summer school class to get his diploma. He will turn 21 in May and he got an 83 on his ASVAB's. He was DQ'd because the Final Waiver Authority said his grades weren't good enough after he went off of the meds. My daughter scored a 35 on ASVAB and got in with a C average, yet he's not good enough? He was recently accepted to the local community college's Police Academy after scoring a 123 on the exam. 85 was the minimum required. The only other thing that came up was when our doctor thought he might have heard an unusual heartbeat so we went to a cardiologist and he said there was nothing and gave Aaron a letter of full clearance for military service. My personal opinion from the whole experience was that since recruitment goals have not been an issue, people who needed waivers were being routinely DQ'd, even if they were performing well. Once he completes his Associates Degree in Criminal Justice (with good grades) can he reapply or ask for reconsideration of his denial?
Thanks, Kirk

Hey Chief, Just checking in. How's your sailor?
Mine is still at MCBH as an AE withVP-4. He really likes his job and is considreing wether to reenlist or extend where he is . Still a year away, but this Dad is grateful he is looking down the road and think his options through. He is looking forward to his deployment later this year. He seems to have a good balance between military and a personal life.
It was our great joy to visit him this spring. We met some of his friends and recieved some very nice words about him from the chaplian.

Hi Chief
My 17 yr. old son Charles has wanted to be in the Navy since he was 12. He took the ASVAB in Feb 2010, no police contact, He just graduated High school (3.8 GPA). He is 6'1" 157 lbs Varsity basketball player and he is very athletic (2-3 hours in the gym daily). His only issue is that in Oct. 09 he went on a 6 hour 102 degree DEP workout with some Marines buddies and got dehydrated. He had to spend the night in the hospital because of dehydration.
He was discharged the next day and cleared by his doctor and a kidney Doctor about 2 weeks later. His recruiter said his paperwork is stuck at "Med View" and has been for sometime & it may be 6-9 months before he knows anything...

Is this common or is there some other way to speed the process up??

Thanks for your help
Lee

Hi Chief,
His recruiter said he had to clear the medical review board before he could do the Medical screening. He has uncorrected 20/15 vision & no childhood illnesses.

Opps, I hit the button to fast, We also supplied the recruiter with all copies of the hospital report, lab results, Doctors reports, Nephrologist (Kidney Doctor) findings, two week check up and 6 month check up report. The diagnosis was a Myoglobin build up due to severe exertion and dehydration common in marathon running or calisthenics... They WHOOPED his newbie butt at the DEP event!

All documentation from the Dr. and hospital was sent in per the recruiters request "to help things along" as he said... that was in April, He has no seen anyone from the Navy in regards to this issue, and that's what frustrates me. On Wed, this week I went to the recruiters office to find out if there was anything new. He said "Charlie is in for a long wait, it could be 6 months to a year before he gets seen. My sons Dr. said he would call or go to MEPS if he has too because " there is no reason a simple case of dehydration should cause this much delay"

Lee

He tagged along with a Marine Depper buddy to check it out. The Sgt. PT'd Charlie with out our consent. We found out the next day when he started to complain about his back hurting, that's when he told us that he worked out with the Marines.

Hi Chief
He took the ASVAB on 3-4-2010. He was supposed to go back the next day to take the physical and get his job in the CT or IT field. We were told the next day that the MEPS Dr. needed to get a clearance from our Dr. so we did. He said it would be a week or two before we heard back from MEPS. On 4-1 the recruiter said to get everythin we could from the Dr., Lab and hospital so we did. Almost 3 weeks went by with no word so I called the recruiter. The recruiter said the the main base was flooded back east from a river going over the banks so it would be some time before we hear back. In early May the recruiter said he needed a list of Charlie's work outs, times at the Gym and swimming times.... Why??? I don't know he just said it would help. This past Monday I went to the recruiting office and was told" Wow, Charlie may have to wait six month and maybe up to a year before he will know something!! It's now almost 4 month since his ASVAB test, still has not gotten a physical at MEPS, He goes to the DEP meetings on Thursdays and DEP events, he has brought in other recruits and they already have ship out dates...but now the recruiter seems to be blowing us off.

Lee

I just heard from the recruiters Chief. The problem is the paperwork that we got from the hospital it says "Renal failure" (Kidney failure) as the initial diagnosis. The Chief said it is at a courtesy med view, if cleared he can do his physical then it will go to med view for the real approval.

Lee

Chief'
My younger son went to visit his recruiter. The Chief in the office requested more information. Good news! They are really working on his request.